Weekly Photo Contest (20th-27th Feb)

[mattyb240]

Weekly Photo Contest (F20th-27th Feb)
Rules:

#1 You may submit only one photo per contest.

#2 The contest runs for exactly one week, from the time stamped on the first post in the thread (this will be made by the winner of the previous week's contest).

#3 Please refrain from commenting on the photos submitted in the contest. A good photograph is one that can appeal to someone who may not know much about the technical aspects of photography, so it would be best if the judge isn't swayed by someone else's opinion of the photograph.

#4 The judge will decide his/her favorite at the end of the week, place a post listing it, and include a short synopsis of why he/she chose that photo. The winner is then responsible for choosing a new topic and starting a new contest thread, which again will run for exactly one week.

My inspiration comes from the four hour drive home I have just endured and seeing many things that reminded me of home, sights, smells, landscapes. So my topic of choice is Home and anything you associate with it!

Good luck!;)

[AlexH]

I cross these tracks on my home every day. It's a beautiful part of my drive home, and it signals that home is just around the corner. It's not my best picture, but these tracks make me feel like I'm home...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/2444602640_795bd725b5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital3x/2444602640/)

[deep diver]

For me, home is all about my family. This is my youngest at home on his 10th birthday.


http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159117&d=1235343394

[jodelli]

This view fits me like an old sleeve with a darned elbow, no matter where else I've been.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/2540248873_8ddcc729ef_o.jpg

[AlaskaMoose]

RAW image, PP with PSE6 so clarity was reduced to zero, and increased light by 10% or so.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/Rayfromalaska/2093.jpg

[jbernie]

Home for me is Sydney, but I have lived in Denver for 10 years now with only 6 weeks at "home" in that time. In the end... I skipped the photos of the harbour, the city, the bridge, the Opera House and chose this one, a subtle reminder of driving on the "correct" side of the road ;) and having to be more careful when walking around town.


http://ibernie.smugmug.com/photos/391217608_T9n57-XL-1.jpg

[Rower_CPU]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3296331071_5897c2b8b1_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/organically_digital/3296331071/)

[jmdfd415]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3610/3295921515_6c32f7ccb4_b.jpg

[rost12]

Entrance to the apartment building I currently call home.

http://homepage.mac.com/rost12/leica/home1.jpg

[volvoben]

A few houses down from home.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3295441285_9c5452907a_o.jpg

[epyfa]

http://u1.ipernity.com/8/57/66/3045766.bf19054c.l.jpg (http://u1.ipernity.com/8/57/66/3045766.7ed90358.1024.jpg)

[ipodtoucher]

Taken from my apartment with a large format camera with a Leaf digital back, you must see it bigger!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3242018244_b83793dded_b.jpg

BIGGER (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3242018244_edc033fb0b_o.jpg)

[digitalfrog]

going back home .... or returning to base Alpha 1 :-)

http://www.pbase.com/digitalfrog/image/79048980.jpg

[jeffmode]

This is what I see every night from home...


http://jeffmode.com/photo/needle/022009-011.jpg

[chrisandersen]

Home of the American Alligator

[apearlman]

R.I.P., Shea.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3368/3305651298_97d6e4e09c_o.jpg

[SLC Flyfishing]

Salt Lake Valley with my wife looking out over it!

SLC

[LiquidSnakeRNA]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3643/3307511140_d0ac1a6749_b.jpg

[Chappers]

This is my mountain. The telephone antennae at the top are always a guiding point to the journey home. Our home is on the horizon on the left.
The towers in the middle are seven now. The big blue(ish) building on the right is the equivalent of the BBC.
The road at the bottom - circles the city like the M25 but without the traffic jams.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3313870528_3aa3247a47_b.jpg

[mabcan]

Spring is the most beautiful shooting season....

[mattyb240]

Right guys some nice interpretations on the theme this week!

