Weekly #942 - Waves Competition

Thanks for the entries, I have made my notes so far. Just waiting to see if any more appear overnight before picking a winner before I go to work in the moring

Hi all, I have picked a winner so you can set up the next one. Will post judging at home tonight. Thank you all.

And there I thought davidwozhere had it in the bag. Such a fabulous shot! Thanks for the win, a great honour! I'll have something up shortly.

Ah, but you crossed the line first with that superb action shot Noel. Perfect timing and a great composition!

Sorry for the wait, been busy with a radio show tonight. Anyway, to solve the mystery of how my brain works, here are my thoughts.

The Mighty Sea, - johnriley
I really like this image, it shows a confused sea, yet at the same time its photogenic. It’s a shame the uppermost wave is just cropped off. A split second later and it would have been in frame. The almost monochrome nature allows me to concentrate on the shapes and form.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling – Simonmac
Well done for being different in this contest, a happy face in the car, with a very serious chauffeur. Is that car left hand drive? Nicely centred on the cabin of the car. It asks questions, what is the parade for, what is the boy’s role in it? Is the car American or European? How come the woman at the back is so large in the image – advert hoarding?

Sparkle – davidwozhere
Another almost mono image, of just one wave. Crisply focussed and well timed. I struggle with the starburst sparkles, they almost hurt my eyes. At the same time I can see they add a lot of interest to the image, you even have their reflections.

Rough seas below Dunstanburgh castle – RodsPentax
A slow exposure shot with foreground and distant interest. The exposure does hide the waves a bit, and I think the image needs lifting with more exposure and colour. Nicely composed to include the castle, not afraid to bend the rule of thirds, which I like to see.

Playfully waving by – gibis
I like that you spotted the dolphin front centre has a fin raised as if waving. A wave in the waves! I wonder if it would work better cropped to exclude the land and the peripheral dolphin? Good focussing getting the focal plane on the dolphins, which would have been a moving target.

Wave culture – Noelcmn
Lots of colour and great capture of the action. Another image that asks questions, like did he wipeout or recover? Focus is spot on his head, could you have got a deeper focal plane and nail the markings on the board too? I’m struggling to be more picky than that, it’s a superbly executed shot.

Choppy water at Brightlingsea – Oppenheimer45
Definitely meets the spec – lots of waves, and the presence of people adds interest. It seems to be out of focus, or did the strong wind cause camera shake with that long Tamron lens? What makes the image good is that its another one asking questions. Like why is the fence under water, is it a flood or a massive tide? How did the people get over there? Is it usually land?

Small waves can also impress – dewsburya
This looks like the kind of professional image you see on hotel walls, mono, artistic. EXIF says it’s a wide angle lens but it looks narrow but I’ll say that is my weird sense of perspective. There is some white fringing where the rocks meet the sky. I think I might have put focal plane on the nearest rock. Good tones and nice choice of shutter speed for a little motion blur.

To confirm the places:
Noelcmn
Davidwozhere
Simonmac - just for being different

But everyone is a winner, you are all great photographers, for getting the shot, and putting it up there to be judged.

And for the next comp... I work in an auction house full of old tech, so I have plenty of props to choose from, but how do I make them tell a story?

Thank you Ray for the competition and for your encouraging words.

Cracking shots all round. The winner and runner up I can see splashed (groan...!) across a huge advertising hoarding!

All the best

ps It is indeed a hoarding...South and City College, Brum.

Thanks for the comments, photo hand held at max zoom and it was windy. A fairly high tide will flood the promenade at this location. The wind surfers are out on the river mouth.

Looking back at that Noel, did he wipe out? You caught the absolute apex of that movement.

No he did not! I was amazed at the balance, precision and control of these surfers. A few did wipe out, but most did not and rode out the wave as it dissipated heading to the shore. I'll post the next two photos (I took about 200 photos on the day :blush 3 seconds later, to my gallery. Thanks so much for your kind comments.