I would be happy with "cold" but I think including "winter" contravenes the current rules even if it can be "interpreted 'poetically'".

Glyn

I believe we have a problem with this competition. The last few subjects, including one by me, have attracted the lowest number of entries. In its peak you could expect to get 30 to 40 entries. Now we are consistently getting less than 10.

If this competition is to survive then I think the subjects need to be broad, open and fully inclusive.

I also think that if you are in the privileged position to set one of these subjects then you have a responsibility to comply with the rules set out in a sticky in this sub-forum. Even with the modifications, which still mentions "winter", I don't think this one does.

Glyn

I still don't think this is fair and is pushing the rules originally set out for this competition:

[quote: ]Rule 7. The latest winner will select the next theme taking into consideration its practicality for all potential entrants (eg. don’t select ‘Winter’ when it’s summer down under), and will initiate the new competition as soon as possible after the previous results have been posted.[/quote]While we have had the worst recorded amount of snow for December there is now no chance of any any snow and not much winter here in next couple of weeks. The weather predictions indicate it is just going to be damp and horrible

So apologies but count me out.

Glyn

Thanks John. It was just a suggestion to remove the need to count the 16 shade boxes for those that might have their displays set too dark but I guess we can all count that far .

Glyn

I think I can probably see all 16 but I only see 15 distinct boxes and am assuming that the 16th box is the same shade as the background, which appears to be darker than the 15th box.

I wonder if it needs a light framing rectangle around the series of 16 shades to make the dark end of the set more distinct from the background.

Otherwise very useful and a great addition, thanks John.

Glyn

Apologies for resurrecting this thread but I would like to say thanks to you all for the inspiration to have a go at a panorama.

My first attempt, using Microsoft ICE, was a panoramic view of North Guildford at dawn. Taken yesterday at around 8am using a K-7 with DA55-300 @ about 100mm using a standard tripod head to take two rows of shots roughly spaced at 7.5 degrees.

It was a bit dark. I was rather hoping that the sky was going to be a bit clearer but it was useful experience and I also got some well needed exercise lugging my heavy tripod up this hill.

Microsoft ICE stitched them together well although on the full sized image you can spot the odd, just slightly, misaligned join.

Here is a small version, cropped & edited to brighten it up a bit:

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/Panorama-01-c1.jpg[/IMG]

I have also uploaded the full unedited version, a stitch of 42 shots, onto Photosynth here but be warned if you have not already got it you will be prompted to download & install Microsoft Silverlight to be able to explore the image and I guess this means it will only work on a windows PC.

With this full sized image on Photosynth you can zoom in and pan around. We have had lots of fun searching for things like clocks on buildings and familiar places like PC world, Comet, Guildford station and even a glimpse of the cricket ground.

I'm now well encouraged to have ago at a few more but I think I'll have to wait until we get some sunny days although the search for well placed local hill tops has already started .

Thanks again for the inspiration,

Glyn

Edit: surprisingly I got it to work on my Mac Mini where I was also prompted to install Microsoft Silverlight.

Surrey Heathland

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/Panorama-01c-c1_small.jpg[/IMG]

I have been waiting for the sun to come out and today it did, although not for long.

This shot is a composite panorama from 13 images (3 rows of 5,4 & 4 shots across) stitched together using Microsoft ICE.

It was taken from the Ash Ranges (open over the holidays) looking towards Guildford. Much of the detail is lost in reducing the image to 800 pixels across however you can see a larger version here where Guildford Cathedral can just be seen in the middle of the shot just below the horizon .


MS ICE has deleted all the exif data so here it is:

Pentax K-7 with DA55-300 @ 55mm
F16 & ISO 200 with various shutter speeds.

Shot on 02/01/11 at around 13:50

Glyn

P.S. You can see a 100% crop from the original shot with the cathedral here which also preserves the exif data.

Many thanks Jon for choosing such a great subject that lead to quite a range of interpretations. Congratulations for your great set of comments and judging.

I take on board your comments about having a darker background. The crop at the bottom of my shot was however forced as it was just above where the worktop edge falls away into the sink

Congratulations also for our winners. I thought Hyram's fish were fantastic.

Well done everyone for another great set of images.

Glyn

Running Tap

[IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w20/GlynM/Misc/IMGP8737-c3-bw-small.jpg[/IMG]

Pentax K-7 with DA35 Macro
1.3sec, F22 & ISO 200

Converted to B&W using Photoshop Elements.

Shot on 14/12/10.

Glyn

Many thanks David for another interesting competition, great judging and, of course, giving my shot of the insides of an old pc the third place.

Congratulations to Aliengrove for the win. I thought the colours in this shot were fantastic. Congratulations also to JudithAnn for her second place shot of a wonderful piece of family heritage.

Well done everyone for another great set of images.

Glyn