Mini Competition #62

[arith]

I think that is ten; go here now:

Mini Competition #63

[RobO]

Thats an excellent photo Rob, love it and I am a fan of color with B&W

Thanks for your kind comments, I like B&W/Colour on some shots, and this just seemed to fit it. The dead flower heads, although untidy provide seeds for the birds as does the lavender nearby. Had I used colour throughout the shot I feel that it would have been "messy" - the B&W draws less attention to them

from Shreds - I know not everyone like these highlighted colour shots, but that really is excellent, probably because of the subtlety of the brown colouring of the bird. Beautifully sharp where it needs it.

PS Sparrows used to be so common where I lived and I now rarely see any of them. Obviously headed off to rural Lincolnshire!

Thanks for your kind comment too, they are encouraging and appreciated.

We feed the birds regularly in the garden, but have to be careful because of vermin

I think we are lucky with many species, but the sparrows and dunnocks seem to flock and I think much can be attributed to the hedgerows as opposed to fencing. Most days the noise from the hedges is amazing and then just stops instantly, eventually rising again to yet another cresendo! We used to get frequent visits from sparrowhawks but I haven't seen one recently.

It's always fun trying to photograph them and other wildlife in the garden and can require a lot of patience.

Thank you everyone for your votes for this photo in the competition, they are all appreciated especially since there is some very tough competition from you all with the standard constantly improving.

Rob

[RonH]

Great pic Rob ... a real winner.
As for me ... sniff coming last begs me to ask why. Is it my chosen subject matter, how it is 'posed', the way I finished it etc? Any C&C would be really appreciated and don't be shy!

[Donald]

Any C&C would be really appreciated and don't be shy!

Ron

First up - this is not my subject matter, therefore area of any great knowledge. So the following can easily be dismissed on the grounds of ignorance.

The most significant 'problem' for me was the background. I wasn't sure what you were trying to do here. The main subject is shown offset to the camera; i.e. there is perspective. There is none in that background shape. It is square-on to the camera and symmetrical. There is no perspective in it. For me, this creates an imbalance between the subject and its background.

I think then other point for me was that, as a still-life study, there was not enough to grab and hold my attention. There was a figure atop a brick. But there wasn't enough contrast in colour, tone or form to hold my attention.

Hope that is helpful. As I say, not my area of activity. So I might be writing nonsense!

[Donald]

C&C welcome. Wendy

Beautiful.

[RonH]

Ron

First up - this is not my subject matter, therefore area of any great knowledge. So the following can easily be dismissed on the grounds of ignorance.
....
Hope that is helpful. As I say, not my area of activity. So I might be writing nonsense!

Hei Don,
Thanks for your observations. What I have been trying to acheive is some difference in scope to nature, animals, landscapes etc. So I have been experimenting 'indoors' ... in particular because the weather outside is lousy and rather dark due to cloud cover. Maybe I should get back to basics and try to shoot the more usual that most members focus on ... please lets have the weather for it.
But its all good experience ... spent hours today trying to nicely frame my entry in the Bridge that Gap comp. Learn a lot sweating over the pc! But my wife thinks I have gone walkabout!
Thanks again.

[Donald]

Ron

Certainly, to me, the indoors is much more of a challenge. You certainly shouldn't abandon that area of photography if it's something that has your interest. And there are lots of people here who would provide lots of help and support.

So far as outdoors is concerned, us poor souls this far north have so few hours of daylight to play with at this time of year and it can be either so cold, so miserable, or both, that going out requires great effort.

[ScoutR]

Here's a shot that I try from time to time. This time a shot of a sparrow, converted to B&W and then the colour restored to the sparrow.

C&C welcome. Thanks.

Rob

Congratulations Rob. This was a great shot from start to finish. I love the B&W colour effect and the work on this looks flawless to me. I've always favoured your Disco Duck, but this one is also one of my favourites.
Hope to see more of the same.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Wow, this is the best ever for me by a longshot. Thank you everyone, and thanks to Jim B, Cneeda, and Donald for the personal words of encouragement. The message for me is to keep it simple, and that I don't need to wait for the sun.

Special thanks to Dave H. I used his Local Contrast Enhance instructions for the leaves, and it seemed to work well on this one. Spent a lot of time colour picking off of the leaves and snow to get the colours for the frame. Thanks Jim B for the feedback, I wasn't sure if it worked or not.

Congrats to Rob and Peter, it feels nice to be in such good company, even though it's only for the moment.

Wendy

[ScoutR]

Maybe I should get back to basics and try to shoot the more usual that most members focus onBut its all good experience ... spent hours today trying to nicely frame my entry in the Bridge that Gap comp. Learn a lot sweating over the pc! But my wife thinks I have gone walkabout!
Thanks again.

