48+ Cool Up Close Photos: Contest Finalists

We want to start by thanking our friend and professional photographer Monica Royal for her collaboration as a guest judge. Canadian born artist Monica Royal is a published, award winning professional macro photographer obsessed with details. She brings an infectious sense of excitement to the world of all things teeny tiny. As a speaker and teacher, Monica wants to give the secrets of the macro world away. She wants to show people how to see differently. "My selection has nothing to do with the fact that I’m a macro photographer. I didn’t evaluate these images on personal preference. I rated them based on difficulty of capture, composition, color harmony and technical mastery. “Party for One” is composed beautifully, the water surrounding the base of the dandelion is interesting and not easy to achieve, the main background color compliments the bokeh colors beautifully. The composition is well thought out and the image is tack sharp. My runner up image would be “Tree Mouse”. The tonality is excellent, it’s not the easiest subject and it’s sharp, but it’s dead center in the frame. There were several images that had 3 of the above mentioned criteria but the missing one was overwhelming. It’s also very important to pay attention to backgrounds. There are some fabulous images here with extremely distracting backgrounds. Try to avoid extreme shadows in the background and remember shallow depth of field can be you friend!" - Monica Royal

Thank you to all the photographers that shared their best shot taken up close to the subject in this photo contest in collaboration with Tamron.

Congratulations Grand Jury Winner "Party for one" by Saartje

"This image is composed beautifully, the water surrounding the base of the dandelion is interesting and not easy to achieve, the main background color compliments the bokeh colors beautifully. The composition is well thought out and the image is tack sharp." - Monica Royal

Congratulations Runner Up "Tree Mouse" IMG_3969" by frankosphotography