Photo Competition for November - THE RESULT

[Donald]

Congratulations to all entries. Voting was, again, widely spread.

We have a tie for second place between:

Mike

with



and

Bobo

with

And in first place this month is:

Hui Song

with

Well done to those three. The closest challengers to these winners were entry numbers 26 and 30. You can view the all the entries here.

The December challenge is now up and running. Go here to post your entry.

[Bobobird]

Congrats Hui Song, great pic and well-deserved first placing.

Now there Mike - firstly congrats. Glad mine tied with yours. Looking at them now side by side they have quite a few similarities.

Thanks to everyone who voted for the food queue.

[WJT]

Thats a classic piece Hui Song and a deserved winner, congratulations. Some excellent images in this round and a strong competition so well done to Bobo and Mike also.

[Wendy Stanford]

Wonderful images all round in the Nov Comp,
Congratulations to Mike and Bobo, very well done, Hui Song, excellent image and well deserved winner

[IzzieK]

Congratulations to all the participants and especially the winners. You all deserve to win...

[Mike Buckley]

Indeed! Congratulations to Hui Song for a well-deserved first place.

I liked Bobo's the instant I saw it in the other threads and couldn't be happier than to share second place with him. I do think, though, that his photo should get top billing over mine in recognition of his past winnings and placements (this is my first placement). If that argument isn't good enough, his name comes before mine when listed alphabetically.

It should be no surprise that my entry came to be only because of the typical CiC community effort. In my first version of the image, several people made suggestions about how to improve the composition on the right side. After presenting the revision that incorporated their ideas, Matt (flyingSquirrel) suggested that the stem on the left side should be lying down as shown in the image that I submitted for the composition rather than standing upright. So, thank you not just to the voters that selected "our" image but also to everyone who helped me make improvements to it.

[Otavio]

Congratulations to Hui Song, Bobo and Mike. Very nice images here.

[dragon76]

Congrat! Hui Song & Bobo. Those are wonderful images and definitely deserved the titles.
Mike, your image is technically awesome. I am very new (newb) to Photography but I love to learn and experiment different aspects of photography. Would you mind sharing a few tips about this image? ie. Was strobe/ strobes being used or continuous lights, angle of reflection, black cards and CP filter?

Well done guys

Cheers


Dean

[Bobobird]

I liked Bobo's the instant I saw it in the other threads and couldn't be happier than to share second place with him. I do think, though, that his photo should get top billing over mine in recognition of his past winnings and placements (this is my first placement). If that argument isn't good enough, his name comes before mine when listed alphabetically.

Ha! That reasoning is indeed convoluted.

[Mike Buckley]

Dean,

I see that you're relatively new to CiC. Welcome!

I have always used continuous light for my photos of glass because moving or rotating the glass just a little bit this way or that can dramatically alter the appearance of the light and dark areas of the glass, depending on the piece of glass. Using continuous light gives me the chance to examine those details as long as I want, which is often at least 15 minutes for each piece of glass included in the photo. However, once the position of the glass has been determined, it doesn't matter whether one uses a speed light or continuous light to capture the image.

The light is positioned directly behind the subject shining directly toward the subject through a piece of white acrylic that is 40% translucent. (I prefer this or translucent vellum to all other diffusion materials I have tried because they are so smooth and devoid of imperfections.) The broken glass is placed on a tabletop made of black acrylic. (Other common choices that create a reflection are clear glass or a mirror.) The camera is placed high enough relative to the subject in this case that the tabletop's horizon (its rear edge) is included far too much in the capture. I eliminated the horizon by cropping and straightening during post-processing. (I often include the horizon and display it in the photo. I also often include the horizon and eliminate it during post-processing.)

