We're happy to announce the monthly winners of our Photo of the Day contest for August, 2008. Here's a look at August's winners, along with some comments from the judges:

The judges liked the subtle tones in this shot, the contrast of the birds' beaks, and the almost abstract imagery of the pair of birds. A beautiful, almost eerie image. Great job of catching the moment too, we can't imagine how many shots John had to take to come away with this beauty. (Please tell us it wasn't just a casual snapshot, our egos couldn't handle it.) Great job at keeping the background clear, too - that's often difficult in wildlife photos. Nicely done!

The judges were impressed with the painterly rendering, the expressive pose and the excellent exposure. We normally dislike seeing Photoshop effects applied to images; they're too easily overdone. In Jo's image of Maggie though, we really liked the painterly effect the texture gave to the dog's fur and features. (We were less enthusiastic about the ray effects radiating from around the subject, but they were subtle enough that we didn't give negative marks for them.) A beautiful portrait, even if you're not a dog-lover (as several of the judges freely admit to being).

Wow, talk about catching the moment! We get quite a few lightning shots in the stream of Photo of the Day submissions, but this has to be one of (if not the) most impressive we've seen. It's rare you see the actual point of contact of a lightning bolt (and live to tell about it, at least), and it's impressive that the light from the bolt lit up the ship in the background. In a bit of serendipity, the composition is also interesting as well, the arc of the bolt somewhat echoing the shape of the tree in the left foreground. Cool shot!

There you have it: 31 great Photos of the Day, with 3 exceptional ones capturing top honors. - So what are you waiting for? That could be your photo up there this time next month! Dig through your digital shoe boxes, pick your best and join the fun!