Weekly Competition #77 - Feelings and Emotions Competition

Time to give my comments and thoughts on this week's entries. I found the judging very difficult, but also very useful in forcing me to articulate what makes me like one picture above another; hopefully, you will find some usefulness to my comments, but I would like to say thanks to all who took part!

decided to do a bit of editing of typos... must have been asleep when I wrote...

Kacsoisti: What do you see? Good interplay of dark vs light; a very good subject for mono; sharp image; good detail in shadows yet light blond not ‘blown out’; a little overexposed area on man’s arm draws in my gaze; dark tones unfortunately dominate the arrangement. Alternatively, another shot after you had move a little to your left may have given an opportunity for a more balanced composition

Malo1961: Indecent proposal. Definitely suggestive of something shady going going on; one can sense laughter / smile from the man whose face is half hidden; I also think the mono treatment adds to the mood of this shot and gives it a little feel of mystery; I really liked this picture and felt a number of stories could be read in it… Unfortunately, the blur and part darkness make it fall short of being perfect.

Beebee: Mother and daughter. An accomplished portrait. Tight framing and soft focus reinforce the feeling of two people, in a shared world where nothing else exists outside; despite the presence of medical plaster and tube, the photo does not appear to go for cheap sentimentalism on the viewer’s part; it is a very well presented picture of mother-daughter love.

Hyram: Suspicion. Another great shot, well spotted, and telling a story; there definitely is a questioning look in this man’s eyes – and the horse also seems unsure; the tight grip of the handler, the closeness of man to the animal suggests a very close, protective relationship; the vibrant colours serve the subject well, preventing the background figures from interfering in the reading of the picture; the unfortunate bright yellow in the lower third of the picture jumps at the viewer, any chance you could have de-saturated it somehow in post processing?

Beakynet: Walking on air. A great capture of indeed a feeling we all know – even if we do not experience it often enough. I liked the subject matter but motion blur does not really work in this shot; using a higher iso setting would have allowed for a faster shutter speed to freeze action and subject ‘walking in mid air’


Yelvertoft: A Father’s Love. A good idea for a different take on the subject, but unfortunately did not really work for me; there does not seem to be anything in particular in focus, and while this may have been intentional so as to give a dreamy feel, I think here it is a bit over-done; I liked the attempt to ‘think outside the box’ but maybe a small hand resting in that of an adult, or a close up of father and son holding hands walking down the road would have worked better for me.

Tony-O: Head in the Clouds. A very successful shot, very evocative; maybe a little dark in the lower half; the use of polarising filter (I assume!) to enhance the blue / white of the sky whilst keeping ground and buildings dark works well; may have been improved by moving in and lowering angle so that the head, in effect, appears above the roofs

Johnriley: Attitude. A technically achieved shot, eyes are very sharp, no detail lost despite the shiny quality of the outfit; unfortunately, expression did not so much evoke ‘attitude’ as ‘boredom’; gaze appears ‘lost in space’; a very good portrait, but not a very successful portrayal of emotion for me unfortunately

ProSigma: As if… A good candid portrait, and a great capture of an interesting facial expression; lighting is excellent, another technically achieved shot; unfortunately again, a shot that does not really manage to evoke an emotion or a feeling for me….

StrawberryBeret: Happy People. A nice holiday snap of two girls posing for a pleasant portrait; did not like the orange colour cast

DavidTrout: Contentment. A brave attempt at depicting a feeling which does not benefit, like so many others, of easily recognisable visual clues; I like the tight framing of the shot and the glass covering almost all of the girl’s face… But I did not really sense contentment…

Ben76: Pride. A very successful shot, and pride suits very well the expression captured on the sailor in the foreground, but I also liked the sub-text afforded by the other two men; am I reading annoyance, envy or jealousy on his young colleague’s face on his right? As for the stooping older sailor behind, a sense of tiredness… The picture is very sharp, the colours enhance this shot and the composition, with the ropes on the left side give context; very successful!

