Weekly Photo Contest (Nov 22nd - Nov 29th) Nocturnal

[NathanCH]

Rules:

1. You may only submit one photo per contest.

2. The contest runs for exactly one week, from the first time stamp of 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 choose 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 will again run for exactly one week.

This week's theme: Nocturnal
Done, occurring, or active during the night. Bustling cities that never sleep to those restless racoons eating your garbage. Be creative!



A list of previous contests and their winners can be found here.

~ May 28 - June 4: Theme - Narrative, Winner - apearlman
~ June 5 - June 11: Theme - Oops, Winner - mickbab
~ June 14 - June 21: Theme - Speed, Winner - Maxxamillian
~ June 22 - June 29: Theme - Temptation, Winner - jrotunda85
~ June 30 - July 7: Theme - Beaches, Winner - jrm27 (Second Place - Mr Ski 73)
~ July 8 - July 15: Theme - Dogs, Winner - Maxxamillian
~ July 16 - July 23: Theme - People Movers, Winner - davegregory
~ July 24 - July 31: Theme - Support, Winner - mickbab
~ August 1 - August 8: Theme - Flight, Winner - NStocks
~ August 10 - August 17: Theme - Water in Motion, Winner - TheReef
~ August 18 - August 25: Theme - Reflection, Winner - alvse (Second Place - deepdiver)
~ August 27 - September 3: Theme - Fire, Winner - dmmcintyre3
~ September 4 - September 11: Theme - Really Slow or Fast Shutter, Winner - emorydunn
~ September 12 - September 19: Theme - Footsteps, Winner - mickbab
~ September 21 - September 28: Theme - Lost, Winner - Nicolasdec
~ September 29 - October 5: Theme - Rain, Winner - liljohnny51
~ October 8 - October 14: Theme - Pumpkins, Winner - sleepypanda
~ October 17 - October 24: Theme - Panorama, Winner - flosseR
~ October 26th - November 3rd - Food, Winner - Chappers
~ November 4th - November 11th - Animals, Winner - Pigbat
~ November 12th - 19th - Abandoned, Winner - NathanCH

[deep diver]

The view from my home office

[Patriks7]

Hope this counts :)
Was after about my first week with the camera, so I'm pretty sure I could do a better job now, just haven't had the opportunity to go back there.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/3957011108_fcaa0c4814_b.jpg

[ManhattanPrjct]

Statue/Skyscrapers (old/new), Hong Kong

[stownsend3]

My first ever contest submission. A night ride in the city that never sleeps.

[wheezy]

http://www.unculturedswine.net/pixelpost/images/sea_lullaby.jpg

Canon EOS 20D :: 20 mm :: f 5.6 :: 13 sec :: iso 400

[flosseR]

...the ghost in our street...when everyone is asleep... he isnt

[PeteB]

http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos/normal/20080510_aper5592.jpg

[turugara]

http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz193/dongst/IMG_0623.jpg

[carlgo]

Ghost tree. Night hike in mountain lion territory. Old Nikon P&S.



204313

[Chappers]

This was a lucky shot - I only had my 70-300mm zoom lens and snapped this as it flew past - first attempt - to prove to my father-in-law that it wasn't a bird.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2736/4131235241_0bd071a42d.jpg

[JDDavis]

http://jddavis.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p714055075-5.jpg

[bootedbear]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2524225/photos/contests/IMG_5783.jpg

[mtbdudex]

clickable
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_FqTNmgNQHz8/SvN0W_bDrbI/AAAAAAAAHwQ/RHs954g5s9c/IMG_0766_2.jpg

[techie4life]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3226797489_952992d744.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3226797489_952992d744_b.jpg)
Clickable!

[jodelli]

The porch.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2015/2253837187_1b1638f77b.jpg

[TJunkers]

http://www.tjunkers.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/photography/img_3598.jpg

[paintball312]

May be a placeholder if I can find the picture I was looking for, so until then...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2468/3904495673_d5e402de7d.jpg

[Razeus]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3667681668_dd21920139_b.jpg

[SLC Flyfishing]

Left out in the Cold on Thanksgiving :(

SLC

[mhami]

4am in theatres...

[GT41]

Only at night are there friendly ghosts haunting the Atomium.

[gaswerks]

saskatchewan skyline (go riders!)

[*los507*]

204990

[nomad01]

http://gallery.me.com/steven.a.taylor/100084/DSC01482/web.jpg?ver=12594055230001

[mickbab]

The Fijians come out at night...

[BarryJ]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/4140172279_5567d8f1a3_o.jpg

[designguy79]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/4027490756_ce363a8b3f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/16968184@N08/4027490756/sizes/o/)

Click to view larger version at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/16968184@N08/4027490756/sizes/o/). It is the Macinac Bridge (http://www.mackinacbridge.org) (Michigan).

