Weekly Photo Contest (May 13 - 20)

[mickbab]

Weekly Photo Contest (May 13 - 20)

Rules:

1. You may submit only one photo per contest.

2. The contest runs for exactly one week, from the time stamp 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.

This week's theme is: Illusion

A list of previous contests and their winners can be found here (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=580184).

Good Luck to all!

[doubleohseven]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3263/3164656443_36c7057d9f_b.jpg

[3paulx]

170888

[biggiej42]

My 24 yr old buddy Doc..

http://gallery.me.com/jpcarney/100319/IMG_1417/web.jpg?ver=12422384960001

[Freewayjim]

This was an early, rainy morning in downtown Dallas, TX. My son had commented that the clouds gave the illusion that some of the buildings were on fire and smoking (most notably the one on the right).

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2186/3528475189_4f36d37335.jpg?v=0

[techie4life]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3279741456_83e48a2b7e.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3279741456_83e48a2b7e_b.jpg)
*Click it!

[epyfa]

http://u1.ipernity.com/11/45/85/4624585.e205b287.560.jpg (http://u1.ipernity.com/11/45/85/4624585.085d0cd0.1024.jpg)

[runlsd]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2055/3533040344_277de02812.jpg?v=0

[LittleCanonKid]

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f230/lock22/IMG28349_clone2_resized.png

[hector]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3242/3160743195_78dedc0d10.jpg?v=0 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chthomson/3160743195/)

[DAM-Photography]

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_-HvP_1vTk8w/ScjBSMsEdQI/AAAAAAAAAuU/9pa92mDSy-M/s512/image01.jpg

Guitar/Sax

[Foucault]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3460938352_7055d4ca73.jpg

[deep diver]

When is a cedar frond not a cedar frond??????


http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=171335&d=1242506187


The "fronds" in this image are not leaves. They are mineral crystals that naturally grew this way as this specimen of agate formed.
(Other than cropping the original image, I did no post-processing so that the natural colors would show).

.

[AxisOfBeagles]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2261/3534472023_53415ee611_b.jpg

The Hotel du Pantheon, Paris, a few years back.

[CK Williams]

A nice day to fly

[Indydenny]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2044/3536158765_c758b8977b_o.jpg

[JDDavis]

Reflection in a church.

[-hh]

http://www.huntzinger.com/photo/2004/peru/mp_foggy-b+w(10_0827).jpg

[pit29]

Festung Marienberg at night, Würzburg, Germany

[mickbab]

Just letting everyone know that the contest will end in approximately 1 day.
Australian EST 5:12pm 20/5/2009 is the official time. I will post as close as possible to that time.

Thanks to all the entrants so far!

[pdxflint]

http://api.photoshop.com/home_a9bcf6104b6b456aadec8cf9bdf14682/adobe-px-assets/02ab0264032449349c08a790c5280e5a

[hltjr]

The Gate at the Grand Prix

[mickbab]

The contest is now over! I will judge when I get home later tonight.
Congratulations to everyone!

[mickbab]

Okay here goes. I don't feel quite up to judging everyone so will just give some quick comments on my favourites (all in my amateur opinion). In order of appearance:

biggiej42's 'Doc': although I don't see the illusion here, I love this picture. very intriguing and the black and white gives it a very unique creative appearance.

epyfa's 'broken?' light bulb: simple yet effective. The sepia (I assume it's sepia) adds to the effect of the image and seems to reassure the light's status as 'broken' and old. a very creative image.

hector's 'Electricity': another creative picture. I really have no idea how you did this but it looks cool!

AxisOfBeagles's Hotel du Pantheon: yet another effective image - simple at first glance but quite interesting on inspection (perhaps the other way around?).

JDDavis's 'Reflection in a church': This is what I was imagining when I set this theme. Reflections, having to look twice, image upon image. Very well done on this one.


And now your winners!

3rd place - biggiej42 for his/her fascinating picture of his 'old buddy'. You have done very well this picture in my opinion. The dark areas covering most of the picture make this very interesting to me.

2nd place - epyfa for his/her confusing yet great light bulb image. As said above the little colour here if very effective but i think whatever colour it was in would look interesting. Again, very creative.

And finally, 1st place goes to.... JDDavis!. The contest goes back to you JD. As I said before, when I decided on the theme Illusions, this was exactly the kind of picture I had in mind. You captured the theme perfectly and so you get to set another contest. Congratulations!


Again well done to all entrants this week, and sorry about the limited evaluation, I'm not an expert. Looking forward to the next contest!

[AxisOfBeagles]

Thanks for hosting this week, mick. Congratulations to the 'winners' and to everyone.