Hi Ron: I always look forward to your posts because there is always something unusual. If I am not mistaking, like myself, you are relatively new to this. I like your approach, and I think it's a great way to get experience.

Great job on the Theme, very creative! Your work on the framing paid off, it looks fine.

Keep doing what your doing.

Wendy

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for the recognition, but I only 'recylced' what I learnt here.

I know it is stating the obvious now, but I thought you stood a good chance of winning with that, if only it hadn't been up against Rob's excellent sparrow - and Peter's sunset, but you just pipped that in the end anyway.

Yours is very nicely done with the frame and it really elevates it to 'the next level', I have been biding my time before being 'allowed' to say anything.

Anyway, my congrats to Rob, Wendy and Peter for the 'top 3 spots'.

Rob,

What I like about your sparrow is that you haven't overdone the colour on the bird, it is very natural looking.

Well done,

[ScoutR]

Thanks for the recognition, but I only 'recylced' what I learnt here.

Recycling is good and you did take a considerable amount of your time going through it in the "I don't usually PP much" thread. Didn't mean to center you out and embarass you, but I know this shot would not have stood out without the help you (and others) provided in that thread.

Well, it's time for work better get going

Wendy

[RobO]

Hi Wendy,

Outstanding photo.Nothing to critique on this IMO.I really like the frame too.

Hello Wendy

I whole-heartedly concur.

Very, very well done, love the shot and the frame suits the shot too.

Keep up the good work

Rob

[RobO]

Great pic Rob ... a real winner.
As for me ... sniff coming last begs me to ask why. Is it my chosen subject matter, how it is 'posed', the way I finished it etc? Any C&C would be really appreciated and don't be shy!

Hi Ron

Many thanks for your kind comments.

Please don't lose heart over this one shot. I've said many times, a picture is either a "technical record" of something or an art form, in my humble opinion! If it's a technical record then probably all the conventional "rules" of photography apply - correct exposure / rule of 3rds, horizons, verticals etc. However if it's an art form, you may get away with breaking rules - experimentation etc. One person's taste is not the same as the next person's.

Regarding your shot,I'm not sure what it is ..... maybe a trophy? Maybe something which you won and means something to you?

The subject matter means little to me, I cant relate to the trophy, I'm not sure what it was awarded for - the brick means nothing either, possibly a slightly unconventional plynth for the trophy? So I have very little to assess the shot on other than technical merit.

The exposure/lighting seems good as you haven't got reflections from the gold plating of the trophy and shaddows are well controlled too. As previously commented, I too am unsure of the angle at which it is shot, but probably would have thought along the lines of ..... if it's an award, it's for an achievement and generally your friends would look up to you? So, I would probably have tried a low angle, looking up to the trophy, try it with several different angles to see which suits it best.

Certainly, i'd try a different background. Maybe a very neutral one so that you can switch it out easily in software and replace it with another until you find one you like. Even try a dynamic sky shot which may suit it? Shot from a low angle, "sky's the limit"?

Take some general sky shots when your out with camera and see some great skies - they come in useful as backgrounds or part of backgrounds in other shots.

Strangely, we were out last night trying to informally photograph an awards presentation and on the way home were discussing the difficulty in getting the right poses with so much fun being had. we also reflected back to comments from Colin about backgrounds for shots. We certainly struggled last night to get impromptu backgrounds that were neutral. People were too short, too tall, there was a fire exit in shot, other people,etc etc - so difficult when relatively unplanned.

I think you should try the shot again with a different angle and maybe a better background, but it is a very difficult subject if your audience [us] don't know what the subject matter is and is inanimate. It's extremely difficult to make the photograph mean something to someone who doesn't recognise the subject.

I hope the above makes some sense

Please don't lose heart Ron, you chose a very difficult subject and obviously tried very hard.

Good luck with your next shots.

Rob

[RonH]

Wow, thanks Wendy and Rob for taking time out to comment. Once we get a bit more light up here I will try to get out and about more ... I hope I have an eye for the more unusual but with meaning.

Whilst I do treat each entry seriously I am all for a bit of humour if possible. The 'statue' was a mistake I think ... its only a statue on a block, means nothing to me (no kind of award) and clearly means nothing to those viewing. So unless I can explain 'what such and such is' then I should steer clear unless I can qualify to the viewer to give it some perspective.

Its really nice to be among such great company around the world ... very special. I spend quite some time 'doing things' so how the likes of our Dave, Colin etc etc cope with the massive efforts they put in to guide us ... phew!

Thanks again.

[Dave Humphries]

C&C welcome

Hi Arith,

I think I can see two reasons why this didn't do well; it could do with being sharper and it looks like there are some PP circular edged brush marks on the dark background at the top.

Hope that helps,