Weekly Competition #175 - A Treasure Competition

In setting this competition subject I hoped that it would create an opportunity for a broad interpretation which, certainly, has been demonstrated by your submissions. I would like to say many thanks to all of you that entered. You all have far exceeded my expectations and it has been a privilege to review your work.

I found reviewing this collection of fantastic images very hard. I think your submissions demonstrate that the nature of this particular subject is that it can be a very personal interpretation, from the photographer’s viewpoint, and does not necessarily have to convey this to a broader audience. For example a picture of a lost family member is undoubtedly very valuable but probably only to the close family. It is still though a treasure.

This means that I have had to change my approach to judging and please remember that I only have very limited experience at this. While previously I would have included subject relevance as an important element of the judging for this particular competition I have largely ignored it. Many of you have explained why your shot is treasured but I don’t see that this should have an adverse impact on those that have not. Therefore I have taken subject relevance on trust. You have all obviously thought about it and if you were happy that your submission met the subject criteria then so am I. However please don’t see this as me ducking my responsibilities. If anything I found this makes the judging even harder and as you might notice I have not completely succeeded with this intention.

Just a reminder that I'm no expert at this. Everything here is just my personal opinion and the results reflect my personal tastes. I have tried to make useful comments for each entry and hope that I have not upset anyone as this was definitely not my intention. As always it is a terrific collection of images.



darlene – Cherish Doll
What a beautiful picture to start this competition off.

Here we have a formal portrait of a precious doll that is obviously very well cared for.

To achieve this shot I think you must had had to combine skills of the portrait photographer with that of a macro shot. It is beautifully composed. The lighting is very good and you have even managed to get catch-lights in her eyes. Depth of field, which can be problematic for macro shots, is well controlled although the soft edge of her shoulder on the right hand side is just very slightly disturbing and is probably accentuated by the otherwise well executed black background.

A superb picture to launch this competition. Well done.


JEF – Flag From Above
It was great to see this shot. I have tried taking similar shots at air-shows but none of my attempts approach the quality of your submission here. I found that you needed luck as well as probably a lot of planning to hope to achieve something approaching this shot. Access, lighting, wind direction and just the state of the background sky can all gang up against you.

The composition is terrific. I love the way the flag trails diagonally pointing into the top right corner and that the front edge of the flag and parachutist are similarly pointing into the top left corner.

Lighting accentuating the ripples in the flag is wonderful. I also like the way the little pink pre-cute trailing behind the main cute catches the light. I think it is just a little bit of shame that the parachutist is in shadow although there is obviously nothing you could have done about this.

A very evocative shot. Well done.


AxeLuther – help and forgive
There has recently been a discussion in the forum here about whether photography is art. For me this fantastic picture definitely falls into the art category. I only dream of having the skill and foresight to create an image like this.

The composition is superb. The nose of this C47 Dakota pointing diagonally across the picture and the diagonals created by the propeller blades are great. The stormy sky, low lighting and shadows along the top of the fuselage combine to create a wonderful moody shot and for me helps to convey an atmosphere that well portrays the historical event it is here to commemorate. I love the little oil stain under the nose. While probably unintentional I think this adds to the purpose of the shot as it helps indicate the terrible pressures these aircraft and crews were being operated under.

A great shot and wonderful piece of art. Very well done.


mudge – My First Front Page
This is just the sort of thing I had in mind when I set this competition. I can immediately see why the original shot was chosen for the cover of this magazine. The colour combinations have impact. The lines created by the edges of the planks enhance the composition and it is a doorway leading into something to be explored and has been used here to draw people into the magazine.

These attributes of the original shot also enhance the current shot. This new shot is also very well executed. The edges of the magazine are square and the background, probably a desk top, creates a very nice frame. The magazine is beautifully in focus and the outside frame combined with the frame created by the white magazine background creates a sort of tunnel effect that enhances the doorway aspects mentioned above.

A great idea and a great shot of a wonderful keep-sake of which you must be very proud. Well done.


DrOrloff – Droplet
Here we have another wonderfully executed shot that crosses the boundaries between photography and art.

I think it is a great shot. The soft colour combinations and diagonal aspect of the background are used to accentuate beautiful sharp reflections captured in a drop of water hanging from the end of a leaf. A little bump in the immediate horizon helps frame the droplet and draws the viewer in. The foreground leaf falls nicely on a diagonal from top right corner and the positioning of the drop follows a classis rule of thirds in the horizontal plane. Issues with photographing shiny objects have also been well thought out and addressed. I therefore think the execution is perfect.

It is a lovely picture that I would be very happy to hang on my wall. Very well done.


TOZZA27 – My Treasure
Tony has given us a wonderful vision of a Pentax treasure trove. Of course as he has had to use a Pentax camera to take the shot there is at least one more body and lens to be added to this collection.

