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Weekly competition #110 Moment Competition

Competition Details
Closing Date: 16/08/2009
Judge: Aiki

Is it just good, funny, wierd, unordinary etc but it should be a matter of MOMENT. Sth that you do not "work" before you shoot. Sth that you maybe had just luck with. You just had your camera with you and pressed the shutter in time.rnSearch your archives, I am sure you have got several ! rnIf you feel its needed - some explanations may added rnrnAiki
Winner
Competition Entries
Aiki
Posted 17/08/2009 - 08:38 Link
Judging is very interesting work ! It forces to think about the things, that I too often do not think!
I try to put down my thoughts as clearly as I can. Forgive me, if everything does not turn out perfect.
And all this is awfully time-consuming! I wish the thoughts to come just with a moment.

matwhittington - fiiight !
Its a merry photo full of joy. I like the overall soft colors, movement in the hand and the snow.
For me the contrast between fence in focus and the face not in focus is annoying. The fence draws my attention, but it shouldnt.

Draken - where do we go?
Splended colors. Fine silhouettes. Sharp. Everything beautiful and ok.
You were having a good time looking at all this. And I enjoy the pic.
Still the "Where do we go ?" is not the only theme here. It is more a scenery than a plot for me.
In other situation it would be very fine for me.
BTW. Is the horizon a bit sliding left, or my eyes play a trick ?

JudithAnn - A tender moment of wonder.
Yeeh, you posted again a photo that I really like ! It is a moment !
You have catched so nicely the expressin. The composition is fine for me. The touch of color on the butterfly draws the eye.
The only minus at the moment I can come out is the corners being a bit too dark. I guess I understand you wanted all the attention to focus the same direction as the boy has it. Maybe you have overdone the circle just a bit.
And there is some yellow on the boy's shirt as well. It should stay on the butterfly

Davidtrout - bird watching
Love it ! (Again I love stairs!? Hmm. I have to go out and have a look at different ones. It seemes to be a good theme )
It is so simple and "talking" at the same time
Maybe this moment lasted for a longer time. But at the photo it is defenetly a moment!
Great, you have got it !

JohnRiley - Mother and Daughter
Nice moment, they look so similar. Although exif is not needed in this comp, I would have liked to see it. It looks grainy. Is it PP ?
It gives a real feeling of an old postcard ! I like the feeling.
Maybe I would have given just a mm of room above the mothers hat.

Summiteverest - ...walking across...
Beautiful blue and white. Mountains are always nice subject for photographing - if you get to them
I have not climbed mountains, but I think you had enough time for trying different directions. ....eee...different compositions. The mountains are in balance, but not the man and the ladder. I wish to hide the man and the ladder to get a beautiful scenery. I think there was a more interesting pic hidden somewhere
(Kodak)

Bob and his Pentax - Falling Tower
There is the movement, also expressions, joy. All that is fine.
Still I do not see some clear and nice composition. The background does not help to improve the pic.
Also it is so obvious, that you were waiting for this moment. You were ready for it.

Hefty1 -a wagger settled
You are lucky you saved the money of research ! I believe you have paid for your camera and lenses much less !! Special prize for that
And you saved lot of time ! For how long you kept trying ? How many shots?
You defenetly catched the moment. The face of the rider is in focus at the same time. There is also movement in the horses legs. Well done ! Pentax helps!
Maybe I would like to see little bit less space behind the horse (right) and a bit more in front of it - but maybe not


Simonarthurs - Bubbles
There are: sunny day, sparking bubbles and nice girl enjoying the toy. Nice day for a family to be together.
And lot of different objects on background that do not let me look at the bubbles. I find myself looking at the grandma or the legs.
I must say, this is not a moment that you needed much luck for shooting. So this plot is not enough for me, sry.
Keep trying. One day will be yours as well

Pentaxboyo - you smell good
Just ordinary cats greeting each other. nice colors and also composition. In focus. Just a nice pic.
and then the comment !!!!! This makes the moment ! good !

Bigcog - what's in the bag?
I can see the curiosity and fun I would like to see their expressions even more. The fourth man on right helps to keep the pic in balance. Rotating the pic some degrees would be help too
There are typical indoor colors. I am not much fond of these. maybe some PP could help.

vickijw53 - yummy chocolate
colors...colors.... the mud is like chocholate and chocolate looks like mud.
I tried BW....but maybe the mud and chocolate being so similar is the point of the pic. Still the legs on the boy's head disturb me.

titchgamer - atishooo
I am sorry, but it looks more like he is trying to get a sleep or just feeling hot in the sunny summer day.
I cant find the focus point. I guess you focused on the face but while sneezing he moves. With this exp time it gives just an impression of being out of focus.
Try adjusting the levels - it makes the colors better. Also the crop (composition) could be improved.


