Weekly #537 - The Colour Brown. Competition

Good Morning, and thank you all for such amazing and wonderful photos. This was a really tough competitions for me. It was also a ton a fun,(except when I copied to paste, I lost my work and started again). I want you all to know that I studied every picture and took the time to look at all the details. I had to leave so many honourable mentions because with only three winners allowed, so many of the photos really were that good! WOW
On a personal note, please understand that this is just my own personal opinion. Anything I have shared comes from a place of what my understanding and knowledge is. I can honestly say that the one thing that improved my own photography was entering competitions like this and hearing how others viewed my work. When I finally did win, I realized that I just embarked on another whole learning journey as I studied “others” photos and started to look at them in detailed ways seeing all the finer points. I started looking through my lens with a different perspective, that has paid off very well.

Once again, thank you all for this opportunity. This was a fantastic set of photos from some very talented and gifted artist.
Regards,
Judithann




Fly Agaric:
John, I love the texture of this photo. With such sharpness one almost feels like they can reach out and touch the mushrooms. The tones of brown are incredible ranging from brown reds to yellow brown to deep dark browns. This was such a great find. You must have been very pleased indeed. A pleasant photo to look at, thank you for sharing it. Well done.


A Dunnock
John, this photo has been for me, a complete delight, and a surprise. The reason for the surprise is that I really love the effect of the noise in this photo. I alway work really hard to eliminate the noise in my own photos, always. Here, when I enlarged this, all that noise made this photo look like a painted piece of art. It is so beautiful!
Of course this little brown fellow meets the theme perfectly.
How creamy is that background…wow. He just pops right off the page. Thank you so very much for entering such a amazing photo. Congrats on third place. Well deserved.


Earwig
Derek, how brave of you to photograph brown with the background black. Very well done too!
As I studied this photo, I could see that the camera focused on the second leg, leaving the face of this creature a wee bit soft. That face still pulls you in for a ugly yet stunning look.
Lots of different tones of brown here, meeting the theme bang on. I really enjoyed this photo, and do thank you for entering it. I would be proud to have this in my portfolio.


Autumn Reflections
Rodney, I want to go to this place, sit and energize my spirit! What a beautiful display of autumn colours in the water. You have done a fantastic job at capturing the feeling of serenity.
The first colour that pops when I look at the photo was the yellows and oranges. Not that I did not see the browns on the ducks and the specks of brown in the water, I did.
If my contest had of been on beautiful colours, this would be a first place runner. Thank you so much for sharing this photo, it is stunning.



Portrait of a Lady
Mag, please do tell what lens captured this rich gorgeous bokeh. That bokeh is brown too. I love the way you captured the duck, as she was looking to the left. Her brown is so pretty, so many different shades on her from the yellow browns to the deep dark browns. This photo is a really nice, well balanced, beautiful lighting. Thank you so much for sharing it. I am waiting to hear about your choice of lens here. Amazing!


Chocolate Cake
Glen, one of my favourites photographer, yes I am a fan. Glen, there is just something about your work, the way you can take simple and make it look eloquent. I have seen you time and time again take a photo of an object and that photo just draw you in. Here it is again. The cake, with its crumbs falling onto the plate, simple, yet so striking. Sharpness so real, till I feel like I can touch it. This is a brown that we all want to taste, it looks delightfully good! Not only is the cake brown, but the golden brown tiles and the red brown strip on the plate, pulls it all together to make me a brown masterpiece. Thank you so much for this wonderful photo. Congrats on second place, so well deserved.



Clocking In
Mike, I asked for brown in all of its beauty, and boy oh boy did you ever deliver. I am blown away with how much beautiful brown is in this photo. The tones and shades of brown are ranged from the light yellows, deep reds to the chocolate darks. Mike, your lighting is perfect. I love how the light in the picture ranges from left to right, from bright to shadows. The picture is balance and composed with precision. That deep dark clock in the centre pulls everything together.
Your ability to take a photo this sharp and show each grain in the wood as well as the tiny dark brown speckles in the boards shows me that you are gifted! Yes, I can see how beautiful brown is when I look at this picture.
The brown fills up the whole frame showing all the details, and you sir, win first place for this masterpiece. Thank you so very much for entering, and I am your newest fan. Amazing, fantastic work!


