Weekly Competition #115 - Yun Competition

Nice shot Jaromir, well done.

For any perplexed entrants, some explanatory comments from Mecrox can be found at http://www.pentaxuser.co.uk/forum/topic/weekly-competition--115----yun-14811/p-3...

Congratulations to Jaromir, a great great photograph.

And thanks to mecrox, for the very interesting and inspiring theme.

Well done to all the other entries, some really gorgeous works on this competition

Nathan

Mecrox has posted some preliminary thoughts in the forum and will be back later with his full deliberations.

Congratualtions to Jaromir. That winning shot is superb. Many thanks to you mecrox for a thought provoking subject and careful approach to slecting your favourites.

The winner of this week's competition is

"Silence" by Jaromir

In my reading, the inherent richness and qualities of something - its Yun - are that which give it presence. I was therefore looking for strong presence and a strongly present photograph. We can all walk past fifty trees without noticing them but the fifty-first brings us up short and we think "Wow, now that is an amazing tree". You bake five loaves: four are just fine loaves but the fifth, now that really is the perfect loaf. A shelf holds twenty different glasses but two stand out and sing to you.

Why? I think in each case it is very difficult to pin down any one answer or single quality. Some things just have more inherent richness, more presence than others. We notice them, and sometimes perhaps we collect or value them - or we photograph them.

"Silence" by Jaromir
The moment I saw "Silence" by Jaromir I was completely blown away. This is the kind of photograph I can only aspire to take, and that perhaps many years from now. The whole landscape radiates presence, the tree and the cross do not merely stand out but convey a sense that both are special and, somehow, have to be exactly where they are. That tree is one of those fifty-first trees. The photograph brings all these elements together superbly, to my eye: the dark tones of the field and the ground are still very distinct, the tree and the cross are silhouetted against a misty, evocative background. This isn't just any view, but a rich and very present one. Super stuff.

And then there is ...

"Yun of Age" by GivingTree
An entry that caught my attention very strongly is "Yun of Age" by GivingTree, very much the kind of photograph I had in mind when setting this competition. Again, a strong presence stongly presented, a memorable face full of years and character, focus straight on the eyes, all of which convey more to me than the simple elements from which this or any picture are made up. Had this just been a shot of "Joe Average" - apologies to Joe - then it would not have amounted to more than a pleasant snap. But it isn't, not at all.

There are so many great shots in this competition that it seems a little invidious to mention only a couple, so here are three all on a par which I couldn't choose between:

Dr Muhni's bee-eater in "Bird Yun?" is the essence of bee-eater with that beady-eyed, alert, forward-leaning pose so typical of bee-eaters, very sharp in focus, poised and beautifully coloured.

I love Galoot's battered "My Spotmatic", clearly someone's special camera in a nice double-take of a strongly present camera capturing a strongly present camera capturing ... . This is, after all, one of the all-time classic designs from the golden age of the SLR film camera and, like, "Yun of Age", is the kind of thing I had in mind. The result says "essence of all that is camera and using cameras". The shot strikes me as very carefully exposed and the slight off-axis angle and choice of frame makes for interest in the composition. Head-on and no frame just would not have worked nearly as well, at least for me.

"Yeeehaawww! " by Darkmunk has a real sense of slam and surge as the yacht courses through the water under spinnaker power. I feel I am there. Having done quite a bit of sailing myself in similar circumstances - racing round the cans? - I really admire the skill in taking this shot at all. It is far from easy right up there on the bow, with a fresh breeze, spray, a spinnaker boom lurking just above your head and, quite possibly, a lot of yawing from side to side. A very nice exposure, with the hightlights retained along the deck and superstructure, a lowering but still distinct sky and a composition that emphasizes the power of wind, sea and sail - the richness, if you like, of the present moment. Also, a rather good reminder that many Pentax cameras are valued for their weather sealing ...

Overall, therefore, I have tried to pick out a place, a person, a creature, an object and a situation, all of which are strongly present and express something richer than run-of-the-mill examples of their kind, no matter how well photographed. A full house of possibilities, I hope.

Just to thank everyone who entered this competition. It's been great fun and a real education to judge it. I've only been taking pics for about six months after a long, long lay off, so no one needs any tips from me, still less technical stuff about f-stops and the like. I need them from you!! I feel that every picture in this competition has given me a lot to think about and learn. I might have been able to take a few of them in a similar kind of way. But most of them - no, I do not yet have the experience or the ability to approach them.

