Weekly #448 – Hidden Place Competition

Many thanks to all of you that entered. It was great to see such a good, diverse, range of well-crafted interpretations.

Just a reminder that I'm no expert at this. Everything here is just my personal opinion and the results reflect my personal tastes. I have tried to make useful comments for each entry and hope that I have not upset anyone as this was definitely not my intention. As always it is a terrific collection of pictures and it has been fun and a privilege to review your work.

The mysteries of Sellers wood – Perspicador
I think this is a great picture to start off this competition. Being largely a reflection it becomes a little mind-bending, is certainly surreal and to me has a touch of the abstract. All together I think this creates some wonderful magic and certainly fits well in the “Hidden” Place theme.

Spring out from Hiding – Mudge
I was sure I had seen this picture before and quick hunt revealed it in weekly competition #411, Bugs, just over a year ago. However it is a great capture so it is good to see it again. As you admit it is not perfect but as an unexpected and probably very quick opportunistic shot you certainly deserve some credit. The spider certainly looks very menacing and obviously had a very good hidden place to leap out of!

Treasure Island – JAK
I love this image because to me it has a good element of storytelling. I think the image was well thought out and very well put together. It was taken on the day it was put up here so may well have been shot with the competition in mind. I think there is excellent control of the depth of field giving a sharpish depiction of the coin but with the softer background helping the viewer’s imagination to reinforce the coastal location and story element without any otherwise distracting detail. It was shot using a Pentax Q and I am impressed with the result which I am sure I would have completely messed up. A very nice image – Well done.

Roughtin Linn – tyronet2000
I have to admit that I am not familiar with this location and had to look it up. While not described as a secret it was mentioned as not being generally well known so definitely a hidden place. I think you have created a fantastic image in what I suspect were quite challenging circumstances. The lighting and just a slight blur of the falling water work really well to create a wonderful magical image. I love the blue colouring as it almost makes the image feel electric. A brilliantly executed image – Well done.

The old river crane at Diglis – Nomadic-Ninja
Another image shot in the week of this competition and so may well have been taken with the competition in mind. I think this a nice detail image of the old crane at Digilis lsland on the River Severn near Worcester. I like that you have presented it in black and white as I think this helps to create a timeless image and helps reinforce the age of this crane. To me the image feels perhaps a bit predominately mid-grey. The white window frame works well but I think I would have liked to have seen just a little bit more contrast so that we had just a few patches of black to help improve the dynamic range of the image. It is though a very nicely composed image and certainly works very well as a hidden place.

Warehouse – Simonmac
Having commented in the previous black and white image that it might benefit from a bit more contrast I think Simon’s image here uses the extremes of dynamic range to create some fantastic impact. My vision is almost overloaded with detail all of which appears to be exceedingly sharp. It certainly creates a terrific effect almost becoming lithographic. To me it definitely sits on the boundary between photography and art and is a very inspiring implementation.

Lake Elizabeth – i-Berg
Another very nicely executed black and white image which certainly feels like a lost world type of hidden place. I think it is an excellently composed shot. The reflection of the immediate background and sky with the lines of vertical sentinels formed by the dead tree trunks and even the ripples in the water create a fantastic leading-in effect which is positioned nicely off-centre. I also like that the far distant trees are lighter helping to reinforce the depth of the image. A brilliant well observed and excellently crafted image.

HDD – Kree
With my engineering and computing background this image pushes a few of my favourite personal buttons. It is a nicely crafted still life of something that most of us are dependent upon but only a few get to see. This is another image that works well in black and white. I also think the composition and lighting works well. I like that the main subject is set diagonally across the frame. We also get a nice bit of context seeing some of the tools that were probably used to remove the cover, a corner of that cover and a hint of another, probably smaller, HDD in the opposite corner. The grain in the background surface also creates some nice opposing diagonals and the risk of reflections in the disc surface have been well managed. I think your old manual 50mm lens has performed really well. A very nice technical still life.

Wet Day in Culross – davidtrout
In my definition of the competition subject I mentioned that I imagined an image of an old, narrow, little street or alleyway and David has given us exactly that! A super wide lens in a landscape mode as used here invariably needs to have some prominent detail in the immediate foreground and David has set this up really well. The larger stones in the centre of the road surface create a fantastic leading line to draw the viewer from the immediate foreground into the image, traveling down the road to the distant red building. I suspect too that the damp day and clearing sky has helped lift the colouring of these stones. Shot very wide at 10mm which perhaps has accentuated the effect that the buildings in the foreground are falling into the picture but to be honest probably helps reinforce the higgledy-piggledy nature of these old buildings. Some fantastic cloud detail in the sky just adds a nice extra touch. A complete lack of people provides a sort of eerie element of calm and helps the depiction as a hidden place. I think it is a very nice well-crafted image and I like it a lot.

