Juror's Statement

"What a pleasure it has been to travel the world’s exotic locations and through intimately-known fields, forests and cities via your photographs. In selecting images, I was rather ruthless in rejecting some otherwise wonderful images because they had either a blatant technical issue, such as clipped highlights or a compositional mistake that could have been avoided, such as the top of a head lining up with a horizon line. I also tended to reject images that were simply cute or cliché’s (unless REALLY well done). I retained those that spoke deeply to me about the beauty of the world, or that got me thinking about our relationship to the earth. There were several environmental degradation images that I would have included if they had been stronger in image quality. As you will see from my final selection, I have rather eclectic tastes when viewing others’ works. Each image in the final selection stands on its own with a clear understanding of the photographer’s emotional connection to the scene."

Craig Blacklock,
Moose Lake, MN  October, 2019