Weekly Competition #205 - Three Competition

Morning folks - judging this whilst watching young Rory win the golf. In my previous attempts at judging I've avoided any significant critique due to my inexperience. I've decided that (fortified by my Fathers Day single malt) I should give all my reasoning behind my judging. I've tried to be fair at all times and if anyone is upset by my judging then I apologise - that is not my intention. I just felt that as part of my own learning curve I should have the courage of my convictions.

Winner - Aliengrove with Three by Six (numerically it just fitted the bill best with my numbers orientated brain)
Second - Darlene with Three Friends (love the spirit of frindship shining through)
Third - Trio of Surfers (Great atmosphere)

Highly Commended
3x3x3 - AxelLuther
Three - DigitalCG
3 Wood - Puma
Three of a different kind - Gary_Baldy
The Three J's - DrOrloff
Red Three - thoughton

Cute Animal Award
Cygnets Three - Paulgee20

Made Me Smile award
Three minus One - JudithAnn

I know theres a few in there in the Highly Commended list but I couldn't really cut it down any further.



Tapirs - Malcolm Leader
Jings but they're not the prettiest animals are they? Nice light on them though and a nice shot.

Look its a Pentax - timcx500e
Winner of the Best Title and had a late run at the cutest pic of the week. A very nice capture and like the way they all have their heads tilted at exactly the same angle. Very nice.

3x3x3 - AxelLuther.
A wonderful family photo - with a difference. Like the concept and its been carried out perfectly. Vivid, eye catching and unique. I might have preferred less space at the bottom but thats a minor quibble. No exif data?

Three... - ArsenAl
Not as lot I can say about it to be honest. Initially I thought "three red hats" - it fits the criteria but as there are actually four girls it falls down slightly... If there had been only three girls and they were evenly spaced it might have worked better.

Three Roses - Johnwnjr
I like the colour and Threave Castle is a bonny spot. The flowers definitely look better when viewed large but ultimately, although the light is nice, they don't stand out enough for me.

Cygnets Three - paulgee20
Certainly the winner of the cuteness award. Fits the three criteria perfectly. I couldn't make up my mind about the focus. Do I want all three pin sharp or are the front and rear ones better being slightly out of focus. I still can't decide. Focus is certainly wonderful on the middle one. I like it.

Nature Alignment - mujirushi
Intriguing and I love the colour. Its an excellent spot and I like the parallel nature of the shot. I'd have preferred perhaps more definition - maybe darken the tone? I like the idea.

Triple Trams - Johnriley
Like the lines leading me through the shot and obviously three trams fit the criteria. Intriguingly if we add up all the numbers that we can we can see on the front two trams the total is divisible by three. That was well spotted John. Not sure of the numbers on the third tram.

Three - digitalCG
I really like the image here. However, I don't think the processing is letting it achieve its full potential. The light section of missing ceiling is too distracting and I think the image would work extremely well as a slightly cropped and gritty mono conversion. An excellent spot nonetheless.

Three Left - dannyh
Nice atmospheric shot and like the layers in the background hills. I like the composition and I like the tones but I found the posts blending in too much with the far shoreline. A nice shot nonetheless.

Threes on Toast - VonBatCat
Like it
Nice colour and dof and a wee bit different. I like the idea and as you say a shot that you can eat afterwards. Not sure about the focus which appears to be on the left corner of the bread.

Three Gables - Sean282
I love this shot. great light and superb perspective, I like the tones as well. A very nice landscape shot. However, the threeness doesn't strike me as being particularly obvious. Without the title I'd have been struggling to work out how it fitted in. Doesn't stop me likng the shot though No exif data either.

Three Towers - Alexfilipov
Interesting shot and I like the tones. A slightly different perspective might have hidden the fourth tower on the right but I still like it. A nice atmospheric shot.

Three of a Different Kind - Gary_Baldy
Very well spotted and like the concept. Nicely taken and like the colours in the three bins which go well with the wall and blue sky. An excellent entry.

Zabriske Point - Martynprescott
What could be nicer than to explore magnificent scenery with friends.A nice memento of a day out and a superb backdrop to the shot. However, the exif data shows it was taken with a Panasonic camera?

3 Wood - Puma
Lovely detail in the posts, a nice composition and plenty of atmosphere. I like the shot - single image file tonemapped? Blown section of the sky attracts my attention slightly but not overly so.

Trio of Surfers - Photoman
Great atmosphere in this, from the swirling sand at their feet to the frothy waves breaking in the background. I like the energy in the shot but might have preferred more space to the left for some reason. A favourite.

The Waldridge Three - bforbes
A nice simple landscape - like the rich, yet muted, colour. Not immediatelt apparent that there are only three trees but closer inspection confirms it
Like it.

No-one for picnic - stopher
It doesn't actually look like winter
Nice leading lines in this and a nice simple shot with nice natural colour.

Threeway - Dodge69
I rather like the use of selective colour to highlight the three. Nice tones in the rest of the picture as well. I like the way my view is channelled through the shot but I might have preferred to get the whole of the first taxi in and also for the buildings to be vertical. It might be that the slight angle adds to the mood. Like it.

3 pals - pendragonfalls
Like the idea. Didn't expect anybody to find a wet of identical triplets especially for the comp. Nicely shot and processed Again no exif data.

Standing on 3 legs - joanjberry
Runner up in the cuteness stakes. A very nice capture of a cute wee fellow.

Propeller at Chatham - petermichael
A nice scenen and a nice capture. No need to mention the threes as they are quite obvious, from the propeller to the three gables. A lovely entry with nice natural tones.

