Well having seen that John fried his I thought it would be a quicker, if not cleaner, end if I just dropped my egg from a great height.

However if I'm going to be held responsible for harm I also have to admit to mistreating a clementine which I used to practice the drop .

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP9769-vsmall.jpg[/IMG]

Glyn

I'm in and you can see the smashing time I had making my entry here .

(Also shot with the K-7)

Glyn

Whoops...

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP9935-c1-small.jpg[/IMG]

No expense spared!

Pentax K-7 with DA*16-50 @ 50mm
1/13sec, F11 & ISO200

Shot on 20/02/2011

Glyn

I'm sure its not as bad as wikileaks although I guess the climate in Sweden helps with the cooling .

I try and control the power usage a little. The general backup NAS only gets turned on for the scheduled backup times. The Photo Vault NAS is controlled by a little application on each PC/Mac and only comes on if one or more computers are also on. This does though mean that at least one PC has to be on to be able to stream the photos to the Apple Tv for display on the big screen in the living room. The Media Vault NAS is scheduled to come on at 7am and goes off at Midnight. The IP camera does not really work very well in the dark so it and its FTP server NAS are timed to turn off over night.

I also hate things being left unnecessarily on standby, and please nobody mention phone chargers , so we have a small collection of remote mains switches that that are used to turn a lot of stuff off when we go to bed or are away for the day. For example in the living room it all goes off expect the two PVRs and their associated ethernet switch.

Having said that though my son's bedroom seems to hum 24hours a day

Glyn

I keep adding NAS drives to my home network. I'm now up to 4.

I have one old Buffalo single drive NAS which has now been retired to become a FTP server for the IPcamera watching the wildlife in the back garden.

I have 2 Buffalo Linkstation Pro Duos both of which are running 500+500gB raid 1. One is used for general backup and the other as our photo vault. All the family photos get archived here and it means that they are available on the network to any of the computers, 3 PCs, a laptop and a Mac plus other display devices like an Apple TV. I have adopted a user/date/event hierarchical structure on this drive. I don't edit directly from this drive but copy on a PC or Mac and put it back, possibly under a later date, when finished.

I recently wanted a a new NAS drive, which we call the Media Vault, for backup & streaming of our music and videos. The Buffalos feel a bit dated so following some research I bought a Synology DS211j to which I have installed a pair of Hitachi 1gB drives again running raid 1. This device is a huge improvement over the Buffalos and comes with loads of tools.

My favourite tool is the USB dump. Plug a USB stick into the front and push a button, again on the front, to dump the contents into a unique folder in a predefined place and then automatically dismount the USB device. I found this works fine with SDHC cards from my camera using a little Sandisk USB adaptor and is a way of making a quick backup of a camera card.

The Synology has various monitoring tools including a syslog & SNMP but I just get it to email me if it thinks it has a problem and I can see it under my desk if it completely fails.

You can build a NAS using an old PC, do a search for FreeNAS, but I think modern dedicated NAS devices are now better at being power efficient and I would worry about using old drives. However FreeNAS can be a very low cost option if you have an old PC kicking about.


Glyn

Many thanks Jon for another good subject, excellent review and judging and, of course, for giving my solar radiometer the coveted second place .

Congratulations to Aiki for the great winning shot, darkskies as my co-runner-up, Doug & Matt for the HCs, (I really liked the London shot) and everyone else for another great set of images.

Glyn.

Solar Radiometer

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP9680-c6-small.jpg[/IMG]

I'm probably being over ambitious in trying to create a silhouette of an object that is predominately made of clear glass .

Pentax K-7 with the Samsung equivalent of the DFA100 Macro.
1/40sec, F4 & ISO 200

Plus some tinkering with the curves in PSE9.

Shot on 04/02/2011 at around 21:30

Glyn

This competition has closed and here are my results.

Firstly I would like to express my thanks to all of you that entered. Once again you all have far exceeded my expectations and it has been a privilege to review your work.

Just a reminder that I'm no expert at this. Everything here is just my personal opinion and the results reflect my personal tastes. I have tried to make useful comments for each entry and hope that I have not upset anyone as this was definitely not my intention. As always it is a terrific collection of images.



sandinista – Time Space Continuum
Jim has given us a fantastic image to start off this competition. I think it is a very clever manipulation that fits very well with its title and, of course, the competition subject. I love the clear, sharp and clean definition of the clock face and hands. Seeing some of the clock rim with a back void behind it reinforces the image. The red centre of the second hand and its stepped ghost add a great finishing touch.


davidtrout – My Space
I think this is a very well thought-out image. Most people just want to capture the angel but I think David has used it here to create a great feeling of wide open space. I like use of silhouettes for the statue , foreground and the guy on the horizon who adds a wonderful definition of scale. The blue cloudy sky is great. If I was being very picky I might grumble about the contrails but there is almost nothing you can do about these and could argue that they add a little extra dimension to the picture.


