I became a member of the local camera club a little over a year ago. The club holds periodic workshops and brings in a variety of distinguished and professional photographers. But the main reason I enjoy the camera club is that every other month we hold a competition. I enjoy this not so much for the competition itself, but for the critiques of the guest judges. Typically these are professional photographers, printers, or other artists.
We held a competition this evening and the image from day 3 below (EV jumping in the clouds) did fairly well and came in at 2nd place in the advanced assigned category--"Out of Place". Another of my landscapes (Cascade Lake Shores from the summer trip to McCall) placed third in the advanced open category. But the photo below of a petal on a walkway did not place. This is where I learned the most.
I struggled with this shot because of the composition. I wanted to move the petal, after I had taken the shot, of course, but cropping in a variety of ways did not get me to where I wanted it because of the shallow depth of field and my hope to maintain the severe lines created by the pebbles. That, alone, should have been a clear message to me. Alas, the judges confirmed my fear.
So in the end, I learned a lesson that will hopefully guide me in future competitions--if I'm struggling with some aspect of the photo, there is a good chance that the judges will as well.