Alex H I love the simplicity of this shot, but yet its full of subtle detail and vibrancy of colours, where does it all lead? I kind of want to take a walk down there and explore! there is almost a sense of journey and discovery with a quaint familiarity of leading home.

deep diver I have seen so many photographs on the internet at the moment (as im only a beginner i'm researching a lot!!) where the childs emotions don't look genuine! And I must say the expression in your sons eyes is one that cannot be replicated. True excitement that brings a warming to my heart. May I ask what you used to take the picture as it is very sharp and the skin tones are fantastic.

jodelli Again such a nice caption discovering more detail as I look from the front to the back of the photo, but just the pleasant path leading to the metropolis, where is this taken? Do you live far from this location? Theres an amazing sense of business and calm in this shot. Well done!

AlaskaMoose I want to explore your shot and walk around it, something doesn't seem right to me in the colours, although it could be the natural colour of the trees bark? But it looks a lovely place to be and to go on an adventure!

jbernie Great shot, I'm almost imagining the cop or cab driver?! TO be doing a 180 degree spin around in a dramatic fashion, and the caption line of look right really makes the image for me. Its humbling little shots in an around town that make home for me as well.

Rower CPU I know this may just be coffee but it gives me that morning feeling looking at the shot, almost envoking the emotion upon me. Its very simple but warming and knowing the day is about to begin!

jmdfd415 Beautiful shot capturing the dogs expression! May I ask what you used to shoot this? And any post processing that may have been done? Truly a wonderful shot, as it doesn't have to be a person waiting for you to come home, but you still get that sense of want.

rost12 Where is this shot taken? How do you feel about this apartment? It gives me an entirely different sense of the word home that I wasn't expecting, what is the inside like? Home isn't always a great feeling in all circumstances (no offence meant btw!) depending on the situation or circumstance, and this to me captures a sense of necessity to be there than maybe wanting to? I could be wrong.

volvoben Beautiful warm colour and textures, with what looks to be rust adding a raw orange glow. The silouhette of the trees helps to define all of these textures on the building, and without them I don't think we would have seen the depth? Gorgous shot.

epyfa Nice humble home, lovely sky, I can just imagine coming home to this after a long hard day and relaxing with the family with a cup of tea and kicking my feet up watching the tv while the sun sets.

ipodtoucher Truly a massive shot! What time was this picture taken? There is something nice about the light, as well as looking in to the windows, wondering what peoples lives entail and what they are up to.

digitalfrog What a shot, beautifully captures, where was this? The light and the detail is incredible, what did you use to shoot this?

jeffmode Wow some beautiful architecture, you are very privileged to look out on this every night? What time was this taken? The silhouette looks almost flat and imposed there, but it fits, it works so well against the sky changing colour.

chrisandersen It looks almost as if its going to pounce, but sombre at the same time. Where was this taken? and what with? I love how one half of the water is almost as smooth as glass, but the other so much detail and reflection with the trees in the background.

apearlman May I ask who is shea? Is this the person in the shot? I love this, something nice, and although you can't see it, you can almost see the persons face smiling with content? Where is this taken?

SLCFlyfishing Again nice sense of depth while everything passes by, I keep wanting to look right into the background at the mountains, such a pleasant shot, it almost looks like an escape overlooking everything as it moves on by.

LiquidSnakeRNA Well composed with great detail and colour! Although the cat to me looks slightly on edge? I really am a great cat lover and having them look into your eyes when you walk home is always warming to me.

Chappers So much light and shape its wonderful, such a large landscape, it looks like a busy place which is hard to imagine with such beautiful greenery around! Where is this place?

mabcam Where is this place? Nice sense of depth although when I clicked on the full size I was expecting the shot to be a bit sharper and more harsh to the eye accentuating the rigidity of the rocks and the building? Still looks like a wonderful place to go and explore!


SO my winner:

1. apearlman!

Truly warming to me, a different sense of home, being with loved ones and the people around you enjoying a nice afternoon. Although you can't see the entire face I still feel like you can sense the happiness!