Typically, you wouldn't know whether the capture is black-and-white or color except for perhaps 1% to 2% of the image that invariably displays the spectrum of visible color caused by prismatic diffraction. (If I'm using a glass tabletop, its green tint shows. The same is true if the subject is cheap, thick glass.) When those colors are distracting (sometimes they are a primary attraction), I always convert to black-and-white by either using whatever color filter works best or by simply desaturating everything. (This is one of the few types of conversions to monochrome when desaturating can be preferred.)

This style of photographing clear glass is commonly called a bright field background or dark outline. The opposite choice that reverses the dark and bright areas is commonly called a dark field background or bright outline. If either style interests you, pick up the latest edition of Light: Science and Magic, as it explains the basic concept in greater detail along with why everything appears as it does. This particular photo employs the concept explained in the book though is a variation on the theme, so to speak. If you want to really become bored with photos of clear glass, look for my threads pertaining to glass.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my makeshift studio is essentially a black enclosure that prevents anything from being reflected in the glass that I don't intentionally want reflected in it. The floor, ceiling and three sides are black. The rear side is a white wall that I sometimes use for bouncing light off it.

Thanks for asking!

[Mike Buckley]

Ha! That reasoning is indeed convoluted.

What else would you expect of someone who spends hours photographing broken glass...and enjoys every minute of it?

[Hazeb1]

Congrats to the winners!! Great shots all.

[Bobobird]

What else would you expect of someone who spends hours photographing broken glass...and enjoys every minute of it?

LOL, was going to say exactly that but have to leave something for you

Okie, that makes it 4 posts to 5555.

[Hui Song]

Congratulations to Mike and Bobo.

It is surprise to me. I am still a newbie and really didn't except this. There are many excellent shots in this round. They even make me trace back to other member's previous posts. Checking the monthly competition is a joyful learning process for me.

Thanks for all your votes. Keep shooting. Keep posting.

[dragon76]

Dean,

I see that you're relatively new to CiC. Welcome!


This style of photographing clear glass is commonly called a bright field background or dark outline. The opposite choice that reverses the dark and bright areas is commonly called a dark field background or bright outline. If either style interests you, pick up the latest edition of Light: Science and Magic, as it explains the basic concept in greater detail along with why everything appears as it does. This particular photo employs the concept explained in the book though is a variation on the theme, so to speak. If you want to really become bored with photos of clear glass, look for my threads pertaining to glass.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my makeshift studio is essentially a black enclosure that prevents anything from being reflected in the glass that I don't intentionally want reflected in it. The floor, ceiling and three sides are black. The rear side is a white wall that I sometimes use for bouncing light off it.

Thanks for asking!

Thanks Mike. I am just exploring different styles at the moment to learn as much as i can but my main interest is studio and environmental portraiture. I have just learned something new as I had never thought of using perspex as a light filter. I have used it in my environmental portraits but only as a reflecting medium. Light field and dark field styles are something that i have not explored and they are very interesting. I saw another winning dark field image on CIC of a glass of red wine and it was also stunning. I will definitely acquire the book.

Cheers


Dean

[FlyingSquirrel]

Congrats to the winners. All very beautiful and unique images! Mike, it was very nice of you to point out the community involvement in the creation of that version of your photo. That is one of the things that is great about CiC, is the community, the helping, the learning, etc. Besides, with how much time you spend locked away in your little studio shooting glass, you need some contact with other humans on the outside, and CiC offers you that.

[Mike Buckley]

with how much time you spend locked away in your little studio shooting glass

It's actually OK when I'm there of my own accord. It gets touchy, though, when I realize that my wife has locked me inside it.

[Brownbear]

Congratulations to all. All truly beautiful and thought provoking images!

Mike, I'm especially delighted to see your photographic art of glass works receive some well-deserved recognition!

[Dusty]

I think everybody who submits a image is a winner. It takes a lot of nerve to put your image on show like this (is for me anyway) and have people vote for it. So 1 winner but all winners.
Dave.

[Ken Curtis]

Well done everyone. I certainly enjoyed viewing them. It was hard to choose just one.