Weekly Competition #173 - Lines Competition

Comments for Weekly Comp: Lines

Its been a pleasure to look at all the entries and see how you’ve interpreted the theme. Good job this is for fun and no big money is involved because the winners are purely my choice and reflect my taste. I found the top end of the entry very close with not a lot to choose between the leading few. In fact it was so close I couldn’t separate two of the top four – hence an equal third decision.

Steps by Womble
The graphic symmetry of this picture has immediate appeal. And so do the beautiful and subtle colours in the steps. There are some great hues in there.
From a pictorial point of view some might argue that it would be a better picture with a strong focal point, such as a person hurrying up the steps, or a cat sitting there. But others will prefer this image as a minimalist picture without the photographic cliché, just to enjoy the pattern and colour. It’s the choice of the photographer.
Which ever way the picture is presented it makes a good opener for this week’s competition. And Womble the first to post. Whatever next?

Radiating spokes by mudge
It looks like a bicycle wheel hub but this is on a much bigger scale. There is good composition and it makes an eye grabbing image. The picture is a little on the light side and if it were a bit darker it would carry more punch. It’s a pity the sky is mainly bland white. I can imagine this without clouds and a deep blue polarized sky.

Wobbly lines by timcx500e
A classic lines in the landscape type of shot, and as a bonus we have some fine texture in the path in the foreground. Again this works for me without the obligatory figure, middle distance, so beloved by many judges. But I could do with a little less sky, which in this case adds nothing to the overall quality of the photo.

Winter tracery by BelindaB
For a start this is not a mono picture. There is a very delicate hint of a tint in there. And the tracery of the frost encrusted branches is also very delicate. I can imagine this fine photo as a large quality print. Lovely stuff.

Lines of perspective by Hyram
I love the lines in this neo classical style of architecture with everything perfectly balanced and in harmony. Hyram has chosen a good view point which is reflected in the attractive receding perspective. The mono treatment is good but I find the image a little flat. More contrast please chef.
BTW the EXIF details are often idiosyncratic on PUF but this one beats them all. Can someone tell me what 2857th of 1million seconds actually is in Imperial Measurement?

Reeds in the sun by fquesnel
This displays a very brave attempt with extreme lighting conditions. The reeds are attractive against the sun but the intense contrast has weakened the image a little. I tried something similar just last week and it didn’t come off. Your effort is better than mine was but it still lacks impact due to the flare. Also, I fear, the lines are not clearly defined because of the tangled nature of the vegetation. But keep on pushing your luck in difficult situations, sometimes it works out and then….Wow.

Benota tracks by Dr Mhuni
I suppose my interest in railways meant that when I came up with this topic it was train tracks that first came to mind. Andrew’s picture has everything I like about this type of photography, including compressed perspective; it hints back to one of Andrew’s own competition subjects a few months ago. The long focal length has compressed the track to show the unevenness of the lines and the figure in the distance is the icing on the cake. The trees of the plantation, or is it jungle, frame the scene beautifully. Super stuff.

Kingston Bridge, Glasgow by Gartmore
Another classy black and white shot. The lines are in perfect harmony, due not just to the design of the bridge but also to Ken’s expertise in getting his angles and position just right before pressing the shutter. The triangular patterns of the upright bridge supports sit well with the oblique angle of the cross section at the top. This is a textbook example of how a photographer can convert design and shape in the scenes he observes into fascinating images.

Waterfall by Walkeja

Sorry John, this doesn’t quite come off – for two reasons. Firstly, I find it difficult to match it to the theme of lines and secondly nothing is sharp. You used a long focal length, 300mm according to the EXIF, and yet only ¼ second. Surely if you used a tripod it should be sharper. And if you didn’t use a tripod then you should.
With my aversion to carrying heavy tripods around I never thought I would ever write that last sentence!!

Les lignes du sud by AxelLuther
The colour in Axel’s photo is outstanding, almost to the point of being over the top, but fortunately just stopping short of that. The lines are great, the furrows leading the eye up the picture to the darker greens of the wooded and hilly area beyond.

100 Lines by GlynM

It’s a great idea Glyn and a timely message to all who hanker after some more glass. You’ve included all the right elements, credit card etc, all except perhaps the missus looking disapproving. You get top marks for originality.

Glendurgan Maze by TimE
The long lens has compressed the lines into a pleasing pattern and has enabled you to exclude any superfluous detail. I do wonder in this case if a focal point would have strengthened the image, perhaps the head of someone exploring the maze?

Blue lines by Aliengrove
The striking electric blue grabbed my attention straight away. The lines lead the eye into the distance, converging at a pleasing angle but falling short of vanishing into a distant point. I can’t help feeling this must be an expensive hotel to stay at, there does not appear to be any people about. Great colour and terrific lines.

