I already went into why I chose James’ photo of three people hiking up a mountain, but now, let’s get into why I didn’t choose some of the other photos.
@bennett-family
While the photo of the girl and the sunset is really cool, and somewhat does bring to mind God’s omnipresence with the sun coming through in that background, ultimately the photo was immediately disqualified simply because of how low the resolution was. Photos that are submitted need to be high quality to both give me the freedom to crop if I need to and because the VersePics are exported at a 2K resolution.
As far as your other photos go, I liked the two with the person in it, but both had the subject much too far to the left for it to even show up on a phone, instantly disqualifying them. (I did try cropping the photos to see if they would work then, but the balance was totally off, so that didn’t work.) Additionally, there was a bit too much going on in the second photo with all the sticks and branches everywhere. With that much detail everywhere, I was worried that the verse would kind of get “lost” (your eye would consistently be distracted by the other details rather than be able to focus on the verse.). The other two photos just didn’t make me think of the verse, and again, the subject was a bit too far away from the center to show up on a phone.
@rmadaris
The main reason I didn’t choose your photos wasn’t that of a lack of resolution or quality, but simply because I couldn’t see how the verse tied into the photos.
@blessingscaptured
The photo of crocuses you showed on the forum was beautiful and just don’t get me started on all the other crocus shots you submitted through the DFR link! (You probably haven’t noticed, but I love crocuses.) Additionally, I always appreciate it when someone takes the time to submit RAW files! Ultimately, though, while I can understand why you think of courage when you see a crocus (thanks to you explaining it to me), I felt like it was just a little too much of a metaphor that most people viewing the VP wouldn’t see. Again, awesome photos regardless!
Hopefully, this helps a little! Remember, photos submitted need to be at a high enough resolution for me to use (at LEAST 2666x2000px in a 4:3 landscape orientation) and the subject should show up when you crop the photo by 4:3 and then by 9×16. Usually, unless the subject is rather small, photos using the rule of thirds or with a centered subject will work just fine.
Thank you all for your submissions and help with this month’s VP! Look out for a new VersePic Opportunity, coming soon.