Competition voting and critique thread…

S

Steve

Guest
Competition voting and critique thread…

As the closing date has passed and all the 17 entries have been checked and uploaded it is now time for everyone to vote on their favourite three. Please have a look at the entries HERE and take some time to consider them in context to this rounds theme of COLOUR. Once you have decided on your favourite three, please use the forums private message function and send your list to me. I only need you first, second and third place numbers, nothing else for now. Remember that you are not allowed to vote for your own entry but otherwise it is wide open and you can pick your own favourite three for what ever reasons you see fit, theme relevance, technique, lighting, wow factor, originality or simply just because you like the picture.

You have until Sunday at 6pm to get your vote in as I will announce the top three later on that evening. The overall winner will then get the honour of choosing a new subject/theme for the next round. At the same time I will rename all the entries to show which belong to which members, and at this point it would be helpful if people could offer comments, critique and general advice on how to improve or what you like/dislike about their pictures. It doesn’t matter how experienced or inexperienced you are, your opinions count and I am sure that any feedback, even if it is just one sentence, will be greatly received. Please DO NOT post any comments about the entrants until AFTER the results are shown as some people may be influenced by others opinions.

For the 17 members who entered, once the results are up this is also the time to explain your thoughts and setup that was used to capture your competition photo. This is as valuable as the critique and it will hep everyone else to see the time, effort, skill and technique that has been applied to capture those stunning images. Everyone can learn along the way.

That’s it for now, we have had 17 entries for round one which when you consider we are a new forum and the whole competition format is still being worked on is a very good response. I have to say that the high standard of entries has surprised me and goes along way to showing the skill level of some of you guys. You have done the first round of the competition proud and made all the effort worthwhile. I have had no problem administrating the competition in its current format, everything has gone straight forward and been simple, but if anyone feels that the format could be improved by changing something, we are always open to suggestions.

The admin decided to rotate the running of each round to allow each of us the chance to enter while keeping everything independent and fair. As you know I volunteered for the honour of round one but I am looking forward to round two so I can join in. :)

So to summarise..

Take a look at the 17 stunning entries HERE
Get your votes in to me before Sunday at 6pm
Watch this thread on Sunday night for the results.
Start preparing you critique for posting here AFTER the results are up.
One of the 17 members that entered will win and will need to chose a new subject/theme for round two..so get your thinking cap on in case it’s you!! :)
 
By the way to keep it totally fair I have uploaded the pictures in exactly the same order as I recieved them. So if you are wondering why any picture is situated at what point in the gallery..thats why. 8)

Take your time to make your decisions and then get those votes in!!!
 
I would like to echo steves comments, 17 very good entries for the first round for us is great, we really appreciate it, and i think a well done is in order for Steve for setting up and running this so well! A well conceived competition and a good way to display the images, thanks Steve!

Now vote for my image! (just guess which it is) :D
 
Don't for get that every member here is entitled to vote not just the ones that entered the competition. So far I have received 10 votes and you have till Sunday at 6pm to get them sent to me. After that the results will be added up and the winner announced. :)
 
Just a quick post… I have received a couple of emails from people with their votes for the competition. I have replied to them personally but unfortunately we are not taking votes by email. You MUST use the FORUM PRIVATE MESSAGE system and send your TOP THREE to me. This is the only way I can verify that the votes are genuine and keep a track of it all fairly.

You have until Sunday at 6pm to get the votes in and surprisingly I have had fewer votes than competition entries so far. Every member can vote for their favourite three pictures even if you didn’t submit an entry to this round.

The votes are currently very close as well, the top three has changed a few times already and will probably change again before the deadline passes. Don’t miss out on getting a vote in, they can all make a difference. :)
 
There is no easy way to put this without it coming across as me being arsey. The competition was conceived and intended to be a channel to encourage photography and help improve skill whilst being fun. It is not meant to be serious, there is no camera equipment to be won and the prizes are to improve your photography and get a little bit of exposure. I have done my up most to make it as fair as possible and am very pleased with the way hat has gone so far, however I have today been made aware of a possible way for members to unfairly affect the results.