I know from experience about LBA but I had not realised that there is a similar affliction with collecting camera bodies .

I can see that it is quite difficult to capture and frame a collection of this size particularly with the very long lens in the centre of the shot. I think as a record of your collection it is great but the background is a bit untidy and tends to dominate the shot. I think I might have been tempted to lie the long lens down, perhaps along the front, to create an arrangement that would better fill the frame with the subjects. I also have a feeling that you placed this collection on too small a surface. Certainly we can see that it drops away in the bottom corners.

However I’m sure this shot has created quite a bit of interest and that many people have been trying to work out exactly what every piece actually is. Certainly from my direction it risks inducing another dose of LBA.

A great jealously provoking shot – Many thanks.


Dr. Mhuni – Golden Buddha
This is another example of a beautifully executed shot.

The composition is fantastic. I like how the corners of the foreground columns dissect the bottom corners of the fame. I say columns but the positioning of the Buddha seems to add a sense of unease about which way up the world is and from what direction we are viewing it. I think this adds an element of intrigue to the shot which is certainly enhancing.

The colour and lighting of this shot are terrific. While the Buddha obviously stands out I think he is enhanced the patterning on everything else in the shot.

Another fantastic shot from the Doctor. Very well done.


johnriley – Family & Friends
John has given us a very nicely composed family group famed by the mouth of a tunnel or cave created by bales of reeds.

I feel that we should not treat this as a group portrait but as a record of a gathering of some sort. I don’t think it matters that the lady in the foreground is squinting or that the guy at the back is stooping a little as it all adds character to the shot and captures some intimacy suggesting that this group get on very well and probably enhances this picture as family memory and treasure.

A great shot John, many thanks.


ArsenAl – Treasure of Karachay-Cherkessia
When I set this competition out I said I thought even buildings might be treasures and here we have a very nice example although this photo itself could easily also be a personal treasured memory.

It is a lovely shot that well puts this building into the context of its surroundings. You know immediately it is in a remote location. This is enhanced by the mist and cloud in the background and the soft lighting providing an absence of any hard shadows. I like the way you have framed this shot so that the foreground ridge falls away into the bottom right corner.

Although subtle I think the colour, particularly of the foreground rocks and vegetation, is terrific. The stonework details are also very good. I think the picture is nicely finished off with the detail of the cross on top of the tower.

A very nice picture. Well done


aliengrove - Treasure Trove
Wow, an Aladdin’s cave type treasure trove.
I think this is a brilliant shot. It contains so much detail and you can spend ages hunting out loads of different objects. It even appears to be a multicultural treasure trove as there is a Mona Lisa look-a-like showing at least once in this collection.

I love the way you have caught the centre isle of the shop putting it a little off centre and at a slight angle. I think this draws the viewer in and hints of even more treasure out of sight around the corners. The lighting is great while I guess it was dark outside creating a little bit of a challenge which has been well met.

The exif data indicates that this was a very wide angle shot and I think this works well. I think it would make a terrific jigsaw puzzle. I’m sure this shop could sell them.

Definitely a great shot. Very well done.


alun - The Little Treasure
This wonderful little b&w portrait exudes fun and happiness and must be a perfect family memory type treasure.

I think this works really well in black & white. It enhances the cheeks and smile of the face of this child which gives this picture its sense of fun. I love the details like the woollen hat and specks of dirt or grease on these small hands. I think the shallow depth of field works really well here to highlight and draw the viewer into the subject of this shot. I also like the way the handle creates a partial frame and adds an element of mischievous purpose to this shot.

Brilliant – Very well done.



JudithAnn - A TREASURED MOMENT, IN TIME!!!
Judith I am so pleased that you managed to get your shot onto the site. I love seeing your interpretations in theses competitions which I think are always of outstanding quality and it would have been terrifically disappointing not the have the privileged opportunity to review one in this competition.

You said this was a snap shot. I think you belittle yourself. This is an opportunistic shot of a very important family event. You were there to capture it and you have done it in style. Lots of practice or a natural sense of composition and timing have served you well. It is a brilliant shot.

I guess this is the same young man that you so well portrayed in the recent “Energy” fortnightly competition. Here he is depicted in a completely different light. You have captured an overwhelming sense of happiness. I’m sure it brings tears of joy to the viewer as well. It certainly does for me.

A truly terrific heart-warming shot. Well done and many thanks for sharing it with us.


Odile - A historical treasure
I see that you joined Pentax User shortly before posting this marvellous picture. Can I use this opportunity to welcome you to the site and thank you for entering this competition. Just as a quick plug can I point you towards the very friendly and useful forum on this site that also hosts another couple of photo competitions, with slightly different rules, one of which I’m currently judging as well here.

