Weekly Competition #108 - Smoke Competition

Thank you Jyrkira for the first place - it made the hard work of setting it up and taking all the more rewarding. There was a very interesting range of subjects and treatments so I'm even more pleased to get the win!

In part it goes to show that old used equipment can turn in the goods! The lens is a £40 Vivitar 100mm macro and the flash was an old, very old, Vivitar 238. The tripod is 30+ years old. As for me ...

I will come up with a new topic later this morning.

Mike

Well done Jyrkira. I had Mike's excellent photo down as the winner as soon as I saw it. Congratulations to Mike.
david

Well done Mike, I had you pegged as the winner as well & well done Jyrkira

Jyrkira, thanks for the judging. Mike, a very well deserved win, well done. Caz

Thanks for kind words!

Mike

An excellent winner and well done!

Thanks to all for entering this competition. As Mikew said there really is an interesting range of subjects. It was also the honor to serve as a judge for this competion. I write some comments for all picture as judges have done before. Please remember that they are only opinions of one person.

Coriander: I like the idea of this picture, delicious looking food and a good amount of smoke above it. What bothers me a bit is the background which takes too much attention. A smaller depth of field would have helped here. The main subject is also a bit soft.

Technoblurb: Very interesting subject in this picture. I am sure it is capable to create a lot of smoke. Would be great to see it doing that.

Aiki: It is a great idea to use smoking candles. This is a nice picture with nice DOF and good colors on the cake. Though the bright light on the top right corner is stealing some attention from the main subject. Congratulations to your daughter.

DoctorJeff: This is a nice balanced picture. The subject framed nicely too. Could this be even better if cropped a bit more to bring the main subject more visible ? Nice entry.

Mikew: What a great picture. I like everything in this picture. It is sharp, has good colors and contrast, good lightning and most important, there is a very beautiful smoke in this picture.

HenriTeine: I like the composition and the colors in this picture. Unfortunately wind is pushing the smoke away, so the smoke is a bit low and what is left of it is quite hidden to the background.

Snappycaz: I like this picture. It takes the issue of competition very well too. It would be better if the picture would show also where the building is attached to the ground. I guess you have had a good reason to crop it from here and the topic was more about smoke than architectural photographing anyway. Good entry.

Bluejohn: Humorous idea here. Although I think this is a picture of smoking, not of smoke.

sueriley: You have reached the feeling of dancing smoke nicely. The composition is very good too. A little bit less noise next to the smoke would still be a good improvement. Nice entry.

JudithAnn: You have reached a nice sensitive atmosphere in this picture. I'm glad that I don´t have to make fire for communication!

piotro: Another well taken picture of planes with smoke, good colors and composition. A bit more space at the bottom of the picture would be a good improvement. Well done.

darlene: A picture with very balanced atmosphere and smoke making beautiful curls. Very nice colors too.

johnriley: This is the smokiest picture in this competition, which is a good thing, because this is a smoke competition. Nice entry.

matwhittington: Another picture I like very much. The composition is very good with just the correct amount of air around the subjects.

davidtrout: Great picture. I like the subject and the colors. A bit high noise level here, though I like it because it makes the picture to look like a view from a fairytale together with the strong colors of the picture. The smoke is excellent. The big and thick cloud of dark smoke is great with nice contrast to the white smoke (or is it steam ?).

Daniel Bridge: That is a great picture too. Very clear and carefully taken. Unfortunately it is not easy to know what the subject is without knowing it is a smoke. Still very nice entry.


Results:

1: Gunshot by mikew
2: Ready to go by davidtrout
3: Er, smoke! by Daniel Bridge


The smokiest picture award goes to JohnRiley.

Thanks for the second place Jyrkira although I thought Daniel's picture would be ahead of mine. Its a shame there weren't more entries because it was a good subject.
david

Many thanks for the comments, it's always valuable to get this sort of feedback from the judge.

Good subject.

A superb image, I cannot imagine the prep involved, hats off to you Mike