Monthly #136- The Alphabet Race Competition

Thank you all for your submission, and having looked forward to these, I am amply satisfied with the entries, all on brief, and as usual, high quality images, and varied interpretations of the brief. Some thoughts:

MHOL190246- Shield Bug- Excellent start to the challenge, a favored subject of mine, except when they let of their stink (known here as stink bugs) this one has beautiful color tones, and set against the green leaf, makes for excellent color contrast. Wonderfully detailed too and no issues with the focus or the comp!

Johnriley- Girl Next door- Her name is not Alice by any chance? As in “for 24 years I’ve been living next door to Alice”. This is a fantastic shot, the DOF is superb, as is the comp. Excellent use of available light. A heartwarming portrait in warm light, giving this a homely feel and very nice touch with the magazine. And I‘m changing my lounge colors to Pink!

PRYorkshire- Yorkshire- Love this perspective, giving that sign a rather imposing dominant presence in this landscape shot. Beautifully sharp, and with yellow being the color of warmth and friendship, this one is apt for visitors. Super comp too, with leading lines and loads more lines-vertical, horizontal and diagonal. Would have been nice to have a human present (even better with some Yorkshire pudding in hand) but its absence makes for a great sense of anticipation here! What lies ahead?

Sueriley-Tractor- Oooh, nice one. Popping red against a green background Sharp, well composed, and my interest is piqued by that titbit of a structure to the right. A garden perhaps and not a farm? Wonderful DOF here, and as is usual with these “past their sell by date” or “abandoned vehicles”, I just want to sit in that thing and feel the textures, the atmosphere and the nostalgia! Excellent!

Davidwozhere- Aldis Lens- OK, so you succeeded in getting me to employ mother Google for this one, and very interesting it is too! Excellent employ of the minimalist genre, the green and black background works really well here. Excellent comp, excellent DOF and textures! Now I want to know, on which Camera was this? We have come a long way!

Francisbd- Colors of Autumn- Wonderful! I can smell it! I want to touch it, or bury my nose in it! Which I guess is what photography is supposed to do! Super comp, very appealing pink, nicely detailed! Hydrangea are so photogenic! And justice done to that sentiment!

Drofmit- Shield bug-Fantastic Macro shot, and unlike expectation, this one has DOF. Those eyes! Super comp and colors. They do appear in strange places. Nice illusory image, I thought it was carrying an egg sac or something! Did it have a leg missing, or is it just out of view? Beautiful!

RayW-double header- I’m intrigued! Was the train on the further side moving? If so, that’s pretty good timing to get these head to head! Nicely composed, with a pop of yellow in what would be an otherwise drab urban scene. My eyes are exploring all the “beyond” things here- buildings, arched architecture and no people? Even more intriguing is that blue angled overhead cover. What??

And onto the winners
1st spot to Johnriley- Pretty sure her name is Alice, and she strikes a pretty pose in a homely setting
2nd spot to sueriley for that super red pop of the tractor.
3rd spot to davidwozhere- excellent still life with nostalgia.

HC to all other entries. Thanks all. Over to John for the November monthly challenge.

Many thanks for the win, I'm glad you liked the shot! Great to see some varied, high quality shots as well.

I'll post a new competition shortly.

Thanks for the lovely feedback. Yes the further train was moving. The nearer one had stopped to change direction. I was changing trains at Reading, just before sunset, shining light on to the trains. Reading is a new-ish station with striking architecture, old and new.

Lovely 1950s style picture John. You've made her look like a pin up sweetheart. Great 1st place. And who doesn't like an archetypal little (?) red tractor? Congratulations to you both. And thank you for a very safe place to be third.

I'm curious about the "green and black" background however. It's meant to be a very black black. I put the shutter in front of the mouth of a large, black waste bin on its side with just a bit of daylight getting past one side. There just is no light of any colour around or behind the thing - it's black. Has anyone else seen a green and black background?

The shutter came off a Houghton carbine folder of around 1920. The camera was a wreck.

Congratulations to John for his beautiful photo and his model with such a pretty smile!
We clearly feel the atmosphere of a happy era: Softness, art of living and happiness emanate from this photo!

Bravo à John pour sa très belle photo et son modèle au si joli sourire !
On ressent bien l' ambiance d' une époque heureuse : Douceur , art de vivre et bonheur émanent de cette photo !

Thanks for the competition and judging, Noel....
Congratulations to John for the winning shot... and I can only echo what Francis and David write!
Congrats too to Sue and David... have you tried using that lens, David?
The leg is there on mine, Noel, you can see the knee hard up against the thorax... but I had to look at the other photos to make sure!! [All insects do lose legs and/or parts of legs... so it was perfectly formed....
Lovely collection of pix, yet again....

Congratulations to John, Sue and David. Thankyou for the competition, judging and comments, Noel.

Michael