Shoalhaven Photography Club Members Group
Congratulations to Joseph Horvat for his image ‘GARGOYLE’. This is a fantastic image with alot qualities that have been brought together to make it an epic shot and worthy of the Shoalhaven Photography Club Image of the Year.
A few notes on why I think this shot is worthy of image of the year and how it connected with me as the viewer. I’m sure irrespective of your photography genre you will appreciate this image.
Composition: The framing of the shot is perfect, the negative space on the left of image is filled with the gaze of the bird and also the lighting source which provides a perfect of example of giving a subject ‘room to breathe’ in the frame.
The branch which the bird is perched upon creates a pleasing geometric angle to support to the position of the subject in the frame and is illuminated just enough to provide context but not overpower or distract from the subject.
Technical: Getting a shot of a bird from behind such that the focus is maintained on the eye is challenging on a good day, however Joseph has done well to do this but has also has added an additional focus element, this is the sharp focus of the wings and consequently the great texture and lines of the wings which helps lead the viewer into the shot. The sharpness and texture of the wings is awesome.
The lighting is fantastic, the subtle and careful use of the dynamic range to create a dark image yet maintain enough detail to have you leaning in is perfectly balanced, creating that dark and foreboding style of shot appropriately associated with a Gargolye. The choice of saturation level compliments the feeling of the scene and the muted tones and small flash of red in the eyes with the dark orange of the underfeathers works brilliantly.
The background lighting in the frame is well controlled and provides a subtle silhouetting of the subject, in this case, the loss of the highlights would have resulted in a very different feel to the image, as it stands the background light compliments the darker theme of the image without over powering or pulling the viewer away from the subject.
Story and connection: The immediate impact of the shot is evident by the posture of the bird and its amazing lifelike comparison to a popular character ‘Gru’ from the movie Minions. The hunched over look and the beak is uncannily similar! The pose is also very appropriate to the artists title of ‘gargolye’ !
The print quality of this shot was spot on, the matt finish with the dark matt border worked really well to compliment the picture, this consideration is particularly important for a printed image since the last thing you need is a paper finish or border to distract the viewer.
Well done Joseph.