Snappycaz - cignet
Caught a moment. It could be better but I know how fast birds are and it is not so easy to shoot acurate moment. So its well done.
The water on background looks good. But highlights on the wings are overexposured. It disturbes a lot.

Darlene - morning bath
There is no much difference, has he finished the morning bath or having a breakfast.
Sharpness is missing. The exposure time should have been faster to fix the movement or slower to show it.
At the moment the face is bit blurry, the whiskers and tongue are double.
The intensive green has nice contrast with the gray. But the foreground grass isnt best. That gave me thought to try BW. Adjusting some more levels gave me peaceful and spatial result.

Chelseablue - no ball
Yes you have catched the moment of a mistake done. It could be nice help for the judge.
For me levels adjustment is badly needed. As a shot that should please my eye, lot is missing for me.
I do not like the audience and advertisements at all on this pic. It makes it too busy. Full attention should go to the sportsmen and the judge.
Maybe its just that I havnt shot any sports and I have no experience ....

HenriTeine - rottweil
Nice composition, nice DOF seperating fore- and background. Lovely puppies. Beautiful shot about your pets.
Situation or plot that makes the moment special is missing for me on this pic.

Sumanta - moment
Moment of the jump catched. You pressed the shutter in time. In spite of that I feel that you are late. This feeling comes from the fact that children are leaving the pic. They are almost out of it already.
The upper part of pic is very busy and restless with lot of detail. Also the left side of the pic is bit heavier.

Beakynet - Cedric
Funny moment. The bird as if carries the sign And as if knows that he is the master.
Still the pic is out of balance. Its leaning left. Cropping from sides helps somewhat - it also brings the nice green tones to come out. I adjusted some levels as well resulting in deeper shades and 3D efect.

bforbes - preening swans
What a beautiful feathers. Nice light that makes the bird even more beautiful. And again I cant keep my fingers away from levels. I guess its the matter of my taste.
I would say its a beautiful nature/bird photo, but my idea was to include some plot or situation in it. Maybe I just didnt explane it clear enough. My mistake then.
There is quite a lot of background that does not tell much. I would crop out some of it. Actually I think I would like to see the reflection of the bird as well. Maybe this could add to the pic.

ASheridan - Hall of Mirrors
I like the glance of the girl - her expression ! I do not understand the plot behind the moment. The reason for the look is not there (not clear). But it draws attention.
As a pic: Had a long thought. Different crops were not much help. I removed bit from right and botom. As the reflection at right side drew away my eyes too much.
But as soon as I turned it BW, I was relaxed The colors were too intensive, killing the object.

alun - seadog
Perfect pic. Rich color, light that maks it 3D (gives the depth), composition balanced, perfect focus, a real situation (fleeing from the wave). Although a fixed moment the movement is there. Even an expression on the dogs face . Like from a magazine or poster.
And as I understood from the comment, it is shot almost accidentaly
Pity that I do not see exif data. Although it is not needed in this competition, I am just curious. Was it Auto? Also what lense did you use ? How many shots? Crop?

Nathanever82 - playing in the fountaine
The fountaines are fun. I like how the fountaine has stopped but the water is still not down.
What is pity, that the sky is white and the buildings on the background are distracting. Not much can be done to improve. There is only a wish, that what if you had had a tele and you could go for more details. For example a hand and "hanging" water.

Organicimagery - hold me
I like this BW and natural look ! There is feeling within for me !
My scissors cut out the white figure on left side (and with sorrow also the background figures that I guite liked actually) so that the full attention will be on the boy and there is no body-halves.

Dr. Mhuni - a seaside moment
Yeees, I like the picture ! It is defenetly beautiful. Defenetly good composition and good colors and ...oeh. Good ! Very good!
And if you were faster with posting it, you could have won the "relaxed" competition

Timcx100 - beach-football
Hmm, I would say faceball with an ear In a way, its even funny.
crop, crop, and once more crop ! Better if you can do it already with your camera. Are the houses important? Does the another boy add to the plot ? When you turn your attention to the jumping boy, then give him the room for the jump. Do not place him in the middle or he will fall into the water in spite of your good intentions.

Malo - tag of war
Thanks! Yes, I do like it ! I cant help but smile! BW really fits you. The more I like the red there! It makes the pic alive. No need to count what is good in this pic
And this "sport" is going on in interesting surroundings. Casio - watches - timecounters ?

