Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "American Robin Winners In the LCBC Contest" Story

Sunday, September 24, 2017

The "American Robin Winners In the LCBC Contest" Story

Lancaster County Bird Club Logo

It was an ordinary day. Looking at a beautiful red-tailed hawk sitting on a post on our rear deck. You can tell by watching him that he is using both his vision and hearing to try and find his next meal. Carol said I should grab my camera and take a photo of the bird, but before I could return from my office with my camera, the hawk had taken flight. Would have made a neat photo had I been slightly quicker. A few days ago I was viewing the winning entries in the Lancaster County Bird Club's American Robin Competition which had two categories: Youth and Adult. The photos were both colorful and interesting. Ever wonder how you would judge a photographic bird competition? What criteria do you look for when judging a contest such at that? Should color be one of them? Hey, a robin is black with an orange beast. Not much color to judge. And, its a bird. What can you do to make it an interesting photo; one that is worthy of a prize in a photography contest. Well, the winning entries were fun to view and I thought I would share them with you so you can also see what was picked as a winning entry. I would have loved to see what was eliminated during the competition, since I taught photography in high school for many years. Did they consider "rule of thirds"? How about depth of field? I know, it was a bird competition, but did the photographs that won illustrate both birds as well as photography techniques? You be the judge based on what I have posted here. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - If interested, you can check out: Lancaster County Bird Club Facebook page.