Passion
by DCrest01

Comment:
I figured this one might take the blue, actually. The rich colors, evocative minimalist subject placement, and thematic pairing with the saying are pitch-perfect. Literally my only quibble with it--and it's a minor editorial quibble that did not impact my vote--is with the font choice and missing space in "everyday" (i.e., "every day"). Congrats on the HM!

Confidence
by nam

Comment:
This was one of my top two picks. The personality of the subject radiates perfectly for this moment. Congrats on the yellow!

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.
by glad2badad

Comment:
A well-deserved win, Barry. The eye for the humor and the pairing with the proverb are both quite inspired.

Appreciate The Little Things In Life
by GolferDDS

Comment:
I was pretty sure this beauty was another of yours. You have quite the knack for capturing these elusive hummingbirds. I attempted to photograph one a couple weeks ago--and bigger, I think, than the one here--and I was having more luck with a restless bumblebee. Congrats on the blue!

The magic of dawn
by Neat

Comment:
Such an ethereal capture. The framing with the trees is inspired.

The Carwash at the End of the Universe
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Love the grungy processing. Besides being fun to look at as an abstract on its own, this would probably make a very interesting composite overlay for another piece of artwork at a future date, too.

Be the light
by skewsme

Comment:
I really dug this one, too. I think if you had simply used that negative space in the bottom left for some stylized "Be the light." text, this would have scored higher.

If it was me, I might have experimented, too, with cropping for horizontal perspective (you'd still have plenty of the swarm for context) and selectively desaturating all but that glorious luna moth. But that might have made a slightly different artistic statement than you were going for.

You Can't Win If You Don't Play
by GeneralE

Comment:
This was a fairly high pick for me in this challenge, actually. I appreciated what (I think) you were going for with this image--an evocation of a game ready to be played, but no players willing to engage, given the circumstances. Perhaps because they had "better" things to be doing at the moment?

I also noted the text in the background, though, and thought this might be a subtle call to take responsibility for one's own small part in the outplaying of world affairs--as opposed to passively abdicating that responsibility to others more willing to take it up.

Either way, I could hear it speaking, and I consider that a sign of something with artistic merit. :-)

HUMILITY
by kanaj

Comment:

Originally posted by glad2badad: The format choice seems a little odd (square format for a poster?).

I agree. It's probably my biggest regret with this one. I think I probably should have cropped a little tighter along the bottom of the image to take it from 4x6 to 16x9 perspective, but by the time I realized that, I had already sunk enough time into this design that I decided to stick with it. But I think if I was pitching this for a print project (as opposed to a meme to share on social media), I'd definitely be asked by an editor to work on a reformat. :-P

Drive-by portrait
by Paul

Comment:
Yes. This is the type of portraiture I aspire to someday be able to shoot myself. Gorgeous.