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Weekly #661 - New Life Competition

Competition Details
Closing Date: 29/03/2020
Judge: SteveF

Plenty of signs of new life around now as winter gives way to spring. Let's make this a feel good competition in the face of the current pandemic. The theme is not intended to be restricted to nature though, any interpretation of new life is welcome.
Competition Entries
SteveF
Posted 30/03/2020 - 23:41 Link
Thanks for your entries. Some brief comments by me and then a decision, the hardest part.

Dawn of a new day – johnriley
Interesting interpretation of the theme. Good composition and exposure

Against the odds – noelcm
Lovely composition. Great lighting which highlights the main subject and picks out the details of the (burnt?) wood.

The dafs are out – paulb531
Good detailed shot, but I found the bud on the left distracts from the main subject somewhat.

Bursting buds - davidwozhere
Shots for this angle are difficult to pull off, but you succeeded. The depth of field is very precisely controlled and the out of focus background contributes to the composition.

Spiderlings – retspor
An unusual and detailed image with almost too much going on for the eye and brain to deal with. It’s a pity the light didn’t allow you to show more detail of the web to which these babies are clinging.

All the little ducklings – vic cross
Nice shot with good retention of detail in very contrasty conditions. Well done for looking after the family.

Baby geranium – GlynM
You certainly achieved the sharpness you were seeking with the focus stacking technique. Good composition.

Rearing the family – nigelk
Nice intimate family shot of behaviour I was unaware of. Good detail shown. I think I’d have been tempted by a tighter crop to make the family larger in the frame.

Seeds – BraydenBise
Interesting interpretation of the theme (but valid). Monochrome suits this subject. The composition is a little messy with the stalks and leaves going in all directions, which is distracting.

Fresh ducklings – tyronet2000
Highest cuteness rating of all entries! Good capture – you were fortunate with a shutter speed of 1/30 that the birds remained still for you.

Springtime at Ness Gardens, Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside. UK - newbiek50user
Good image of a lovely spring day. Took me back to the late 70s when I lived in Ellesmere Port for a couple of years.

New life from dead beech – johnwnjr
Recycling is not an interpretation that had occurred to me, but it’s perfectly acceptable. Well controlled exposure of an interesting subject. When the current restrictions are lifted, I amy have to go to Pershore for a look at this myself.

Nesting materials – perspicador
A good idea, but I think you could have achieved a better composition. We have a pair of magpies nesting in our garden and they are very industrious and active.

As Nigelk said last week “Please also remember that I am just some bloke on the internet that is a keen photographer and happens to shoot Pentax, I'm not claiming to be an expert.” (I decided I couldn’t put it better myself.)

Result:
1st – Bursting buds by davidwozhere
Joint 2nd – Against the odds by noelcm and Fresh Ducklings by tyronet2000
3rd – Dawn of a New Day by johnriley

Highly commended
Baby Geranium by GlynM
Rearing the family by nigelk
davidwozhere
Posted 31/03/2020 - 00:29 Link
Good Heavens! Thank you for that Steve. Well done to Nigel and Glyn. The variety of interpretations here is quite amazing.
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Nigelk
Posted 31/03/2020 - 09:26 Link
Congratulations to davidwozhere his fellow podium places and thank you for my HC and the competition SteveF.
Noelcmn
Posted 31/03/2020 - 14:55 Link
That was a fantastic challenge, as noted, the variety of submissions is amazing. Congrats Davidwozhere, worthy winner imho, just love the pop of green in that, excellent composition too! Congrats extended to my fellow podia placed winners Tyronet2000 and Johnriley. Not forgetting the HC's GlynM and Nigelk. And honored to be on the podium for this one Thanks are due to our judge, for the challenge and C&C's.
Posted 31/03/2020 - 19:20 Link
Thank you Steve for the competition, Judging and comments. Congratulations to David, Noel and John for the podium places and well done to Glyn and Nigel for Hc's
GlynM
Posted 01/04/2020 - 11:22 Link
Many thanks Steve for an interesting and well managed competition.

Congratulations to our winners and everyone else for another great set of images.

Glyn

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