This is a nice picture of a heritage object that I think has the look and feel of a professional product shot. It contains a montage of three nicely framed shots that illustrate both sides of the object as well are illustrating what I imagine is its secondary function at a pen.

I like the diagonal composition of the main panels of this picture and that they are parallel to each other. I like the way that you have outlined the frame of each panel and that the background colour of the centre panel is slightly different. I think this raises the prominence of the smaller panel to create a near equal footing with the main panels without seriously imposing on their space. There is no hint of a shadow on the background and lighting is superb particularly highlighting the engraved text. The final touch is the lid of the nib tin which creates a lovely splash of colour that compliments the copper colour of the object.

I agree that it is great to think that this object has found its way home.

I think it is a very well executed shot, well done and many thanks.


timcx500e - Half Sovereign
Here we have a classical piece of treasure that has been presented in a clever way that also implies that it has been specifically shot for this competition. We are also told that this is a family heirloom which must enhance its status as treasure.

I found photographing coins quite difficult and was given a lot of help and advice when I recently added one of my attempts at a thrupenny bit to the gallery.

This is a very nice composition. I like the choice of background which reinforces the subject. I also like that to achieve this the coin is horizontally off centre. I think the aspect of the shot with the camera at an angle complimented by the way the coin is titled by its ring is particularly good. The lighting is good and even the shadow creates a bit of depth. I like the way a little bit of the background text is reflected in the mount.

I think the only down side is the depth of field making the top of the coin and its ring a bit soft although I like the way the background text drifts out of focus. DOF is an inherent challenge of macro shots and I see that you have stopped the aperture well down to try to address this. While I know that stopping down too far will reduce the resolution I think, as a compromise, I might have gone down to F22 to see if I could get the whole coin in focus. One alternate suggestion I was given to alleviate this problem is to perform focus stacking but I have not actually tried this myself and I assume involves a lot of effort in post processing.

A very well thought out way of tackling this subject and specifically performed for the competition, well done.



thoughton - This is babby
Here we have a wonderfully composed shot of a young child holding his favourite, obviously well loved, friend up to the camera.

This shot certainly does not make my task of judging this competition any easier as it definitely tugs at my own memories and heart-strings. I too was given a toy rabbit when I was just a few months old, called Bobby Bob-Tail, who still is a treasured possession of mine. Add to this young Hipperty, (see my icon), a well-loved family treasure currently left in our care by my youngest daughter, who herself is soon to make me a grandparent, and you can see that I’m going to have a problem maintaining some impartiality.

This is a lovely shot containing multiple interpretations. Babby rabbit is so obviously well treasured, I believe a child is always a treasure, and from a family direction the photograph itself could easily be, or become, a treasure.

I like the way the depth of field has been used to emphasise the treasured possession but keeps enough detail in the background to tell the viewer why it is so treasured. The relationship between this pair is reinforced by the child looking at his rabbit rather than the camera. I love the dangling thread from Babby’s ear and the hand stitching. I guess like any so well-loved toy there is a need for regular patching.

A brilliant shot, very well done.


Hyram - A Treasured Timepiece
I’m impressed. Are your going to enter this shot into the “Time Piece” fortnightly competition as well? You hinted at this in the forum and this shot certainly works well for both competitions. (edit - Guess what, soon after I started to write this review this image did indeed appear in the Time Piece Competition )

Having a quick search I see that skeleton watches range from being only partially exposed to some where all the internal works are open to view. Yours certainly looks like the latter. I assume that there is some sort of outer ring for the numerical characters, makers name and for attaching the strap.

I think it is a very nice shot, almost tottering on the abstract. I see you have not chosen to set the hands to 10 past 10, whoops, sorry, wrong competition... I like the way you have all three hands pointing diagonally into different corners .

The lighting is great. I like way this is showing the textured metallic components creating an effect like chroma noise. There is almost a complete absence of any shadows yet the lighting lets us clearly see all the engraved details. Illuminating it from behind as well is inspirational as I think it highlights the jewelled bearings creating some great colour combinations. I also like the blue tint from the spring and the intriguing bright red dots towards the bottom left of the shot.

Engineers are always fascinated by how things work and I’m no exception. The advantage here is that you don’t have to take it apart to service this urge.

A fantastic shot and a really brilliant idea. Definitely a first for having the same shot in two parallel competitions. I’m now going to have to see if I can write something different about it in the other competition. Many thanks.


marjutl - My treasure
I guess this is a shot of a partner or very good friend.

I like the way this works on different levels. Initially it looks like a traditional landscape but I think the depth of field has cleverly been controlled to soften this landscape so to emphasise the guy in the foreground. It creates a sort of layer effect and while if overdone might look a bit like a still from a cell animation seems to work here. It certainly draws the viewer towards the foreground without destroying the feeling of wild open space which I’m sure is the objective. While I’m not really very good at black & white shots I can see that here this too is contributing to the objective. In colour I suspect the landscape might well dominate yet in b&w the sharp and contrasting details of the Pentax man are very prominent.

