Weekly competition no. 42 'Our House'

My tribute corner…




Model PENTAX K10D
Software Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows
Date/time 26/04/2008 11:37:41 p.m.
Exposure time 1/4 s
F-number f/4.5
ISO speed ratings ISO 100
Focal length 17 mm



Best regards.
________________
Dirk TROTTEYN.
K10D+ Sigma 18-50 1:2.8 DC; DA 10-17 fish-eye.
Image counter: 5481.-

Aerials on our house




K10D, DA50-200 @ 50mm, F22, 1/90sec, ISO 400 and +2.0ev

This is found in our porch - truly.

This was one tough competition subject!




Mike

My Sommer-house. Located on the small danish island Bornholm - in the Baltic Sea.

We just build it.....

Taken this easter - K10D - Sigma 28-70 - # f8 - iso100 - 1/180. HDR picture - 5 shots.

Early sunset picture in the snow.

As the site was down yesterday evening, how about an extension of the deadline to midnight tonight?

G

So the website was down. I've been trying to get on since 8pm yesterday (addis time) and have only just managed it. What with all the problems one encounters here with internet and the like, I had assumed that the problem was in Addis and (apart from getting increasingly frustrated) was mentally composing a grovelling apology to entrants for the late judgment. But thankfully this now isn't necessary.

As for the extension - this seems like an excellent idea. Can we say midnight tonight?

By the way, any images posted before 1pm UK time today I'll be able to download and peruse at home. Any others can only be assessed tomorrow morning on my laptop at my daughter's school library!

my uncles house, and his dog, and his camera.



--
sophie

If it is not to late........our door bell at home.


K10D, Nokton 58mm/1.4, iso 400, 1/30 at f 5,6.
Martin.

Right, the day of judgment...

First of all - thanks for all the participants for posting images. In choosing the subject I was hoping to get some quirky pics, as well as some insight perhaps into the real life of cyber-acquaintances, and haven't been disappointed.

My judgment of the photos has been based solely on how they come across on my monitor and is, unavoidably, wholly subjective. If anyone's disgruntled with my assessment, please bear this in mind. One man's meat...

Also, if anyone feels I have under-appreciated what might be some extraordinary technical wizardry involved in their image capture (or post processing), then forgive me. I'm a beginner and such feats of prowess might have passed me by. On the other hand, it is the final image that counts not really how one gets there (unless two images were equally good, in which case technical aspects might come into it) and my comments are based solely on what I see on my screen.

justgetoutandride - Nice picture to start. I like the tunnel-like effect of the corridor opening onto the side lit view of the kitchen and the characterful range oven in the alcove behind. (I am a bit concerned by the height of those utensils above, though - don't you bang your head on them?!)

Galoot - A fish eye picture of pictures (I particularly like the cat and mouse and the goofy sun). Nice vibrant colours and amusing subject matter, but I feel the need for a little more going on compositionally.

johnriley - Nice pet portrait and great symmetrical effect. I particularly like the reflection of the curtain folding round your cat in the window. I might have cropped it a little more to the right to enhance the symmetry further, though would this spoil the curtain's reflection?

Lilly - Like this one a lot. Makes me think lazy weekend, breakfast in bed, reading the Sunday papers. I can almost smell the coffee on the bedside table! Oof window's great - though I can't work out whether I'd prefer this straight, or if straightening it would detract from the pleasing eccentricity of the image. I also like the overexposed light coming through the window - it's almost luminous.

Prieni - A beautifully composed picture. I love the strong rhythm of the stairs spiralling around the image. By the time I get to the lower steps I am beginning to feel a little giddy - wouldn't like to descend that staircase after a night on the town!

beakynet - Outside tap. Nice texture on the wall behind the tap in contrast with the tap itself, but I don't find the subject matter compelling enough.

amilner - Attractive view, over the rooftops, of your house (if your accommodation is anywhere near as grand as the tower then you must like living there). Light and the detail on the tiles in the foreground particularly nice. However, to be a contender for this subject I think the house would need to be rather more prominent in the image.

hefty1 - Cute montage of homely images. The latter have the feel of interior design mags/ads. Nice idea and pics - especially the clothes line/pegs in the roof - but I'm left hankering for a dominant image. Nevertheless, the more I look at it, the more I like this. I can see why that lens has such a reputation.

Belinda B. - Beautifully lit and perfectly exposed. The shadows are great - particularly those on the ceiling. My only niggle would be that I'd perhaps crop off more of the fireplace(?) below and, if possible, try and get in a little more of the shadows above.

Clarky - Nice backyard shot. Enviably blue sky and pool provide good splash of colour. In the end, though, I find my eyes wandering around for something to focus on.

promhandicam - Put-upon hound. Love the quirky subject matter. Composition would have been enhanced if you could have managed to get all the dog in. Is your animated hearth rug always so amenable?!

