Sigma is pleased to announce the winners of the Faces in Nature Contest

Congratulations to everyone who submitted photographs to this year's Sigma Photography Competition. All the work was of a very professional quality and I had an extremely hard time selecting the award winners and honorable mention photographers.

The best submissions showed a sophisticated knowledge of computer techniques which, when combined with today's superior cameras and lenses, achieved results beyond the capabilities of a decade ago.

The theme was nature, and the submissions could be divided into the categories of birds, animals or landscapes. Unfortunately, within those three categories a limited number of subjects predominated with the result that many photographs were competing against similar work. In particular, many bird photographs were of eagles or owls; animals photographs were of lions or tigers, landscapes were of autumn colors or water scenes, and flower and small bird photographs were mostly taken with micro lenses.

Technically, entrant's capability with the camera and lenses, were equally excellent, however knowledge of the computer made a considerable difference in the quality of the final print.

Given everyone's mastery of their camera equipment, going forward, I would advise a focus on creativity, giving attention to increasing the emotional impact of your photographs.

Altogether, a wonderful show of work and again my congratulations to all participants.

Yoshi Higa