Please note that I am not accusing anyone of deliberately doing this, merely pointing out how it affects the scores and can give someone else a unfair advantage

This is aimed at the members who have already entered the competition.

It is not fair on the others that have entered if you do not vote as effectively you are denying someone else points and gaining an unfair personal advantage. There are currently only a few of you that have entered but not YET voted. The closing date is tomorrow so there is still time and please remember the whole point is to keep it fun and improve the photography. Let’s not sour the competition unnecessarily.

Please take a few minutes to look at the entries and vote on your favourite three, keep that spirit of fun in mind and get your votes in before the 6pm deadline tomorrow night.

Thanks
Steve.

BTW these are my thoughts and views only as I have been administrating this round (the others in the forum admin team may or may not have entered the comp so it would be unfair to ask their opinions personally)
 
This is an oversight on my part as I conceived and created the competition format. :eek:ops:

It is too late to do anything for this round and I don’t honestly believe that this is being done intentionally. Never the less there is a loophole that needs to be closed. At this point the competition will continue as planned for round one but something will be in place for the next round to prevent this happening again. Maybe introduce a point’s penalty for the members that enter and then don’t vote or a change in the voting system to allow you to vote for your own submission? Obviously the second choice assumes that each member will vote their own entry as first place thus removing any advantage and we could also increase the votes from the top three to the top four. This would still allow for a “fair” top three although once again it relies on everyone that enters to also vote. [smilie=c:

At this point I am open to suggestions?
 
I'd make a rule that states that people HAVE TO vote for their top 3 if they enter. Too late to do it for this round, because people might not be able to vote in time (on holidays or something), but would be fine for round 2 (probably!).
 
I have just PM’d the members who have entered but not yet voted. I have also copied it below in case they read this thread and don’t check their PM’s for some reason. The closing deadline is tomorrow so hopefully they will get back to me before then and save any possible upsets.

I can only apologise to all the members who have entered for my error/oversite and keep my fingers crossed that it works out o.k. I promise that either way it will be sorted for th next round.

Hi,

I am sorry to be dropping you a line like this..

I have today been aware of a way of members unfairly affecting the outcome of the competition. You can read my thoughts on this here Please note I am not accusing anyone of this but as you are one of the members who have entered and not yet voted, I am taking the opportunity to contact you before the competition closes.

If possible could you please get your votes for your favourite three into me using the forum PM system before the competition closes tomorrow at 6pm. I would really appreciate it and it will allow me to keep the competition fair.

Your votes could affect the outcome of this round.

Thanks
Steve
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I thought it might be of value to offer my previous experience of being involved in a board similar to this one - photochat.com, which had a largely US based membership. The regular photo competitions caused problems from the outset. Initially, we made the mistake of offering quite modest prizes. There was a huge influx of members as a result of the prizes being offered. It also transpired that some members were getting friends to join simply to vote for their competition entries. As soon as we realised what was happening, and stopped offering the prizes, a lot of members drifted away, a lot of them being no real loss, but we also lost members who had submitted quality work and felt aggrieved at losing out.

That apart, we had a good sprinkling of both experienced photographers and newcomers who provided regular and stimulating content. After the initial rush of enthusiasm though, contributions began to dry up, and the board limped along for some months sustained by the contributions of about half a dozen hard core members posting amidst the tumbleweed blowing by. :LOL: Eventually it became difficult to sustain the board at all, then it got hacked which just about finished it altogether. I see the domain name is now up for sale. :crying:

It's much more difficult to sustain a board like this than you might think, and what it needs more than anything else is contributions - posts! It doesn't really matter what it is - if you've a question - ask it. If you think you have something informative to post on any aspect of photography - post it. It might be just an amusing or interesting experience,but I'm sure people will find it interesting. There's only so many times people will check the board and find no new posts before they begin to drift away.