[liljohnny51]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4141510431_f927880eb0_o.jpg

[pigbat]

http://www.pigbat.com/beach.jpg

[Techhie]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4141510431_f927880eb0_o.jpg

You need tot think about getting a new body, the D40's (in)ability to apply noise reduction is especially apparent in the purple clouds :(

[dubels]

http://www.tjunkers.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/photography/img_3598.jpg

Wow, your photo inspires me! I live so close but have yet to venture out for a picture. I must once the fog stops rolling in and blocking the bridge.

[Designer Dale]

^^^Please refrain from quoting or commenting in this thread. It is a contest.

Dale

[luminosity]

Edit: Gone.

[apearlman]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/4143876599_c80961d19d_b.jpg

[joepunk]

It's not much.

[designguy79]

This is my first time entering the weekly contest... when should we expect a winner to be announced?

Thanks!

[PeteB]

This is my first time entering the weekly contest... when should we expect a winner to be announced?

Thanks!

Very soon, I hope.

I've PM'd Nathan to asking him to come back and judge the entries. If he doesn't return within three days, then the second placed person in the previous contest should be able to step in and judge.

[deep diver]

Very soon, I hope.

I've PM'd Nathan to asking him to come back and judge the entries. If he doesn't return within three days, then the second placed person in the previous contest should be able to step in and judge.

We have been using 48 hours as the time period so that there is not too much "down time."

[Chappers]

Yes 48 hours is the time period used - agreed as a rule of thumb about a year ago.
Maybe to be included in the main rules to stop confusion.

[NathanCH]

Thanks everyone for your submissions. I was worried no one would submit because last weeks theme was so great. Sorry in advanced if my post is too long. I have nothing to do for the next few hours...


Deep River: This photo instantly reminded me of a creepy film in which the protagonist is running through the empty woods after recently escaping certain death from a mass murdered. His or her path is only lit by the small bulb on the camera he is carrying. In the next moment he or she will change directions, only to cast a shadow on the murder they thought they broke free from moments before. Very eerie photo. Well done!


Patriks7: I'm a real sucker for the waterfront of a man-made objects during the blackness of night. It is, in my opinion, the best way to explore a city's hectic (and never sleeping) life style. The colours in your photo really pop out and the reflections are well exposed. I think a simple tilt of the photo to the right by about 5 degrees could help a lot.


ManhattanPrjct: Similar to my review of the last photograph, I really love city colours at night and you've managed to select a building that has some great colours. I have no idea who that statue is of. But I like the way he is nearly silhouetted.


stownsend3: Cool! Glad your first submission was here on my thread. I love the perspective here, it's great. This photo sort of works for both last weeks and this weeks contest. An abandoned bike lit by a light that never shuts off!


wheezy: This photo, at first (and second) glance looks like a painting. I've never seen something like it! It's still hard to believe it's not a painting! Really really cool.


flosseR: Awesome and very creative! I applaud you for stepping outside the box on this one. By the way, where are you up north to get snow this early?


PeteB: The mood of this photo is quite impressive. I don't know how you had such great access to take a photo of this owl, but I'm glad you did because I really like it. The detail in the feathers is perfect, and adding on top of that the look this animal is giving really captures what I had in mind for this contest.


turugara: This photo for me was a bit too dark, but it's a great location that you have selected. On top of that, the amount of light these highways are giving off is also impressive.


carlgo: This photo gives off the same eerie effect as did the first submission to this thread. The awkward shape of this tree (or stump) only adds to the creepy feel of it.


Chappers: Lucky shot indeed, but interested nonetheless. A flying bat must be incredibly hard to capture. Definitely not a bird!


JDDavis: You have certainly taken a different approach than everyone else. It's neat - how did you light the bottle?


bootedbear: Fireworks are great, but these particular ones are superb! Such interesting colours and shapes being produced all at once. Seems like it was a real fun party down there.


mtbdudex: Like a lot of the photos submitted, this too gives off a creepy feeling. Far afar, the moon-lit branches look like a spider web. I could see this photo being used as a book cover. Not sure why, but it would look great.


techie4life: This photo overall has very nice colours in it. The deep orange sky matches the streams of lights down below. Great colour grading overall - not too overdone, just right.


jodelli: Nice view! It's very true that sporting events can sometimes go late into the night, sometimes past midnight in the case of a Canucks game that happened a few years back here in Vancouver.