Paulw: Thumbs Up. A great shot, and an obviously happy model! Good detail in both light and dark areas of the shot; may have chosen to bend knees down a bit so as to be level with subject in the chair, and would maybe have included the whole chair, but these are really minor points…

Josh: Miffed. That poor little dog certainly looks miffed! Definitely waiting to be let out of the hoody as soon as poss… would colour have been more successful? A good portrait

Ganners: Laughter. They certainly were having a right laugh there! A very good candid but I think I would have preferred to see only the laughing woman in the shot

hefty1: vexation. What a pity that you did not zoom in on to the little girl's face in the back! The man in the front does not look so vexed, but she certainly does! A great shot nonetheless...

viewfinder: Shock. Excellent capture; everyone definitely looks in shock! Could have been improved by a little cropping (especially the half-man on the left and the bottom of the picture, up to the level of the shoulders of the pianist) and cloning out of the pianist's head. An otherwise well captured moment!

Well done to everyone, it was great to see a range of interpretations; having debated long and hard, here are

this week's winners:

Ben76: winner - Pride
Beebee: second place - Mother and Daughter
Hyram: third place - Suspicion

Tony-O: Commended
Paulw: Commended

Well, over to Ben76!

Wishing you all a very happy New Year 2009

Excellent judging Bernadette; a shame there weren't more entries but many would have been away from their computers at this time of year - some good photos nonetheless!

And congratulations to Ben76 and all the other winners this week.

---

Joining the Q

Hefty's right, the low entry level was only to be expected in a week that included Christmas. Well done with the judging Bernadette and congratulations to Ben, Beebee and Hyram and the commendeds Tony and Paul.

---

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

Thanks for the 2nd place - I've had a good week with my photos, 2nd, 2nd if you get what I mean!! I loved the entries this week - each appeared to have a story attached that we could only guess at. Excellent comments that have helped me look at my images with fresh eyes. Looking forward to next week's comp.

---

Everything is possible - just not today.
K7, K100d, 18-55mm kit, 50-200mm, Sigma 70-300mm, 50mm f1.4, 16-45mm f4.0, 50-135mm f2.8

Congratulations to Ben76 and the other podium finishers and many thanks to Bernadette for her judging during such a busy week.

---

Hyram

Bodies: K20D (2), K10D, Super A, ME Super, Auto 110 SLR, X70, Optio P70
Pentax Glass: DA* 300, DA* 60-250, DA* 50-135, DA* 16-50, DA 70 Ltd, FA 31 Ltd, DA 35 Ltd, DA 18-55 (2), DA 12-24, DA 10-17, M 200, A 35-70, M 40, M 28, Converter-A 2X-S, 1.4X-S, AF 1.7, Pentax-110 50, Pentax-110 24
Other Glass: Sigma 105 macro, Sigma-A APO 75-300
Flash: Metz 58 AF-1 P, Pentax AF160FC ringflash, Pentax AF280T

Thanks Bernadette for the swift and very good judging part.
Congratulations to Ben76 and the other winners.
I hope we get a inspiring last years theme to work with.

Martin.

---

Best regards,

Martin.


Curious about my photography?? Just Follow the Light.

I've just come back from a week-end spent in the North of France and what a surprise when I see I'm this week's winner! Thank you ever so much Bernadette, may I say I'm "proud"? Thank you for the excellent comments! It is now my turn to comment on next week's entries, I hope I will be up to the job...
This week's subject is coming...
Wishing you all a happy New Year

---

Benoît

Hi Bernadette,Well done with the judgements.Thanks for the commended.
I took the image with my Ricoh GDR,and it really was an ''from the hip''kind of shot,so i was happy with the result.No polarizer was used,just a bit of PS7 curves/levels etc.
Congratulations to Ben76 and others. Tony-O.

---

K7,DA*50-135, 35mmLTD Macro, 21mm Ltd, Voightlaender 58mm 1.4 NOKTON SL,Ricoh GRD,GRX, Zeiss 100mm f2 Makro Planar.Zeiss Ikon ZM,Zeiss f1.5 C Sonnar.

It ain't no sin to take off your skin,and dance around in your bones.Tom Waits.