Thank you to all the photographers that participated in the Compositions 101 Photo Contest, sharing their best photos showing a solid composition. Congratulations to the winners and finalists, and a special round of applause for the Grand Jury Winner who wins either a Canon EOS 70D or Nikon D5300.

"This contest had a wonderful selection of submissions, but I had to narrow it down to what the contest is all about... Compositions 101. Besides looking for technically and creativity great images, the focus was on The Rules of Thirds, so I’m looking for a strong main subject placed on one of the intersections if you were to draw a tic-tac-toe pattern (two vertical and two horizontal lines)." - Laurie Rubin

A special thanks to our friend and professional photographer Laurie Rubin for his collaboration as a guest judge. Laurie is an international award-winning photographer specializing in wildlife and nature photography. Her passion for photography as well as a career working for software companies, has combined her talents for teaching and sharing photography, from capture to post-processing. She currently has one of her prints displayed at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.

Grand Jury Winner

"This is a beautiful example of using the basic rules of thirds, using the placement of a slightly diagonal hand in the lower right corner of the image pointing you to the face which is in the upper left corner. The is a very strong and powerful image and the fact that it is black and white, takes away any distractions such as color to create a very dramatic and emotionally impactful image. Well done and congratulations!" - Laurie Rubin

Runner Up

"This image really caught my eye for a couple of reasons. The first being a wonderfully composed image with a tender and emotional subject matter. The rule of thirds was used here with the placement of the child toward the far right side of the image and the face intersecting the two lines. What also lends itself to being such a great basic composition are the leading lines of the railroad track, coming up from the bottom left corner and leading your eye up and into the image. Beautifully done!" - Laurie Rubin

Runner Up

"I selected this image because of the placement of the lion on the rock. He is not centered in the image but placed lower in the frame, with the lion’s head intersecting the lower two lines. What makes this special is that even though the lion’s body is mostly off centered to the right, by capturing the moment when he turned his head to the left helps keep the image feeling ‘centered’. I also like the wind blowing through the lion’s mane with the grasses bending over to the left." - Laurie Rubin

Runner Up

"Here is an example of a lovely simple landscape with snow covered hills and clouds that has been captured really well to retain all the details without any issues with blown-out highlights or deep shadows. By having this one lone tree off to the right, really completes this image. The directional clouds that are pointing towards the tree also add to the composition of this piece. Very nice!" - Laurie Rubin

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