DrOrloff – A Good Space For A Cat
I like this picture very much. I guess this is an opportunistic shot as I think cats tend be rather uncooperative. It is a great image capturing a terrific sense of concentration on the cat who is in a hiding space and waiting to pounce. I love the way the cat is framed by the gap in the fence or door. The bright sunlight has also highlighted the wonderful texture of the wood, the cat’s whiskers and fur. The dark shadows also create some depth. I also think that this works very well in black & white as I suspect that colour would have caused some distraction and possibly masked the texture detail in this shot.


davem – Srange space
Dave had created an image with a sense of dark and foreboding. I guess that this is some sort of curved tunnel. I like the details of the tunnel walls and ground in the foreground. I think the image could have benefited some with a bit more light. Much of the shot is very black. I have to admit that I tried brightening this image a little and could then see how the shot was illuminated by moving a lamp around as well as a hint of a ghost of the lamp holder. Either way it certainly works in black and white and does capture an interesting space.


cardiff_gareth – Casting into a large spatial area
This is a very nice sunset shot looking over water. It creates a feeling of peace as well as space. There is so much detail in this picture to explore. The red sky, dark cloud and surface of the water are complimented by the silhouette of the fisherman in the foreground. I also like the little ship below the horizon which draws the viewer towards the distant shore. I think it all adds up to create a wonderful “end of the day” picture.


JudithAnn – What is Space?
Well Judith it is undoubtedly a photograph and obviously well meets the competition subject but it does make my judging task difficult . I was rather hoping you were going to submit one of your wonderful Canadian landscapes. It is though a very well executed, simple but thought provoking image. I guess it would make a very good fridge magnet . While possibly not a winning shot it is a terrific bit of lateral thinking and great fun. Many thanks.


darlene – Space for a pen
This is a close-up detail of some sort of card holder and pen. It reminded me of the days, long past, when I had a filofax. We get some good texture detail, particularly with some of the stitching and see some interesting ends of the cards although many look the same. The pen, which is mentioned in the title, is a bit out of focus. I would have liked to have been able to read text on the side of the pen but then this would be upside down conflicting with writing on the cards at the top of the image. So I guess it was quite a challenge to photograph and is an interesting take on the competition subject.


darkskies – Spaced Out Trees
I think this is a very well presented black & white landscape. The eye is drawn along the row of leafless trees which create a pair of very nice diagonals. The sun is spectacular with some great flare points plus a nice refection highlighting ripples in the water. As shot straight into the sun I guess this was quite difficult to achieve and I suspect would not have looked anywhere as nice in colour. A very promising first-time entry.


gunner – Big space, small place...
Here we have a clever idea showing the disparity between the physical size and storage space on a modern memory card. It is so easy to take these things for granted. I remember when I used to have to fit software applications onto a 2k EPROM. The wooden surface creates a nice warm background. It is obviously a macro shot. Depth of field is always a challenge with macro shots and here it would have been nice if the entire card was in focus. I think I would have tried reducing the aperture to achieve this although it would necessitate some support for the camera. It is though a well devised take on the competition subject.


geordie01 – me and my shadow
Wow a valve! When I first saw this I was hoping it was a something like a KT88 of audio amplifier fame but the internals look too simple for that so I suspect that this some sort of dual rectifier. This internal space though does create the opportunity for the nice shadow you have captured here. This obviously required a bright light and created a problem, well managed here, with the reflective glass surface and some spill onto the background. I think the front of the base just looks a bit soft and perhaps would have benefited with an increased DOF from a smaller aperture. From my direction though it is a very nice piece of nostalgic electronics from days when space was not so much of an issue.


Blythman – Plenty space for another
A very nice, simplistic, totally on-subject image. Again another shot that works very well in black & white. Well composed with great contrast between the feather and its reflection complemented by a neutral grey background. Very well executed at 300mm. It is the sort of shot I would expect to be hanging in a gallery for people to ponder over.


thoughton – No space here
I think this is a wonderfully executed image. I really like the diagonal aspect creating a feeling that the offending car is about to slide off the shot. The detail, reflections and lighting in this shot are very good. Everything looks so clean! It almost looks unreal. This is another shot that must work best in black & white. I think colour would just be a distraction. A very well thought-out idea and brilliantly carried out.


aliengrove – Spatial Construction
Jon has provided a definitive lesson on capturing an image of 3 dimensional space. I think it is a fantastic composition. Although shot with a wide range zoom it does not show any distortion and the verticals are very precise. The silhouetted workmen add a terrific element to the image and help the composition. We have seen quite a few black & white images in this competition but here I think the blue tint of the background works really well. A fantastic picture, many thanks.


Dr. Mhuni – Pier to Pylos
The Doctor marks his return to the competition he originally set up with a very nice landscape. The sky, clouds, distant mountains and water surface are very well captured but I think it is the jetty that makes this shot. It draws the viewer in towards the mountains. The gapped planks add an element of detail and the slight twist creates some character. A fantastic image, welcome back.



It has been very difficult to choses the winners. All the images fell within the broad subject requirement and all were of outstanding quality. Quite a few really stood out and it has been hard to put these into a winning order.

So this is it:

1st – aliengrove for Spatial Construction

2nd – DrOrloff for A Good Space For A Cat

3rd – sandinista for Time Space Continuum


Commendations, in no particular order, to:
darkskies for Spaced Out Trees
Blythman for Plenty space for another
thoughton for No space here

A special, fridge-magnet, award goes to JudithAnn for What is Space?

I think this completes my responsibilities here and hand over to Jon for the next round.

Glyn

Hi Belinda

I guess this problem is associated with similar issues on the parent ephotozine site following some sort of upgrade.

I think it might be wise to use the "Report Problem / Suggestion" link at the very bottom of the page to report the error you are getting.

I have found that for the very few problems I have reported I have always had a quick and helpful response.

Glyn

With thanks to sandinista we have our first entry so I'm out of here.

Have fun,

Glyn