I'm brand new here and I hope my comments don't cause any offence - I think this board has all the makings of a great one. 8)

As far as the photo competitions go, why not just have them judged by a panel of regular judges or a panel of (three?)judges appointed each month? The judges themselves should be free to enter.. I think the competitions are essential to keep the interest going and provide people with regular 'assignments.'
 
No offence taken and I think you have hit the nail on the head...
 
CT said:
I thought it might be of value to offer my previous experience of being involved in a board similar to this one - photochat.com, which had a largely US based membership. The regular photo competitions caused problems from the outset. Initially, we made the mistake of offering quite modest prizes. There was a huge influx of members as a result of the prizes being offered. It also transpired that some members were getting friends to join simply to vote for their competition entries. As soon as we realised what was happening, and stopped offering the prizes, a lot of members drifted away, a lot of them being no real loss, but we also lost members who had submitted quality work and felt aggrieved at losing out.
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I naively thought that this method and format was “perfect” My aim was to have fun and help people improve their photography with critique and comments but as you can see we have hit a stumbling block that could open the competition up as a source of discontent as you have previously experienced elsewhere. We could do with all the members we can get but not at the expense of the community. If this competition is the cause of bad feelings then it will be stopped instantly.

CT said:
That apart, we had a good sprinkling of both experienced photographers and newcomers who provided regular and stimulating content. After the initial rush of enthusiasm though, contributions began to dry up, and the board limped along for some months sustained by the contributions of about half a dozen hard core members posting amidst the tumbleweed blowing by. :LOL: Eventually it became difficult to sustain the board at all, then it got hacked which just about finished it altogether. I see the domain name is now up for sale. :crying:
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It’s a real shame that and a danger that we face here. I have to say that we have done extremely well to get to where we are now in such a short time, but we are under no illusions as to how difficult a track we are on.

CT said:
It's much more difficult to sustain a board like this than you might think, and what it needs more than anything else is contributions - posts! It doesn't really matter what it is - if you've a question - ask it. If you think you have something informative to post on any aspect of photography - post it. It might be just an amusing or interesting experience,but I'm sure people will find it interesting. There's only so many times people will check the board and find no new posts before they begin to drift away.
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We already have a core membership that are keeping the forum alive but miss the general chit chat and ramblings that keep the community returning and enthusiastic. Ideally new members bring new enthusiasm and content but getting new people in requires us to be known or have high listings on the search engines. We are trying our best and are working on this all the time but without throwing money at advertising or the search engines but it will take a while. The main site, forums and hosting have been paid for out of my pocket and I am willing to support this for the foreseeable future, I am stubborn and hate giving up so I figured this would be a long haul from the start. All content on the main site, its design and layout has been written and created by the admin team and one or two very kind others. This content is forming a base but we need to add to it and give people a reason to return or to recommend us to friends and family. We are talking with various manufactures about things, and hope to have new interesting content that is both timely and informative. Other more established sites have a head start here and I will not allow us to be biased so this again is a long haul and up hill struggle.

All the best will and hard work by the admin team will not be the deciding factor in the success or failure of this site though. Ultimately it will be down to our community or lack of it.

CT said:
I'm brand new here and I hope my comments don't cause any offence - I think this board has all the makings of a great one. 8)
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Not at all, you obvious experience and thoughtfulness have raised some interesting points that I am happy to respond to. It will give others a chance to see what is happening with the site and have a say in its development. I maintain that I don’t want to be the owner of The Photography Forums, merely someone who the community is happy to keep a watchful eye over its development. The less I have to do the happier I am but I am willing to work hard to ensure its success.

CT said:
As far as the photo competitions go, why not just have them judged by a panel of regular judges or a panel of (three?)judges appointed each month? The judges themselves should be free to enter.. I think the competitions are essential to keep the interest going and provide people with regular 'assignments.'
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I have been there and done that on other forums. The members bitch and fall out over the judge’s decision to the point that they have even accused us of being biased. This is why I wanted the members to judge the entries themselves and also to allow them to be involved at every stage of the competition. The galleries are a great showcase and a way to look back and hopefully see the improvements that members will make. The competition offers a regular subject to encourage people to shoot something that they may not have normally been interested in or to motivate them when they have lost the urge to pick up the camera.