I would say more about all the other entries. However, this morning coincides with a rather busy time chez mecrox in the form of a posse of builders, due here by 8 a.m. I will be somewhat preoccupied for much of the rest of the day. Later.

Congratulations to Jaromir and thank you mecrox for the competition and judging such a huge entry.

Hopefully later on, with the builders out of the way, you might be able to add a few more comments which will add to our understanding of Yun.

Thanks for a thoughtful subject and judging, mecrox. I think this round challenged all of us, to capture what we saw in an object, person, place, etc - why we photographed it in the first place.

Thanks also, for the mention. I saw her and just had to take her picture (she didn't know I took it), I found her so beautiful. I took many pictures that day in downtown Memphis, but she was the only subject that I simply couldn't pass by.

An excellent winning shot from Jaromir.

Thanks to mecrox for setting an unusual competition that produced a bumper entry and for the judging.

Nice shot from Jaromir

and thank you mecrox for your time in setting up this competition for us, hard one.

James

where are they????

James

As a first time entrant, thanks to mecrox for an inspiring, and challenging, subject. Congratulations to the winner, and thanks to all the other entrants for some stimulating photographs.

David

Apologies for the delay. Please don't take anything I say to heart. It's only personal preference and perhaps not so very important anyway. Here are the other entries:

Beach Pebble by alun
Nice, rich colours and rendering but I didn't feel the point of interest was prominent enough: rocks or wood, or both? Trying for an angle would have added some perspective to the shot.

The magic in orchids by terje-i
Deep deep colours but flower shots are risky in a competition, imo. There are simply so many out there that it is very difficult to produce a knock-out one.

Reliable saviour by mikew
Loved this shot, super subject and exposure, and you've dealt effectively with the "where to focus" DOF question. I just preferred Galoot's rather similar approach.

Our wedding paperweight by darlene
Another favourite, a lovely shot all-round and a cute little guy who is definitely special. As above, I just preferred Galoot's similar approach.

... at the side of the road by Karl
Very much liked the approach to colour and contrast but didn't feel the subject was special enough: what is it about this particular object that makes it worth a shot?

Tomatoes by GlynM
Another shot that would be tough to argue with, and one so rarely sees tomatoes with their leaves. As above, I just preferred Galoot's treatment.

NineYunYun by RR
Hoho, and great to see 14mm employed, too. Given the subject of the competition, the risk with going for detail is that it won't suggest the richness and presence of the whole object. But what a shot!

Girl in nature by johnriley
A difficult one to judge. The shot itself has a very strong presence and wow factor, and I certainly could not have managed this. Given the competition subject, however, I suspect that a shot of the girl alone, her character, would have been more effective.

Irish emerald by MarjutL
The colours in this are superb and I can certainly imagine standing in that lane. I think I might have gone for a different composition, though, so that the whole house became the subject of the shot.

just click by sureshpardeshi
Very atmospheric and gentle, and a nice sense of billow in the sail. I might have tried for something stronger so that the shot was more clearly about something specific.

Bride and Groom Yun by amoringello
That is quite some scary mural! I suppose I might have tried a portrait of the bride and groom or gone for the mural alone, rather than for both.

Backlit poppy by Belinda B
A really superb shot imo and quite an education for me. I can never get my shots to look like this, right down to that patch of sunlight on the stamens (and which is not blown). As with some others, I just felt Galoot's shot topped the category of objects.

Paperweight by DoctorJeff
A difficult one to figure as it is quite hard to read the object. I might have tried another angle with the idea of drawing out the paperweight's nature, it's heft and solidity and the light reflecting through it. This might also have given me some more tonal range to play with and lots of perspective in the shot. Head on, it's a little flat.

Shapes by nathanever82
Another excellent shot I could not have taken myself. I just felt that the choice of subject lacked a wow factor and that those clips didn't sing to me. But a strong composition.

Tangutica by m_allen
Yes, bang on subject. I might have tried for another angle, with the aim of holding the highlights in the seed heads and finding a lighter, more interesting background that still offered some contrast with the main subject. But yes, bags of strong character here.

Inis Mealin by wowo
An interesting idea and you've held those delicate, pastel colours. The blocks look like baubles but probably weigh tons each! I think I might have tried nearer sunrise or sunset - some "golden light" and plenty of shadows to play with might have produced a much richer treatment. Maybe tried for an angle so that perspective leads us into the picture, too.