2. jmfd415

It must be nice looking into those eyes when you come home! An amazing shot!

3.jbernie

This shot reminds of walking round my home town, just browsing on through when something happens to surprise you. Just little quirks that remind you how much goes on in the place you live.

I really enjoyed judging this and looking at people photographs, its this kind of thing that inspires me to go pick up my camera and learn! Well done to everyone who entered!

[jmdfd415]

Great pics everybody. mattyb240 I used a nikon d40 with the standard 18-55 kit lens. For post processing I actually converted it to hdr and did a little tone mapping to it and since there wasnt much color in this picture anyways I decided to drop the saturation down to about 15% which really just brought out her eyes. Thanks for the complements! I just stated photography not too long ago and these are the types of things that really keep me inspired.

[AlexH]

Nice shots! Congrats apearlman!

PS - That was a stunning shot Chappers... I'd love to see an HDR of that one... :D

[jbernie]

Did it used to say Look Left? I can see where the left arrow used to be.

Good question, no idea what it might have said, I probably would not have been in that specific area for a few years. Maybe it said Don't look left? :)

Actually... It isn't out of the question that the road was one way going left to right and then was changed to two way traffic, it is at Circular Quay where all the Ferries are and there are bus/taxi only areas along there, so as things change there was probably a need to point different ways.

[Chappers]

Nice shots! Congrats apearlman!

PS - That was a stunning shot Chappers... I'd love to see an HDR of that one... :D

Also congrats to apearlman - nice shot.

Thanks for the comment AlexH.

There were a lot of great shots this week - I think I liked every single one - glad I wasn't judging that - so well done mattyb240 for a job well done.

[deep diver]

Congrats to all. apearlman, I think your picture was great - nice concept and beautiful execution. I am not a sports fan, but Shea is an icon that will be missed.

mattyb240, great job judging. It isn't easy.

I shot my picture with a Nikon D50. I think I used the 18-55 kit lens or the 18-200. This is my kid that hates having his picture taken. I got really lucky.

Can't wait for the next topic.

[jeffmode]

Thanks mattyb240 - in answer to your question: this was taken at about 6 pm...just before all light in the sky disappeared.

The space needle is obviously a symbol of home for all people of Seattle.

[apearlman]

Wow, thanks for your very positive and encouraging judging, Mattyb. Sorry it took me a while to check back in with this thread. If I were judging, I probably would have chosen chappers, digitalfrog or alaskamoose's shots, but I guess everyone has their own opinions. Nice work, everyone.

I hope my title wasn't misleading... the person in the photo is my Dad, who is very much still alive. He and I were at Shea Stadium in Queens NY, watching a Mets game on Father's day. ("Home" in this case refers to "home plate" or perhaps the fact that this was a home game.) It was a special game because my 9-year-old nephew caught a foul ball only minutes before this photo was taken. This past winter Shea was demolished to make way for a new stadium. The old building was a dump, but it was full of great memories and my dad and I did, indeed, have fun the day this shot was taken.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3582/3317703905_8ec443e7af.jpg

Some wonderful photos of Shea, taken by other people (http://www.stadiumpage.com/stpages/shea.html)

I'll post a new thread for this week's photo contest in a few minutes, as soon as I come up with a good theme...

[jodelli]

Agreed on that winning shot, it was tres cool.

[rost12]

rost12 Where is this shot taken? How do you feel about this apartment? It gives me an entirely different sense of the word home that I wasn't expecting, what is the inside like? Home isn't always a great feeling in all circumstances (no offence meant btw!) depending on the situation or circumstance, and this to me captures a sense of necessity to be there than maybe wanting to? I could be wrong.
Most of the city looks like that or worse. Welcome to Rostov-na-Donu, Russia :) The interesting part is that everyone tries to make their own apartment the best that it can be... cozy, warm, "home sweet home", so hidden behind that door are small oases (oasises? :) ), but then you step outside and you're back in sh#t.

Great contest, good choice on the winning shot, it touched me most as well.