I would like to find a way forward that keeps everyone involved, maintains the fun, stimulates people, showcases people’s work, help people improve and does not open the forums to any allegations of cheating, being unfair or alienating anyone. If anyone has any suggestions, no matter how radical or silly they may seem, please post them. In fact if anyone has any thoughts on anything that I have written then post that as well. Let’s have a good old air clearing and move the forums forward. :)
 
First of all, I think it's great that you've launched the forums, and even greater that there is a photo competition which may motivate people to think about 'photography' (whatever that means!) and submit entries for the fun of it, and the possible kudos of being a winner.

There is no perfect voting system in a competition of this type, and some potential glitches have been identified. I believe that no current member would deliberately try to influence the result - what would they gain, apart from a hollow victory? - but obviously the methodology needs to reflect the views of voters rather than being susceptible to deliberate or accidental bias.

Please keep going with this, Steve - life isn't perfect but it's worth living anyway. If some people who submit entries neglect to vote (for other people's entries), a penalty clause would be appropriate IMO, in order to make the system fair. But there's nothing at all wrong with the fundamental idea of the competition, and long may it continue!
 
i agree with everything that has been said, the voting system we have now is good IMO as steve has said, having 3 people judge is not the best solution, another forum has already had one round with lots of discontent due to the members not agreeing with the judges decisions, so every member voting for a top 3 is the way forward, giving points for the best 3 works for me!

as for getting members, we need people to post, i would encourage the photography novices to post anything they want to know and the professionals(as we have a few) and the extremly gifted(as we certainly have a few of them too)to post any hints and tips they have, personal experiences and all the rest of it.....

We have come a long way in a short space of time and i think we can go a lot further if we all suppot each other, so VOTE, POST and ENJOY!!
 
Just got my votes in guys. Sorry for delay, just got out of Hospital last night :(
 
Just a quick update and a question for you to ponder before I reveal the results tonight. I am currently at my parent’s house and expect to be home a little later than I had planned, therefore expect the results to be posted around 19.30ish tonight if all goes well. I am sorry for this unavoidable delay but it will add to the suspense and keep the tension high for a while longer. :D

While talking about the results how would you like them displayed? Its obvious that there will be a winner but unfortunately due to the nature of the game there will someone who will not have received as many votes and therefore will be at the bottom of the list. Due to the scoring system it is possible that an entry may not receive any votes at all and I would hate to be the one to upset someone when we are really trying to help.

Personally I don’t think it is wise to post the number of votes or the final scores for everyone, so I can just post the top three scores and offer to let anyone else that is interested know their position by pm. Or I could post a list of the order but with no scores? Suggestions, comments etc are welcomed but think carefully before suggesting post all the scores as it could be you at the bottom of the table…the scores for this round are not what I would have expected ;)

To the people who have still not voted..you have until I get home tonight to get them in.
 
dod said:
Just got my votes in guys. Sorry for delay, just got out of Hospital last night :(
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Thanks Dod, I really appreciate it. Hope things are ok with you and you are back to full health soon.
 
Great artists are seldom appreciated in their lifetime, so I would take 'null points' simply as sign of being ahead of the game. :LOL:

It's meant to be fun, and I don't think anyone should get upset by coming low down the order - maybe 'Colour' isn't their best suit - so personally I wouldn't object to the scores being displayed. Just make sure the swear filter's working. :shock:
 
Myself personally I do not mind, I would like to know what position as I believe everyone else would, doesn’t matter about scores I don’t expect therefore cannot be disappointed. I would also very briefly like to say regarding previous posts in this thread, I do not try to imagine the amount of work that goes into running a forum like this but I can honestly say hand on heart, I have already gained so much from this forum in the very short time I have been a member. Not only do I believe that my photographic skills have benefited, such as what makes a picture and composing it but, the enhancing and manipulation of a picture in PS. All this and more and like everyone else who has/is benefiting from the abundance of knowledge on this forum we are all truly grateful.
Keep up the good work.
 
