Weekly Competition #191 - This is Me Competition

Here is my personal judging on this week competition. Was interesting to see how long it took to see the first picture and also the fairly low number of entries seems to be an indicator that photographers love to shoot everything but don’t like it that much, when thy appear on a oicture - at least this applies for me. However at the end there was a nice buinch of pictures showing a wide range of interpreting this week’s topic.
Whenever I have to judge on photos I am influenced by two things – one is the picture itself – how artistic, surprising, touching, special it is, but also by the pure technical quality
Was a bit hard to focus on a photographic competition when at the other side of the world so many people lost everything - hope that it will not come to the worst possible scenario.


JudithAnn by Judithann… The first one, who was brave enough to submit a self-portrait – so Judith, for this you win a special award . I am still not sure if I like your strong usage of filtering or if I think, it is a bit too much. Normally, I am not a big fan, when filters stand out so much that they dominate the picture, and in your case it does – but it is a very interesting filtering as well. I also like the reduction to mainly three colors and you found an interesting way to show and nit show yourself. Also interesting that you obviously took it with a second camera and did not use a mirror to catch yourself. The structure in the face is really special but the upper left corner is a bit strange – looks kind of cut-off.

I'm in there somewhere by stevepresto. Considering the fact, that you took the photo in a kind of snapshot situation with probably little to no time for composing or constructing it, the outcome is really good. The ghost effect of the persons “beside” you (which are really in the building) is an interesting combination to your own person. Also the positioning of the roof construction is really good. What I miss a bit in the photo is the Wow effect. With wow-effect I do not mean a cheesy, colorful, banging picture – I mean that the picture should have one really attracting element that keeps in my mind even after I do not look at it anymore.

Ghost shift by Bill_And. A really spooky picture with a very special reflection (no idea how you made it). The location is great, your appearance really ghost like and you also allowed us to really see you. I think I would have added some more contrast but this might also have “destroyed” the ghost effect.

Cubist me by Sandinista. Before I come to the review – one question – I could not open the picture in full size mode – not sure why – with all others it worked ?? The work is really something different and a great combination of photography and art. Also great that you selected these very vivid colors (so many Braques and Picassos always come in these earth colors – this becomes a bit boring when having seen some). The way you twisted some of the squares creates an interesting distortion to your face. I really like your picture

Head in a bubble by dannyh. What a moment – I guess it is very tricky to produce a sharp picture of such a temporary moment. Even better that you managed to get your reflection into the image – only tiny drawback – there is a lot of noise in the picture which works a bit against the clear structure of the bubble

Coming up for air by thoughton . I love this picture and I know (hey I am a German) the original picture from Mr. Gross – your picture reminds me somehow more of Marlon Brando. I think it is perfect timing and the water cover looks amazing.

Me, Myself and I Inside by bforbes. A great low key with perfect sharpening and a very special tone. Definitely one of my favorites

Me at the decisive moment by davidtrout. Such a special moment and a great shadow silhouette. The play with the shadows is very impressive and you made it to create a kind of enigma around yourself.

Me by me... by jdanko1451. What a genius picture and you so much proved that it is a Pentax . Perhaps a bit better when you would have looked into the camera. I would also have cut off the tiny brown wedge at the bottom of the picture.

Shadow of Worlds by johnriley. Another good shadow pic - both of you waited for a low standing sun which makes the shadow so much more dramatic. Sharpness and tone are really nice but I think the pavilion is too tilted.

Reflective me by Dr. Mhuni. I love this reflection picture as well. The distortion is great - it shows you and somehow shows another image. Also great that you manage to make this picture without showing your camera (especially when considering the wide angle of the reflection).

Myself - 1961 by paulgee20. This is amazing – a silhouette of you which is 50 years old. You photographed this piece of art with a nice pattern of the background and it is a very special interpretation of the topic.

my snowy boots by stephanie0812. What a lovely portrait – I must say this as a former Antarctic Researcher . It tells a little bit about you (unfortunately) but it tells a lot about what you like in a very amusing way – I like this picture.

Hiding by GaryJohn. I know how you feel about being in front of the lense – I wished you would have stepped a bit closer as what we see from you is so hard to see .

ME ME ME ME ME by Puma. OK – you want to tell me I should not make good photos and then you submit this …. What a great shot – great proportions, such a special tone and a superb clear sharpness. The metaphor of the mirror cabinet is so strong and expresses lots of your creativity.

Pentax Masterclass ?? by TOZZA27. Obviously not a Masterclass shot but when knowing the story behind it is great – I so much can imagine the scenario.

i-Photographer by ArsenAl. Another amazing shot (and not just, because I own the 10-17 mm fisheye since a week . The perspective, the clarity, the colours and your shadow – all this works together to an amazing shot. Would love to be in this area – you presented it in such a brilliant way.

