Weekly Competition #172 - Halloween Competition

Hi All ,thanks to all that entered this weeks competition especially those that went out specially to shoot Halloween.Slightly disappointed at the low number of entries this week i guess that not many people would have had an archive shot ready to submit. As a first time judge it wasn`t easy but here goes.

The Halloween Vampires, John Riley
Loved this, great dramatic subject matter (a drop or two of blood would have been nice !)Slightly grainy but this adds to the overall atmosphere ,not so sure about the green cast. Nicely done.

Halloween Pickles, Axel Luther
An excellent still life again with some amazing subject matter. A very original interpretation of the theme well executed. Would loved to have seen what was in the other jar ! One of my favourite images.

Only The Moon, Bill And
Another interesting interpretation of the theme not quite a full moon and its missing the obligatory Bats ! A good effort though.

Halloween Moon, Hyram.
A super picture of the full moon this time craters and all. I like how the vignette emphasisis the subject but not to sure about the red cast ! A fun image though.

Spooky, Gary John.
An excellent example of what i was looking for both the subject matter and colour are spot on. What a pity its not as sharp as it could be ,though not bad hand held at 1/8 sec. Otherwise this would have been a strong contender.

Halloween Mask Kbubak
A really classy image this one, fantastic lighting and wonderful diagonal composition . The shallow depth of field is also superb, just that nagging doubt that it doesent quite meet the criteria of the competition subject , nevertheless a striking image.

Rock-its always Halloween , ArsenAl
Another fine image i like how youve captured the main character in `full flow` in contrast to to the man on the right with his hands in his pockets ! i think the dancers to the left add to the overall atmosphere . A fun image.

Mummys Little Pumpkin Head, Judith-Ann
Nicely done love the `glowing¬ lighting and the saturated colours. Interesting also how you havent just gone for the typical head and shoulders only shot. if i have to nit pick i would have put the main subject slightly off centre to hide the brown cloth to the left. Another fine and pleasing image.

Ghoul, Bforbes.
Wow now this is different, a fabulous piece of artwork well captured. Its slightly grainy (but not bad for iso 3200?)but again i think this adds to the spooky atmosphere. A `busy` but effective image.

Halloween Snack, Lasydaisy25
A very striking image i know i asked for gore but this is a little too graphic for my taste ! The eye is quite sharp and the scales are nicely rendered but i find the other eye and the bare wall slightly distracting , gores the word !

Witches Brew. David Trout.
Great title and a surreal image. these two must have turned a few heads sat outside in those costumes. Nicely composed and i like how youve captured their expressions ,a super picture.

Trick or Treat, Alun.
Definately a treat this alun. love the childs expression especially the evil eyes. interesting black and white conversion, the backgrounds possibly a bit too bright wich takes the emphasis off the main subject slightly. Still a very pleasing image.

Twinkle Twinkle, DGSPINK
I like how youve achieved a different `take` on a typical halloween subject. Though the colours seem slightly washed out and its a little grainy. i like the composition and the `diamond `like lighting effect.

1st place David Trout.
2nd place John Riley
3rd place Axel Luther

regards, tim.

Thank you to our Judge...nice job. Big congrats to David...they were a scary looking pair if I ever saw scary!!!

Thanks Tim for your swift judging and for my first place. Like you I was disappointed there weren't more entries because it was a subject that should have been given better support. But the entries were good and very entertaining.
Barrie and I did the obvious thing, The Goths Festival at Whitby provided plenty of subject matter. My witches weren't in the least scarey, they were nice tea drinking pussy cats.
I'll come back with this next week's subject soon.
David

Congratulations to David for his tea drinking witches and thanks to timcx500e for the competition and judging.

Not an easy subject hence the low entry

Thanks Tim, and congrats to David.

Congratulations to the winner. I took loads of shots yesterday but the comp closed before they were ready.

Well done David! Great series you shot at WHhitby, this was one of the goodies among them. Well done to John and Axel also.

Tim - I'd have been pleased to enter this comp, but will leave it until I sort out the monitor first .

Being offline for a few days and was glad to see some more good late entries - congrat to David (your picture confirms a bit my stereotyp of English people drinking tea - especially as my British girl friend told me, that I "slightly" overestimate the british tea drinking tradition - now I think that my sterotype is not too far away from reality )
Also appreciated the judging - always great to read other's opinion on pictures - so also big thankyou to Tim (Tim - I have to say - I found it cool to submit the snake eats mouse picture (but I can understand that this is a bit too graphical for some)