Monthly Comp #13 - Wish You Were Here Competition

A great selection of photos this time. Thank you all for taking the time to enter. It was quite difficult to judge and several were close to winning. Some of the entries were good record shots for the family album but I feel wouldn't really be suitable as a card to sell a place or venue. The winning images have to have a universal appeal. So here goes:


The Digital Age - Hiddendragon28

This is sharp, well exposed photograph, the composition is good and the superimposed text sits well. It's a good and interesting photograph so well done for that. What I'm not sure about is would I really want to go there, so perhaps wishing we were there seems somewhat tongue in cheek!


Flamborough Head - co049

A monochrome seascape. Actually similar to many of the postcard scenes in the Judges photographic postcard series from the early 20th century. The composition of the photo is pleasant enough but suspect it has suffered in the conversion from an analogue medium to digital. The fast film has given quite a grainy result and while that's helpful for some subjects, I don't think it is for a seascape. I feel using a finer grained film such as Pan F or FP4 would have brought out more detail, though maybe the scanning conversion has proved to be an issue. Close examination of the image shows some dust spots which could, perhaps, have been cleaned up in PP with the spotting tool, they'd need spotting out on a print too!


The Alnwick Garden - tyronet2000

The composite idea is a good one for a postcard. The three original images used are good and ideal but I cannot think why you have used such a distracting background to place them on. (It's good to know where the toilets are but perhaps not on a postcard!) I think a neutral photo or even plain background with a simple text title would have been far better than the garden's brochure.


Manchester, a new Garden City - johnriley

John's found an oasis in he middle of a large city centre. The photograph would make a good greetings card for the area but I'm not sure this was taken from the best viewpoint. Had the photograph been mine I think I would have tried to include less of those dark shadow areas near to you as they are quite prominent and in my opinion, do detract.


Bales over Mortehoe - Hayzeedays

A really good subject here with the hay bales and the setting sun. I like the idea of capturing the reflection of the sun on the sea but unfortunately that is partially hidden from view by the nearby hay bale. A slightly different viewpoint and that could have been made more of to balance the picture better, everything of interest is on the left of the picture and not much on the right. My thoughts, keep the bale on the left as you have it but have the sun with its reflection on the right, or crop off the right hand side of the image as there isn't anything critical there and the result would be stronger. There's something odd about the sky too; it looks quite dull and an odd colour, have you used a coloured graduated filter?


Mauritius - kemopop1

Mauritius must be a place many of us would wish we were there! I think there's a picture to be had here but not sure this is it as presented. It really lacks a main subject. The three boats that caught your attention could well be it and using a longer lens to just capture the three boats with the reflection behind could well have been a winner (or crop the image you have.) Suggest you try croping the image on that basis and see how it looks then.


Golden Canola Fields of Western Canada - JudithAnn

This is really good for a 'Wish You Were Here' postcard. The selection of images makes you feel that is really meant with a smiling youngster and happy looking workers. The composite format really works with each image having a yellow glow so it holds it together very well. Thanks for taking the time to put this together, it looks like a real postcard; excellent.


Bygone age of speed - miles500

I'd never have guessed that it was photographed at the Festival of Speed; it looks somewhere in the Caribbean with those Palm Trees. Certainly a different take on the usual photos from there. The exposure is fine, it's sharp but a little bit more selective focussing might have helped; a wider aperture might have made the background less distracting. One major issue I have is that you have broken one of the cardinal photographic sins - two peope have trees growing out of their heads! That would have been cured by having less depth of field, i.e. a wider aperture. Personally I think I'd want to rearrange this and have bluebird as the main subject matter, which is what we'd really want to see, and have the attendants behind it looking on. I think this therefore looks to be too much of a snapshot style picture rather than a 'wish you were here' image.


Lazy Canal Walk - MalGar

DSLR meets plate camera of yesteryear! A very traditional postcard look here. One can almost believe turning it over and looking at the back would show the publisher Judges or Valentines. The picture shows a very tranquil lock scene and might easily be selected for purchase from a local shop. Nice reflections, composition just fine, it just looks like a real postcard from the 1920's. I believe you have achieved the photograph you were after here, well done.


Gerry - samdcoates

A really fun entry that could be used at many venues. He really looks like he's taking! I see it's very central in the frame which breaks most rules of composition , but non the less it is well exposed, good and sharp, no fussy backgrounds or anything to detract and it would certainly attract card buyers, especially the youngsters. Well done for that! As a 'wish you were here' photo, it doesn't really give any idea of where we'd have to go.


Hide and Seek @ Sunset - quackpants

A lovely picture with a good sense of place. I've never seen a lighthouse like that before so thanks for sharing the photo. It looks like a subject that could be used to show all sorts of moods. I'd really love to go and see it. In this case the sun is setting and low on the horizon yet you have managed to retain sufficient detail in the building rather than having a complete silhouette. The subject matter is well placed in the frame - I'm sure you've debated variations and I think cutting it directly in half and just having the right hand side might actually work better. However I appreciate most postcards use the landscape format and it would look to be an obvious choice to select for buying to post a 'Wish You Were Here' message on. There isn't really anything to criticize!


Sunset Surfer - Tiny2

With a sun like that it seems we'd all be frazzled instantly! It's a simple composition and because of that it works really well. If possible it could do with a slight adjustment to level the horizon. Whether the picture really shouts Aberavon Beach I doubt, it could have been anywhere, but non the less an eye-catching photograph to grab the card buyer.


Save You A Seat - bforbes

An excellent capture in what looks to be tricky lighting conditions yet the picture looks very natural.
I feel though that the crop is very tight, the edge of the jukebox has been lost, a bit of the grey wall to the left would have framed it better (perhaps a slightly wider angle field of view?) Part of the picture appears to be sloping to the right, but oddly not the jukebox. I suspect if it was the 43mm prime lens it has left no margin for adjustment. I'd trust the buyer would write on the back where he wished the reader to be because it isn't obvious from the photograph!


