Weekly Competition #130 - Cubes, Squares, Oblongs Competition

Firstly a big Thankyou to all entrants. There was a good turnout for this week’s comp and some stiff competition which made judging a head-scratching but thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I’ve tried to give useful comments and criticism to all entries, and forgive me if I seem to be nit-picking at times; what would make a perfect image in my eyes isn’t necessarily what the photographer themselves had in mind, so as usual - feel free to disagree.

Bforbes- Balconies- Fits the brief perfectly, lots of squares, oblongs and right-angles, the diagonal repeated pattern of the balconies works well and you have chosen the right crop to exclude any outside references. May have suffered from resizing a little as not quite as crisp as it could be, but well done all the same.

Dr Mhuni – Staff meeting, Grand Hotel – A difficult shot to pull off given you were shooting through glass and the room being backlit by the window opposite – but you have succeeded magnificently. The frames and panes of the window make the viewer feel detached from the subject, an outsider looking in. I would love to know what they were discussing. May I suggest a slight crop to the right-hand side to exclude the part figure with the clasped hands to tighten up the composition?

Hyram – Squared Trees – The lumps of wood have a distinctly chunky, solid feel to them, and the sun’s angle is just low enough to start to show off the seasoned timber’s texture. The close crop works well, but it’s a shame about the large shadow area in the middle of the frame. Maybe when shooting removing the block in the foreground right to reveal the one underneath may have helped here.

bigcog - St Andrews - Nice symmetry and interesting angle which forms an arrow shape pointing up to the sky. However, the B&W conversion hasn’t done the shot justice – needs more contrast as it is a little grey and flat.

Belinda B- Captive Cubes – I can see what you were trying to do here and it was a good idea, but unfortunately the light hasn’t penetrated through the cubes as well as is needed to really make this shot work. More light / exposure needed with a crop above the base of the glass where it would burn out / flare should have done the trick. Shooting at f32 you had plenty to play with and could have opened up the aperture quite a bit as great depth of focus wasn’t needed here.

davidtrout – La Grande Arche- We get a sense of the scale, weight and bulk of the monument in this shot, the sky colour is wonderful, sharpness and exposure spot -on. The composition looks a bit lop-sided – a few strides left would have made for a good symmetrical shot, or alternatively gone further over to get it at more of an angle. You could try cropping a bit off the right-hand side to even things up a bit.

Bill_And -block – Strong lines, well exposed and sharply focussed. The left two thirds of the photo are the best, with the right hand section beyond the stairs not really adding much – may have been worth cropping this bit out.

Johnriley – Bird in Frame – Do I detect the infuence of Rene Magritte in this piece? The grey border is nicely tone-matched with the water. The grass at the bottom is a bit distracting and a tighter selection for the crop needed on the right side of the wooden frame as some background is showing and spoiling things.

Gjayesh – seasons greetings – A more suitable entry for last week’s competition I feel. Maybe you were trying to contrast the swirly decorations in the foreground with the tower-blocks in the background. Unfortunately the main point of interest is definitely the Christmas decorations.

elscotto – The Wall –Plenty of squares and a strong visual effect. A bit difficult to comment on this as I don’t know how much of the image is your own work and how much it relies on the original design of the mirror – unfortunately it’s not quite my kind of thing really....

Ben76 -the glass panes of the Louvre Pyramid - Plenty of lines and angles to go at here. The subject is well isolated by the tight crop. There is perhaps a bit too much going on in the way of lines and angles, though I appreciate there isn’t really anything you could do to change that given the subject.

Matox – Kmer rouge victims - A striking and disturbing image. Its strength lies in the regimentation of the images of the victims, with the pattern of the square photos unfortunately being secondary.

Draken – The Cube - A strong, graphic image which had me scratching my head a bit when I first saw it, but am I right in thinking the shot has been rotated 90 degrees? I really like this image as it is, but correcting the converging verticals (horizontals as they are now) would have made it spot-on for me.

Shaylou – City on a wall - Well depicted cubes by the artist and well-noticed by you. This shot would have benefitted from including more context by showing some of the surrounding area. A bit more contrast in the image would help lift it as it looks a bit flat.

DoctorJeff – Strike any key - Shot from close in and excluding any outside influences lets the viewer concentrate on the pattern of squares formed by the keys , they could do with a good clean though! Lighting the subject from a more oblique angle would help bring out the shape of the keys, and shooting from a lower, more diagonal angle may have added more dimension.

Pentaxophile - Parc de les Tres Xemeneies - I like this image a lot - the mono conversion suits the subject and is done well. The stark cube and building in the background juxtapose nicely with the traditional bench and the figure slumped over the back - is his posture a reaction to his surroundings? I like the patterns the shadows make. Try burning in the area bottom left a little, I think that will really set the shot off.