Early morning Yun by davidtrout
A gorgeous shot but in the spirit of "Yun of Age" by GivingTree, what might have made this would have been an old wooden vessel with bags and years of character.

Lingam by Tony-O
Hoho, a clever idea and a nice shot here, another one I'd struggle to emulate. I just didn't feel that the object sang to me as something special or that I'd want on a desk or wall.

Richness and inner beauty of the child's smile by JudithAnn
Darn! If you'd gone for a straightforward colour or monochrome treatment, this would have been right up there with the contenders. Bang on subject but I just felt that the way the shot has been processed has taken more out than it's added. A great effort.

Yun: Our daily bread by Heidi
A super shot but others stood out more. I might have tried for a different time of day in the hope of finding more dramatic light to make those seed heads stand out. If the sun is too strong or too high, I find the highlights along the tops of the seeds start to blow (after numerous experiments in a wheat field near here).

Cob by lenscape
A very nice idea, but I might have gone for the whole cob or even the whole plant to produce that strong, here and now feeling. A whole maize plant or even field of plants offers a lot by way of angles, textures, light and shade.

Mud maid by Ratcatcher
I like this one very much but I would have moved closer and gone for that stone on the right on its own, in order to show its texture, character and presence rather than move back for the "group treatment" here.

Ravaged by TOZZA27
Absolutely bang on subject. Well done! However, it looks as if the light is simply too high and too strong to do this one justice. I would have tried for a softer, more sombre treatment at a different time to day and aimed, perhaps, for the root to fill up two-thirds or more of the frame.

Fishpond wood by bigcog
Looks an interesting find! Nice, soft, mossy green. However, I felt the shot lacked a strong subject. A very pleasant scene but not particularly about something, to me.

The Praying by PentaxRocks
An engaging shot of a cute fellow and I had a hard time ruling this one out. I just felt that when it came to creatures, Dr Muhni's bee-eater was a cracking entry because he'd caught the "jizz" of a bee-eater. What makes a prairie dog a prairie dog? Hmmn, not sure but I didn't feel your shot quite tackled it. A really nice entry, though, and many thanks.

Recycled by pink
This was a strong contender. I just felt that boot wasn't present and distinct enough and so I didn't feel I was really there myself. I might have moved in closer and tried another, less straight-on angle, but this is quibbling, since I'd be very hard pressed to manage a shot to anything like this standard. Another education for me. In the end, as with any competition, there were simply other shots that appealed to me a little more strongly.

Wheal Coates mine, Cornwall by DRM08
I wonder if that chimney, at least in this light, is a strong enough subject for your dramatic framing? At sunrise or sunset, though, it might well speak of dark Satanic mills and the like. That mine sounds a great place to explore with a camera.

Rugged by steveplowman
A very atmospheric shot and a great exposure, too. Either the rocks or a seascape would have been closer to the subject of the competition.

Made by Tamura by highlanderdave
Another strong contender. Doubt I could have managed this one. I love the colours and the delicacy. I just thought some other entries, particularly Galoot's, did it better in terms of the competition's subject.

Karma! by organicimagery
Lovely colours and use of depth of field. I just didn't feel the shot made a case for saying this particular statuette is an unusually rich and fine one. Why this one? What makes it special? But hey, there is no attainment and no non-attainment so it's still a great image.

Luv to fish by Iam1 of2
A dramatic shot, the fisherman poised with his cast and the sea foaming away busily. I just felt some other shots hit the spot with regard to the competition's subject.

Simply water by simonarthurs
I could not manage a shot like this so all power to you. I might have tried for slightly deep, more sombre colours, though, also with the aim of retaining more detail in the highlights in the droplets. This shot is very similar to a recent competition winner and I thought I couldn't really go for a similar one so soon afterwards.

Yun by Malo1961
Yet another one I could not have taken myself. I like everything about this one, but I think the interest is split. Are we looking at the bowl or the ethereal mist hovering above it? If this had been a shot of a very special bowl with the aim of conveying what you find special about it, then your entry could easily have won the competition.

Strings by conexus
Woo hoo, I wonder if I even have a lens that can manage depth of field like this. I think it is a great shot and I'm envious. If you'd shown a whole Les Paul, and a special Les Paul at that, not any old Les Paul, well that might easily have won the comp.