Welcome to Oxford - GaryJohn

A really nice shot of some old buildings in Oxford and the contrast looks to have been well managed in PP. Good straight verticals. It is an image that should encourage someone to want to go and visit.


Souvenir de Collioure- gartmore

Really does look like a real postcard, complete with caption. The colour balance and contrast seems about right, so your adjustments must have helped. The image is a good advert for the Q too!


Novodevichy Monastery - ArsenAI

A really nice photograph of the Monastery with a nicely captured reflection. Certainly makes you want to go and sit and admire the view. I think I might have been tempted to try a tighter crop as there isn't much of interest on the right side and it would have concentrated the view on that lovely reflection..


Secret Admirer - Perspicador

A Bumble Bee going about his daiy routine. Not sure this fits in with the theme (unless there are postcards sent by bees to other bees!) It is very difficult to get a sharp image of an insect in flight without the use of flash and not sure this has really come off.


Sunset @ Reitvlei Nature Reserve - Noelcmn

This is a stunning sunset and looks to have been taken without the use of filters or Photoshopping afterwards. It is certainly in the running. Love to go and see it!


Wish you were here & not in the other world - Spider-Man

A sad little epitaph in your description, but for the competition it's the picture that counts. I do like it. It is a good record shot of the building and reminder of what it is. It's certainly sharp enough and well exposed and perhaps the lack of sunshine adds something to the mood. I do find the building behind a little disturbing so a lower viewpoint if possible may have helped eliminate that though perhaps access wasn't possible. But well done for a valiant attempt to do something a little different.


Coventry cathedral from a distance - wozfromcov

A lovely sharp photograph with natural looking colours. I like the shot for what it is but not sure how it is saying 'Wish You Were Here.' A couple of points worth mentioning. Something odd has happened around the spire, a sort of ghost effect and I doubt it is the holy ghost! It might help too using the perspective correction in Elements or similar to correct the leaning back effect; i.e. do tilt-shift in post processing when you haven't got a dedicated lens that does that.


Welcome to the heat... - drofmit

Oh dear, what has happened here?! Surely you're not wishing that on us? Think you need to fix it before we come. The photo is a good reminder of what happened, I suspect the spokes weren't tensioned evenly causing it to buckle if it wasn't simply run over. The photo is fine as a record of the event but as a 'wish you Were Here' postcard picture I'm not so sure.


Dance to the music - arrondee

I can see where you are coming from wishing we were there. Looks like everyone is having a great time. Technically it is good but it looks more like a photo for the family album that one would find produced to buy.


I'm sure others will have their own favourites but these are mine:

1st: Golden Canola Fields of Western Canada - JudithAnn
2nd: Hide and Seek @ Sunset - quackpants
3rd: Welcome to Oxford - GaryJohn
HC = Sunset @ Reitvlei Nature Reserve - Noelcmn
HC = Souvenir de Collioure- gartmore
HC = Lazy Canal Walk - MalGar

Congratulations JudithAnn on the first place - very well deserved, a lovely image.
Thank you for my third place - and well done to everyone who entered, a really impressive set of images.

Congratulations JudithAnn, that is indeed a stunner, love the yellow tones. I'd certainly want to visit that place when the canola fields are looking like that. Great stuff. Thanks for judging JAK, super contest, and super images too. Thanks for the HC. You are right, I do not use filters other than a UV filter, and neither do I use Photoshop. I use GIMP and Microsoft Windows.

Congratulations to the Winner and other placings. Interesting subject and comments

Congratulations to those on the podium, cracking shots all.
Good subject setting and judging JAK

Golden Rape fields...
somehow JudithAnn, you have made them look very attractive...
so well done!
[Please read that as...
"SO well done"... and not "so, well done!!"]
For the reasons below I hate the plant:
1] We've had tractor and trailers full of the stuff passing here as they harvest before the pods pop!
2] I am allergic to the pollen
Great postcard...
perfect, and so much more golden than here in Central France or Norfolk [UK]...
here and in Norfolk, there is just too much green and too much of a patchwork to get shots like these...
and I like the way the reds you chose set the gold off!!

The Dali bike... a bit of fun!!
Richelieu is a grid formation town and walls enclose everything...
it was reading 34 Centipedes on the weather station here when we got home... in open countryside!
In Richlieu it must have been much higher...
[but we were in a 2CV... no temperature gauge!]
the bike wasn't there as we walked in...
there were no sirens while we were there...
so I would go with badly tensioned spokes!
And possibly expansion in the heat...
there was no visible damage to the bike!!

And today, we hit 40 Centipedals...
and it is still 26 degrees hot at almost 11PM
[10PM in Scarbro'... where I could sit and eat Fusion Chips and drink a pint on Yorkshire Day!!]
As it is, I am drinking some Anglo Dutch "Wildflower" [A Dewsbury brew!!]
A really nice competition!!
Thanks...

Wow.....this win was completely unexpected . I am truly honoured. These fields are so stunning to view and July is a fantastic time to visit our often cold and windy part of northern Canada. I know the pollen and "other" factors may make this a bothersome I crop, but it is a beauty to see the fluorescent yellow glow. Right now the flowers are falling and the fields are patchy looking, and some of the splender has passed away.
The wheat and barley are now gathering soft golds and rusty reds....bring it on says the inner photographer !!

Congrats to all the winner and a big thank you to the judge for all your work. A new topic will be posted soon.

JA

Thanks to John for setting the subject and the constructive comments.

Congratulations to the JA for the winning entry and to everyone who took part