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

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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.