Weekly #382 - Four seasons in one week Competition

Thanks as ever to those who took time and trouble to submit a fine, diverse selection of images.

Herewith a few random thoughts… with the usual caveats (all views purely personal, any offence caused strictly unintentional, don’t actually know what I’m doing etc etc).

The Mating Season, by mudge
An appropriate start. I’ve hadn’t read a great deal (well, anything) about amphibians’ amorous tendencies, but such rituals have an unmistakeable whiff of spring. A nice twin portrait of frogdom.

A day at the seaside, by stu62
Described as ‘a typical August bank holiday’, although it looks to me like quite a cold sky. The exif data claims it was taken in December, but that might well be inaccurate. I’m sure we’ve all accidentally reset our cameras’ clocks (I have, and thus possess shots that clearly weren’t taken in a European January). A very pleasing image overall, although the seasonal element isn’t obvious.

The first spring crocus, by johnriley
This is the approach I wanted, an image that proclaims its seasonal essence in capital letters. The only downside, for me at least in this instance, is that the crocuses are rather dominated by the tree trunk. The idea is sound, though.

Beech walk, by andymat
A pleasing slice of woodland, but the colours look a little flat (not the photographer’s fault, but possibly worth some gentle PP) and the time of year isn’t wholly apparent.

Corriesloch in autumn, by davidtrout
‘Corriesloch’ would have been just as apt a title, for autumnal hues abound – and there’s even a complementary touch of mist. Lovely.

Reflections of a summer’s day, by billyspad
Quite like this – it makes me think of the cover of an album whose title I can’t recall – but the summery bit is just a little bit too much in the background.

Mill Lakes, by Perspicador
A pleasant scene, with good compositional balance. As you say in your description, Rodney, this has elements of several seasons but none really stands out. If it were my shot, I’d be tempted to give the levels a tweak to see if I could boost the colours a little.

The ‘rainy’ season (summer), by michaelblue
This is great, Michael – very dramatic, extremely sharp and with terrific exposure control. Wet summers are not Tanzania’s exclusive preserve, of course, but they appear to be of altogether better quality than those we get in the UK. I’m not always a fan of square crops, but it works spectacularly well here.

New York City Christmas, by gartmore
You wait ages for one square crop, and then… Scores highly for in-your-face seasonal clarity – and also for location. This looks like fairly typical regional bar architecture and is ripe with interesting detail. It’s also a tribute to the pocket-sized usefulness of a Pentax Q. I’m lucky enough to have visited New York a couple of times and found it to be absolutely one of the finest places on the planet (with the added benefit of B&H on 9th Avenue).

Autumn Light, by stephen-s
Wow, wow and wow again. And yet another square... You see people posting on the forum, asking whether they should upgrade from K-r to K-50 or K-5, but on the evidence of this I think we should all be scouring the web for a K-r. A fabulous composition with rich, beautiful colours and lashings of seasonal obviousness: a 1/25 snapshot of absolute loveliness. I’d be interested to know how much PP, if any, was involved: whatever you’ve done, it works.

Four seasons in one shot, by ArsenAl
Yet another visual accolade for the K20D (there have been quite a few in the recent ‘five in a row’ series, on the forum). Stunning colours, Arsen, and a photo that poses all manner of questions – not least, where on earth did you take it? I’m sure many of us have captured bright blue skies above snow-covered landscapes, but the vibrant autumnal tones add an extra something in this shot. I know the mission was to illustrate a single season, but this has such contrasts, and is so well defined, that it qualifies as a contender. Great composition, too.

Winter snow, by paulb531
As soon as I saw this, I thought ‘probably Sheffield’ – and at that stage I hadn’t noticed Paul’s name. I wasn’t a million miles away. Somewhere in a box, I have photos from the winter of 1981-82 (which lasted from about August-March in the Peak District, if memory serves), showing a similar abundance of white in the area, although they are nowhere near this good. I think mono works particularly well with this kind of shot, because snow looks more dramatic against blacks and greys than it does against dull greens and browns. An absolutely lovely scene, expertly captured.

Autumn sunset, by ken2390
That’s a gorgeous splash of colour in the middle and the various silhouettes provide an interesting framework, but to my eye it doesn’t quite work as a whole. That might be no more than a consequence of my photoreceptor cells being spoilt by several previous contributions…

Icicles, by noelcmn
Icicles in June – proof of this site’s cosmopolitan pedigree and a fine shot to boot. If you hadn’t explained the context, Noel, I might still be sitting here circa 2017, trying to work out what it was. Beguiling and effective, in equal measure.

Blue whale in a wheatfield, by drofmit
A fine, summery vista that works well as an ultra-letterbox crop. I’ve struggled to pick out the token poppy, Tim, but that’s probably because it’s about 5.30 on Monday morning and my eyes are resistant to the notion of consciousness.

Having pored over the 15 images several times, mug of ginger tea in hand (highly recommended as a wakening tool), the judge’s decision is as follows:

HCs: noelcmn, for The ‘rainy’ season, and Gartmore, New York City Christmas
3rd: paulb531, Winter snow
2nd: ArsenAl, Four seasons in one shot
1st: Stephen-s, Autumn Light

Thanks once again to all who contributed. The reins, Stephen, are yours.

I agree with our Judge-a very fine selection of images, all of which make me appreciate the different seasons from the different parts of the global village! Fantastic winning image-along with many others who think Autumn is the best of the seasons, that pic Stephen, captures that sentiment beautifully! Congratulations, and extended to ArsenAl, Paul ad my fellow HC's. Thanks for that- I now regret that I gave the context-my chance to sow some confusion has been blown Thanks for a lovely appreciative challenge, and for judging and for health tips too!

Nice judging... great selection of pix... fun subject... tareversuch!
Token poppy....
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bottom right hand corner.....

Wow! Thanks for the positive feedback... In terms of post processing, the photo was taken using a tripod, I probably used bracketing as I used more than one shot in post. It's not hdr simply the water was taken using a longer exposure, to help the reflections... I also adjusted the curves / levels separately for the water and trees. I changed the colour of the persons coat, to try and make them more obvious.

I really like the kr, it's a cracking little camera and I have few gripes with it. I just wish it was weatherproof!

I will get my thinking cap on for the next subject...

Congratulations to Stephen-s and the other award winners, a very fine set of images all round. Thanks to Simon for a topic that teased out some beautiful photos and for his helpful critique.
David

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

Congratulations to Stephen-s a superb winning shot - great colours. Thanks to Simon for the competition and expert analysis - spot on as usual. The subject certainly brought out some excellent photos.

Regards

Paul