Our June contest theme is Spring Sports, so I asked the Globe's talented sports photographer, Jim Davis, to write up some tips for taking good sports pictures.

Jim, who's been on the Globe staff since 1993, has been named Photographer of the Year by the Boston Press Photographers Association twice, and was also National Football League Photographer of the Year. Before coming to the Globe, he was on the staff of the Boston Herald for 8.5 years and with the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune for 5 years.

You can see a portfolio of his work here.

Jim mostly shoots professional sports, and the photos I chose to illustrate his points are of Boston's pro teams. But his tips are designed for the amateur standing on the sidelines of his daughter's softball game as well as sitting in the stands at a Celtics game.

FIRST PLACE - $100

Judge Isa Leshko's comments:
"This image is all about breaking the rules of conventional photography and, in fact, feels more like a painting than a photograph. By not treating the subject matter too literally, the photographer created an atmospheric and moody image. This image reminds me of the work of Mark Yankus, who created impressionistic images of New York City at twilight.

"You might also be inspired by the work of Jeri Eisenberg, who is represented by Lanoue Fine Art on Newbury Street in Boston, and Nicholas Hughes' Verse 1 series of images.

"I encourage this photographer to continue experimenting with this approach to image-making. But I also want to offer a word of caution: Like any technique or photographic process, the use of blur can become a gimmick. Ask yourself when editing your work whether the image is dramatic purely because it's blurry. If the answer is yes, push yourself harder. Mind you, I grapple with this very issue when making images with toy cameras, which create very distinctive visual artifacts."

SECOND PLACE - $50

Isa's comments:
"This image is charming and quirky without being cute, and certainly captures a moment. I like the uniformity of the umbrellas, which causes the two different ones to particularly stand out. Perhaps a rumination on the herd mentality that frequently occurs in tourists? Without showing a single face, the image compels us to relate to the people inside the boat and their very human impulse to huddle together against the elements."

THIRD PLACE - $25

Isa's comments:
"There were several images of wet flora that were submitted to this contest, and this image was my favorite from this category. The placement of the droplets in this composition skillfully draws my eye deeper and deeper into this image. I like the use of shallow depth of field to draw attention to the few sharp droplets. Each of these sharp droplets is a small world inside which I can get lost. (My only wish is that these droplets were a bit sharper in focus to enhance this effect.) This image is a contemplation on the beauty that is all too often overlooked during the hustle and bustle of daily life."

Here's a gallery of all the Top 10 finalists, including the seven Honorable Mentions. Congratulations to all for another strong contest.

There's still time to enter the May contest.

Our April judge, Isa Leshko, has narrowed her choices of your best "April showers" photos to the Final 50. Her thoughts on your entries:

Our judge for the April Showers contest is Isa Leshko, a former software engineer who left the online world to pursue photography full-time. We will post the Final 50 gallery and the Voting Machine Monday morning.

Her bio:

This was a challenging contest for you, which is good! It's not easy capturing great shots that involve rain, but I hope the attempt improved your shooting skills. We have fewer than 150 photos; in contrast, we already have more than 90 for the May flowers theme.

Here are all three galleries of your entries: Gallery 1 / Gallery 2 / Gallery 3

I'll introduce our judge for the April contest in a bit; she's looking over your entries this evening and choosing the Final 50. I'll post that gallery tomorrow and open the Voting Machine. Good luck to everybody ...

Globe photographer Dina Rudick, who did a Globe Critique for us back in October, recently shot some creative studio photos for the Globe's Spring Fashion guide: The models appeared to be floating or flying through the air. She also made a video with reporter Christopher Muther explaining how she set up and shot the photos.

Michael Palmer says the Canon Rebel XSi he received recently as a birthday present has allowed him to become "more adventurous" in his photography.

With every shot he's growing more confident using the camera's manual settings, and wondered "if there is some talent in my untrained eye." RAW asked Globe photographer Yoon Byun to take a look at Michael's portfolio, and tell us what he thinks.

OK, little Dawggies, my Moms project has eased since the site is launched! Meanwhile, back to our business: I haven’t had a chance to post a poll for contest themes for May and June, so I’m using my prerogative as Top Dawg to declare them unilaterally.