#1 is something that I’d LOVE if I had taken it.
However, for a National Geographic photography winner, it’s boring. The theme itself — technology taking over our lives — is boring, and since the photo can’t survive on other attributes such as beauty or skill (e.g. the owl photo), I wonder why it wins?
Again, it’s a good capture, and I’d love the photo if I had taken it myself. I do expect more from contest winners though. I’m not that great a photographer, and even I wouldn’t have felt confident submitting that photo into a competition.
#2 looks overcooked. #8 (shot of the deer) is far better.
#3 is great, but not technically challenging or beautiful in any way. Same with the photo in Shinagawa train station.
Started out doing photography at the age of 6 using an uncle's old 1940 kodak brownie box camera. At 15 years of age, I decided to buy my very own 1975 Praktica SLR camera. I now shoot with a Nikon D850. I do unpaid TFP and commercial paid work.