August 2024 Photo Contest Image Critique
- Presented by: Gail Bisson
- When: Monday, September 23, 2024 2:00 pm EDT
- Theme: Funny Nature
What You'll Learn:
- How to avoid blown highlights and use your camera’s histogram and highlight alerts to preserve important detail in bright subjects.
- Why careful cropping, subject placement, and including (or avoiding cutting off) key body parts can dramatically strengthen a wildlife image.
- How to recognize and avoid overprocessing, including excessive noise reduction, oversharpening, and inaccurate color balance.
- When simple editing adjustments like exposure, white balance, and selective dodging and burning can elevate an image without making it look overedited.
- How camera position, shooting angle, background choice, and light direction influence both the impact and technical quality of a wildlife photograph.
- Best practices for preparing images for wildlife photography contests, including proper export settings, image sizing, and maintaining quality for digital judging.
Congratulations to The Winners 🎉
August 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Advanced Winner
August 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Intermediate Winner
August 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Beginner Winner
Meet Your Instructor
Gail Bisson
Gail is a retired family physician who started photographing birds 15 years ago. She got hooked on birds while in Tanzania. She fell into the bird photography “rabbit hole” and has enjoyed making new friends and travelling to various corners of the world ever since.
She has won several international competitions including the National Audubon Photography Award (amateur) in 2020 as well as Bird Photographer of the Year (Special Encounters category) 2020 and won the Inaugural Kingbirder contest in 2020. In 2025, she won the Birds in Flight category in the Hungarian Birdo competition and placed second overall.
She has many Top100 and highly commended images in various contests.
She became involved with judging wildlife photography contests in 2021. The contests include WAPOTY, Australian Bird Life and Kingbirder.
What to Expect
Here’s What Our Live Critique Sessions Are Like
Each month, we host a live session where contest winners are revealed and selected images are reviewed in detail by our judges.
You’ll see exactly why certain images stood out, how they were evaluated, and what separated them from the rest.
During the critique, we break down real submissions to show what works, what holds an image back, and how small changes in composition, light, or timing can make a stronger impact.
You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions and get direct insight into how experienced photographers think through decisions in the field.
If you can’t attend live, the full session is recorded and added to the library so you can watch anytime.
To attend this live event or watch the replay, you must be a member of the Journal of Wildlife Photography.
Members get access to live trainings and critiques designed to help serious wildlife photographers improve faster through real instruction and real feedback.
Each session focuses on practical decisions made in the field and why certain images succeed while others fall short.
When you join today, you can attend live or watch the full replay anytime.
Unlock this session and all member-only trainings and critiques by choosing a membership below.
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- 5 photo contest entries per month
- Live monthly trainings + full recording archive
- Live monthly critiques so you can see why images win
- Every back issue, video, and article unlocked instantly
- Private photographer community with real feedback
- Members-only discounts from top photography brands.
- 5 Free Anytime Photo Credits ($50 Value). These credits can be used on any future monthly wildlife photo contest you choose. They never expire, so you can save them for themes you really love throughout the year.
- 10 photo contest entries per month
- Lifetime access to every training, critique, and recording, past and future
- The full Journal library, every issue, every video, every article
- Lifetime access to the private community
- 15% off all future full-price purchases
- Members-only discounts from top photography brands.
- 10 Free Anytime Photo Credits ($100 Value). These credits can be used on any future monthly wildlife photo contest you choose. They never expire, so you can save them for themes you really love throughout the year.