Dwight-Morton - Canterbury falls
Nature around of us is full of nice moments. Tru. The pic is nice too. But it is just a nature photo for me. Without any special luck or plot inside. Of course you have to be there in right moment, but its different.

Rob - Rrrrrr
well captured!
Composition is good for me. There is plot and expressions on the faces!
A bit of noise - grain is coming in (ISO 1600 !, 300 mm plus crop, f 4 - I see, you have been in lack of light). But you have got the moment!


Summary:

I am amazed how much I would like to use scissors (also level djustment). It seemes to be my personal fun or desease ?!
There is quite clear set of outstanding pics for me. It is headache to give the places !
I found out, that I like stairs !
Also I am amazed about "hot dogs" fighting for the place. I have not noticed of being very fond of dog pics previously


The results:
1. Alun - seadog
2.-3. Davidtrout - birdwatching and Malo1961 - tag of war


Recommended:

JudithAnn - tender moment
Dr.Mhuni's perfect photo (although its not exactly what I expected from a moment)
Rob - Rrrrrr
Organicimager - hold me



I do have a temptation to make Martin to judge again (your comments are very useful) but I pass the baton to a newcomer in the competition. Have a try and enjoy it !
Davitrout - you were very-very close as well ! I absolutely love yours!
hefty1
Posted 17/08/2009 - 09:19 Link
Great judging Aiki - a lot of contenders this week! And well done to Alun, love the expression on the dog's face - seems the water was colder than he'd anticipated.

As for my entry, I've probably got around 2000+ horse shots spread out over several years and this was the only one where I've captured all four feet off the ground (not counting the ones where they're jumping of course). It was pure luck and I doubt I could ever repeat the feat to be honest.
Joining the Q
davidtrout
Posted 17/08/2009 - 09:42 Link
Congratulations Alun on winning, it was your first competition entry so well done. Thanks to Aiki for expert judging and for my joint 2-3 with Martin. Aiki, I liked your choice of subject, it suited my taste in photography.
david
JudithAnn
Posted 17/08/2009 - 09:44 Link
Thanks Aiki..and congrats to Alun.

I darkened the picture as I found the background way to distracting....and I could not crop to much tighter without losing....so I darkened...but I only had the choice of choosing the spotlighting or not...I could not lighten the dark areas, without other harms.

I was aware of the slight colour on the shirt...but I thought it might be okay where as it was about the moment...but you are a 'detailed seeing' judge!

Thank you again for your praise...and of course for ALL YOUR WORK again this week.

Take a break...
Edited by JudithAnn: 17/08/2009 - 09:45
alun
Posted 17/08/2009 - 09:51 Link
Thanks Aiki!

A lucky shot with a Tamron macro on my K10. I heard the dog bark, looked up and shot it on Av, 1/350 at f8, cropped by about 50%. The lens is another story - an impulse buy from eBay that required expensive treatment from Tamron, but is now working well.

I will post the next contest shortly (when I work out how to do it)
bforbes
Posted 17/08/2009 - 09:57 Link
Well done to the winners. Thank you for your comments and judging Aiki you can tell a lot of thought and effort has been put into it.
Dr. Mhuni
Posted 17/08/2009 - 10:39 Link
Thanks for the judging Aiki, and congrats to Alun and the others.
Mhuni

500px
Malo1961
Posted 17/08/2009 - 11:44 Link
Thanks Aiki, for the muched loved and joined 2-3 place.
Congrats to the winner, and of course to David. A pleasure to share the podium with you.

Martin.
Best regards,

Martin.


Curious about my photography?? Just Follow the Light.
johnriley
Posted 17/08/2009 - 15:22 Link
Well done Aiki! And well done to Alun and the other winners.

To answer your question, no EXIF in my images as I tend to Save For Web which removes the info, but in this case no EXIF anyway as it's a film image. Pentax MX with SMC Pentax-A 35-70mm f4 and Kodak Gold 200 film, complete with grain!
Best regards, John
matwhittington
Posted 17/08/2009 - 18:45 Link
Yes agree with all the above - a really good competition and clearly a lot of effort going into the judging (much appreciated)

Well done to all

Mat
Mat W

My Flickr: link
darlene
Posted 17/08/2009 - 18:58 Link
Congrats Alun,& the other.... A BIG thanks to our Judge Aiki
organicimagery
Posted 18/08/2009 - 19:43 Link
Congrats to the winner, and thanks for theThankd for the recomended, i wante dto kep the people in the background as i fel it adds to the desperaton and the sensitve nature of the shot, however thanks for your view on the shot

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