silkstone said:
Great artists are seldom appreciated in their lifetime, so I would take 'null points' simply as sign of being ahead of the game. :LOL:
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:LOL:

I quite expect to be the one right at the bottom this month and I certainly have no problem with everyone knowing if I get no votes :p :D
 
im not fussed
 
Hey I'm home so that means I am now adding up the scores :D

WHAT? You expected this post to contain them :p :LOL: :twisted:

Give me about 15mins guys and I will put you all out of your misery. :)
 
Looks like a recount :wink:
 
dlh said:
Looks like a recount :wink:
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think hes had to use his toes.... [smilie=r:
 
The results

Well before all the back patting and words of praise are offered I would just like to thank each and every one of you for taking the trouble to enter and vote. There have been some stunning shots entered for this round and you have done the forums proud. In the end only one person that entered did not submit a vote and as that person was Petemc with him not being able to vote for himself the outcome of the top three could not have been affected anyway.

I have done the count and the results are in. I awarded 3 points for a first place vote, 2 for second and 1 for third giving me a total for each member that entered. Where scores came to the same total, the member with the most higher place votes have been awarded the higher slot.

I hope you all enjoyed the first ever round of the competition and are happy with the outcome.


Aerky01 --- 27 points
peteMC --- 23 points
EosD --- 17 points
BerraSM ---11 points
Matt --- 11 points
Kenco1964 --- 11 points
Steep --- 8 points
Dod --- 7 points
Stewart --- 6 points
Kimmett --- 6 points
Silkstone --- 5 points
Neos --- 4 points
Dlh --- 4 points
The Edge --- 3 points
Dave --- 1 point
Feeson --- 0 point
AndyPandy --- 0 point

Congratulations go to Aerky01 on a fine win, petemc for a sound second place and our very own admin Mr EosD for a worthy third. I have enjoyed all the entries and look forward to seeing everyone’s critique. Remember this is now the point that members can get the real benefit from the competition. Your word will count even if they only form a sentence or two.

If you check the competition gallery you will see that I have now changed the names so that you can see which belong to whom.
 
Well done to everyone, especially Aeryk and Peter, i tried to guess whos was who, but didnt get either of those right! Nice images though guys, well done to everyone...

will do a mini critique type thing for tomorrow evening, if thats ok with everyone!

Huge thanks to Steve for organising/running this round, well done buddy!
 
Thanks to Steve for looking after this round. Think it went well despite your concerns over vote rigging :wink: :LOL:
Congratulations to all the entrants and good luck to Aeryk01 trying to think of the next topic :twisted:
 
Congrats to Aeryk - we expect some fine coloured pencil drawings from you soon. :p Also many thanks to Steve for the organisation, but please put your socks back on. :D
 
Bloody Hell... I won?!?!?!?!?! :shock:

Alrighty then... well, a huge thanks goes out to Steve for doing a fabulous job in the organizing and maintaining such a great first run, with hopefully many more to follow!

In my forum introduction, I let everyone know, I'm fairly new at all of this photography stuff. I'm using a Minolta DiMAGE Z-10 and its pretty fun for a point & shoot. Right now I'm just trying to shoot what looks right in my eyes and hopefully catch a bit of magic along the way...

Great entries from everyone and I'm very humbled and honored to be in such great company and have colleagues such as yourself.

As for the next one... Steve... what's the deadline for posting a new Topic & Guidelines thread?

Thanks again all...

Kindest Regards,
Eric
 
Well done Aerky01 for winning this round, and to everyone who entered.
Also well done TPF admin for a great format.

I wonder what the next round will bring. :)

I have re-shot my image since and think I made a better job of it 2nd time round

newer version
 
Aeryk01 said:
Bloody Hell... I won?!?!?!?!?! :shock:

As for the next one... Steve... what's the deadline for posting a new Topic & Guidelines thread?

Thanks again all...

Kindest Regards,
Eric
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ohh yes you did and it was the memebrs that voted for you, that must make it all the sweeter :)

As to the next theme/subject..as soon as you can think of one so that we can get the next round underway. Take your time though and make sure that you are ahppy with what you choose.


