Weekly #507 - My Best Winter Image Competition

Thank you to all of you who entered such excellent images. It’s a pity there were not a few more though!
Considering the diversity of content it was difficult to select the winner. However, a last minute entry is first past the post!

Winner: “Teasels and a post & rail fence” by dromfit
Second: “Gonzenberg Switzerland” by pininmels
Third: “Roasting me nuts by the fire” by Nigelk
HC: “Pike from the ice” by crookie

Wind, water and winter - by i-Berg: A good one to start with, immediately giving a feeling of cold and desolation. The image works well in mono!
However, I do feel the front boulder is too dominant, particularly as it’s out-of-focus, giving it a soft look. A crop off the bottom of the image, to about half way up the relevant boulder (leaving the top bit, with the snow on), might slightly improve it!

Ravens’ Roost – by Perspicador: A great subject, with the large leafless tree giving the feeling winter, whilst the clear blue sky, and ravens making preparations, hints at better times around the corner.
Unfortunately the image is not quite sharp, no doubt due to the use of a 300mm lens (handheld?)
I feel a square format would be better, as there are large areas, on each side of the image, with no relevant / significant detail. Also, once seen, the power lines are distracting and tend to draw the eye, so side crops would lessen their impact as well

Pike from the ice – by crookie: What a great shot!
Can I say, “Well caught”! Sorry about that, couldn’t resist!
I think the subject matter certainly qualifies for “Winter”, being taken on a frozen river, at –25C. Full marks for both the fishing and the photography
The detail inside the Pike’s mouth is amazing! I assume that the small fish that can be seen was the bait used

Delivering Cool Wine - by vic cross: An amusing image, incorporating “Wine” my other great interest (other than photography that is!)
The piled up snow certainly satisfies the topic. I particularly like her snow hat!
The snow has been well caught without burnout, however, it does have a slight blue cast. This can easily be rectified though, by selecting the Blue Channel in the Hue/Saturation Control, and gradually de-saturating it until the snow appears white

Gonzenberg Switzerland – by pipinmels: What a fantastic moody scene! It’s full of detail and atmosphere. I feel cold just looking at it! Nice one!

Roasting me nuts in front of the fire – by Nigelk: A nice warming image of an enjoyable common past practice, that sadly is diminishing with the demise of the open fire! The flames have been well captured, without signs of burnout.
Whilst you could “roast your nuts” anytime of the year, the exif data confirms that this image was taken on 12th December, thus meeting the competition criteria!
When I was a child, we used to roast Chestnuts on the fire, around Xmas time, but never Walnuts! Did we miss out on something?

Christmas star – by wozfromcov: A well captured record shot of this impressive Xmas decoration, avoiding burnout in the lights. I think a square format would be more appropriate, putting greater emphasis on the star itself

Winter Wonderland – by JAK: It certainly does sum up a brisk winter’s walk!
You have caught the mood well, particularly with all the shadows and silhouettes against the snow
(As a point of interest (or not!), in 1976 when this image was taken, I was also taking plenty of snow scenes armed with a “Pentax ME” camera, loaded with slide film! (that was in Buxton, in Derbyshire, though)

Grass cutting cancelled – by tyronet2000: Certainly an impressive record of the amount of snow in your back garden, and a really good shot for the family album. The exposure of the snow has been well handled. It looks nice and crisp, without any significant burnout.

Walking Home – by paulb531: Yes, I think it’s safe to say that this one reflects winter! It has good composition, with strong lead-in lines, and a figure placed in just the right position. The only con, is that there’s a lot of burnout, and loss of texture/detail, in the snow on the verges
As a point of interest (to me at least!) where were you walking home to? As previously mentioned, I lived in Derbyshire (Buxton), for quite a few years, and I too experienced similar conditions, and far worst, many times!

Teasels and a post & rail fence – by drofmit: A striking image that has been enhanced by some impressive post-production processing!

Icicles – by Neolcmn: A very interesting pattern shot of this window frost, but unfortunately 2/3rds of is out-of-focus. Considering the very fast shutter speed (approx 3/1000 sec) a narrower F-Stop could have been used (eg F16 or F22) to increase the depth of focus, and get far more of the image in focus
As it stands, a crop off the top and bottom would improve it


Over to you Tim!

Congratulation to Drofmit, and thank you for my second place.
I realy thought NigelK had taken this one. Cogratulation to everyone that entered.

Love that winning shot, and have been given insight into the PP, makes a worthy winner. It really does have some wonderful pop. Congrats Dromfit. And extended to Pipinmels, NigelK and the HM Crookie. Love this challenge, and being a lover of winter weather, particularly satisfied with this challenge, and enjoyed it immensely. Thanks Mudge, for that, the critiques and comments, as always, appreciated,

Congratulations to the Winner and other placings. Thanks to mudge for the interesting subject, the judging and the comprehensive comments.

Congrats to Tim, Pipinmels, Nigel and Crookie.

I thought Nigel's was great! Need to be careful though - last time I tried it, I got cold cheeks...

Good comp Mudge - thank you.

Nice set from everyone. I thought the pike might get it.
As to the blue tinge on mine, that was intentional. I put it on to make it look colder.
CHEERS Vic.

That is a lovely winning shot!

Well done all.

All the best!

Congratulations to drofmit - excellent shot. Thanks to Mudge for the competition and feedback.

The photo was taken on the southern outskirts of Sheffield whilst travelling home from work. I live seven miles south of Sheffield just inside Derbyshire. Somehow we seem to get severe weather conditions compared to most regions.

Regards

Paul