Weekly #702 - Keep it Simple Competition

Pentax “Keep It Simple” competition comments by John Ruffell
Thank you for all your high quality and interesting images to comment upon. My word! To judge this competition was much harder than I had anticipated, but here goes….

Seven Spot Ladybird by MHOL190246. Undoubtably a very artistic photograph. I would have liked to have been able to see more of the ladybird and its spots.

Studious Robin by Perspicador. Excellent quality in the details of the Robin. Wonder if flipping the image left to right and removing in photoshop some of the bright feed would make the picture even more striking than it is? This would then follow the way we read from left to right more.

On the beach by Paulb351. Certainly a simple Beach scene, which maybe would be improved for this competition by moving the subject in the frame to the left and closer. The Black and white lighting is very attractive.

Chimney Sunset by Nigelk. Clever photo of a shadow which would have been difficult to know what it was without the explanation. Very intriguing and well thought out subject matter.

Simple Wedding Ring by PRYorksire. Certainly fits the subject of the competition. If only it had been sharp overall without the highlights.

Red Letter Day by John Riley. Detail so sharp overall you feel you could post a card through the image letterbox saying “Winner”.

Elevenises in the shade by Vic Cross. Maybe could have been improved by placing the tree and scene towards the left hand third in the frame. This would take the figure in red looking more out of the scene and frame. An interesting break story, keeping cool out of the sun under the only tree in the charming view.
55 Degrees by David Trout. Figure looks overdressed for the temperature! However the position of the subject in the scene is just right, and seeing the potential for the photograph is to be commended.

Wild Flower by retsoor. Exemplary shot of Greater Stitchwort especially well detailed at f9 and 1/15 sec.

Drifting by drofmit. Contains very good definition and lighting. One could well imagine the leafy twig being blown in the wind leaving the ideal track shown so well across the photo. An atmospheric picture.

Three Boats at Zoo Lake by Noelcmn. Very effective rescued lighting taken on 29/01/2021 just in time for the competition. Well worth rescuing the underexposed image of this quality. The blackness sets the lovely lighting on the boats and reflections well. Might be improved still further by enlarging the boats in the frame if the image can stand that sort of treatment.

Hair Ice by Mike in Devon. After reading your most interesting notes, this is an excellent capture, and well worth your time and trouble. A rare one.

It’s a Bummer by Ken 2390. Made me smile! A growth on a tree apparently very well seen and captured with fine detail.

So choosing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the following order is very difficult and the applied order could easily be swapped around, as could most of the others be Highly Commended.
1st Red Letter Day by John Riley
2nd Drifting by drofmit
3rd Wild Flower by retsoor.

That was a nice surprise, many thanks for the win! Congrats to all the other entrants who took mpart and I think there's a lot to be said for keeping things simple, so thanks for the excellent subject as well.

New competition will be up and running in a few moments.

Thanks for the competition John and well done to the top three, John Riley, Drofmit and Retsoor.
David

Thanks John for this interesting competition, and congratulations to John Riley and the other podium winners, overall cracking good images throughout.

Cheers
Mike

Thanks John, For a good competition and judging and comments. Thanks also for my 3rd place. Congrats to John and Drofmit. Ken's it's a bummer made me smile as well