Crossing the lines by Thoughton
This is a good example of how to illustrate a set theme photo competition and yet introduce another element of interest into the image. Not just lines, but also the mysterious outline of a figure crossing the bridge, shot from directly underneath. It’s a very strong graphic image and one with added detail to sustain interest. The colour is very appealing.

Pipes of peace by John Riley
John has given us another powerfully graphic image with pleasing colour and interesting detail. The lines of organ pipes soar upwards, like the music, to the roof beams which provide counterpoint in the form of an alternative angle.

Morning in the mountains of Caucassus by ArsenAl
There’s a lovely recession of tones ranging from the dark foreground through to the lighter tops of the distant hills. The lines of the mountain sides sweeping down the valley make for a landscape picture with real depth. I like the hint of mist in the valley bottom. It’s a wonderful illustration of lines in the landscape.

Balcones en angulo recto by perpinya
I like the v shape of this image and the use of just three tones, black, white and grey to illustrate the theme. It works very well in a minimalist way. At first glance its very eye catching but perhaps it doesn’t have the sustaining power of some of the other images.

Upward lines by Techno Terminator
I hope the coffee helped TT, and I’m sure shooting off the camera eased the tensions. The result is a little frustrating too. According to the EXIF this was at 1.3 seconds and that’s a long exposure if you were hand holding and it resulted in a soft image. If the camera was mounted on a tripod of something steady did you turn off the SR? I know this is a topic you’ve already discussed in the Forum regarding your night time shots. The lines are good but the image appears a
tad skewed and would benefit from a slight twist to the right.

Shutters by Haworth
This is the sort of image I always enjoy; the repeating pattern of lines is very satisfying. The brown of the doors is a little dense and this very slightly reduces the immediate impact of the picture. But the lighter area of the walkway with its contrasting angles has a lot of appeal.


Logs by Peterm23
The obvious lines in this appealing picture are those of the receding shapes of the logs. While there is a big line in the centre of the frame, provided by the split in the wood, the main focus of interest here lies in the attractive textures rather than the lines. I would have cloned out the dismembered legs top right.

Some distortion by Barrie Forbes

Excellent lines and patterns in this one Barrie. In addition to the obvious lines of the window frames there are the more subtle lines and shapes dimly reflected in the glass. Architectural abstracts is one of my favourite photographic subjects. Could the picture have been straightened a little, it looks to be leaning a bit to the right.

End of the line by i-Berg
Another of my favourite subjects, old steam engines. The boiler rivet heads and nuts of the firebox stays create a very pleasing pattern, beautifully sharp in the foreground and the focusing receding with perspective. The slightly toned mono works a treat.

Lines of trees by Ben76
The lines of trees make a perfect frame for the wonderful autumn colours in this shot. The colour, not only in the leaves, but also in the subdued brown carpet on the ground, is what attracts my attention straight away. The receding perspective of the trees is good too.

Firework lines by Marshyred.
The firework and rocket streak lines are the attraction in this photo, as in any fireworks display picture. But unless your camera is on a tripod and you use very long exposures, or multiple exposures, to capture different firework and rocket bursts, it’s difficult to fill the frame with colour.
This is a valiant attempt but there is a lot of black area in the frame. I quite like the out of focus faces of the crowd, just hinted at in the reflected light. A crop to get rid of some of the dark area might have helped.

Amber glow by DGSPINK
The colour in this is beautiful and the main view in the picture is a delight. But I’m not sure about the lines on the right. It looks like a hotel balcony or something similar and it gives the picture its purpose in this competition, but I’m not convinced it adds anything to the pictorial value of the scene. But as I already said, love the colour.

Sticky lines by Dofmit
This is a lovely view of a of a spider’s web, a very attractive subject. But for the lines to work as the main feature of the picture they need to make a more powerful statement. Because webs are so delicate and fine if you want to capture one with eye catching lines you are required you to get in really close, perhaps with a macro or close up lens. I would want to see the lines of the web filling the frame, not just occupying the central area.

Northern Lights by Tozza
The chances are Tony that this is a more successful picture than a straight fireworks display would have made. I like the streaks of the car lights and the red glow of the house opposite is strangely appealing. The car, bottom right, caught in the street lights, is a bit of a distraction and could have been cloned out.

Aligned by Dr Orloff
Wow, a seven legged zebra. OK I know there are eight but one is hidden behind the other at the back end of the beasts. Lines don’t come much better than on a zebra and you’ve captured this perfectly to make a striking (striping even) image and an entertaining shot. Well done.

Weblines by Dougf8
The lines of the web fill the frame well in this shot and the sheen on some of the web lines is wonderful. The subdued green bokeh is also very nice. But I do think the picture would be better if you cloned out the highlights, top right.

The Great Court by Matwhittington
This is a very strong competitor, its powerful graphic lines hitting you in the eye as soon as you look at the thumbnail. The angle is perfect, tilted to give the image tension. The colour of the roof area is strange but I suppose that’s the blue of the sky coming through. I love the shadow of the roof bars striking the stonework. I’ve seen loads of pictures from inside the British Museum, few as good as this.

