Weekly #427 - Flowers and Plants Competition

I wasn't planning on judging this week, but had to step into the breach to keep the continuity going for the weekly competition. The subject was chosen to hopefully make it possible for everyone to join in at short notice.

There seem to have been plenty of entries, which is great, so let's get down to looking at them in detail.

Single Bluebell by geordie01 – This was a strong start, with an excellent single bloom standing out well against the background. That background is unfortunately a little bright, and there is a distinct line that bisects the image, so I do think it would have been stronger if that could have been avoided.

Flower Pressing by caltren – A very interesting shot. At first, I thought the image was on its side, but it's actually the rather unusual composition. The pattern in the background is also odd, and flows contrary to the main subject. I'm pleased to find an image that has such an impact and keeps me thinking about it.

Sun Worshipper by davidwozhere – resplendent yellow and a totally suppressed background makes this photo shout out loud. It's powerful. Maybe some of the yellow is slightly clipped, which is worth keeping an eye on, but overall it's brilliant.

Water Lily by davidhamilton – This is very sharp where it counts, which gives the main impact to the picture. The leaf bottom right intrudes and is a bit unfortunate, otherwise an excellent image.

Layers of Colour by bigsturgeon – These days I tend to go for the details in a garden, and often miss the bigger picture. Here we have that bigger picture and it works very well. It's an appealing and informative shot.

Red Army by simonarron – I love that single sharp tulip and also the idea that it alone is still, with all the others blowing freely in the breeze. This is what it suggests to me, the effect broken by the obtrusive bokeh in the top half of the image.

In the Court of Disputed Possession: Battle for the Wattle by i-Berg – It's a good image, but really it's a picture of the birds rather than of flowers and plants. Those birds are so good that they command their position as the main subject.

Summer's Over by grahamcoad – Fair enough, it's messy and decayed and that's the purpose of the image. Although not a competition winner, it's a good, informative picture and it fulfils the brief.

Floral Dance by davidtrout – Again, I think this is an image of a butterfly rather than of flowers or plants. Yes, there is a flower in it, but the main subject hits us between the eyes with its vivid colour and sharpness.

A Bee-autiful Day by gabellclan – I like the composition here and the subtle colour scheme. The bee plays second fiddle to the flower, so the main subject is within the competition brief. It's a skilled picture.

Together by kcjonez – The description makes this clear, and within the metaphor I can relate better to the background details. Slightly out of focus, they are like islands of memories, faded with time. There is one obtrusive leaf on the right, but otherwise it all fits.

Just One Simgle Orchid by Doctorjeff – Oh yes, what fine colour and arrangement. The background jars a little, and I would have been tempted to remove it altogether. The orchid is, however, wonderful.

Cooling Down by ken2390 – WE are cropped so close that the flower is cut off at the edges, but most of all the white is not white. A slight adjustment in Photoshop could correct that.

Plethora by Noelcmn – Great colour, great sharpness. The background is slightly messy compared to the clarity of the main subject, but that main subject is so good it carries the picture anyway.

Orgon Falls by laptux – Under the green canopy of leaves, everything takes on a wonderful green cast. It was wise to leave that cast in as it looks more natural than trying to change it. There is a nice lead in to the shot.

Cream and Green Tulip by GlynM – This is very classy. The stem is even directed into the corner of the frame, always an effective compositional decision. The flower is very sharp and very good colour. Splendid.

Poppies by SteveF – A nice low viewpoint makes the most of these poppies. The only downside is that neither flower is sharp.

Gatekeeper by kree – Another shot where the main subject is not a flower or plant. Even the title tells us that. The butterfly needs to be sharper. These are tricky to photograph, so the answer is lots of practice.

Poppy by sbh – It's a really good image of the centre of the poppy, balanced well by the two dark areas above. Do we need the lighter area at the top? I would crop it out, which concentrates our eyes more firmly on the poppies.

Youth by drofmit – Yes, this made me smile, because that shows the contrariness of youth. The rejection of the ideals of the older generation. That one flower turning the other way, younger as it is smaller, sums it all up very well. The image is also technically excellent.

Sunflower at Sunset by JudithAnn – Yellow is such a powerful colour and it comes across very well here. I really like the out of focus areas and the way that the solitary bloom is pushed forwards towards us, mimicked in the background by constant repetition of the shape.

Lily by cardiffgareth – Gareth is a skilled photographer, and it shows. The focus on the stamens is spot on and they really sing out against the background. My only question is as to whether there is too much in the image that lies outside the depth of field. One way to address this might be to crop closer, thus removing some of the petals. There are so many options, and it's down to personal taste.

Eidelweiss Tumbling by andymat – The sharp flower is firmly on the third, a classic compositional placing. I would have preferred it if there were no soil in the bottom of the picture, so maybe a different part of the plants or cropping closer would help. The exposure on the whites has been handled well.

Horticulture! By conexus – On a bit of a roll at the moment, another fine picture from a fine photographer. This time we have an image that goes for overall sharpness, and although this could quite easily become rather messy, in this case it has been mostly successful. The colour is especially good. There are a few bright highlights in the bottom half of the image that I think distract somewhat.