Dont mention Xmas
Fernley, a title makes all the difference in how we see the photo. The title coupled with the photo made me chuckle. What a fine looking bird it is. I really want to praise you for capturing this bird strutting its stuff. I loved the fluffed out feathers and it took the photo up a notch, making it more interesting to view. Great work. I love how sharp the bird is, but I found that the background of gravel, being equally as shard somewhat distracting. I am well aware, that we do not get to chose out background when photographing our feather friends. I just know that if that background was softened, this bird would pop right off the page. How beautiful of a brown subject the turkey is. Look at all the different tones and shades he displays. Thank you for entering it, what a delightful turkey.


Little Dog
i-Berg, are you wanting to melt hearts? Oh my goodness, those eyes!!! Hey, they are two different shades of brown, how great is that for a brown contest. I love the the multiple shade of brown in his coat too.
The real prize of talent in this photo is your ability to take the photo of the eyes that sharp, allowing the rest of the photograph to drop off into softness. Such skill! To me this is a masterpiece of doing it right, and I can tell that you are at a real professional level in your captures.
Oh by the way, you just took cuteness to a new height! So glad that you entered this darling photo, thanks so much.


Doing what comes naturally

David, thank you for a photo that shows brown in the soft tones. How beautiful are these lighter colours of brown! I love that after the eyes sees the beiges, it falls onto the butterflies and we see the rich tones of the dark browns. How striking, how lovely!
I did find that green piece of grass behind the butterflies distracting, and I was wondering if the colour could be change or if it might be removed, just to elevate this photo.
Your composure is really nice and the lighting is perfect. You are a very talented photographer and I want to thank you for entering such a beautiful piece of work. Well Done.


Berta and Ernie

Philip, what a great couple, perhaps named in honour of the sesame street character Ernie and Bert? There is so much good to say about this shot. The lighting is amazing, no cast of shadows, and the sharpness is perfect, just look at the eyes! WOW. I love how the background is soft allowing the birds to pop right off the picture.
The browns were such a beautiful contrast, our light tones on Berta and our handsome rich dark tones on Ernie. This is such a clean, beautiful, crisp photo. What lovely work you do. Thank you Philip for such a nice photo, so glad you took the time to enter this!


Rust
Nigel, what a creative angle to do. I love artist like you, who take shots that are different and down right so cool to see. I am not very good at this sort of thing, yet I have such adorations for photographer like yourself. Nicely done.
I like rusty brown. I love all the dark brown speckles in the rods.
I want to talk about the composure, because it is crazy how your eye cannot decided where to rest when you look this photo. The photo really has two central points, on the left where the three prongs meet and on the right where the two front prong meet. The eye seems to dart back and forth, not sure which is the main subject. I cannot say if that is negative or not. I guess it would depend on what the artist was trying to create. I think it is kind of interesting. This is such a creative photo, and thank you so much for entering it.


Eagle
Stuart, you captured my favourite bird. Such a beautiful bird indeed. Look at all the brown that bird has on the feathers.
I found that the imagine was soft on the head, and more focused on the glove and shirt. I cannot tell you how many times that I have developed a photo to only realize that my focal point in the photo was in the wrong place too. One thing that has help me with that is to use my manual mode in manual focus. At first I felt that I would mess it all up if I did not use auto focus. However Stu, it was often not the case, my photos became much sharper, and I gained more confidence. I do understand that you may not have had much time to capture the pose too. If you know this falconer perhaps you can get another opportunity to get a shoot. If you do, please share them. Thank you for choosing this photo to enter.


Warkworth : Van Dyke Brown
Stan, I had to research this place and I was blown away by the fact that this castle was built in the 1200, and became famous by the powerful Percy family whom live there from 1400 to 1700. You see Stan, as a Canadian, our country is only 125 years old. Here is England with a history so rich and long ago, that we are in awe of her. Of course many of us Canadians have a deep love for England as our forefathers came from there. Family ties are so important to us.
I LOVE the Van-Dyke brown processing. You have made this photo take on a gold tone that makes each brown colour look rich and beautiful. How perfect for a castle. Your lighting is amazing here. That refection in the gold water turns this ordinary photo into a masterpiece. This photo is nothing short of complete beauty, and I am delighted that you chose to enter it. Well done!


French Cottage
Paul, how do you get a photo that is composed to this kind of perfection. You must have a gift for framing such a scene. I am jealous. When I see a something this exquisitely done, all I can think is how beautiful. I would buy this and hang this on my wall. Breathtaking. Wonderful lighting and pin sharp. WOW.
The picture is rich and full of browns and meet the criteria for sure. However, the very first colour that popped out at me was the red! If i used this photo decoratively in my home, it would be for the red door. That is the colour I would accent.
Thank you so much for sharing this lovely piece of art! So well done!


