Quite

This weeks competition "Trees" is now open for entries. Wonders of the world as far as I'm concerned. I'm open to interpretations as long as the main subject is trees or a tree (or part of). As always with the weekly competition photographs can have been taken at anytime as long as it was taken with a Pentax camera or clone. You have until midnight Sunday 4th March to get your entries in.
Good luck
Nigel

Makes for an interesting shot. Good slightly different view point found and well composed

APS-C sensor cameras are easily capable of providing files that will comfortably print at 16" x 12". At our most recent club print competition we had 50 entries for the colour section, most prints the sort of size you mention, there will have been all sorts of full frame, APS-C and other cameras used. There were differences in prints and their quality but I'm sure most of this was down to the quality of the original capture and less sophisticated processing and printers not the sensor size per-se. To cut to the chase, our very own Waywardcharlie came first in the colour print, photo taken with his trusty K5IIs and I managed a 2nd in the mono competition, about 20 entries, photo taken with my K-S2. All judged by a top tier external judge.
Looking at the prints no way could I distinguish between those taken with the larger sensor and those taken with the smaller, that was not the big differentiation.

If correct, not really an upgrade path more an attempt to keep the value of the camera up, I would think. The K-1 doesn't seem old enough to warrant a full new replacement.
Like Steve I'm happy sticking with APS-C. I'm looking forward to hearing what the new DA* 11-18mm is like. Will it be worth upgrading from my trusty Sigma 10-20mm ?

I agree, a lovely set.

I do apologies for having encouraged discussion whilst the competition was open and running.
I have however found it all jolly interesting.
When I think of classic still life I tend to think of the the Dutch masters with their rich colours and lustrous fruits. Cheese, game, hunting scenes etc. One particular painter springs to mind as being of interest regarding this discussion (there are many more) that is Frans Snyders who lived and painted in the 16th century. Absolutely stunning work. I do note that on quite a few of his paintings he fills the canvas, so much so that some objects only partially make it into the painting. Of course all his subject matter is painted without movement, the movement is an implied movement, such as in hunting scenes or butterflies in flight. I do wonder, if he had digital cameras at his disposal what would he and his colleagues have created.
Still life is actually a very broad genre, long may it continue to be so.
Regarding competitions, I think it totally right that the judge comments and judges according to their own criteria. On this occasion a little more detail of his criteria for what constitutes "Still Life" would have been helpful.
As I said at the beginning I've found it an interesting and indeed an enjoyable exercise.

The great thing abut the Q is subjects are usually more relaxed in front of it than if you get out a full blown DSLR. The librarian certainly appears relaxed about proceedings in these shots.
Let us know if you get a date

As they stand, No.1 is my favourite out of the set. I see this set as a beginning rather than an end product.
The main couple of reasons/observations
It seem as though you have metered the whole scene and having placed the librarian in front of the window to make best use of available light, with her fair skin this has led to her being over exposed in my opinion. Either spot metering on her face or dialling in exposure compensation would have helped here. My next major thought revolves around the choice of pose. She is a librarian in a library, perhaps she could be looking in a book, glancing up from a book, slotting a book into a book shelf, experimenting with different poses could pay dividends I think.
A nice set with room for further development and improvement. She seems to be very amenable to being photographed so maybe you will give her another try.

Thank you for the clarification Tim. Hopefully it helps others avoid the errors us first three have made.