Weekly #435 - Wheels Competition

Hopefully all the participants enjoyed the challenge of “Wheels”, so let's have a look at the images one by one and see where it takes us.

Wheels for scrap by JAK – Sharp, gritty and some lovely wheels combine a nice sense of design with a nice decaying subject. I would suggest an even tighter crop so that the slightly distracting buildings in the background could be cropped out.

Wheels by perspicador – Whilst this is certainly a vehicle with wheels they are not visible in the picture. The description wheels is of course used in itself, but usually relating to a car or a bike rather than public transport. The composition is good, but the most disquieting thing for me is the very strange colour. Some may like the boldness of it and indeed sometimes HDR images are presented in this style. If this was intended, a clue in the title might have helped.

Departure by tyronet2000 – There's lots of movement in here, apart from the sharp area at the right edge of the picture. That seems counter-intuitive, but nonetheless this does convey a solid feeling of movement and power.

HMS Warrior by Walkeja – That's an impressive array of wheels and an excellent find. There will be many different ways this could be shot and this one is effective. I would have waited for the people in the background to move so that they didn't intrude in the shot. If necessary, ask them if they are being a bit slow to move on.

Nice pair of wheels by mudge – A bold car and a bold composition that has been very carefully thought out. There is just enough in the shot to avoid including unwanted details whilst giving a good sense of context. The technical quality of the camera used does let it down very slightly, but it's the image that counts.

What a way to go by Shaman – A clear message and a discrete shot that delivers that message effectively. The weather seems to be a bit indifferent, which hasn't helped the sense of drama, so maybe an increase of contrast and a reduction of brightness in Photoshop would be good.

Fairground attraction by paulb531 – This evokes the feeling of the fair very well, and we also have a whopper of a wheel so there's no doubt it fulfils the brief given. The treatment is synpathetic to the subject and the composition powerful, giving an image with lots of visual impact.

Why? By darwaysh – The image is powerful and the choice of black and white is good. I know though that you don't want to be a judge, in fact I'm standing in for you this week as it is. When we enter we do need to be prepared to carry the baton and pass it on. I'm not disqualifying the image, but unfortunately it can't be included in the winners.

City cycle racing by davidtrout – Good, realistic wheels showing a great sense of speed. I really like those green reflections in the wheels and the bold, garish green of the trainers.

Liquorice wheels by GlynM – The sharpness of this is impeccable, with great colour and a good arrangement. It is also well lit. Nice!

Tower Bridge steam engine wheel by Mag07 – Black and white is an interesting choice as I suspect there is some pretty good colour to be had from this. However, that's a choice to make. It is bold and sharp, and it's unlikely that any better point of view could be found. I might have darkened the whole down a bit, but otherwise a good entry and a very interesting image.

Orange on wheels by ken2390 – A bold and colourful image, showing off the bike very well at a good angle. The front wheel has been chopped off, so I would back up a whisker to include it. I might also try to compose the image so the distracting writing on signs in the background was not included. It does distract because we tend to stop to read the signs, thus taking attention away from the main subject.

My new wheels by Nomadic-Ninja – Here you have successfully chosen a background that does not distract and simply presented us with a competent picture of your new wheels. Job done, nice and simple and it works.

Hot wheels by timcx500e – Fair comment with this one, it has wheels and it was without doubt a Hot Car at some point. I did wonder why the vertical format, but it does mean the full height of this part of it can all be included.

Delivery by geordie01 – It was once a common sight to see these sort of delivery bikes, or so I'm told, not being old enough to remember it personally. I like the low viewpoint, although I would have tried to include all of the stand if possible.

The old jeep by Noelcmn – A scary thought that this might well be on the road and in full use still. A good colourful subject, and an interesting one.

It's only flat at the bottom by drofmit – This is a very sharp, colourful image that shows what it needs to, excluding anything else that might be a distraction.

VR6 in motion by cardiffgareth – That's good. The car is well reproduced, the compostion is excellent and the sense of speed in there.

So without further ado, the results!

My winner is VR6 in motion by cardiffgareth. Well done for such a fine shot!

Second is Fairground attraction by paulb531

Third is Nice pair of wheels by mudge

Highly commended: davidtrout, Nonadic-Ninja

And so, on to next week and cardiffgareth gets the task.

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

Thanks for that John, it was a good topic and attracted some great entries. Good swift results and comments so soon after midnight, that's what I like to see,
Congrats to Gareth and his podium pals and many thanks for my HC.
David

PS: While its always made obvious entries must be taken on Pentax or Pentax-related cameras I wonder if a lot more emphasis should be put on the expectation that the winner will set, judge and comment on the following week's competition. A first time entrant has been involved In the majority of cases where there has been a no show by a winner.

It tends to happen behind the scenes, so to speak, as we try to make sure new members understand what they need to do. It doesn't always work, but usually it's OK. We seem to have good runs and then it falters and then picks up again.

Many thanks John for stepping in and running another great competition.

Congratulations to Gareth for the excellent and well deserved winning image, the runners-up and everyone else for another grand set of images.

Glyn

Congratulations Gareth, excellent composition - great winning image. Well done to John for stepping in to host the competition and judge our efforts.

Regards

Paul

congratulations to the winner , I actually like the image in large. and thank you to the judge ... who did the job again... but some time its not possible to do every thing... as circumstances from time to time are not same.

Many thanks John for awarding my entry 3rd place! Much appreciated
Also, thanks for stepping in to fill the gap, and for giving such a speedy comprehensive review
Congratulations to other placed entries, and to all who participated

Wow! Thanks JR

Congrats to Paulb531, Mudge, Davidtrout, Nonadic-Ninja and all who entered

Next theme already set

Congratulations Cardiffgareth, nice sense of motion in that shot, It certainly would attract a lot of attention in the community where I serve-they'r crazy about VW and especially the VR6. Fantastic composition. Congrats extended to Paulb531, Mudge, Davidtrout, Nomadic-Ninja. Thanks fro stepping into the gap John, and as usual, an appreciated comments and juding. Ok, I'm off to look at myself in the mirror.