Monthly #171 - Summer's End Competition

Thank you to all the participants in the September monthly competition, a wonderfully diverse set of entries on the theme "Summers End".

I know that commenting on / judging competitions is not high on many peoples list of favourite things to do but I do enjoy reading the comments on mine and others images so I suppose having to do it in return is a small price to pay.
Apologies to any of you who feel I may have been harsh/ critical, any comment or view is intended to help the author look at their work and maybe see a way to improve it (as seen through anothers eyes)

To the comments then:

Last of the vegetables - by jrutle
Nice collection of vegetables for a still life. September is certainly the time for harvesting what we can from the garden. To me the top 1/3 of the image is unnecessary as it adds nothing to the composition, all the interest is in the veggies. When viewed large it is clear that the focus point has been the chair back and not the vegetables, which as a consequence are a little soft.

After the rains - by gibis
You could almost here the gardens sigh with relief when those rains started to fall!
The water droplets and veins in the leaf through the middle third are spot on as is the dark background. Focus drifts a little in the top and bottom thirds and there is that distracting light section across the bottom of the image – just cropping that off really lifts the image.

Cherry leaf (I think) - by kasperbergholt
The leaf has a wonderful deep colour and texture, it almost looks like it has been fashioned in leather. The contrast with the monochrome surface also works really well. A striking and memorable image.

Ivy Flower - by MHOL190246
Well seen and well captured. The number of similar shots I have missed by the insect taking flight just as I press the shutter! Composition and focus both work for me – just a little noisy though (if you have access to a program like lightroom or Topaz and run the noise reduction filter it will pay dividends)

End of the season - by Klara
Definitely the end for this plant! You can almost feel the heat of the sun drying everything to a crisp. The subject is well lit and in sharp focus, unfortunately the background despite being well out of focus is so bright and similar in colour to the main subject it almost swallows it up. The dark wood to the left of the image would have made a much better background. It is easy to fall into the trap of concentrating on your subject and forgetting what surrounds it (I know as I have done it so many times!)

Summer end - by Flatcoat
Beautiful colours and well composed. The colours are so vibrant it looks more like it should be spring or mid summer. I think this image would make a good jigsaw.
As an aside and no comment on the image, I did note that the EXIF data showed the Date Taken as 01/01/2008 – 00.01, so I assume your cmos battery has died and you did not reset time and date when putting in a fresh battery – something else which has caught me out more than once!

When summer ends the ground erupts - by davidwozhere
Doesent it just! Really well captured with a nice low point of view. Focus and lighting are spot on. The colour and texture of the polyphores contrast so well with the grass – super image

Spring is Here – by Noelcmn
Nice reminder Noel that in the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are a mirror image from where we are in the North. Well seen and captured, and you have the benefit of an interesting sky. Looking up and using an ultra wide lens does aide the composition.

Final fling – by Graham_A_E
Gorgeous colours and superbly separated from the background. What more classic way to say the end of summer than a fading sunflower.
I am not sure what program you are using to process your images but in this case it has stripped out all of the EXIF information including camera, lens and date taken.

In Memoriam – by Simonmac
Surprisingly the only monochrome image for this month. The texture on the leaves and the gravestone are superb, and the shadows cast by the ivy (?) could not have fallen better. The sharp focus is all on the branch and leaves which is a shame as I so want to read more of the inscription!

My winner and podium places for this month are:

1st - Cherry leaf (I think) - by kasperbergholt
2nd -When summer ends the ground erupts - by davidwozhere
3rd -Final fling – by Graham_A_E

lovely competition; superb entries, lovely comments!
no apologies needed Stephen!

Thanks for your comments.... I used Photoshop and Lightroom but the image is made up of 5 images blended together. That probably explains the lack of EXIF details.

Best wishes,

Graham

Thanks Graham, I was a bit confused as most of the other pictures you have posted contain the full EXIF. You have done an excellent job to blend 5 images so seamlessly - way beyond my general dabbling in LR or PS

Huge thanks, Stephen, for choosing my cherry leaf, and for the thoughtful comments on every entry. I really enjoyed reading them, and you're right that the leaf almost looked like leather.

Congratulations to davidwozhere and Graham_A_E on their well-deserved podium places, and thanks to everyone who entered. It was a nicely varied set of images, and it's a real honour to win among them.

The October competition, titled "Unusual Architecture", is now open. Interpret it as broadly as you like, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Kasper

The coveted 2nd place! Thank you for the need to do nothing more!! Kasper - that's a super job that does indeed stand out. What are the fruits(?) behind the leaf? Well done Graham too. One would not realise it was a blend without being told so. It looks so very sad to be on the way to the compost heap! .... Absolutely irrelevant to the contest, if anyone likes sunflowers, get Sunflower TITAN ! 10 feet tall with monster heads - they are magnificent!

Thanks David

They're horse chestnuts - (or conkers, as I believe you'd call them over there?