Weekly #381 - A sense of speed … Competition

Wow quite a number of photo's to consider this week! Well done all.

1 Arms Length Selfie (ForgottenHeritagePhotography)
Risky, a moving speedboat on a river, an arm’s length selfie; could easily have resulted in a new camera being required. I was struck by the fact one person had a hard hat and no one had life jackets! I do like the suggestion of speed given by the wind in your hair, although I would have preferred to seen the person half in the shot on the far left cropped out of the image.

2 Low Flying (Mudge)
A cracking photo, nice, sharp, but has captured movement in the propellers and suggests speed quite nicely. I don’t think I have ever seen an image of a spitfire in flight so close to the ground, very dramatic and shot at a fairly wide angle! A good example of being in the right place at just the right time?

3 The Green Machine (QuestionableCarrot)
An image that suggest speed through burning rubber. The car is well placed in the frame and is sharp. I like the off level horizon, technically it may not be “correct” but I feel it works in this case as it adds a touch of drama to the image and helps suggest speed.

4 Durham-pro-racing (Davidtrout)
I really liked this shot, it’s beautifully framed with the double yellow lines leading the eye from bottom left to top right. The cyclist is in just the right spot in the frame and I like the sense of speed the cyclist suggests by leaning into the corner.

5 Flight of the blue tit (JohnRiley)
I like the tightly cropped format and position of the bird in the frame. I also like the idea of creative blur to capture the movement of the bird’s wings in flight. I thought the fact that the birds head is a little too blurred and is somewhat lost in the dark background, held the image back.

6 Over the water (Perspicador)
A nice natural history shot, suggesting a graceful slower speed. It’s just a shame the birds are flying out of shot. This may have worked better for the brief if the birds had been building up to take off speed…

7 Angle of attack (SimonArron)
This is a really fantastic action shot, demonstrating really good technique. I like the fact that the image illustrates the different speeds of the two motorbikes so well. The position of the bikes in the fame is good with them both moving into the frame. The main subject is in focus and even the rider’s face is sharp. The only improvement I would have made would be to clone out the branch protruding into the road in the background and maybe the same for the white mark in the grass front left.

8 Fast and Gentle (Billyspad)
A well exposed sunset image, detail has been well rendered in the shadow areas. It’s interesting the water in the fountain appears blurred lower down, but sharper further up, almost as if two shutter speeds had been used at once… I felt in this image the foreground shrubbery got in the way of the main subject, I would have been tempted to move myself a little to the left.

9 Full Throttle (LancashireLad)
Another high speed action shot featuring a speedboat. I think the lines of this boat particularly towards the bow, say speed, and the wake at the stern helps too… Personally I would have been tempted to crop the horizon out of the image, as I don’t think it really adds much to the image.

10 Carousel (Walkeja)
I like the idea of using some creative blur to suggest speed, the image is nicely composed within the frame. Unfortunately it does look a little like the buildings in the background have suffered a little motion blur as a result of hand holding the shot, but considering the exposure length it’s a good effort. I have often resorted to holing my camera against a lamp post, wall, or fence post when I have experienced “I wish I had my tripod” moments.

11 Fireball (Rino)
Well the sparks are flying all directions at quite some speed with this image… Very creative and an original idea.

12 Raindrops at Low Speed (Daronl)
This image said Slow Motion to me, almost frozen in a moment of time. I like that you have managed to capture the raindrops hitting a leaf and breaking apart… The texture in the leaf is fantastic, although I did find the bright upper surface slightly distracting.

13 Running (ArsenAl)
Another creative blur image, very bright and full of colour. I had to check the Exif to ensure this was a Pentax image rather than oil on canvas! This image really does give the viewer a sense of speed but just manages to preserve sufficient detail in the lead runners face.

14 Munich U Bahn (michaelblue)
I guess this is rush hour German style? The train moving in or out of the station is the only thing suggesting speed, I found the colours in the underground station gave the image a bit of an unappealing drab feel…

15 Falling Camera (tyronet2000)
Another person after a new camera… Very abstract and nice colours but it did not really give me a sense of speed.

16 A Quick Getaway (Noelcmn)
A nice idea and good image title. The eagle has been captured in about the right place in the frame however I did not think it was quite in focus. Also it’s a shame the pray it collected was obscured by the birds wing position.

17 Mini no. 12 (bforbes)
Another speedy motorsport image, panning has ensured the car is sharp and the background is speeding past. For me this is a good image but did not have as much interest as the motorbikes.

18 Need for speed (stu62)
Speed? Yes, and more burning rubber, but the other thing this image suggests is a deafening noise! Personally I think I would have cropped tighter particularly to remover the green and red lights out of the right hand edge of the frame and maybe the second tier of spectators.

19 Wingspeed’s off the Beaufort Scale (drofmit)
A really great image of a feeding moth. I particularly like that you have managed to capture the speed of the wings whilst keeping the eyes and body of the insect razor sharp. I also like the framing of the image with the flower leading in from the bottom left to top right.

20 Snail Pace (GlynM)
Quite a late entry this one, but I am impressed it’s been shot and processed on the day! A fun image (well it made me smile) and the only one to have attempted not just to give a sense of speed but to actually measure speed!


The winner is…
1) Angle of attack – (SimonArron)
Runners up…
2) Wingspeed’s off the Beaufort Scale – (Drofmit)
3) Running – (ArsenAl)

Thanks for the winning vote, Stephen, and the comprehensive analysis. I really liked several rival entries - and Glyn's snail made me chuckle. Usual compliments to the other nominees and I'll conjure a follow-up once I've had a bowl of yoghurt, a couple of espressos and a cheese-filled croissant...

Congratulations to the Winner and other placings. Thanks to Stephen for the interesting subject, judging and comprehensive comments

Thanks for the podium place...
and congratulations to Simon and ArsenAl...
Loved the runner!
My series of shots of Hummingbird Hawkmoths are filed under "Humphreys"...
UK people of a certain "Harrumph" age will remember the Milk Marketing Board adverts!!
But I've never yet found one with a red&white striped proboscis!!

Thanks also for another set of good comments...
as always tweeks to be observed...
and other peoples ideas to be looked at and learnt from.

Tareversuch,
Tim

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"Give a thousand photographers...
the same camera, lens and scene...
and you'll always get a thousand different takes!!"
Anon.

Many thanks Stephen for a great competition that I thought you managed really well with a great set of comments, prompt results and excellent judging - Brilliant!

Congratulations to Simon for the excellent winning image, the runners-up and everyone else for another fantastic set of pictures.

Glyn

Congratulations to Simon and his podium friends. Thanks to Stephen for the interesting competition and his fulsome judging

Thanks for my 3rd place! And congrats to Simonarron and Drofmit!