Blurry Backgrounds Photo Contest Winners

Thank you to all the photographers that shared their best photos showing a blurry background in this photo contest. Backgrounds should always be taken into serious consideration when capturing an image. Backgrounds complement the main subject, the overall feeling of the tones & colors, composition and point of focus. A special thanks to friend and professional photographer Tamara Pruessner for her collaboration as the guest judge of this photo contest. Tamara is a nature photographer near Tucson, Arizona, who specializes in storm, landscape and macro photography. She started out on a manual Minolta film camera 13 years ago while learning how to develop film. Eventually, she wants to chase storms throughout the Midwest. Her recent work includes tackling two new projects: self-portraiture and model photography.

Congratulations Grand Jury Winner "Velvet Crush" by JakeOlsonStudios

“I really love all of the lines and layers in this photo. The road leads perfectly to the guitar and then to band members off in the distance. The color is perfect and really emphasizes the distance and colors of the background.” - Tamara Pruessner

Congratulations Runner Up "tiny thief..." by bridgephotography

“This capture of the little water vole is just fantastic! The movement of the water, the blurred background, and the greens and yellows…everything just makes the water vole and blackberries a perfect place to rest my eyes.” - Tamara Pruessner

Congratulations Runner Up "Illuminated" by Atrej

“The praying mantis really caught my eye, especially when combined with the light bokeh that it appears to be watching. The golden tones really set off a magical feel to this image!” - Tamara Pruessner

Congratulations Runner Up "Paint" by LMImages

“I love the colored paint textures on her hands. The really bring a focus to the photo and make me want to see what else could be going on. Very well done!” - Tamara Pruessner

"Untitled" by olenazaskochenko