Old glass by gunner. A classic way of a photographers self-portrait. Your old lenses created a very special tone and it looks kind of strange on this new camera . A pity that you are so blurred as this is a self-portrait competition. One suggestion – I kind of like it when in such images the camera labels are mirrored so that because of double-mirroring they are again in real orientation – this creates a bit the imagination that it is a portrait and not a self-portrait.

Mirrored me by aliengrove. One of my favorites as it shows you absolutely un-distorted and it also creates such a special perspective where you start to think about, how you made it. My guess is, that you laid the camera on the ground and leaned against a mirror door of a wardrobe – but I might be totally wrong.

The Return of the Alien Photographer by Hyram. Definitely a very aggressive interpretation of the top  - a bit too far away from what I have in mind as for me it shows nearly nothing – or at least too little about you. However I still like the creativity of this shot. Another small issue – the background appears a bit to much filtered.

Me, Myself, I and.... by VonBatCat. This is a superb scene photo. Looks like it can go 1:1 on a CD cover. Must have been so much effort to arrange this scene but it was worth the effort. You really created a fantastic picture and you are the center of this art work.

Me, Myself and Eye by DrOrloff. Not sure if this was planned or coincident but the result is a great macro with a surprising self-portrait. You used such an unusual “mirror”. The right side is a bit out of focus bit the rest is brilliant.

alter ego ergo non sum by Frogherder. One Criteria of this competition was, that we see you or a part of you...although a funny interpretation regarding your nick, this is not exactly what I had in mind

Doctor Manhatten (...?) by matwhittington. Wow – so spooky. This image impresses me a lot. The view is so catching and you also used a very special crop. One of my favorites.

Half Full by marklj. A very optimistic title and a good composition. Kind of a nice closing picture of this competition.

So here the final results
Most impressive for me:
Place 1: ME ME ME ME ME by Puma
Place 2: Me, Myself, I and.... by VonBatCat
Place 3: i-Photographer by ArsenAl

Thanks to all to share something from you in such a diversy way.
Axel

Well done Puma (Shaun) give us a good one for th next comp. What a fun competition! The fastest judging ever Axel, well done.

I would like to say thanks Axel for the judging and very much for choosing my photo; I am made up first time I won on the site, the judging was supper fast well done Axel. And what a photo by VonBatCat, and ArsenAl, and to all that entered.

Thanks again Axel.

Congratulations Puma, VonBatCat and ArsenAl on their results and to Axel on his judging.

That was fast! Many thanks for getting the results out and congratulations to our winners.

Blimey, swift judging indeed. Thanks for that Axel and congrats to Puma and the others.

Re. showing the camera, as I recall (this was processed some time ago) I had to reconstruct my left shoulder to get rid of some of the camera.

Excellent competition and judging - and very well deserved winner! Great stuff

Regards

Well done Shaun a great picture and congrats to VonBatCat and ArsenenAl on the podium places. It was interesting to see how few actually showed their faces!
Thanks for the swift and excellent judging Axel, and you are spot on with working out how I took the picture, which was done in a bit of a hurry just before I checked out of my hotel yesterday.

Nice one Shaun, well done

Well done Shaun and congratulations also to John and ArsenAl. That was quality judging Axel.
David

Congratulations to puma - an excellent winning shot.

Many thanks to AxelLuther for the competition and the speedy judging.

You are right about my entry - it tells you nothing about me

If I showed too much, GlynM might be able to recognise me out and about

I'll have to keep a wary look-out for your alter-ego

Glyn

An interesting competition and great judging. Congratulations to Shaun - really good pic - and to the other placelings.

Cracking comp Axel - bit of fun and some interesting interpretations too.
Swift and sure judging to say the least !

Well done Shaun and the other successful entries...........

And yes - it was a very interesting scenario............

Tony

:Congratulations to all three of our winners! It was a wonderfully fun filled subject.

Thank you judge for the special award. The upper left corner was my hat...thus the cut off look.

I full agreed with your assessment too. This kind of art-sy work is not really my thing, but on the other hand, it is fun to try different processes.

On to our next round!!!

Excellent result - Congratulations to Shaun and the other placed entries. I'd never balanced a camera on a stack of beer mats before so that was a first for me

yep definately - trying these things out is key - especially in digital photography - btw - I am not sure which tools ou are using - I used to work in CS4 but since some weeks I also have the Lightroom three and this offers some really great features to photographers to manipulate pictures in a kind of Darkroom way....

Thanks for your excellent judging Axel and a great competition. Well done Shaun and runners up. Forgot to size my pic properly, that's why it wouldn't view in large fromat

Good competition congrats to Shaun and the runners up and to Axel for judging so fairly.

Thanks for the comments and judging Axel! I'm so glad you knew the original Michael Gross picture. After I couldn't find a single reference or photo of it on Google I was starting to think I had imagined it!!!