Weekly #368 - Doors and Windows Competition

Many thanks to everyone who entered, time now to see what we have and select some winners!

Window reflections - Always a great idea to show the old reflected in the new. The modern windows are used here to great effect, the overall image though being slightly flat because of the indifferent lighting. Light is everything and a day when the old building is better lit would certainly produce a more dramatic image.

Window lights – I like the way the light patterns give us an alternative view of windows. It works well, not one of the winners but nonetheless a well thought out and executed picture.

Smal – This is a very interesting door, suitable for hobbits and dwarves no doubt. Scale is implied by the size of the bricks, the lighting is good and the colour and sharpness spot on. I'm not sure we need such a tall image, the top is a little bright, and it could perhaps at least be toned down so it's not so prominent.

Hostel windows – Good clean colour and accurate exposure, but I wonder why the tilt. If we want tilt then as a rule it's better to make it obvious that it's intentional. I think I would try to get a viewpoint that gives a face on view of these, to make a more symmetrical composition.

Belsay view – Very nice indeed, this has been carefully composed and also the exposure has been well balanced between the bright exterior and the darker interior areas. The choice of monochrome removes any colour distraction so we can more clearly enjoy the formal architectural details.

Window – A nice idea that just needs a small amount of work to make it more precise. The window isn't quite square, so probably a bit of TLC in the Transform tool of Photoshop would lift this quite a bit.

Ooops! - Excellent concept, well executed. This tells its own little story beautifully.

Looking in – Yes, this hits the spot as well. Lovely texture and colour and a really interesting subject. If it were mine I would try to crop in on the open window pane, excluding most of the surrounding frames. I think there's enough information to tell the story without showing so much of the broken frame.

Grey's Monument Reflecting – Another great idea, just needing more dramatic black and white with a fuller range of tones. It's a bit grey and white at the moment.

1767 – It's a fantastic gate. The shot looks as though it was made on quite a bright day. This has resulted in over-exposure of some parts of the frame. A bright overcast day might be better.

Sardinian windows – Great colour and a great viewpoint in this image. For me, it's crying out for the cliché of one old, craggy woman leaning on a balcony rail on a third. Classic!

The cleaning ropes – Good shot, the viewpoint entices us to see this as perhaps the deck of a ship, until the ropes give it away. Nice one.

Through the square window – Oh no it's not! I know a square when I see one, and this window is not square. However, pedantry can be cast aside because we have another splendid idea. Probably the only pity is that there's not something more interesting to look at as we gaze through the window.

The Red Door – Splendid! I really like the red and the splash of greenery, it was a good idea to keep them both in colour. The door frame is all kept in – just – and the overall effect is really good.

A cottage in Revieux – What a lovely cottage, just the place to retire to, and made here into a well thought out image. The light is great and it has helped to strengthen the image.

Back view – Plenty of windows here, but what a shame to be viewing the mundane back of everything. The direction of the light has meant that it's all rather dull, although to be fair that could easily be a deliberate statement on the photographer's part.

The Wonderful Doors of Castle Acre – I can't argue with a title like that, nor with the great selection of doors. A good solid set of images, all sharp, well exposed and carefully composed. Lovely colour as well.

Hotel windows – This building lends itself to being photographed, it's very unusual. Somehow buildings like this seem quite impersonal, so I think I'd suggest going in even closer to make a pure abstract. However, it's still a fine shot, with good clean lines and a slightly unreal, dark mood to it.

Dutch shadows – The brightest part of any image does tend to catch our attention. In this instance, if we look at the distribution of the bright areas they seem to be fairly heavily concentrated to the left. This leaves the right side of the image striving for attention and making the composition a little unbalanced. This could perhaps be worked around, as otherwise the image is a great idea just in need of a slight tweak.

And there we have it – a very impressive selection of images, every one fulfilling the brief. The podium awaits, and those to step forwards are:

Winner: Belsay View by bforbes
Second: The wonderful doors of Castle Acre by dromfit
Third: Ooops! By michaelblue

Highly commended: daronl, Blythman and Helder.

Well done again everyone, and over to Barrie!

Congratulations to the Winner and other places. Thanks to John for the interesting subject, judging and comprehensive comments.

Thanks John for giving me the top spot in your competition. As always your judging and comments are well considered and informative. My congratulations to all who took part, it was a good entry.

Its a lovely shot, and agree with the judge, this is best in B/W. Congratulations Bforbes, Dromfit and Michaelblue and the HM's. Excellent challenge and equally excellent judging an comments- thanks John.

Thanks for the podium place...
and a great subject....
as always, the comments on the various pix are what I need...
I liked the one of the hotel at Farnborough...
I would have shot from the same viewpoint...
but now I see the idea of the abstract!
The Bullards doorway is in a very high, side wall of what is now a former pub [] that used to belong to Bullards of Norwich...
I have often wondered why it is marked like that...
it leads to the old cellar...
did the draymen need to be told which door to deliver to??

All those doors were a result of my mother...
sending me out to photograph the doorway of one of her friends...
to turn into a needlework cushion...
a hobbyskill which she used to do freehand...
directly on the material!!
Once I really started to look at the various doorways...
I got hooked!

If it had been in the "old" days, I would have gone through the better part of three rolls of thirty-six....
there are a total of eighty-seven doorways on eighty-eight pix....

The double pic was going to be my entry...
a cat sitting on a doorstep...
pic one; a woman is looking out of the window beside the door: cat looking straight ahead...
the second one; no woman, cat looking round towards the window...
caption: "Someone was watching me?!"
But when I looked closely...
I'd snatched that second one...
no way to sharpen it!!

But I doooo lurve digital film!!

Good subject, well judged John.
Well done to Barrie and the other podium placed photographers and the HCs.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Thank you John for third place, what a surprise!
It was an interesting subject, nice to see a good variety of photos.
Well done to bforbes and Dromfit, I agree too with the winning shot....wonderful! I look forward to the next competition.....

Many thanks John for a very nice competition. I thought it was a well chosen subject, well judged with an excellent set of reviews.

Congratulations to Barrie for the very well deserved winning entry, the runners up and everyone else for another great collection of Pentax images.

Glyn

Congratulations Barrie. It was the stand out shot for me. Congrats to to other placings and HC's

Judging much appreciated John

Congratulations Barrie and the other Podium finishes. Great winning shot, it was my favourite of the entries too!

Regards
David