It seemed to me that there were fewer entries this week - although I thought this was a great theme.

runlsd - loved the reflection in the ring photo. great lighting, DOF, and focus. I particularly like that the word 'shadow' was just visible - seemed consistent with the theme of the photo. well done.

[biggiej42]

I thought ol Doc popping out of the darkness was an illusion! Anyway, great pictures everyone, you all did a teriffic job, i especially liked your picture runlsd!

[runlsd]

nice job everyone! and thanks for the compliment from a couple of you. that photo was shot when i borrowed a macro lens from a friend. photography is so expensive for a college student. :P hope to see your pictures in next/this week's contest!

[deep diver]

Congrats to the winners.

doubleohseven - Your picture is just outstanding. I think it is a very well conceived and executed interpretation of the theme. The lights tell us there are cars, but then where are they? Very well done.

pdxflint - Another great image from you. You certainly convey the feeling of "a long way down." That illusion is all the more powerful when looking through the bomb bay doors. Where was this taken?

Indydenny - Another great photo from you as well. I love the ghostly image and sepia tone. I feel like I am looking through some sort of portal into a past time.



This is what I was imagining when I set this theme. Reflections, having to look twice, image upon image. . . . . . As I said before, when I decided on the theme Illusions, this was exactly the kind of picture I had in mind.

Judging is not easy and I intend no offense - we each have to judge through our own eyes and aesthetic sense. I was disappointed, however, to see this comment. The richness of this sharing of our art comes when we each are free to offer our own interpretation of the theme, and then have that interpretation judged on a level field with the others. As a judge, I believed I had to respond and process the interpretations that were offered rather than expect the submissions to conform to my own prior interpretation. Perhaps it is just a matter of style. I would like to hear other opinions about this.

.

[NeGRit0]

Judging is not easy and I intend no offense - we each have to judge through our own eyes and aesthetic sense. I was disappointed, however, to see this comment. The richness of this sharing of our art comes when we each are free to offer our own interpretation of the theme, and then have that interpretation judged on a level field with the others. As a judge, I believed I had to respond and process the interpretations that were offered rather than expect the submissions to conform to my own prior interpretation. Perhaps it is just a matter of style. I would like to hear other opinions about this.

.

I think its just a forum, and if thats how he saw fit to judge then so be it. It's his choice, he 'won' last week. Let him enjoy his 'trophy'...

0.02

__________________
Now playing on iTunes: Busta Rhymes - Kill Dem (Feat. Pharrell & Tosh)

[mickbab]

4.The judge will decide his/her favorite at the end of the week

Sorry if you are unhappy with my judging, but I decided that it was the photo worthy of winner. We will leave it at that.

[jake.f]

I think that someone else should have been the winner not someone who won a couple of weeks ago. My pick would be the one at the Hotel in Paris of the staircase because put simply it is an illusion.

[pdxflint]

pdxflint - Another great image from you. You certainly convey the feeling of "a long way down." That illusion is all the more powerful when looking through the bomb bay doors. Where was this taken?


Thanks. It was taken at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. I was inside the B-17 Flying Fortress WWII bomber which was, of course, parked inside the massive hangar. BTW, the museum also has Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose on display - well worth a visit if you're ever in the area about 40 miles west of Portland.

Thanks mickbab for an interesting topic, and worthy winner. Congrats to the winner, JDDavis. There were some nice entries this week. I'm looking forward to the next topic.

As to the judging... there really aren't any losers, as it's a chance for everyone to learn more about photography by having to think about, and then say why they like certain images by going through the judging process. Since there aren't many rules, and no prizes, I actually like being surprised each week by the new subjects, the entries and the judging, whether I agree with it or not. In the spirit of keeping it fun and educational, my position is to just let each week's judge be the sole critic. It's intended to be one person's opinion, nothing more than that. :)

[JDDavis]

Thanks mickbab. I appreciate the comments. I also appreciate everyones opinion following this weeks selection. There were some great pics as usual. In the spirit of this "contest" I think I'll just start the next one and we'll press forward. The one negative about getting chosen is that you don't get to participate in the next weeks entries. Well, I'm looking toward to next week and the difficult task of judging these things.

[AxisOfBeagles]

mickbab, you did a great job. I think that deepdiver's comments should be taken as "his point of view", and as such are helpful and instructive to all of us.

As for the comment about "not picking someone who won a few weeks ago" - well, that begs yet another rule, and I suggest that we already have enough of those. Onward to the new contest!

[deep diver]

mickbab - I meant no offense. It is not a question of whether I am "unhappy" with your judging. Judging is hard and I respect the efforts of all the judges. (Also, I do not think I submitted the winning photo). Your comment caught my attention and I put out an idea (my point of view only) for discussion. Again, no offense was meant and I am sorry if I did offend you.