Bluejohn –Red Door- Good colour, strong composition, the round rivets contrast well with the square peep-hole, grille and planks; the chain breaking the grid and adding an interesting feature. Leaves me wondering what secrets lie beyond....

organicimigery – Toasted Tower – Good lighting and colour in this shot, with the sky taking on a clear, pleasing tone and the sunlight picking up the textures on the wall. Not sure whether the feature top right is a distraction or adds balance to the shot, can’t decide....

ceowens –blue- At first all I saw was honeycombs and zig-zags, but stare at it long enough and hey-presto cubes appear! A bit like one of those Magic Eye images.

i-Berg – Fractured realities – this image has many things going for it, with the vista of Melbourne slightly distorted by the unevenness of the glass panes giving the view a pleasingly abstract effect. I do feel, however, that for this particular competition the squares aren’t dominant enough in the image, though it is a shot I really like.

Johnwnjr – Wellesbourne Church – You’ve chosen the correct standpoint to give a strong symmetrical image but a few tweaks are needed to improve this - slight rotation to level the horizontals, a crop down the right to exclude the wooden thing, and a tweak with the colour balance to make it less yellow.

Bramela - Industrial Lines and Angles – good portrayal of lines and angles but a lack of sharpness is the shot’s downfall. Was this, perhaps, a much enlarged section of a wider image?

TOZZA27 – Cosford Hangar – I can see what attracted you to this subject, a very interesting piece of architecture chosen here –plenty of angles, any squares? The sky is nicely exposed but the building and grass area needs a bit of brightening. The building is crying out to be shot from a low viewpoint, close in with a wide angle lens to isolate it against that steely-grey sky.

Asahi- Bebe squared – An eye-catching image which has converted to b&w well, and you have indeed succeeded in giving a 50’s postcard feel. The competition brief not quite fulfilled though as I think there are stronger and more interesting elements to the shot than the square that Brigitte sits in. Nevertheless, a well executed shot which I like a lot. p.s. – I also like your user name, same as my favourite beer!

GlynM – Oxo cubes – a kitchen version of the pyramids of Giza. Exposure well controlled with a tricky subject, and black background isolates the subject well. May have benefitted from slightly more diffuse but angular lighting just to bring out the shapes of the cubes a bit more.

Markblake – cubic catastrophe – An amusing approach to the subject with a pleasing softness to the bokeh, the shallow depth of field works well. Might have got a placing if its treatment hadn’t rendered it no longer a cube!

GaryJohn – Through the window –The almost monotone, cold coloured block stone façade of the building contrasts nicely with the warmly-lit interior, where we are shown the curves of the vaulting and the reflection of the arched window feature also. Unfortunately it is these curved elements which are the main point of interest, rather than the squares.

TimE - Tower blocks - Hong Kong style – a well balanced shot showing the developments of this part of Hong Kong. Good definition on the foreground buildings, with the haze adding distance to the buildings and hills further away. An even longer lens (if you had one) would serve to flatten the perspective further and give a real sense of crowding to the buildings.

Welding blues – Bridge side railing – the soft colours have come out nicely and the shadows play nicely on the wood. Cropping along the top rail to remove the light area at the top, and down the right side to remove the blurred objects near the bottom would tighten things up. Overall the shot isn’t terribly sharp, possibly due to the shallow aperture at 150mm.

JudithAnn - Little Hands, Big Dreams. Lego – Yes, it certainly does fit the brief and your grandson should be very proud of his creation. Great colour, exposure well controlled at the point of focus. I would have liked to have seen more of the diagonal stepped area bottom right, as this is the best bit for me.

Nathanever82- staples- A very slick image indeed. The angle and positioning of the table corner within the frame is just right, the lighting spot on and the narrow depth of focus works for the image. The image is has an almost monotone quality save for the reflected, pinkish light from the top of one of the strips of staples. I do have one small niggle which is that I wish you had used a bigger block of staples for the point of focus with that wonderful light reflecting off it. The other blocks dominate too much, particularly the large upright one at the front which obscures it slightly. Nevertheless, a strong contender.

Bondy – windows and tiles- You have captured that almost two dimensional quality nicely and chosen an interesting angle to shoot from. You could emphasize this further by rotating the image slightly anti-clockwise, with the outlines of the building converging equally toward the top corner of the frame. I also like the colour of the sky reflected in the lower windows.

Frogherder – Now put them back- A pleasing composition of cuboids with pleasantly soft lighting and gentle colours. Just crop it slightly tighter to lose the black bit top right and some of the space on the left.

Patrick – iron and wood – Solid, symmetrical composition with the converging lines drawing the viewer in to the figures at the far end. The spaces between the ironwork allow us to see the buildings beyond, giving the scene a context. Nice shot.

womble - One Jackson Square, NYC – A shot well seen. The simple colours work well, with the slight wave shape of the glass around the doorway working to break up the otherwise totally linear elements of the shot. Adding about 10% to the brightness and cloning out the worst of the chewing-gum blobs on the floor will make it spot on.

mikew- Allsorts – Exposure and focusing controlled well, colours rendered beautifully and the soft textures of the subject make it look good enough to eat. A very strong entry.

matwhittington - Purbeck Groyne!- The sharpness and exposure are well controlled and the colours and texture of the wood shown off nicely. The line of bolts adds further interest and their circular form contrasts well the straight lines of the groyne. I like the central, symentrical composition, but also wonder if it was worth trying a shot a step to the left, with the bolts running down the right-hand side and a slightly tighter crop across the top. Just a thought.

