Weekly #494 – Something New Competition

I guess being a time of year when everyone probably has lots of other commitment have limited the number of entries but many thanks to all of you that found the time to enter. Your efforts are very much appreciated.

Just a reminder that I am 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 an excellent and well-crafted collection of pictures and it has been fun and a privilege to review your work.

New Beginnings – AndrewA
I like this picture. I think it does really well to capture the moment and has a very nice element of happiness and fun. It is also a well framed and composed shot. There are some hard flash shadows that could possibly have been reduced by bouncing the flash but this does not detract from the skill of the photographer in capturing this important memory.

New Life – vic cross
I think Vic has given us a terrific image of this baby elephant. I love the way the image has been composed. The parent, while only partially visible, creates a great framing effect and adds an important element of context. Focus, depth of field and exposure are well managed to emphasise the subject and create a heart-warming image.

Young blackbird biting off more than he can chew – JAK
This is a lovely close-up image of a young bird facing the challenges of new life. I like the composition which I think works well. I like the way the bird is offset coming into the frame with the berry, being the centre of attention of both the subject and viewer, nicely offset in both planes. I also love when elements point into corners of the frame and the lower beak does exactly that. The depth of field is well managed with sharp detail on the subject and foreground but also providing a soft background which helps lift the subject. The exposure in this bright lighting is also well managed and helps create a great feeling of warmth. The picture also captures a good story telling element encouraging the viewer to wonder what happened next.

Goslings in tow – Perspicador
Rodney has given us another of his classic signature images. The six young goslings create a lovely element of new life which seems to dominate this competition and is set against wonderfully well highlighted water ripples. I think the bright lighting and darker water created a little bit of an exposure challenge and I think here the white goose in just bordering on being over exposed. In these circumstances I would have probably done the same but after a quick review might have hopefully tried again with some exposure compensation. The image is also very tightly framed and while this works well for the white goose and goslings I think it would have been nice to have got more of the foreground goose in shot. However it is a nice heart-warming image and is a pleasure to see.

Newborn – Noelcmn
Wow, how unusual it must be to get two images of a baby elephant in a small competition like this. I think this is a stunning image. It is amazing to see how fast these new born creatures have to learn to get on their feet and I feel that this image does very well to capture and tell that story. It is a nicely executed and well managed shot that includes some great context with the legs of the adult elephants helping to define the size relationships and also helps tell the viewer about the hot and dry environment. Certainly a picture to be very proud of.

New Growth – Simonmac
I think this is a nicely composed close-up shot. It has a very shallow depth of field which creates an almost abstract background. The tip on the new shoot and the branch on the bottom right though are much sharper but I do find the soft branch in the bottom left of the image a little distracting. I think just a little bit more depth of field would have been nice. However what I really love about this image is the colour. The green shoots have been shot against a lovely blue sky with just a hint of some clouds which helps to create some fantastic impact.

New Born – paulb531
This is a lovely picture of a very young sleeping baby. I have similar shots of my grandson. I think it has been nicely composed with the child’s head pointing into the corner of the frame. The tight framing also works well to concentrate of the subject. I also like that it is presented in black & white. For me this works really well revealing lots of details and helps create a very nice dark background which helps lift the subject. A very nice image to close this competition.


While having a small number of entries makes the commenting less effort it makes it much harder to judge. Particularly as I liked all of pictures. After some careful consideration here it is:

1st – Noelcmn for “Newborn” – For such a wonderful image of a new born elephant that has only just managed to get on its feet.

2nd – JAK for “Young blackbird biting off more than he can chew” – For capturing a wonderful moment in this bird’s exploration of new life.

3rd – AndrewA for “New Beginnings” – For a well-crafted photo that will hopefully provide long memories of this happy moment.

Highly Commended - with just the small number of equally well-crafted entries - goes to everyone else.

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

Glyn

Thank you Glyn for your lovely judging and congratulations to we merry few!

Just a note to say that the lens used was a Helios 44M-4 which I picked up for £8 complete with extension tubes!

Who needs expensive glass?!

Simon

Was certainly a quiet week regarding entries and the majority were of nature shots. Not one Chrissie pressie. Without making an abstract shot of one I suppose a photo of a jumper or a memory card isn't that inspirational and something intangible like a day out even less so if it hasn't happened yet. So I suppose its understandable nature shots won the day. One elephant shot was surprising, but two, wow. Well done to both. Indeed to all who got round to submitting an entry, and I managed to beat Perspicador in with a bird shot! Thanks for its second place. Well done to the other podiums and Glyn for the competition and well composed comments on the entries.

Many thanks to Glyn for the competition and judging. Congratulations to Noel for a great winning shot.

Regards

paul

Congrats to the winner. Sweet, sweet capture

Glyn. You like what you like.
Noel. Nice copy. Even if it is of captive animals in a zoo and not in the wild. Even though I believe you've been to a game reserve in Africa.
Not sour grapes. Just disappointed that someone had to do a copy and couldn't think of anything original of their own.
I'll have to try that in future.
CHEERS Vic.

With due apologies for being late to the party, the excuse being that my son is here from the USA, and we went to spend a few bonding moments in Pilansberg National Park, and the internet connection leaves much to be desired. Now back home, and still somewhat shell shocked at being chosen as winner-it is much appreciated - thank you Glyn and for all the comments and critiques. One of the more special memories for me, this baby elephant-surpassing even the leopard I saw today . Congrats to JAK and AndrewA. I like that bird shot-its stunning. Vic, I may have a criminal record when it comes to doing the copying thing , latent deviations and all that! I do recommend it for the future . Makes life easy peasy, no need to scrounge the library. I've done a hasty submission for this week's challenge