Hidden Art – paulb531
Paul has given us a great image of some hidden street art by a prominent local artist renowned for these quirky murals. I think Paul’s picture works well. The red brick and green frames provide some nice colour balance and the background provides the context that this is probably quite a busy place. I think the image is nicely composed with very good management of the verticals. There are two levels of story going on here. We get the hidden place story with the mural being hidden from the busyness behind it and of course we get the story depicted by the mural. A very nicely implemented capture of this place with a terrific sense of fun.

So that's where they were!! – drofmit
I always look forward to seeing Tim’s entries in these competitions. I think they are usually shot for the competition, invariably last minute and always have terrific context plus story line appropriate to his local environment. Today’s image ticks all these boxes. Perhaps the depth of field is a little bit shallow but we see the important bits and perhaps the softer parts help reinforce that we are seeing something recently revealed by a force of nature. Tim’s description of course tells us why this is such good hidden treasure. Shot with an Optio WG2 which must a great little camera to have in your pocket for all weathers. A nice image reinforced by another great story.


Results
I was very impressed with the diversity of the images submitted here and unusually including many in black and white. All the entries were well within the subject requirements and as usual predominately very well crafted. However this diversity and level of skills makes the judging quite difficult so after some careful consideration this is it:

1st – i-Berg for “Lake Elizabeth” – Not only because is it such a fantastic well-crafted image but that he was brave enough to take a DA* lens out on a canoe journey .

2nd – tyronet2000 for “Roughtin Linn” – For such a magical image probably shot in very challenging conditions.

3rd – davidtrout for “Wet Day in Culross” – For demonstrating such skill with a super-wide lens to provide a beautiful capture of a hidden place street.

Highly Commended to Simonmac for “Warehouse” and JAK for “Treasure Island”

I think this completes my responsibilities here and hand over to i-Berg for the next round.

Glyn

Wow! That was speedy... congrats to the winner and podia and well done Glynn....
No! I wasn't waiting for the answers... I've hurt me showlda and am psycing myself up to go to bed... with a couple of single malts!
Yes, you always need some words to go with a picture... it may say 1000... but not out of context!!
I'd like Tyronet's for the studio wall... and JAK's shot, I'm sure, has commercial value!!

The WG Series are very good cameras... at least the WG-2 is....!!

I don't always shoot for the weekly... but it is often quicker than trawling through my abysmally organized pix!!

The more I look at that winning shot, the more Ansell Adams comes to mind....

Oh... And the last minute thing is just my way of doing things... I then work entirely on impulse. The most appreciated of my presents to people at Christmas have often been bought on the 23rd or 24th!!

Well that's a very pleasant surprise - Thank you Glyn. And what a field. Love the placegetters, great choices.

Well done all!

And the 50-135 goes well in canoes - alleged to be splash proof... (the canoe that is!)

Back with another comp soon!

Thank you very much for your critique and congratulations to the winners!

Thanks Glyn for the comprehensive and very swiftly posted comments and carefully chosen winner. I-Berg's image was certainly a worthy winner. Congrats also to Stan for Roughtin Linn. Its certainly a very secret place and seems known only to Northumberland photographers. All I know is that its in the far north of the county, close to the Scottish border and not far from Wooler but I've never got there..... yet. Congrats also to Simon and JAK for their HCs and many thanks for my 3rd.
David

Congratulations I-berg, fantastic shot which I thought would be on the podium. "beam me up there Scottie". On the double. Looks a fabulous place to explore. Congrats extended to Tyronet2000 and Davidtrout, and HC's Simonmac and JAK. Lovely challenge, with usual high standard of judging and comments so a thanks is due to GlynM. Missed out on this one, power failure due to some violent storms last night meant no electricity. Not that I would've competed with these excellent images.

Thank you to GlynM for the competition and judging. I found your comments on my own image particularly useful, and encouraging

Congrats to the winner those placed and the HC's.

Thanks for the HC Glyn. Yes I did shoot that specially for the comp as you suggested.
I intended to take it on the beach and have the token half buried in the sand but the tide was fully in so had to rethink fast! Well done to the podium places. Some lovely images all round.