Water Lily by michaelblue – This is a very simple and elegant picture that I like very much. There is good colour, good sharpness and good composition. Very well done.

Battered Rose by Puffacake – This is different. It borders on an effect that I don't really like very much, but holds back just enough to save itself. I find myself wondering if I'd crop a whisker off the top, it's a moot point. Overall though, a very different and imaginative shot.

Back lit Bamboo by Nigelk – This is a brave idea, but I do think that something needs to be in focus and sharp. We have little to hang on to in the image and without an explanation it is very difficult to decipher what we are looking at. A little too abstract I think.

Catching the Spotlight by tyronet2000 – Beautiful colour and exceptional sharpness on the one tulip make the image. The out of focus tulips are very large in the frame, but it doesn't matter as the whole image is bold and it adds to that overall feel. Another out of focus tulip in the bottom right of the image would have been good, but I wasn't there and have no idea whether that was possible. Either way, it has real impact.

Autumn Gold by mudge – A more overall view, and who could complain about such wonderful light and colour. Autumn can be such a spectacular time. I could see this as a Kodachrome slide, which is definitely a compliment.

Lily by perspicador – The background is a bit busy and intrusive on this, and I do think that there isn't enough depth of field where it counts. With this viewpoint I would choose an aperture small enough to ensure all the flower head was in focus, but if possible the background was still diffused. It's a good viewpoint, so well worth repeating on a bright overcast day, which is perfect for flower photography.

Petunia Close Up by daronl – Good sharpness where is counts, but too much out of focus on the right of the image. I would crop to a square to remove all the blurred petals.

Blue Flower by bforbes – This a wonderful flower with wonderful colour, so I would prefer to see it all in focus. The background is well suppressed, the composition is good, so only the large amount of blurring detracts.

There were some tough choices to be made, but well done to everyone who entered, there has been an excellent selection of very varied material.

And the winners are!

1st – Sunflower at Sunset by JudithAnn

2nd – Water Lily by michaelblue

3rd – Battered Rose by Puffacake

VHC: Cream and Green Tulip by GlynM

HC: Catching the Spotlight by tyronet2000
Youth by drofmit

Over to you JudithAnn!

Wow, Thank You John! I have not had this honour, and job for quite a while.
Congrats to everyone who shares the podium with me

JA

Thanks for stepping in John and for your prompt and thoughtful comments.

Congratulations JudithAnn, michaelblue, GlynM, tyronet20000 and drofmit, and well done everyone! It was nice to see more entries this time. Thanks for the speedy results John. I'm very pleased with 3rd placing

What a fabulous shot JudithAnn, worthy winner among another set of wonderful images, heartwarming for someone who simply loves capturing flowers. Congrats and extended to Michaelblue, Puffacake and the HC's Tyronet2000 and Dromfit and the VHC GlynM. Thanks for stepping into the gap John, the challenge and of course the valuable comments. Pleasing to see so many entries.

Congratulations to the wiiner and other places. Thanks to John for sting in and and taking on this competition, prompt judging and the comprehensive comments. Thanks also for my HC. I have the images I took and can see it needs another "out of focus" bloom in the bottoto give a beter balance.

Many thanks John for stepping in and setting such an attractive competition subject with all the extra work that it involved.

Lots of thanks also the the VHC. I have never received one of those before .

Congratulations to JudithAnn for the wonderful winning image, the runners up and everyone else for such a fantastic set of quality images.

Glyn

Thanks for rescuing the competition John and the prompt results and congratulations to the winners and runners up. Good to see a member from a few years ago back in action from Oz, welcome back i-Berg.
The subject seems to have hit a chords, its a long time since we had more than 30 entries.
David

Gongratulation to the winners!
I thought the "sunflower" image would be in the running as soon as I saw it! Nice one JudithAnn!
Cangratulations and thanks to John as well, for stepping up and saving the day!.

What a great winner it looks like an army of sunshine walking towards you. I apologise again for not setting the competition due to a technical issue (Router broke down) Thanks John not just fro stepping in but by giving the feedback to each and every entrant.

Great judging John and many thanks for your kind words.

A bumper crop of delightful flowers there! Well done to JudithAnn for that lovely summer feeling image as well as Michaelblue and Puffacake for your podium finishes as well as GlynM, Tyronet2000 and Dromfit

Yours was always the winner JudithAnn, so hard lines the rest.

And well done to John your competition seems to have restored the weekly to it's former glory

Thanks for the HC...
and congrats to JudithAnn, other podia, VHC and HC and everyone else....
great competition subject and pix to match.
And this weeks subject is going to be fun to complete, too...
just got to find someone to pose....
but there are no old sea-salts around here!!

Thanks John for taking over and setting the competition, also thank you for second place.
Well done to JudithAnn, I would also have chosen the sunflowers as winner, great shot!
Nice to see a good number of entries too

Congrats belatedly to all, good work JA.

Cheers back to you David.

i-Berg