In the mean time, lets see some critique and helpful comments on the entries from everyone. I'll post a few in a few minutes to get the ball rolling.
 
Matt said:
Well done Aerky01 for winning this round, and to everyone who entered.
Also well done TPF admin for a great format.

I wonder what the next round will bring. :)

I have re-shot my image since and think I made a better job of it 2nd time round

newer version
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Thanks Matt for the nice comment.

I have looked at youir second version and have to admit that I prefer the first version as a picture although the second version would have probably suited this round a little better.

At this point I would also like to add that although I can see how most poeple have voted, the general votes where not what I would have expected, just goes to show you that you can never tell.
 
i think i speak for all the members when i say thanks to steve for well laid out competion and for his time and effort, i never normally critique on other peoples work other than like that, great shot, cool, so mine will be short and sweet lol

1-silkstone. not sure about this looks more like a painting than a picture but does say color
2-matt i thought this one was very well executed the d o f is spot on. well framed one of my favorites
3-kimmett nice shot unusal angle very bright well done.
4-mine pass
5-eosd wow was my first impression then i went dizzy trying to figure out how he did it, great shot very sixties vibrant colors. cool shot
6-steep like this one a lot it says color to me.
7-the edge well taken and exposed picture, very good contrast with the black background.
8-aeryk01 01indeed bet it took you ages to line up that shot great d o f and clarity to this shot well done.
9-petemc cool shot nice macro i think its a water drop on a cd very sharp picture and nice color trails.
10-berrasm nice colors in this shot but seems out of focus but gives good effect.
11-dod like the color on this shot and well framed.
12-kenco1964 good pic would have been great if was taken front on with both wings in the frame, but they dont stay still for long, nice shot tho.
13-feeson not keen on this pic but it does say color, like the frame tho.
14-dave this is a bit to busy for me
15-dih looks like a bit of work went into this one, smaller d o f may well have worked better and removeing the twig nr the arrow.
16-andy pandy can see where you was going with this shot but a close up shot may have worked better.
17-neos think this could have been a winner if you had framed the peppers full frame.

so congratulations to aerky01, petemc, & eosd, for being placed and for all the others who entered and remember its just for fun and it gets you out and about now the nice weather is on us(i think).
 
Very well done to everyone guys and gals and especially congrats to Aeryk01, cracking shot there :D
 
Ah nuts. I'm really sorry guys. I totally forgot to submit my votes. I've taken over 400 shots in the past 3 days that all need to be sorted through for this week and I'm trying to decorate my room. Congrats to Aerky01 and EosD on their placement, and to the rest. If its any concolation, I didn't have a clue where to start when I had a flick through a few days ago as they were all fantastic shots. Sorry again guys.
 
Here are my critique and comments for all the stunning entries that have been submitted to the first ever Photography Forums competition. I would like to thank everyone for their support and for taking the time to enter. Some of this work is truly excellent and separating much of it is purely down to taste, not so much one is better than another, just different.

I have tried to write a little about each entry as I believe feedback is essential to improving our photography. Please try to take my comments as being helpful and not personal if you don’t agree. By now you should know that I say what I see and think of the pictures that are shown here, I don’t believe in saying things that are not true but others often disagree. There is no right or wrong, just personal preferences. The more people that can write a few lines on each photograph will enable everyone to get a more balanced opinion, so come everyone please take a few minutes and give some critiques/comments or just plain old praise if that all you feel able to do. The people that have entered deserve at least some feedback for all their effort.

On with the critique – in order of submission received.

