All images copyright by the individual photographers

	Green Heron By Clyde Comstock This is a striking and well-composed photograph of a green heron perched on a branch. It is part of Clyde’s collection of woodland life retained by careful town planning. The heron is captured in sharp detail, with its feathers, beak, and eye all crisply rendered. The golden eye, in particular, draws the viewer’s attention and adds intensity to the image. The diagonal lines of the branches lead the eye naturally across the frame and complement the heron’s downward posture. The balance between the bird and the sparse branches creates a dynamic yet uncluttered composition The soft, neutral background isolates the subject beautifully. The lack of distraction allows the heron and branches to stand out strongly. The lighting is even and natural, bringing out the texture in the feathers and bark without harsh shadows or blown highlights. This is a technically superb wildlife photograph—sharp, clean, and thoughtfully composed. It captures a moment of alertness and intent in the heron, with strong use of line and focus. Don Menges
	Kenya’s Future by Flinn Hackett This is an amazing photograph which actually is a joint collaboration between the Photographer and Orphan children in rural Kenya. The child’s face is perfectly centered, immediately drawing the viewer’s attention. This compositional choice creates a sense of intimacy and direct engagement. Their eyes totally capture your attention, giving the viewer insight into the child’s life. The hands encircling the child form a radial pattern that guides the eye outward and back again, reinforcing the centrality of the subject while adding dynamic movement. The overlapping hands create a layered effect, adding depth and texture to the image without cluttering it. The restrained use of color amplifies the emotional gravity of the image. It strips away distraction, allowing the viewer to focus on form and feeling. The varied tones of the hands subtly highlight diversity and unity, while the contrast between the child’s face and the surrounding hands adds clarity and emphasis. While the symmetry is strong, the slight variations in hand placement and orientation prevent the image from feeling sterile. It breathes with life and spontaneity. The child’s calm, direct gaze is disarming. It evokes vulnerability, innocence, and strength all at once. By Steve Levinson
	Bryce Canyon Tree by Paul B. Karas Sr. Paul Karas enjoys travelling and taking photographs, and his work often reveals different facets of Grand and Bryce Canyons. Rather than presenting the sweeping vistas typically associated with these landscapes, he chooses a more intimate, cropped approach that draws the viewer into a specific moment of place. In his Gallery Pick, Bryce Canyon Tree, this approach is evident as he selects a weathered, craggily old tree as the central subject. Its roots sprawl dramatically across the sandy foreground, acting as strong leading lines that pull the viewer’s eye toward the distant canyon. The massive trunk and twisting forms of the roots create both a frame and a narrative, suggesting endurance in a landscape defined by erosion and change. The composition is carefully balanced: the weight of the tree in the foreground is countered by the expanse of sky and canyon in the distance. Tonal balance enhances the image, with the bright, sunlit sandstone foreground contrasting the more subdued midground and deepening into the layered blues of the sky. Clouds soften the stark desert light, adding atmosphere and scale. Color further enriches the photograph—warm oranges and sandy beiges of the canyon harmonize with the silver-gray of the roots, while hints of green vegetation in the distance remind us of life’s persistence. Ultimately, the image functions as both landscape and metaphor—a portrait of resilience, where the tree clings tenaciously to the canyon’s edge, embodying the fragile yet enduring relationship between life and environment. Thank you for sharing, Paul. Dick Bennett
	TSA August 2021  by John Weldy John Weldy’s stitched panoramic of Avalon Bay, captured with an F3 tornado in the neighborhood, is a commanding study in both atmosphere and resilience.  The image achieves an effective tonal range— storm clouds churn with texture, sunlight pushes faintly through the distance, and the grasses stand sharp against the windswept shoreline. The image, sweeping from the weathered docks to the windswept grasses, places the viewer directly in the charged stillness that lingers after a violent storm. While the lower left and right edges of the water soften slightly, this does not diminish the work’s power. Instead, the softness subtly directs the eye upward and inward, reinforcing the drama of the water and sky. The brooding storm clouds pull across the frame with cinematic force, while the sun breaking faintly on the horizon offers a suggestion of calm. The panoramic format amplifies this effect, drawing the viewer through the sweep of turbulent weather into a scene both unsettled and luminous. John’s technical choices—precise stitching, balanced exposure, and careful composition—transform a chaotic natural event into a narrative of survival and beauty. It is no surprise that this image earned a Gallery Pick Award from Image City Photography Gallery. More than a record of a storm, it is a meditation on the fragile line between destruction and renewal. John has distilled the drama of Avalon Bay into a panoramic vision that is both unsettling and deeply moving—a photograph that lingers in memory long after the initial viewing. TSA=Thunderstorm Advancing Marie Costanza