Judges Comments

No wasted space here.  The photographer had to work into the scene decisively to carve out enough real estate to make this excellent image.   The strobe defined the depth of field and the sharpness.  This is an image where everyone’s face contributes to the moment and lighting it makes it snap. Excellent use of wide angle.

There's just lot of things going on in this picture. The kiss, cake, fork in hands, and people on left watching with expressions reacting to them. Just very nicely composed and lined up image. Once again, content in foreground and background in one frame-there's two pictures in one images.

Judges Comments

Weird, humorous, spooky and unusual lighting. I love the play of shadows on the wall. Nice moment, nicely lit.

Scary. The bride's expression and the harsh, directional light really make this image work. The mimicry of the shadows on the wall also add another dimension to this really different cake cutting picture.

Dramatic light and a moment set a menacing mood for this image. The twist of dramatic shadows and the bride’s frightened expression gave an unexpected take on the traditional cutting of the cake photograph.

Judges Comments

Cutting of the cake is secondary to girls faces. I love the way it's composed. The two hands and knife cutting the cake frames the girls faces, and lined up nicely.

The photographer made a great choice to focus on the kids watching the cake cutting. I mean, who really cares about the cake? Kids, that's who. You get a two-fer on this one. Foreground and background. The B&W probably saved this picture from being really distracting color-wise.

Judges Comments

Wow. Something about licking the tip of a sword just grabs a person's attention. This is one where the moment trumps everything else in the image. The light isn't great... effective, but not great, but the moment. Danger, sweet danger.

Judges Comments

Too close.  A little farther back, or a little wider and this would have been a much nicer composition.  The tilt is not optimal either.  Nor is the distortion.  I would have really like to have his entire head in the frame with a little room to breathe. Still, there is something in the three different emotions that makes this simple image fun.  

This image was surprising. At first glance the young woman eating the cake icing could be overlooked. After taking a closer look the humor becomes very apparent. Great moment! However the image could have been better exposed without many of the highlight detail lost.

Judges Comments

The moment overpowers the lack of subtle technique in this image.  The background is messy, and distracting.  Still the looks on their faces, and the sharpness of the moment carries the day.

Judges Comments

The brides expression was what made this image work. Her look of disgust made me laugh out loud. A more dramatic composition might have set this image apart. However, the moment captured outweighed the missing components.

Judges Comments

Love how both their faces are obscured during the ritual cake smearing. The composition is perfect. The background adds dimension. The color is nice, too. This picture, like the other images, rose to the top three because although it was an expected situation, the photographer captured an unexpected image.

Judges Comments

Great "shoving of the cake in groom's face." Nice the way the hand is just near the groom's mouth, but not touching it. Both faces are great. The groom's body language is like that of an athlete dodging a tackle, and it adds to the momentum, energy of the photo.

Judges Comments

This image too has a wonderful feel but could have been better with stronger composition.  The photographer needed to get a wider view.  The foreground needs more attention, but the ceiling has important information that helps the picture as well so the only solution is to get wider and if possible a little--a foot or two lower and to the right. There are some distracting element that might have been deemphasized if there had been more space.  Tough getting a large crowd all looking the same way.   The depth of field, focus, and sharpness are all good.

Judges Comments

Back light would have helped separate their heads from the ceiling, improving the composition.  It would have made the image read faster. Their expressions are wonderful and the choice to go low and wide with plenty of depth of field works perfectly.

Judges Comments

This moment of the bride slicing through the cake with her hands make this moment entertaining. The composition seems a miss however the reception reflected in the background helps bring the image together.

Judges Comments

What is going through this guy's mind? He twists the ring on his finger as he eyes his new bride. A twisted mind might want to push her face into the cake. The bride eyeing the cake so closely and the perfect, clean composition make this picture work.

Judges Comments

The groom’s expression works well with the theatrical scene and vivid colors of the evening. The colorful cake and young boy in the foreground adds to the image.

Judges Comments

A romantic picture. I love the light, the sun setting on right, warm glow adds to romanticism. The cake, bride and groom sort of lean towards same way, almost like as if one. I like the focus is on the cake, and bride and groom slightly out of focus works.

Photographer's Comment

This couple picked the venue on the west end of Martha's Vineyard for its spectacular sunsets and planned to cut the cake right at sunset.,