Beach walk by wooly
A super shot for me, the framing, the curving shoreline just so and leading us in, the lowish angle from which the shot is taken, the dramatic light (still held in the sky) and the figures coming in from the right indicating movement across the shot's perspective. Yippee. In the end, another landscape entry sang to me more, that's all.

lake and trees by danny_boy
A cool green forest with the sound of rushing water. Seems like bliss. I might have gone for a different composition, though, with the aim of focusing the attention on just one thing: the stream, that big mossy rock, or trees. In some ways there is just too much going on in this shot and that tree across the left feels a little in the way.

Natural elegance by Hyram
A very strong contender and I found it hard not to keep coming back to it. Given the subject of the competition, I think I might have changed the composition and gone for showing more of the penguin and what is entirely penguin-like about him (or her). I might also have used a little depth of field to soften the rocks, in order to make the main subject stand out with a little more "punch". A really nice shot, even so, and made for black and white.

In touch with nature by summiteverest
Gnarled old strength and power, very much the kind of thing I had in mind. I might have got down much more to the tree's level for this shot, though, perhaps tried to do something about the rather flat light and, maybe, looked at the criss-cross patterns in the roots.

Early Morning by Bluejohn
A lovely shot, so delicate, such beautiful colours. Given the subject of the competition, though, I think I might have moved in closer and majored on one of those rock formations, probably the one on the left.

Conkers by Womble
A dramatic shot and I like the way you have processed the colours. However, the foreground dominates a little too much without being all that interesting and as a whole I am left with the question: what is it about these conkers that really grabs me (or would grab you)? A nice one, just not so much on-subject as some others.

Will by Redishbeard
The skin tones are there, something I can only rarely manage. Crop squarely to remove dead ground on the right? Well done. Given the subject of the competition, though, I would have been tempted to compose a different shot that said "This is not just any old beard. This is Will's beard and what's more, it is a very, very fine beard."

Well done mecrox - a lesson in succinct judging, nice one.
Thanks

Crickey mecrox you've done us proud with these comments in volume and quality and while grappling with builders. This must have taken some valuable time, many thanks.

Mike

Congrats to jaromir,lovely picture.Well done Mecrox,glad you were amused with my little tease. And i agree with you,i wouldn't hang it on my wall either. Tony.

Congrade to Jaromir our winner!!! Thanks for very hard judeing.... you done agreat job

Great job Mecrox, especially given the volume of entries.

I had no idea I'd captured bee-eater 'jizz' !

Many thanks mecrox for the comments on the other entries - a great effort.

With regard to my entry, it was a day when I needed my DA* 300 and only had my DA* 50-135 with me !

Thanks mecrox, for the update. A huge and massive job indeed.

About my own entrie, Thanks for the nice words.
The bowl itself was rather small (about 4 inches) and didn't mean anything to me in a special way. It was just a exercise in lighting, form and content. Trying to gain a feel of some eastern atmosphere. A bit of cliche perhaps...but I liked the end result.

Thanks from me too for an excellent bit of judging and individual reviews.

We have now eaten the tomatoes

Glyn

Thanks Mecrox for taking the time to appraise every entry given the volume.

You ask "what is it about this particular object that makes it worth a shot?"

Well, to explain, and maybe I have misinterpreted exactly what yun means, there is nothing special about the object that I shot, we drive/walk past them every day. But if you stop and take a closer look beauty can be found in anything.
Does that make sense?

Cheers and congrats to a worth winner, Karl

Thanks for your comments mecrox.
Hope the building works progress OK!

Congratulation to the winners....

Yes my picture was processed a lot...just wanted to try something diifferent and I wanted to let the smile become more then the childs face...I had great fun with the topic.

Mecrox, thanks for taking the time to repsond to everyone, what a diversity and volume of work to judge!

See everyone in the shadows...........

Well done Mecrox, that was a thought provoking subject. For the sake of a tidy podium can we assume that Giving Tree was 2nd, and equal 3rd were Dr Mhuni, Galoot and Darkmunk?
david

Thank you mecrox for your comments on the other submissions - greatly appreciated.

It is always nice to hear what others think of our efforts.

Glad that you liked my entry, poppies are stunning when they are out but last for such a short time.

Yes, that's it.

That's my first comp since (i won one in)....1986 with a shot from Singapore of a man making a fishing net..

by the way this is only my second comp in my life time....

thank you for your kind comments you have encourage me to try again and again ....thank you mecrox



James... tickled pink hee hee......

Cheers Mecrox, it's always nice to get comments back on our shots.....................Great job

you noticed stuff about mine i never noticed myself

Thanks again.........Mark