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Weekly #663 Black AND White objects: eg something white on a black background or vice versa Competition

Competition Details
Closing Date: 12/04/2020
Judge: newbiek50user

We are in a period of enforced isolation so I've chosen a topic that lends itself to indoor practice. As examples, think of a piano keyboard; a black tie against a white shirt; or a black and white chessboard. Usual rules apply: using Pentax or acceptably related equipment.
Competition Entries
SteveF
Posted 06/04/2020 - 22:05 Link
Have the rules changed? The monthly competition requires an image shot during the month in question, the weekly competition is usually open to images shot at any time on Pentax equipment.
davidtrout
Posted 07/04/2020 - 07:57 Link
SteveF wrote:
Have the rules changed? The monthly competition requires an image shot during the month in question, the weekly competition is usually open to images shot at any time on Pentax equipment.

I think its a mistake, the rules haven't changed.
David
johnriley
Posted 07/04/2020 - 16:37 Link
A quick edit has corrected that.
Best regards, John
davidtrout
Posted 09/04/2020 - 13:14 Link
I understood this to be a competition for black and white photos. Am I missing something?
David
Nigelk
Posted 09/04/2020 - 14:52 Link
David I understood it to be something black against something white or visa versa rather than an actual B&W comp. My image is a colour image. I'll cross my fingers I've understood correctly
vic cross
Posted 11/04/2020 - 11:55 Link
My understanding of the brief is. NOT a B&W photo but as the wording says. Black on white. or White on black. As Nigel says. I hope I've understood the brief correctly.
CHEERS Vic.
Born again biker with lots of Pentax bits. Every day I wake up is a good day. I'm so old I don't even buy green bananas.
Posted 11/04/2020 - 21:43 Link
I seem to have caused quite a lot of misunderstanding because I obviously didn't make clear what I meant. My wording was " As examples, think of a piano keyboard; a black tie against a white shirt; or a black and white chessboard". Since I didn't make it clear, I take this as my fault and will try not to penalise any use of colour in judging. I'll post a photo now of the sort of thing I had been looking for.
I apologise.
Posted 13/04/2020 - 10:08 Link
I commence my comments on my judgement with an apology and a statement about the apparent incompleteness of the terms – errors and omissions.
I had stated that the photo needed to have been taken during the week of the contest. That error was corrected by John Riley last Tuesday. Thank you, John and, to everyone else, I apologise.
Some of you were unclear about what I meant by black objects on a white background because I had omitted the following words:
Photographs must show a wholly black item on a wholly white background and must not include any other colour or tone. Photographs of those black and white objects must have been taken in colour originally. Please do not submit photographs originally taken in monochrome. For similar reasons do not submit photographs of objects which were not originally wholly black or white but have been converted to appear so in post processing. Both the tones – black and white shall be fairly represented – thus a single stroke of a black pen on an A4 sheet of white paper would not be representative of a black image on a white background.
Because I did not include all that wording I have not excluded photographs with an incidental colour component elsewhere in the image provided that the incidental colour did not render the black component to be other than wholly black. I have stuck to my principle that the black on white component must comprise the major part of the image.
In judging according to those principles I have, nevertheless, had otherwise to apply my personal taste. I do not believe that any judge can be wholly objective.
Now to the results.
I have disqualified Black Sky White Mast because the camera body used was not a Pentax or related brand but a Nikon Coolpix.
I have similarly disqualified Silhouette because no Exif data as to the body used was provided.
Jackdaws I have excluded because the background is grey not white.
Pentax on Pentax with Pentax I will come back to even though the lens is not wholly black.
Arum Lilies Reversed offered a partly white object converted in post against a partly white background.
Bus in Ice was a partly transparent, partly white object displayed against a dark green background on a dark base.
MP3 Player shows a wholly white on wholly black as a very minor part of a display with some white and black against a wholly irrelevant major part of the photograph.
Swan, on first sight looks like the only real wholly white on wholly black entry but, of course, the swan would not have been wholly white had it not been rendered so in post. Nor, in all probability would the water.
Pentax White on Black has a black lens (if one excludes the inconsequential green and red spots of colour) on a black background. The lens offers a few strokes of white lettering but this is not a fair representation of white objects on a black background.
Fjord reflections in monochrome: the white snow on a black mountainside even when the reflection is taken into account represents only about 50% of the image.
Under the Coal Drop I suspect to have been either an originally monochrome photo or a colour photo that has been converted to monochrome. Either way, neither the train nor the coal drop are wholly black objects against a wholly white background.
Magnolia “Stellata” shows a partly white flower mounted on a black trellis with a brown background.
How about an escaped orchid, depicts a partly white flying flower against a grey-blue background which includes some black tree branches.
Finally, Keyboards gives us two, part rows of black piano keys with red highlights against white keys all set in a brownish frame plus other partly coloured control panels.
Only one photo – Pentax on Pentax with Pentax - wholly meets the specification even when it has been amended to include an inconsequential element of colour.
I, therefore, declare John Riley’s Pentax on Pentax with Pentax to be my choice of winner.
I have probably pleased no one given my original error and my failure to specify precisely what I wanted. I have tried to be fair and I do thank so many people who entered.
I will not enter any future contests in case judging should fall to me again.
tyronet2000
Posted 13/04/2020 - 10:24 Link
Congratulations to the Winner. I did enjoy the comprehensive comments on the images and this has certainly encouraged me to enter more compentitions in the the future.
Regards
Stan

