December 2024 Photo Contest Image Critique
- Presented by: Gail Bisson
- When: Monday, January 27, 2025 2:00 pm EST
- Theme: Best Shot of 2024
What You'll Learn:
- How judges separate strong images from contest-ready images by looking for originality, meaningful behavior, interesting light, precise exposure, and a clear visual idea.
- Why framing and edge awareness matter when photographing wildlife, including how clipped wings, tails, feet, branches, or reflections can weaken an otherwise excellent image.
- How to use low angles and perspective more effectively to create stronger eye contact, cleaner backgrounds, greater intimacy, and a more immersive sense of the animal’s environment.
- How light, color, and exposure affect judging, including the problems caused by harsh midday light, blocked shadows, oversaturated colors, unnatural white balance, and distracting bright areas.
- When traditional composition rules can be broken successfully, and why unusual crops, motion blur, silhouettes, rear-facing subjects, or elevated viewpoints still need clear intent and strong execution.
- How to prepare images for competition by limiting heavy crops and retouching, preserving natural detail, following submission rules carefully, and keeping the final image faithful to the original scene.
Congratulations to The Winners 🎉
December 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Advanced Winner
December 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Intermediate Winner
December 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
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- 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.