I think the composition is pretty good. I like the foreground subject being nicely in an outside horizontal third. I think I might have liked the horizon just a tad lower as the sky has some very nice cloud detail although there is an expanse of water that is creating a secondary horizon in exactly the correct place.

As a shot of someone taking a shot of a wide open landscape I think it works very well. – Many thanks


So, after a lot of indecision & shuffling, because all of these submissions are good enough to win, this is it:

1st – alun for The Little Treasure and capturing such a sense of fun.

2nd – aliengrove for Treasure Trove showing so many shiny items in a single shot.

3rd – Hyram for A Treasured Timepiece and creating a single, very worthy entry for both of this week’s competitions.

Given that there have not been very many entries this week, although I am pleased to see in the closing moments that we have crept onto a 2nd index page, I don’t think it would be fair to set any individual commendations. You should all consider yourselves Highly Commended. I would though like to give JudithAnn a special mention for capturing the emotion displayed in her shot that brought tears to my eyes.

I think this completes my responsibilities here and hand over to Alun for the next round.

Glyn

Thanks a lot for the all the time and effort you've clearly put in for the detailed (and prompt) judging, Glyn. Congrats to Alun (lovely B&W shot) and the others.

A very special thank you to our Judge this week...what a fantastic job he has done. Such personal in-depth reflections of each and every piece of photography that was submitted.

Congrats to our three winners...Alun I loved your photo, it is a worthy First placement.

Thank you for the special mention. It is enriching for me, to see how the photo was emotionally moving, to others, outside of the family. The boy's Great Grandmother lives very far away, and is too sick to travel. She cried like a baby when she saw this photo. She said it made her feel like she was standing right their with them. It was nice to be able to give her that "Treasure"

Yes Glyn, it was the same little fellow in my "energy" pose. It was taken within the same week. I went to his home to do a photo shoot of the newborn... and he was soooo willing to pose for me.

Regards
Judithann

Excellent job juding Glyn, and a great winner! A lot of great entries, I feel honoured getting second place among such a varied set of pictures! The shop I took the picture of is a fascinating place that I will visit again, there's so many interesting and unusual objects in there that it needs another few hours of exploring! In the shop itself are a lot of very old cameras.

Congratulations to Hyram too for his detailed picture of the skeleton watch. A very well executed picture, and it will be interesting to see how it does in the fornightly comp.

Congratulations Alun, Jon and Hyram. Top job Glyn, very comprehensive and insightful.

Hi Glyn - thanks for this judging - what you shared with us really shows that you thought about each picture from a pure technical as well as froma content/messaging pointof view. Thanks for all the comments
Alum -what a great child shot - I love the little stain on the hand - this makes the shot soo authentic - far better then these greasy Studio Child shots from "so-called" fotographers
I also like many of the other shots again this time and I am excited to see the next topic

Congratulations to alun for the winning entry

Many thanks to Glyn for my 3rd place and the very detailed judging notes, completed shortly after the competition closed

The watch is at the extreme end of skeletal watches, having just a ring around the outside for the numerals and a full glass back as well as front.

Lighting watches is always tricky and illuminating it from both sides was even trickier, I nearly gave up but eventually found a reasonable way of achieving it.

Excellent, that was much more difficult than I think anyone anticipated, and it's turned out very well.

Well done Alun et al. A lovely relaxed and natural portrait. Great hat. Thanks Glyn for the prompt and in-depth judging.

Thanks Glyn for the competition, and to all the other entrants.
The little girl was playing with a cider press, and had such an irresistable, cheeky smile, that it made taking the picture easy!
I will post this weeks subject shortly.

What a superb collection of entries, everyone a treasure. Well done Glyn, you had a difficult judging job and you carried it out well. Congratulations all round to judge and competitors,
David

Many thanks for the judging glyn , well done to all the winners. I take your comments on board ,would love to have a go at focus stacking .
regards, tim.

Really had to think about this one - and thoroughly enjoyed setting it up with the treasures.
Magnificent judging effort and extremely comprehensive critiques - points noted thanks.

What can I say ? - beautiful photo Alun and a well deserved winner - excellent 2nd and 3rd too.

Keep `em coming chaps - I need the practice.............

Tony

Congratulation Alun, loved the B&W photo. Also 2nd and 3rd well done. Awesome judgeing Glyn. The Cherish Doll was taken while driving back home. I place her facing the window while I lowered myself and angle the camera slightly. Then I had to clone and blacken the right shoulder. Must say you have an excellent eye for photography. A BIG THANK YOU