Reab - An odd point of hue – This is an intriguing shot! Was it really that colour? If you have toned it yourself you have made a good job of it. I really like the colour, and the exclusion of outside elements gives the shot a strong graphic quality. Try playing around with the cropping to make that corner column a little further to one side or the other and see if you can come up with a more striking composition.

TonyM – Afternoon Frost- A difficult shot to capture well but you have succeeded in capturing some of the frosts delicacy here. The bit in the sunlight nearer to the camera and just out of focus competes for attention, may have been worth darkening this bit and lightening the in-focus part.


In judging I have given podium places to the images where cubes, squares and oblongs were a major contributing factor of the image as a whole and fit into some sort of context. The other images of note are strong studies of shape, form and pattern which work well as such. Well done to all who entered and thanks once again.

Podium
1st Pentaxophile - Parc de les Tres Xemeneies
2nd- Dr Mhuni – Staff meeting, Grand Hotel
3rd mikew- Allsorts

Highly commended
Bforbes- Balconies
Nathanever82- staples

Commended
Bluejohn –Red Door
Draken – The Cube
Patrick – iron and wood

The judging for this round was a pretty mammoth task and well done to Haworth for the excellent comments and judging!

Congratulations to Pentaxophile for the win and thanks for the third.

Mike

And a well done from the Land of Oz to Pentaxophile also

Thanks too for the constructive comments while judging Haworth

Excellent judging and thank you for your effort in giving constructive criticism to all.

Congrats to Pentaxophil..and as alway to all the other winners.

Thank you to our Judge who worked very hard to complete this weeks adjudacation.

Lets see what our task(fun & play) is for this up coming week

Congratulations to Pentaxophile and many thanks to Haworth for the competition and judging

A difficult selection to judge but davidtrout's entry really stood out for me.

Thanks Haworth for swift and incisive judging, and for picking a subject which encouraged many fine entries. Congratulations to Pentaxophile on a fine win and to the many other photographers who turned in some great images. One that stood out for me was MikeW's allsorts for its creativity.
david

My thanks to you Haworth for your rapid judging and my highly commended. Congratulations to Pentaxophile on his well deserved win.

Interesting subject and interesting comments. Well done all!

THanks for the judging, and congratulations to the winner.

It is interesting that the winning entry, and the second, are both environmental portraits, with square components. I would have loved to enter such type of image, but restrained myself because in the description there was no mention of people. Nonetheless, very worthy winners!

Many thanks Haworth for the mammoth task of judging, the thoughtful comments on all the entries, and the much-coveted second! Congrats Pentaxophile on a nice winner.

Re. mine - I considered the crop you suggest, but opted to keep in the disembodied folded hands because I liked the relationship they had with the other clasped hands (also like the door too). But I should try it, you're right!

Thanks Haworth! Some great comments, must have taken ages to get through all the shots!

New topic will be posted tonight after work.

Will

Many thanks to Haworth for setting the competition and judging the large entry.

Congratulations to Pentaxophile for the winning entry.

Absolutely right - much more light was needed but I don't have any light sources other than domestic light fittings (used for this shot) and flash was not appropriate.

Having entered this shot, I tried a black and white version, which I think worked better.

Appreciate the comments - thanks - still having trouble with the transfer from my Picasa 3.6 - I do all the highlighting/cropping/sharpening etc and it sends the original picture from MYPHOTOS/etc etc - happened last week with the Queen`s hologram - when I shake off this flu I`ll practice a bit more.....................

Tony

Many thanks for your comments and brilliant judging.

My pile of Oxo cubes was inspired by an exhibition of huge piles of white cubes at the Tate Modern back in 2006. I had some pictures of this taken with my old DS but were not to competition standard so I decided to have a go at recreating this in miniature. My first choice would have been to use sugar cubes but we don't have or would use these. Fortunately a couple of weeks before we needed Oxo cubes and they were on a BOGOF so we had loads of them

These Oxo cubes did create a bit more of a challenge as they are not only shiny but have logos on them and I tried to make sure that all adjacent cubes were not in the same plane. I also wanted to create a feeling of height so took the shot from below.

Thanks again for a brilliant and thought creating subject. Congrats to all.

Glyn

Hi Nathan, I get what your saying - when I set the competition I was thinking more of shots of shape and form, but as it happened the two shots I liked the best both had human elements in them - I wasn't particularly looking for that when judging.

Excellent work all round - a pretty mammoth entry and some really constructive comments. Many thanks! Well done to all.

Mat

Excellent, thanks for the feedback and congrats to the winner , a very well done,i feel that in colour it would just not work

Thanks for your comments, I agree with the comments on my entry.
Just for your interest, Haworth, and no criticism,it is not shown but there was a river of about 150 meters wide (at least) between camera and subject. I was happy to get what I did.
Congratulations to winners, some great shots over all entries.