Weekly #425 - Hands Competition Competition

Thank you for taking part in this weekly competition, a great variety of images. It hasn't been an easy task to pick a winner and other places but the following is my choice. Hope you agree.

Musician's fingers by Perspicador . A good entry to start off the competition and fulfills the brief but the look of concentration on the faces of the musicians distracts the eyes from the hands.

Meeting the Challenge by John Riley. A good image with great detail on the chess board. Movement of the hand is a nice touch but I find the other pieces showing through the fingers a little distracting.

Hands Off by David Trout. I must admit I laughed out loud when I saw this image. It reminded me of that sketch on TV with Jim Tavaré, Lee Mack and Tim Vine.

You Need Hands by paulb531. This is the sort of image which inspired me as to the title of the subject for the competition. Something, in this case a child, held in a safe pair of hands. I think the image being mono enhances it.

mine too by Licensed. The image is hands and I wonder how they can go through life with nails like that. Each to their own, but I find the image a little unsettling.

potting on by davidwozhere. No doubt what is going on here. Very sharp, with great detail showing the hair on the fingers. I may have been tempted to clone out the area of dead leaf but it doesn't really distract from the overall image.

Cradle gently by clarkey. I like the lighting, texture of the rose and the skin tone but at the left above the hand is what appears to be pair of frog's eyes and once seen can't be unseen and that made me look more at that than the subject.

New Mother's Touch by JudithAnn. Another fine mono image which I like a lot but it tends to be more a portrait than just about the hands.

P-E-N-T-A-X by Puffacake. What an inspired choice for a competition about hands on a Pentax forum.

Getting snappy by davidhamilton. A good idea to feature a camera in this competition but I wonder if it would have been better, had the whole image been sharp.

Just Married Hands by stephen-s. I like the thinking behind this image but as the brief was hands I think a crop getting rid of some of the top and right would have worked for this.

Musical Hands by Caltren. A good image of a pair of hands, obviously playing a musical instrument. Like the catchlight on the finger nails.

Feeding time at the Zoo by Marie. A really cute image but unfortunately features the animal more than the hand.

Inspection by Noelcmn. There is so much going on it's difficult to know where to look. The glass does really dominate the picture.

Medieval way of doing things by ken2390. Another very busy scene which makes it difficult to say the subject is hands.

Hard as Steel by conexus. No doubt what is going on in this image, a blacksmith at work. I like the textures in this emphasized by the image being in mono

Point of impact by drofmit. This certainly shows working hands but perhaps a tighter crop and more contrast in the flint may have given the image more punch.

Winner: You Need Hands by paulb531.

Joint 2nd: Musical Hands by Caltren and P-E-N-T-A-X by Puffacake

Joint 3rd Hard as Steel by conexus and potting on by davidwozhere

Comedy Award to Hands Off by David Trout and a Very Well Done everyone else.

Thank You and over to paulb531

Great choice of a winner here- fabulous shot that cannot leave one unmoved. Congrats Paul, and as noted, the B/W rendition enhances the image. Congrats extended to Caltren and Puffacake for their 2nd spots and Conexus and Davidwozhere for their 3rd spots. Inspiring images once again in this challenge,so a hearty thanks to Tyronet2000 for the challenge, the judging and comments.

Brilliant! An excellent competition and a nicely prompt judging, which is always appreciated.

Congratulations paulb531, also to Caltren, conexus, davidwozhere and David Trout, and well done to everyone who entered. I am delighted with my joint 2nd placing. I didn't know before that hands are so difficult to take! I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot, so thanks Stan for such a good subject.

I wonder if anyone can tell me how to get competition entries into my portfolio, as I thought they would just filter through like the gallery ones but they don't seem to?

Really delighted to be placed with my first entry - after seeing some of the others I didn't think I stood a chance.
I thought the competition itself was great, very easy to join and the comments friendly and positive. An encouraging environment for both experienced and inexperienced photographers.
Best wishes to everyone
Caltren

Thanks Stan, it was a great idea for a competition and there were some first class entries. Congratulations to the occupants of the podium and thanks for my special mention comedy award, Fenwick's window has often featured in my street photography.
David

Many thanks for the competition Stan and the judging / comments - well done. I'm chuffed to bits to win amongst some great photos. It was a crop from a lot larger photo and just shows how good the K5 is with a reasonable lens.

Regards

Paul

Thank you for some prompt and concise judging Stan. Well done Paul and well posed to the staff of Fenwicks! And thanks for the placing - assuming we will all fit on the podium - come on chaps; shove up a bit and mind where you put your hands .....