Weekly Competition #122 - Crystal Competition

If I go by the number of entries it appears I selected a difficult subject. So thank you to those who have entered for your time and trouble. It has been a very interesting experience judging, any photographs, for the first time. Anyway here are my comments, for what they are worth.

Inside, Outside, Upside-down – JudithAnn
A novel idea and the faces in the crystal are sharp. However I keep going past the crystal, to the out of focus faces in the background. Perhaps a tighter crop on the centre would help.

Apple Glass – kissmekate
I do like the strong lines and colour in this image. Was it not possible to line up the verticals of the building and the glass squares to run in the same direction, and keep the “Apple” symbol in the centre? I’m not sure if there is glass filling the squares supposed to be “crystal clear”.

Chandeliers and stained glass (& murals) – Dr. Mhuni
A well taken shot in difficult light conditions and a nice chandelier. The first thing the eye is drawn to is the light coming through the stained glass. This makes the doors the focus of the picture.

Sage reflections – Bill_And
It’s interesting as a local lad being able to spot places in the “slide show” down the side of the Sage and the image itself is clear and well executed, but I’m afraid I don’t get the link with crystal.

Bluie Moon – davidtrout
David states it is glass, but the detail he has caught in the sculpture give it a crystalline look. I like the way the bright “hallow” defines the blue in an understated background. I wonder what it would look like cropped to a portrait layout?

Dark Crystal – GlynM
It is a well taken shot but it has two problems in my opinion. One is the grey background with an essentially grey subject. The second is the number of reflections within the crystal, which I think detracts from the crispness of the focusing, particularly on the left.

Sea salt – TOZZA27
The pattern made by the “tide lines” gives interesting shapes and the form of the rocks top left give good colour and texture. Unfortunately, and maybe it’s the position of the sun, this is not carried over to the main rock which looks a bit flat and featureless.

Lead Crystal Vase – Oppenheimer45
The rich colour and tones in the vase conjures up images of dark nights with mulled wine and mince pies by the fire. To be super critical maybe the rim at the rear is not quite in focus.

The Star of South Africa – 47.69 – nathanever82
It does sparkle like a diamond and you can see all the facets showing how close it is too focused. I think however the security glass has beaten you because the edge has just a little haze.

Oh sugar – dougf8
I don’t know what to say, was this taken as a test after the event. In which case I would have the focus checked out. I like the interpretation of the theme and the humour.

Glass Abstract – Belinda B.
Maybe it’s the engineer in me but I love the symmetry of this image. Getting the small flecks of vibrant colour in the steely shine of the cut glass is great. I really like it.

Waterford Crystal – Hyram
Crystal – darlene
Crystal Gazing – timcx500e
never used – randall85
Hope you don’t mind if I comment on these four as one. They are all perfectly well executed photographs, well focused, correctly exposed and based on a good idea. But I think they illustrate the difficulty of trying to inject something into clear glass.

Snow crystals – Draken
I different take on the subject and the in focus strand does look good. It is a pity that what appears to be another strand cuts across the middle of the photograph.

Flame within Crystal- johnriley
Impressive sharpness across the whole image. The glasses really stand out against the black background, with the flame giving colour to what could be a monochrome. A very striking photograph.

Crystal Stone – DRM098
This is the sort of thing that inspired the competition. I thought the colour and patterns within mineral crystals are amazing, as this shows. One thought, in some places the dark blue looks washed out, is that the result of a reflection from the flash?

Sea Salt Crystal – Galoot
Another well focused and lit shot but I think you have the same problem as I mentioned above for clear glass.

Ice crystal – tickhiller
A huge amount of well captured detail in this photograph. The highlight in the centre draws you in, trying to make out what the spots of colour are. (Still no idea)

Seconds from annihilation – Darkmunk
I have no idea what they are, but they intrigue me. I like the subtle changes in colour and tone and the impression they are all coming towards me and into focus.

Cheaper than it looks – MarjutL
I quite like the look of this, it’s well focused from back to front, has colour, shine and sparkle. My niggle would be the loose fibres over the front stones.

Ice in ice – mikew
A real sparkler. Incredibly sharp particularly at the bottom and centre, only trailing off towards the top edge which is a shame. I suppose that is the nature of macro.

The Results

1st. Glass Abstract – Belinda B.

2nd Flame within Crystal- johnriley

3rd Seconds from annihilation – Darkmunk

Commended
Ice crystal – tickhiller
Bluie Moon – davidtrout
Lead Crystal Vase – Oppenheimer45

Over to you Belinda B. I’ll be pleased to get back to just entering

Thanks for the speedy judging Barrie, and congrats to Belinda and the others.

Congrades to Belinda 1 st. pace Winner! and those who took 2nd and 3rd place. Barrie you did great judging I didn't mind the four in one...I was wondering if I should or shouldn't put something into the glass? Guess not I too thought in out up down---side was a novel Idea or should I say awsome Idea...By JudithAnn.

Congrats to the winner Belinda....Thanks to our judge.

I thought it important not to have a tight crop so one could see the magic of what was being reflected in the crystal. It was a fun photo shoot to work at....and I truly loved it myself when it was done!.

Thanks for your kind comment Darlene...sadly I broke my crystal during the assignment.

Well done Barrie and Belinda. Swift and fulsome judging.

I was very impressed by JudithAnn's shot, great idea and well exposed just lacked something in the composition I think but it must have been hard to shoot in any case.

Mike

Thanks Barrie for working the nightshift to give us early and efficient results. You say it was your first time judging, well you did a good job. And of course congratulations to Belinda for a stunning winner. Among all the other entries I really enjoyed JudithAnn's, I thought it was great idea.
Seems this has been a dangerous assignment. I believe DougF8 dropped his Samsung during the shoot and JuditAnn broke the crystal. Let's hope Belinda picks a safe subject.
david

I'd also like to thank you Barrie for the work in setting and judging the competition. Congrats to the winner and looking forward to the next comp.

Rob

Congratulations to Belinda B. and thank you Barrie for the competition and judging.

It was good to see the entries reach a respectable level after a slightly slow start, but that may have been part of Barrie's cunning plan

Well done Belinda
Thanks for your efforts and swift judging Barrie.

Anyone like to guess what mine is then?
I'll tell you later, but I'm sure you'll get it. I think knowing what it is, is crucial to explaining the title and deliberately blown out background.

Excellent stuff, and maybe a surprisingly difficult theme that was given justice by all.

Many thanks for the second place as well!

Many, many thanks to Barrie for selecting my entry as this week's winner and thank you for an interesting competition.

Thanks also to David Trout who liked my entry, when I originally submitted it to the Gallery much earlier in the year. That made me think that it might be worth entering it in this competition

I have an idea for the next competition which might be quite challenging I think

Darkmunk,

Crystalline something about to be instantly dissolved :

Yes, essentially that's correct Hyram.
It's frost on a car roof about to be melted by the sun racing up behind.

Barrie thanks for your comments ,it was a very difficult theme i tried quite a few ideas, but they weren't up to scratch. great winning picture and i take my hat off to john riley for a stunning effort .

Barrie, thanks for the feedback.

I realised after I had submitted that I had selected the wrong picture! I had tried to eliminate the reflections, both from window light and the flash, and in the correct picture I think I was successful, and the blue was a better colour. Lesson - be more careful next time!

Some thing else that I will try, I became obsessed with depth of field and used f22, I think I might get sharper results at(say)f8.

A stimulating subject, well done Belinda.

David