HowardJ - Image of pleasingly dishevelled bed - though I'm not too surprised at that early hour. I'd still be in it at 7am! Brave of you to risk the wrath of your better half.

George Lazarette - Good bedroom shot with lovely (morning? evening?) light entering through the window. Like the detail of the tree(s) outside. Nice warmth to the image - is this the light, the colour scheme, customised white balance or a combination of two, or even all three, of these?

ikillrocknroll - Neat uber-fish eye room view. Making the rectangular round to good effect. Not sure how you got the downward perspective of the room (moving a stepladder/chair around it to take the 6 pics?), but it works really well after your post-processing.

dirk1000 - Image of an image. Nice lighting and the shadow behind, which acts well as an additional frame. The painting (in this image, that is - not the picture itself!) lacks a bit of oomph, though. Perhaps cropping would have helped achieve this.

GlynM - Simple, nicely composed image of chimney and aerials - but I have a hankering for something more going on in the picture. Looks like you'll need to trim that tree this summer!

mikew - Porch scene. Unusual plant seemingly growing out of a wooden carving. Quite nice composition, though as the carving takes up most the image, I find the fact that its oof a little distracting. I think I would have exposed the plant a bit less.

Nimitz - Good pic of a lovely house. Snow on the house, ground and trees sets the image off well even if it does reduce contrast. Nice soft light, though if you could have got more detail in the sky this might have transformed it into a really dramatic photo. But I guess this would have meant you'd have lost light in the foreground. The balance of the pic seems slightly over-weighted towards the bottom & right. (We have several Danish friends here in Addis who have summer (or sommer) houses - seems to be quite a phenomenon in your neck of the woods. Had I realised they were so attractive I'd have been making more of an effort to get an invite!)

These last two I could only assess on my laptop in the relatively bright context of my daughter's school library, which isn't ideal.

justgetoutandride - An animated man's best friend. Beautiful dog (and fireplace). How come he's not loooking at the camera?! Don't know if it's the screen or the light here in the library - but it seems surprisingly grainy for such a well lit image.

Malo1961 - Great bell and nice pic of it. Good detail on the bell and pleasing bokeh as background. A well composed shot.

Now to the crunch... Hasn't been at all easy - there's little to choose between the contenders. But I have to pick just three, so the honours go to (in reverse order):

Third place: ikillrocknroll for the quirky take on his room
Second: Belinda B. for her perfectly toned mantelpiece
First: Lilly for her idiosyncratic and atmospheric bedroom shot

Congratulations Lilly! I look forward to finding out what the next subject is for what is now a six day week.

Right, the day of judgment...

First of all - thanks for all the participants for posting images. In choosing the subject I was hoping to get some quirky pics, as well as some insight perhaps into the real life of cyber-acquaintances, and haven't been disappointed.

My judgment of the photos has been based solely on how they come across on my monitor and is, unavoidably, wholly subjective. If anyone's disgruntled with my assessment, please bear this in mind. One man's meat...

Also, if anyone feels I have under-appreciated what might be some extraordinary technical wizardry involved in their image capture (or post processing), then forgive me. I'm a beginner and such feats of prowess might have passed me by. On the other hand, it is the final image that counts not really how one gets there (unless two images were equally good, in which case technical aspects might come into it) and my comments are based solely on what I see on my screen.

justgetoutandride - Nice picture to start. I like the tunnel-like effect of the corridor opening onto the side lit view of the kitchen and the characterful range oven in the alcove behind. (I am a bit concerned by the height of those utensils above, though - don't you bang your head on them?!)

Galoot - A fish eye picture of pictures (I particularly like the cat and mouse and the goofy sun). Nice vibrant colours and amusing subject matter, but I feel the need for a little more going on compositionally.

johnriley - Nice pet portrait and great symmetrical effect. I particularly like the reflection of the curtain folding round your cat in the window. I might have cropped it a little more to the right to enhance the symmetry further, though would this spoil the curtain's reflection?

Lilly - Like this one a lot. Makes me think lazy weekend, breakfast in bed, reading the Sunday papers. I can almost smell the coffee on the bedside table! Oof window's great - though I can't work out whether I'd prefer this straight, or if straightening it would detract from the pleasing eccentricity of the image. I also like the overexposed light coming through the window - it's almost luminous.

Prieni - A beautifully composed picture. I love the strong rhythm of the stairs spiralling around the image. By the time I get to the lower steps I am beginning to feel a little giddy - wouldn't like to descend that staircase after a night on the town!

beakynet - Outside tap. Nice texture on the wall behind the tap in contrast with the tap itself, but I don't find the subject matter compelling enough.

amilner - Attractive view, over the rooftops, of your house (if your accommodation is anywhere near as grand as the tower then you must like living there). Light and the detail on the tiles in the foreground particularly nice. However, to be a contender for this subject I think the house would need to be rather more prominent in the image.

hefty1 - Cute montage of homely images. The latter have the feel of interior design mags/ads. Nice idea and pics - especially the clothes line/pegs in the roof - but I'm left hankering for a dominant image. Nevertheless, the more I look at it, the more I like this. I can see why that lens has such a reputation.