On Patrol
Noel, what a great title, it makes you look at the photo in a whole new way. I liked that.
Your photo seemed to hold way more greys then it did browns. I did see the soft beiges in the grasses, trees and baboons. I noticed that the baboons are a wee bit soft, it seems as though the camera focused on the bushes above the first baboon, and on the gravel at the baboons feet.
I have had that happen to me before where my camera chose a different focal point then I intended. It taught me to rely less on the auto and work in the manual focus. At first I felt uncertain, not much confidence in my ability, but once I started, I realized I had more control and my photo began to improve.
Of course it is possible that you intended for this photo to have this look. Because it does show motion and movement, you may have like the effect. I could also find this interesting and creative. Thanks a million for sharing it, because this photo has a story to tell, and I like story photos.


Friar Tuck
Ken, this photos has so many different object, that are brown, it was like spotting Waldo. There is the rope, the trunk, the beard, the dogs face, the tools, the wood board outside, the other tent with the bed, and so on. The whole thing was tied together with that wonderful robe that Friar Tuck was wearing. What a delightful twill brown it is. It really anchors the photo, topping up all the browns.
I loved studying this photo, finding more and more brown things. No photo was more fun that this one.
Your lighting is lovely here, especially on the face of your subject.
This was a great photo for closing this competitions and I do thank you for entering it.


FIRST PLACE: CLOCKING IN by MikeinDevon

SECOND PLACE: CHOCLATE CAKE by GlynM

THIRD PLACE: A DUNNOCK by JAK


Honourable Awards by Special Mention:

Cutest Brown of All:
Little Dog, by IBerg

Most Perfect Composure:
French Cottage by Paulb531

Best Brown Processing:
Warkworth, Van-Dyke Brown by Tyronet200

Softest Browns:
Doing what comes naturally by Davidwozhere

Best Contrast of Dark and Light Brown:
Berta and Ernie by Smudge

The Most Brown Objects
Frair Tuck by Ken2390

Congratulations to a worthy Winner and other places. Thanks to JudithAnn for the interesting subject, the judging and the comprehensive comments.

A great selection odf entries, and fantastic to be having such prompt judging, so well done all round!

Congrats Mike, Glyn and John. Thank you JA - she really IS cute! And brown.

Congratulations MikeinDevon, fabulous photo, nostalgic and excellently composed, and amazing details. Worthy winner. And extended to GlynM (i have somewhat against you) for posting something I crave and on doctors orders, to avoid. And JAK, for a subject close to my heart. And of course the HM's I-Berg, Paulb531, Tyronet2000, Davidwozhere, Smudge and Ken2390. Super judging exercise, so a hearty thanks is due to Judithanne, for both the challenge and the comments/critiques. Excellent and exciting entries in this challenge. Great stuff everyone.

Hi JudithAnn, many thanks for the win, I'm chuffed to bits, and for your very prompt and very comprehensive set of comments!

Congratulations to other podium places and HMs, 'Chocolate Cake', who can resist and I have a real soft spot for 'A Dunnock', what a lovely portrait or my favourite 'little brown bird'.

I'll put on my thinking cap for this weeks competition subject.

Regards
Mike

Congratulations to MikeinDevon takes me back to my clocking in days. Thanks very much to judithann for the competition and Feedback which was excellent. Judithann has obviously put a lot of time and effort into reviewing all the photos in depth - thanks again.

Paul

Many thanks Judith for setting such a good competition subject plus your excellent reviews and Judging. It is great to have you back in these competitions.

Many thanks also for your very kind comments about my my pictures in general and particularly for awarding my chocolate cake image the converted second place .

Congratulations to MikeinDevon for the very well deserved winning entry, our fellow podium sitter, JAK, those with honourable awards and everyone else for another fantastic, diverse and well crafted set of Pentax images.

I love these competitions .

Glyn

Congratulations to the winners and thanks so much for lovely comments

This is the lens used, one of my favourites.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-A-135mm-F2.8-Lens.html

Ignore the focal length in the meta data, it's not accurate.

Cheers!

Thanks for the third place Judith and your detailed comments on all the entries.
Well done to MikeinDevon and GlynM too for their placings, and all the HMs and others (glad I'm not the only one who struggles to ignore so many worthwhile photos!)

I was wondering how you got that telephoto look with a 28mm lens!

Thank you to Meg for revealing the magic lens.

To GlynM, I am sorry for misspelling your name in my feedback.

To you all for your kind words on the judging, makes the whole job a pleasure!

Excited to see what Mike will bring next

JA