Weekly #558 - Water Competition

Weekly Competition #558 – Water

G’day - thank you for taking the time and effort to submit your image for this comp.

As always, the thoughts in the c&c are my own and thus entirely subjective. They apply solely to these images at this particular time.

There are two sets of things I will be looking for: the first is whether the image meets the brief; and the second (as in previous times) is a combination of content, lighting and composition.

I’ve deliberately left the topic wide, to give people scope to interpret as they see fit. The intent was to more consciously reflect on imagination and creativity to achieve the purpose. So here goes:

Swan-song – Perspicador. Hopefully not your own, Rod! What a lovely, serene and graceful image. I just hope that is seaweed on the bird’s neck, and not string about to strangle the poor thing. The water shows its ability to take on the character of its surroundings – marvellous stuff.

Frozen Waterfall – michealblue. Two, possibly three states of water in evidence here. The cropping isn’t perhaps as good as it could have been, but the image is powerful.

Seawater – Tyronet2000. A classic ‘soft’ long exposure that is timeless and relaxing. A panorama sans sky may even have been worth considering? The groyne gives you an effective leading line into the image.

Splash – davidtrout. Hydraulics writ large – powerful stuff. A majestic image. Did you give this much of a sharpen David? Maybe the crop made it a tad soft.

Fontburn Outlet. – andymat. Excellent choice of crop / framing, and well done for the creativity. A good choice of shutter speed to create a very effective contrast between the water ‘in-waiting’, and that in motion.

Standing on Water or Thin Ice – Cdn-Sailor. Hey David, at least it’s not stuck with a leg in the ice! This shot makes me feel as if the water / ice is almost reduced to a back-drop, rather than the point of the image.

Dishwasher washing – johnriley. This has to take a prize, if purely for innovation! And the camera lives! Amazing. I’d have cropped out the nasty specular blob at bottom left, but what a great idea. Not something I’d do with the DSLR…

Incoming Tide – JAK. A lovely looking shot John, but I fear you are breeding rabbits: Oh those dust bunnies… Furry varmints aside, this image has a lovely balance, due to the diagonal that divides the water from the rocks, along with pleasing colours. If you have the inclination, let us know what settings you used for saturation and vibrance, to create it.

Bobbin in the Clouds – Noelcmn. Almost psychedelic, the point of focus and dreamy water come together so well. Lovely colour contrast too.

Dripping Tap! – GlynM. Well they say timing is everything, and you’ve done that superbly here Glyn. A well-timed capture, and tack-sharp too. The waves radiating from the splash are represented beautifully.

swallow falls – johnjm. Good subject matter and timing, although I’d have used a portrait orientation to give greater effect and impact to this image. And you’re also breeding rabbits – dust bunnies aplenty in evidence here!

Screaming Munch – drofmit. Well seen Tim. It draws the eye, n’est ce pas? It’s a good composition and well exposed. A lovely abstract, and it works for me.

Still Waters – Ken3290. Your camera has struggled with the highlights and shadows in this shot (my Kx is the same). Again the water is reduced to a support act rather than being the feature of your image here. Getting closer to the water, and composing or cropping to eliminate that glare-ridden sky may assist you next time.

So to the results:

3rd place: Screaming Munch - drofmit.

2nd place: Noelcmn – Bobbin in the Clouds.

1st place: andymat – Fontburn Outlet.

This week, the HCs go to John Riley (innovation plus), and Perspicador.

Thank you again for participating – I’ve enjoyed thinking about what you’ve provided and offering my thoughts.

Congratulations to the Winner and other places. Thanks to i-Berg for the interesting subject the timely judging and the comprehensive comments.

Well done Andy, that's a super image from Fontburn. Also congratulations to Noel and Tim and the HCs. Many thanks I-Berg for the competition and comprehensive comments. Yes ,my picture was a huge crop, I was quite a long way from the light house across the mouth of the River Tyne and somewhat upstream as well so the image quality does suffer.. Well spotted.
David

Super prompt judging, fantastic!

Thanks for the comments, looking forward to the next competition.

Many thanks for another great competition.

Congratulations to andymat, the runners up and everyone else for a grand set of interpritations.

Glyn

Thanks for the prompt judging and comments
The photograph was taken as a RAW image so the saturation etc. were all meddled with in EasyHDR3. It was taken quite late on a dullish day do definitely needed something doing to it!
As to the dust bunny it seems to be a one off so perhaps something else or a piece of alien matter getting in the camera while changing lenses.

Congratulations to the winner. I certainly chose an interesting challenge as my first foray since joining the forum. As can be well imagined I've seen my share of water in many states over my professional career as a mariner

I understand your comments that the duck, not the ice & water, becoming the focal point of the of the shot.
I chose the shot, because, even though it doesn't come across that well, the duck had just landed on the ice, which was newly formed, about 1 - 2 mm thick and transparent in a calm lake. Making it look like, at the right angle and perspective, that the duck was actually standing on the water. When composing the shot I was actually expecting, because the ice was so thin, to give way at any time under the duck's weight.
I guess I could have taken a wider angled shot to show the calm water along the ice edge and or made the ice less visible in PP to move the focus of the shot away from the duck to make it look like the duck was standing on water.

Wow - thanks Mr i-Berg for the win and for the comprehensive comments. Good open subject and it seems to have prompted a good selection of entries. OK - thinking cap on for next competition...

Well, that is a bit surprising, thought I'd be lucky if I got a HC. But I'll take the the coveted 2nd spot, thanks a ton I-berg. Congrats Andymat, loved that intriguing shot from the start, superb creativity! Congrats too to my fellow podium placed dromfit and the HC's johnriley and Perspicador. Wonderful challenge, excellent C/C so a hearty thanks to I-berg.

Thanks for the third place... it was a very interesting competition...
I, like Noel, did not expect to get a podium place especially against the other pictures!!
Congrats all round, I'd say.