Forward Recon
by kanaj

Comment:
The drama/mood in this image is incredible. The rock the ant gazes at reminds me of that scene in Everything Everywhere All at Once where the mother and daughter become rocks in another universe.. My mind works in weird ways haha so sorry for the odd association. It just dawned on me that you are a master at using sunset to harness mood in your close-up photography, Johnathan. Congratulations!

Aerial Assassin on the Electric Fence
by roz

Comment:
Master! please teach us your ways. Ahaha. Very National Geographic. Congratulations! 👏🏻

Tending the Nest
by Martus

Comment:
Just WOW... those eyes... I'm at loss for words. Excellent!

Ghost Stalker of the Mossy Underworld
by glad2badad

Comment:
So delicate and mesmerizing. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one like this, even in a photograph. It reminds me of The Mist series/movie in the best way..mysterious, haunting, and beautiful. Such a fascinating capture. Congratulations, glad2badad! 🫶🏻

city within the city
by Tiberius

Comment:
Can be a movie poster for Disney! Congratulations, Tiberius

Afterglow
by kanaj

Comment:
Always at the top.. and so well deserved. Balancing light, shadow, exposure while racing against the setting sun is no easy task, so thank you for capturing and sharing this masterpiece with us. Congratulations, Johnathan! 🫶🏻

Orange Caterpillar Parasite Wasp
by roz

Comment:
Your images are so remarkable, they deserve to be in science books. Congratulations, Roz!

a certain bond
by skewsme

Comment:
a money shot! Congratulations, skewsme..

Serendipity
by Neat

Comment:
Congratulations!

Re that lone "3": I know beauty is subjective, and everyone responds to images differently. Still, imo, considering both the subject and the technical quality, this does not seem to fall within the 3/10 range of the rubric. I also remember that in the early years of DPC, there was a line under “Challenge Voting” that said something that any attempts to alter the point totals in any way for any photograph will result in immediate loss of account and a ban from the site (quite harsh imo lol). I am not sure whether this situation would fall under that, so I do not want to assume.

One of the hardest things about being an artist, whether a singer, painter, poet or a photographer, is finding a style so uniquely yours that people can recognize your work without any identifying marks/signature [(apologies in advance, but off the top of my head, the ones I can think of right now are librodo, gyaban, jagar, vawendy, roz). To me, that is one of the “I’ve made it” moments in the competitive scene (so, congratulations, Anita). But I also think it can be a double-edged sword.

I hope that one day I find my own style too

Opening Scene
by kanaj

Comment:
Blue ribbon-worthy 😍