"Tranquility of the Lake," "Mojave Dunes," and "Harris Hawk" were chosen as our March winners. Congratulations to kani, Julie Furber, and Ulises Espinosa!

Without further ado, here's the three monthly winners for March, and comments from the judges on what made them so great. Clicking on any image will open a larger version in a new window.

First Place
Tranquility of the Lake, by kani
(kani won a Canon PIXMA Pro9000 Printer.)

This photo was a hit with all the judges, most listing it in their personal top 3 picks. As always, one of the primary winning qualities it possesses is that it just keeps drawing your eye back to it. The composition is very strong, with the boat in the foreground catching your eye and drawing it into the picture. It's also a study in contrasts, which always makes for an interesting photo: The strong angular lines of the boats against the still water, below the gentle shadings of the clouds in the sky; the contrast between the flatness of the water and the gentle busyness of the clouds, and the contrast of both color and tone between the bolder forms of the boats and the delicate pastel of the water. All in all, it's a simply beautiful shot, hats off to Kani for the beautiful execution.

Second Place
Mojave Dunes, by Julie Furber
(Julie won a Canon PIXMA MP970 Printer.)

This was another big favorite of the judges, and is proof that you don't need a lot of elements to make a great photograph. - Also that you don't have to process a photo to death for it to make an impact. The intersecting planes and contrasting textures add a great deal to the interest of the picture, and the tonal and color differences give it a great sense of depth. It's quite possible (even likely) that Julie applied some post-capture processing on the computer to this image, but we really liked that she resisted the temptation to reduce the mountains to a plugged-up silhouette, and that there's detail preserved in the deep shadows of the dunes. The contrasts are strong enough that they serve their purpose of dividing the image into zones and patterns, but we really like that there's still detail to be see in both the mountains and the shadowed dunes. Very nicely done.

Third Place
Harris Hawk, by Ulises Espinosa
(Ulises won a Canon PIXMA MP610 Printer.)

The judges liked both the composition and lighting in this shot, and the way the uncluttered composition drew attention to the main subject. We weren't sure whether it was shot in a studio, or if the background was instead dropped-in post-capture. (The catchlights in the bird's eye somewhat suggest studio lighting.) However it was accomplished, the lighting is great: There's a full tonal range, despite the overall low-key appearance of the image. The shading on the background is a very nice touch also: A pure blue or black background probably would have worked OK, but the touch of red in the upper left corner picks up the red leash on the bird's legs, and contrasts nicely with the predominant blue hues in the rest of the image. (In fact, I'd venture to say that that little corner of red is what lifted this from being just a strong daily winner to one of the top monthly winners in the contest.)

Honorable Mentions

Lunch on the Go	Under Bridge Arch
by Lana Arcemont	by Hajric Hajrudin

As always, 31 great daily winners made it hard to select the three very best, but that's a happy chore here at IR. Congratulations to all the daily winners, and thanks to everyone who submitted photos for March's contest. The consistently high quality of images submitted to the Photo of the Day contest are what makes it the success that it's been!

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!