Belinda B. - Beautifully lit and perfectly exposed. The shadows are great - particularly those on the ceiling. My only niggle would be that I'd perhaps crop off more of the fireplace(?) below and, if possible, try and get in a little more of the shadows above.

Clarky - Nice backyard shot. Enviably blue sky and pool provide good splash of colour. In the end, though, I find my eyes wandering around for something to focus on.

promhandicam - Put-upon hound. Love the quirky subject matter. Composition would have been enhanced if you could have managed to get all the dog in. Is your animated hearth rug always so amenable?!

HowardJ - Image of pleasingly dishevelled bed - though I'm not too surprised at that early hour. I'd still be in it at 7am! Brave of you to risk the wrath of your better half.

George Lazarette - Good bedroom shot with lovely (morning? evening?) light entering through the window. Like the detail of the tree(s) outside. Nice warmth to the image - is this the light, the colour scheme, customised white balance or a combination of two, or even all three, of these?

ikillrocknroll - Neat uber-fish eye room view. Making the rectangular round to good effect. Not sure how you got the downward perspective of the room (moving a stepladder/chair around it to take the 6 pics?), but it works really well after your post-processing.

dirk1000 - Image of an image. Nice lighting and the shadow behind, which acts well as an additional frame. The painting (in this image, that is - not the picture itself!) lacks a bit of oomph, though. Perhaps cropping would have helped achieve this.

GlynM - Simple, nicely composed image of chimney and aerials - but I have a hankering for something more going on in the picture. Looks like you'll need to trim that tree this summer!

mikew - Porch scene. Unusual plant seemingly growing out of a wooden carving. Quite nice composition, though as the carving takes up most the image, I find the fact that its oof a little distracting. I think I would have exposed the plant a bit less.

Nimitz - Good pic of a lovely house. Snow on the house, ground and trees sets the image off well even if it does reduce contrast. Nice soft light, though if you could have got more detail in the sky this might have transformed it into a really dramatic photo. But I guess this would have meant you'd have lost light in the foreground. The balance of the pic seems slightly over-weighted towards the bottom & right. (We have several Danish friends here in Addis who have summer (or sommer) houses - seems to be quite a phenomenon in your neck of the woods. Had I realised they were so attractive I'd have been making more of an effort to get an invite!)

These last two I could only assess on my laptop in the relatively bright context of my daughter's school library, which isn't ideal.

justgetoutandride - An animated man's best friend. Beautiful dog (and fireplace). How come he's not loooking at the camera?! Don't know if it's the screen or the light here in the library - but it seems surprisingly grainy for such a well lit image.

Malo1961 - Great bell and nice pic of it. Good detail on the bell and pleasing bokeh as background. A well composed shot.

Now to the crunch... Hasn't been at all easy - there's little to choose between the contenders. But I have to pick just three, so the honours go to (in reverse order):

Third place: ikillrocknroll for the quirky take on his room
Second: Belinda B. for her perfectly toned mantelpiece
First: Lilly for her idiosyncratic and atmospheric bedroom shot

Congratulations Lilly! I look forward to finding out what the next subject is for what is now a six day week.

Ah.........fantastic the greatly coveted second place

I am delighted.

Many congratulations to Lilly and a big thank you to Dr. Mhuni for his judging under very difficult circumstances this week (having to put up with an Ethiopian internet connection and the forum going down at the critical moment).

Now what will this week's subject be :

Yes well done Lilly and Dr Mhuni.

The judging can't have been easy anyway and add to that the technolgical difficulties and I think Dr Mhuni has excelled!

Mike

Excellent judging this week. Glad your internet stayed up to the challange

I'm pretty sure you would love a danish sommerhouse (summer)

This one is probably a bit bigger than normal...... We love to stay there and the kids love the beach next to it.

Congrats to Lilly.

Well the light wasn't fantastic so I had to turn the iso up to 1600 on the camera to get a decent shutter speed, so it is very grainy. 10 year old Sophie wanted a hand held shot and a long exposure hand held of an animal, is never a good idea.

Of the several shots she took, 10 year old Sophie preferred this one even though Zac isn't looking at the camera.



Not anymore. There is an inch or two of space between my head and the lowest utensil.

Dr. Munhi,

I feel that you have grossly under-appreciated the extraordinary technical wizardry involved in the capture and post-processing of my image! (Well, it involved lying down on the living room floor and taking the pic. In post processing it needed a white balance adjustment, contrast adjustment etc.)

Just thought I mention it
Ahhh, yes, one more thing: I forgive you

More seriously: Great judging and a deserving winner. It certainly would have been one of my contenders.

Now I better get back to B&W conversions in anticipation...

Dr. Prieni