I wrote out this after seeing all the entries but before the votes started arriving. I didn’t want anyone else’s votes to influence my opinion. I am guessing that most votes will be aimed at a theme of Colours rather than my literal take of Colour as it was set. This seems to be echoed by the majority of photographs submitted so I guess I am going to be in the minority. ;) still there is nothing like a little controversy to go along with the first round..tis a good job it’s just for fun. :D


Silkstone – you assured me that this started off life as a picture and once I confirmed that I had received the submission, you asked had I really taken it seriously :) well as you can see it had been accepted and voted on along with the others. How do I critique this shot though, it is heavily processed and so far removed from the original? It reminds me of a fuzzy felt picture that we used to make in school (ohh the good ole days) It is certainly colourful but I cant help wondering what the original looks like, has the processing been applied to make the picture fit the theme or to hide a bad photograph? For me it doesn’t work but I don’t doubt that it will appeal to some. You are to be highly commended on being the first to submit a photograph to the competition though, that’s something that no one can ever take away..consider yourself a winner either way ;)

Matt – This is a great shot both technically and idea wise. Your idea, setup, lighting and focus for this shot is good, I just love the way the subject becomes the drops and the flower although the same, is altered in each drop. It’s a bright, colourful and vibrant shot, framed well and photographed with skill. This is also one of the few that only use minimum colours which to me fits the theme better as it was colour, NOT colourS. One of my favourite shots for this round.

Kimmett – This is a funky and interesting shot. I like the non horizontal framing used but the lighting lets this down slightly. The lighter section at the bottom distracts me as it gives a distinct line across the “paperweight” in the photograph. I noticed the little yes/no written on the two opposing ends..what exactly is this used for, its had me wondering since first seeing the photo? The picture stands by itself but for this competition I think you like many, have taken the theme to be colours rather than colour.

Stewart – I was with you at the time this shot was taken and if I had been allowed to enter I would have submitted a shot very similar. My take on the same subject had to go into my gallery rather than being shown on the forums as most people would have put 2 and 2 together and possibly worked out that this belonged to you. The photo fits the theme perfectly for me with the minimal colours and a very simple take on a difficult subject. Flowers photos are extremely difficult to capture so that they stand out from the many that can be seen. Your use of a very narrow DOF has added to the simplicity and made it different enough to stand out from the rest. I would have preferred just a slightly larger DOF so that the entire front stamen is in focus but otherwise this is an excellent picture and one that received my vote to be in the top three. You need to get that printed and hung on your wall. [smilie=t:
 
On we go :D

EosD – Where to start? I know through talking to you on MSN that you would have liked some feedback on your shot before it was submitted. As a shot it is excellent, I know what went into capturing this and for effort your deserve recognition, but again like many for this round I feel you have missed the theme. Circles, reflections or Colours and it is a winner but here there are others that are much closer to MY interpretation of the theme. It’s a clever shot with ingenious lateral thinking involved to capture it, your post production is also good when combined with the Lomo effect often seen recently but not in my top three for this competition.

Steep – Another flower shot but one that definitely fits the theme. It has been lit well and captured using a large enough depth of field to ensure all the petals are in focus with equal fading DOF front and back. The problem for me with this shot is the not to well defined centre focal point making the picture appear flat and slightly lifeless. As a soft semi abstract picture it works well and would be well suited to a being framed along with two or three others shot in a similar way to form a nice combination picture. For me it’s a great effort but just beaten by one or two others submitted for this round.

the Edge – This shot I like and dislike equally, the heart shape and vibrant main colour set against a completely black background works very well. The focus is spot on as is the exposure but the bit that distracts and ruins the picture for me are the yellow wavy lines going from just under the centre off to the right, just above on the same side and the much smaller but still visible bits off to the top left hand side. I can’t work out if these are reflections from the plasma ball itself or something possibly behind your shooting point? Unfortunately my eyes are drawn to these points and they are just to distracting for me to enjoy the picture. It is so much better than the normal round plasma ball pictures that are often shown though.

Aeryk01 – Another one firmly aimed at colours and a similar idea to BerraSM’s colour pencil photograph but shot from a completely different angle giving a different composition. Again by using the camera at an angle you have produced an interesting picture from what could so easily have been a boring subject. Nice exposure, focus and DOF has complemented this well set up and captured image. For someone who openly says that they are a beginner, you are showing a very mature approach to your photography and I look forward to seeing you develop.
 
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