Fortnightly competition #6 Comments

That must show piles of dedication

Gosh, thank you. I'm a little disappointed with it. I did not want to put it up as the first entry so was very pleased to see your entry which I think is superb.

I put the hall light on to create a sort of welcoming feel but this gave the camera a problem with the white balance in the orange light and created some blue-tinted shadows which were not obvious until I had gone back inside.

Glyn

Glyn,

I wondered about the blueish shadows for a moment. As the sky looks right (and shows the same blue) I guess it is just the sky colour reflected in the (white) snow. And since blue is complementary to yellow it looks a bit exacerbated.
The wall behind the door looks white all right, so I guess the camera has done a good job with WB (presuming that the lamp is giving a yellowish cast that we mostly don't notice because of our very own auto white balance).
The right ground floor window looks nice, I think the pic would have benefited from the other windows being lit as well.
And perhaps one could interpret and criticize in more detail. This would be missing the point, though, I think. The picture has a homely and warm feeling to it and I think you succeeded in inviting the viewer to come closer and knock on the door.


But the train of thoughts when seeing the image first was more like this (might be the left side of the brain being quicker in starting?):
1. Blimey, that sort of house in Surrey must be worth a fortune.
2. Ah, forgot that house prices slumped dramatically in the UK (at least that's what I read on the WEB sites of English newspapers).
3. Oh and forgot that due to the credit crisis the value of the pound has gone down (even the measly Euro is worth more than ye goode olde pound now) and prices of imported goods have risen immensely.
4. So the value of the house might, after all, be just enough to cover the cost of two or three decent lenses these days...

Prieni

P.S.: You have to make fun of it to keep your sanity...

It is only just inside Surrey. We are only a few hundred yards from the Hampshire boarder and close to the garrison town of Aldershot. Surrey house prices climb on some sort of logarithmic scale the nearer they are to London and the further they are from Aldershot

So its probably not worth as many decent lens as you imagine.

Glyn

Well, houses in Hampshire didn't strike me as cheap exactly when I lived there...
That was before the prices came down, though. If prices continue to fall at this rate then houses may become affordable for first time buyers in one or two decades
If, and that's a big IF, stamp duty rises do not compensate the price drops...

Prieni

I'm a bit mixed up here, what are the dates I can use pictures from ?

Here it says:
This is different from the weekly competition where any date would be acceptable.

Hope this helps,
Prieni

When was the theme set ?

Come on, you know how you can find out, don't you. Go to the competition thread and have a look when it was posted. (Ok, I did that, it was 21:54 on the 27. December (this competition is soooo last year)).
From the first post in this thread you will also learn There you are,
Prieni

(I think ) almost two weeks ago. Due to finish tomorrow.

AH! Prieni beat me to it

Sorry, I wasn't sure if it ran 14 days from Wednesday to a fortnight Wednesday, or 14 days from the theme being set, ( 27th ), which would make the end date Saturday the 10th Jan ?

John,

I do understand this confusion. I think the reasoning behind having the competition end on Wednesdays was to not interfere with the end of the weekly competition.
In this case Christmas was in the way of a swift judging of the last and start of the current competition and as a consequence this time round we will have a "very short fortnight" competition.
So better get out tonight if you haven't got a useful shot from the period since 27. December.
I don't know how the judge will look on shots slightly earlier than the official start date. One could argue that the new competition period starts when the old one ends. But then you have to nail the theme without knowing what it will be.

Oh, now I got it! I looked at your NYC pic's EXIF data (#3, of course) and it falls exactly in the period between 6 p.m. GMT on Wednesday the 24. December (I'm guessing here that you kept the camera on GMT) and setting the task.
In this case we have to disqualify it, it is just too good

No, seriously, you should give it a shot or p.m. Rob how he sees the rules. As far as I'm concerned it should be eligible and I wouldn't cry foul (at least not very loud).

Good luck,
Prieni

P.S.: Just had another look and the image I was referring to was shot before the previous competition ended...
So my assumption was probably a bit too hasty.

Not quit, tough is is indeed an other advantage.The main reason: the participants would have two full weekends (free days off) to come up with an photograph filling the theme.

martin.