Leisurely Walk -n shureshnanda
Very nice tones in this and a lovely shot. Like the slight tilt and the perspecvtive with the tree framing the walkers. A nice atmosphere. Like it.

Three Birds - 3party
A nice shot (from a distance). Ultimately whilst I like the idea I found that the picture itself is just too blurred. Also no exif data recorded on this image.

Red Three - thoughton
I love the tones in this and an excellent urban/people shot. I like the lines leading me in which are arranged in rows of three. Excellent shot.

Three Roman Buildings - japers45
Another shot with superb mono tones. I like the perspective very much - great angle. Beautiful lines and curves. Very nice shot.

Seaside Three - Dr. Mhuni
The shot is made by the fact of one of the htree standing up and looking back. Works well - nice sharpness and detail with good colour.

Thrice the Air! - i-Berg
Great colour and detail in this. Like the cotrast with the blues. Interesting shot - excellent sharpness and exposure.

Three Friends - Darlene
Lovely portrait shot of the three friends. Lovely focus and beautiful light. Sharp yet soft - lovely warm atmsophere. Well done.

Three minus One - JudithAnn
Winner of this weeks 'Made me Smile' award. Great wee shot. Beautifully set up and shot. Perfect timing and focus. Really like this.

The Three J's - DrOrloff
Another super portrait shot. Almost has the feel of a see no evil, hear no evil etc type shot. Excellent shot with great tones.

Prieni - Three Forks
Very nicely thought out and executed. Fits the criteria perfectly - low key works well. Only slight criticism is the fact that the end of the forks are not lined up. Thats probably more indicative of my own OCD.

Three Levels - Fire Escape - Mudge

I like the Big Three
A nice spot and I like the picture - works on both the three levels and the way the shape makes up the figure three. Nice one.

3x3 - Mark-B
Lovely simple shot. Nice colour, focus and use of dof. I also like the crop. Very nice entry.

Just Bikes - geordie01
Well set up and like the three different colours. Another nice simple shot of three rather impressive motorcycles.

Three by Six - aliengrove
Like this a lot. Beautiful abstract. Great detail and wonderfully fluid shapes within a rigid geometric pattern. The fact that the number three is also so prevalent makes it a winner for me.

Shower for Three - Sandinista
Love the colour and composition. Very nice image and big fan of the different shades of blue and the off centre psoitioning of the post. Very nice.

Thanks for the comp (good topic) & the ultra prompt judging, Mark. Congrats to AG (nice shot) and the others.

Well Done to Alien Grove and the others who did well. My favourite was JudthAnn's squirrel (cute but very well taken) Difficult to judge as the subject could be interpreted in a so many ways. A really good subject

Thank you to the Judge for all your work...was glad to bring a smile!.

I had a few commenst and PM's saying the photo was very well liked...Thank you one and all.

This squirrel has been very tamed by myself and she brings me lots of pleasure...I have even nicknamed her 'Baby'.

Gongrats to our winners...Aliengrove and Darlene and to our third placment and all the Highly Commends.

regards

Hi Mark - this was a great competition theme with a perfect judging (unfortunately I could only watch it at the end, as I was offline the whole last week). I fully support that you critize - from my own experience I can say that even if critics might hurt a bit in the first moment, I always learned much more from the critics then from the positive feedback on my pictures..... and as you said - as long as it is fair, it is OK (and photography is anyway a subjective thing )
I would have found it hard to select the winners among all these great entries - so congratulation to those who made it

I congratulate the winners! a worthy choice! What about my photo where you are unable to recognize a fourth girl?? or you are with the contest decided to thoroughly comply with themes?

Well done all, another successful competition and judging!

Nice work Mark, and congrats to AG (where was this shot taken?), and the others sharing the spotlight this week.

Congratulations to AG, very nice picture and a worthy winner. Thanks Mark for swift and competent judging.

Prieni

Well done AG, places et al. Thanks for comp and superspeedy judgiing Mark. Some very enjoyable shots there and some good laughs, loved 3's on toast.

Well done AG and all, just shows the great variance that can come out of a simple theme. Great judging Mark, oh and well done Rory....
Thanks DrO, just in case anyone wants to try this project Branston dont include any 3s I had to hand cut all of them out of 8s..... a bit messy.

Thanks Mark, I was a bit surprised as there were a lot of great entries in the comp! Conrats to my fellow podium places and the HC's too! Great comp and judging!

The shot was one of the series I sot in Houston, in Greenway Plaza, where strangely I took a pic that I titled "3", which didn't fit the bill as well as this one!

I'll think up a new comp theme asap....

Thoughtful and swift judging, great choice of theme I think demonstrated by the volume & quality of entries.

Many congrats to the winner and HC's !!

Congrats AG, a great image, and well done places HCs et al. Good comp and theme Mark and well done for speedy results and judging

Thanks for the HC and judging Mark! And congratulations to AG and the other honourees. I especially liked JudithAnn's squirrel and PhotoMan's surfers.

I didn't even recognize the three closest to me. I don't get out much

Thanks for the comments re the judging. There were a large number of what I thought were excellent entries which caused me loads of hassle deciding where to place them all. I also meant to include Sandinistas shot somewhere but somehow forgot so apologies for that.

Congrats to Aliengrove and all the other placings, HC's etc. Well done Mark on the choice of subject & judging....was another good turnout!

Congratulations to the Winner - Aliengrove with Three by Six it is a Fantastic picture, and some great judging so well done Mark and every one who entered so to the next one lol

Thank you for second place, Congratulation to Aliengrove for first place and to all the rest. Good comp and theme . Great Judging.

good joke! I mean, where you will see there a fourth girl? I'm sorry too, yet English is not my native language! and not even Russian, though I say it ..