Thank you all for your submission, and for making my Monday morning rather difficult. Such a wonderful array of skills and images. All on the brief. Some thoughts:

Gump-Come on in an play- Thank you but no thanks . I prefer to have them on my plate, not playmates. Wonderful high-bar setting image. Beautiful color rendition, as is the composition! Those horns!

Jacamar- Song Sparrow on territory- Ooh so sharp this one, so detailed, excellent composition and color too! Smooth Bokeh to boot! Love it!

Kerrowdown- Speckled, spotted and dotted- well done sir! Love your portrait shots dotted over the forum, and this one is so very nice. So many elements to appreciate in this image- they mystery, the textures, the juxtaposition, the shadows all blending together for a lovey portrait. I am sure she liked this one!

Aaacb- Cycling along-the only B/W entry and a worthy one it is- love your composition here, with that streak of light pointing to the young woman. And the joie de vivre is quite palpable. Super details too!

Pacerr- “I’ve still got mine Mom.” Sweet, high cuteness factor, beautifully isolated. Light, color, composition and Bokeh it’s all there! Love it!

Vaskebjorn- Super Preadtor - What a beauty! Excellent composition and DOF on this one, love the use of negative space on this one, filled as it is with delectable Bokeh! Great shot! Uhm- remove the dust spot (blushing as I’m all to guilty of that)

Atupdate- Wolf Eel- Thank you for the nightmares . What a beautiful critter, and so sharp. Always a difficult enterprise shooting through glass in an aquarium, pulled off with expertise. Love the overall blue tones so suitable for its watery world. And what can I say about that in-your-face composition technique.

Aslyfox-Spots Galore- Great shot! Excellent DOF, color rendition, and you’ve captured something of the urgency that characterize cheetah meals in the wild, always quick lest it be robbed. Love that gory titbit of raw bone and red meat-pops nicely against the overall brownish tones.

Malexndr –Dots at the dinner table- Nice one- obviously Dots is the dominant species in that home-including over humans! Just look at that threatening claw on the right. Good DOF to this, lovely composition. I get the sense of deliberate choice for that composition- others would complain about cutting off the feet but I like it as presented-focusing on Dots posture and dots. Yeah, even the chubbiness conveys the message- I’m in control here! Looks quite regal!

Yaki- SSssss- Stunning! Bokeh dots complementing the snake’s patterns. Great textures here, fantastic composition and focus exactly where it is needed- on the face. Shallow DOF has worked a treat here! Colors are wonderful too!

Ramseybuckeye- Gulf Fritillary – What a beauty, gotta admire that speckled wing, so excellently presented here. Good spot with a good eye! Wonderful colors- no issues with the composition. Again a shallow DOF has highlighted the butterfly, it pops wonderfully against that busyish background.

Well, onto the judging exercise.

1st place to Yaki-a stunning image of that snake!
2nd place to atupdate-An excellent in-your-face image.
3rd place to aaacb- the joie de vivre is envy inducing.

And happy to award HM’s to all other entries.

Over to you Yaki. SSSSssss

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[ramseybuckeye]

Congrats to Yaki and friends! Great job as usual Noel!

[Yaki]

I didn`t expect to win this particular challenge
It is an honor to be chosen among so many great photos and I accept this honor with joy and gratitude .
I'll post the next challenge as soon as possible.
Thanks a lot Noel! Your explanation about pictures in the judging can be used as photography textbook

[Vaskebjorn]

Thanks Noel, and congrats to Yaki. Good thing you noticed the spot. I didn’t see that one yet.