PPG
Edited by tyronet2000: 13/04/2020 - 10:24
johnriley
Posted 13/04/2020 - 10:33 Link
Thanks for the win, but the judge shouldn't feel too bad about any confusion. If confused, we can ask what a brief means and it can be clarified, and in any event it's always a learning curve for all of us.

Do please continue to enter and if you should win again then you can approach it with some experience that we can all benefit from.
Best regards, John
JAK
Posted 13/04/2020 - 12:30 Link
Well done John. I think the moral here is if in doubt keep it simple.
John K
Noelcmn
Posted 13/04/2020 - 13:47 Link
Well, that was a learning curve, and I for one appreciate the lesson learnt. Congrats Johnriley. And concur, no need for our judge to take things so personally or so seriously, me thinks the problem lies more with us than with him. Don't let this keep you from entering. Thanks for the judging exercise- agree with all of it.
paulb531
Posted 13/04/2020 - 15:07 Link
Thanks to Newbiek50user and congratulations to the winners.

Sorry about submitting the Nikon image. A genuine mistake - I don't know it crept in there.

Regards

Paul
PRYorkshire
Posted 13/04/2020 - 17:03 Link
Congratulations to John and for your comments and clarifying your criteria. The title of the competition did actually say white object on black or vice versa and was to some extent self explanatory. You are right that I only achieved this with the Swan by post processing the water from a dark blue to achieve the black, so agreed it was not originally a black background. Do not be put off entering the competitions in future.

Paul
Paul

K1000, Espio 140, ist, istD, K70, K3iii and numerous lenses, just don't tell my wife.
Edited by PRYorkshire: 13/04/2020 - 17:08
davidtrout
Posted 13/04/2020 - 19:59 Link
Another good competition. thanks to the judge's subject and extensive comments. Sorry I didn't correctly understand the rules but that's my fault . Congratulations to John Riley.
David
davidwozhere
Posted 13/04/2020 - 23:09 Link
So you goofed (slightly)? The purpose of goofs is to learn from them, not to flog yourself ! And if you don't enter any more competitions you deprive yourself of the opportunity to learn and you deprive us all of potentially great pictures (i.e.last weeks) and our learning from others' comments about them. Stick it behind you where it belongs. I for one had great fun entering my silly picture.
Both the *istDS and the K5 are incurably addicted to old glass

My page on Photocrowd

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