Hedge lines by Alun
This has terrific composition with the hedge lines sectioning the fields into wedges, rather like slices of cake. Interest is added by the cow and the dominant tree casting a shadow over the field in the bottom of the picture. It looks good in black and white and the high contrast really works well.

Results
1 Matwhittington,
2, Thoughton,
=3 Dr Mhuni and Gartmore.
HC: Dr Orloff, i-Berg, John Riley. Special mention for a good idea: GlynM.

A good subject with some strong entries - well chosen, David!

Once again - great to wake up to a result. Thanks for the detailed and speedy judging, and for the joint third. Congrats to Mat for his excellent winning shot.

Nice to be in the company of these entries! Many thanks for a prized HC here David. Stirling idea for a comp too.

Congrats, well done to Mat, Tim, Doc M, Ken, Adrian and John.

Wow - many thanks David for judging me the winner from such a large and high quality set of images As usual, fast and excellent judging

I have to head off to work now but I shall come up with a topic and post a new competition as soon as I get in this afternoon

Regards

Congratulations to Matt and the other podium finishers! Some great entries as usual.

Not quite sure what you meant, David, about the hotel being expensive. The company pays the bill, so I don't know how expensive it is, but in my experience price has never dictated a hotels occupancy rate. The lack of people can be explained by a) the shot was taken at night, and b) as the EXIF shows, it was a 15 second exposure, so the two people who were there when I took the picture are so faint because they were moving, that you can't see them.

I'm not quite sure what criteria you use in your judging, but from my complete lack of success in any competition you have judged I guess I must be doing something wrong?

David - Many thanks for setting another great competition subject. This one certainly created some diversity and was a lot of fun to both enter and watch.

Thanks of course for the quality of the comments, great judging and my special mention .

Congratulations to Matt for the win, the runners-up and everyone else for a terrific presentation of a wide range of interpretations.

Glyn

Congrats Matt, well judged David. I metaphorically placed money on Tim but a late runner appeared.

Congratulation to Matt and his wonderful interpretation of "lines" (what a great perspective). This time again so many good entries- I assume it was hard for David to make his mind about ranking
Thanks David for the detailed, thoughtful comments (especially when considering the number of entries). I can fully accept when you feel the colors of Lavender are almost over the top (I was still in the mood of this very colorful vacation, when I filtered the image and when seing this now on a grey Nov. day it is really "fat" )

Congratulations to matwhittington and many thanks to David for a competition that generated some high quality entries.

Interesting your comments about more contrast because I am more likely to go OTT on contrast, so with this one I consciously played it down

Thanks David - a difficult one to judge!

Congratulations to matwhittington and the other winners. Well done David your judging is up to your usual high standard. I did try straightening the verticals but it throws other things out. More of Alan's lessons required I think.

Thanks for the great comments David, and my highly coveted 2nd place

Many congrats to Mat (great shot, especially liked the Elizabeth!), Dr M and Gartmore as well. Plus the HCs

I don't think you are doing anything wrong Jonathan. I can only recall judging your pictures on a couple of previous occasions in the weekly competitions so I don't think I can be accused of being biased against your work. Quite the contrary, I've always enjoyed your images, in the competitions and those you post in the Gallery. I think they are always interesting and of a high quality.
The criteria I use in judging is to look for relevance to the set subject, picture quality and aesthetic appeal.
I then pick my winners from the entries that most appeal to me personally, and that is a subjective choice.
It doesn't mean those not in included in awards are failures. Invariably there are many other very fine photos that just missed out on a special mention.
David

Thanks David - appreciate the comments as always ( sorry - I don`t do cloning )bit of fun and a great subject.

Well done to mat - lovely lines and very striking.

Some cracking shots there - but I don`t get frightened any more and just keep trying.

Tony

Excellent stuff and a nice judging job!

Congratulations Mat, I thought this was the winner when I saw it. Hey Tim - you managed to find a lines competition Nicely judged and lots of really good entries I thought.

Thanks for the great judging and comments - see what you mean about the darkness of the wood - useful feedback.

Had a feeling matwhittington might scoop it as soon as I saw his entry, an excellent shot, and a well done to all the runners up, some strong entries. AxelLuther's shot brings a sunny smile and a warm glow every time I look at it!

Thanks to davidtrout for the competition - not many entries initially until people realised that there are lines everywhere

Congratulations to matwhittington for the winning entry.

Commiserations to aliengrove - you just have to remember that the whole thing is hugely subjective - I rarely agree with the judge, normally picking an entry that does not even get a mention

High quality set of images Very hard to judge and I think it was the Toughest Judging yet iam so glad I did not enter this comp to many great and Wonderful photos so very well done all and well done David trout.

Thank's for your comments!

My regards.

Josep Lluís