TJunkers: Such a beautiful bridge, and a world icon. The colours of orange are lovely and the longer I look at the photo, the more details are revealed to me. For example, how did you manage to even capture some stars in the sky? Al biet faint, they're still there!


paintball312: If this is a placeholder, I can't imagine what the photo you wanted to find is like. I'm a HUGE sucker for astronomy, and living in a big city, I very very rarely get the chances to see more than 10 stars at night, but what you captured is something I can only dream of seeing. Plus the dying light of the sun over the hill... wow!


Razeus: What a maze of lights and structure you've captured here. It's amazing what man has accomplished. And certainly these buildings NEVER get the chance to sleep because we rely on them so much.


SLC Flyfishing: Heartbreaking! Especially on a holiday. While we sleep at night, children are on the streets wishing they were in our places but instead are fighting off the frigid upcoming winter. Clear photo and great perspective. Love the lamp off in the distance.


mhami: This, for me, tops all the photos in "creepy" factor by a mile. I don't know what it is about hospitals, but even in the day they can be pretty scary - which is very ironic. How did you get access to this operating theatre? Great vignette, nice lens, amazing photo.


GT41: Ghosts! Even worse, ghosts that resemble a happy family (or friends) hehe. Neat photo. The structure behind the people is pretty impressive in itself.


gaswerks: Nice sunset and silhouetted trees.


*los507*: Now that's a perfect example of a city that truly NEVER sleeps. I imagine something is going on every street corner.


nomad01: Nice building. The scale is deceiving. At a quick glance it looks like an average sized building, but when you notice the tiny people sitting at it's base, it really comes to life.


mickbab: I love these types of photos. That fire looks very daunting. He looks like he has a lot of skill!


BarryJ: Looks like a very simple life, I bet a lot of us are envious of that sometimes. Plus the orange full moon really makes it look traditional. Not sure why.


designguy79: Amazing, brilliant, vibrant colours! Wow such great reflections you've managed to capture here. The currents in the water add a nice touch as well.


liljohnny51: Sweet perspective. Also the colours are amazing. I'm noticing the Canadian flag, where was this taken?


pigbat: There is a lot I like about this photo. The obvious would be the amazing sky. The distance from the point where the photo was taken and the horizon is shown well with these types of clouds. A rare site to see such perfectly sized and placed clouds. Another thing I found I liked about this photo was the foreground sand. You've managed to capture the very close, and the very far.

luminosity: As a guitar player myself, I can appreciate that sometimes we find ourselves playing for a length of time in which we don't look at the clock, next thing you know it's midnight. I really love the octagon light specs. That small detail adds a lot to this photo.


apearlman: The universal language for amusement parks no matter where you go is: lights, fun, and more lights. I think you grabbed both of those features in this photo well.


joepunk: The last photo! Glad you could enter just in time. Clean photo overall, love the train going by and those green streaks really become the focal point of the photo.



Thanks again everyone for joining. Sorry my reviews aren't all in-depth. Some I had less to say than others, not because the photo was poor, just nothing came to my fingers to type straight away. Glad there were so many entries though, but it only made my job harder in choosing a winner. All of these photos in one way or another could win, in my opinion, depending on the themes. Some stuck to the theme more than others, but at the same time, it was really open to how you interpreted it.

Third: PeteB

Second: paintball312

First: mham. Doctors never sleep, and these rooms never rest. This photo effected me the most, thanks for submitting it. We all look forward for you to create the next thread!

[Chappers]

What a difficult one to judge - Good Job NathaCH.

Suddenly after PeteB put in what for me was a stunning picture of the owl and paintball312's incredible stars there was a flood of quality shots

So congratulations mhami - cool and interesting shot.


As for my lucky bat shot - that's all it was - lucky. I guessed everything and just tried to get it in frame - and I got super lucky - very lucky because of the size of my zoom lens.

Looking forward to mhami's contest choice

[*los507*]

"*los507*: Now that's a perfect example of a city that truly NEVER sleeps. I imagine something is going on every street corner."

Thanks for the feedback nathanch. This has been my second picture submitted and i must tell you its addictive. Great job with judging this weeks contest!!!

[mhami]

I'm pretty new to photography so i guess this was beginners luck!

I'll try and have a new thread up and running ASAP.

NathanCH : I'm a doctor so getting access wasn't a problem. The hospital itself was built in 1123 (so nearly 900 years old!) and these theatres are located in the basement. Pretty spooky when no ones around!

[liljohnny51]

liljohnny51: Sweet perspective. Also the colours are amazing. I'm noticing the Canadian flag, where was this taken?



This was taken at the beach grill in St.Clair Shores, MI It's on lake St. Clair. most of the places on the water and many of the boats fly U.S and the Canadian flag. :)

[jodelli]

liljohnny51: Sweet perspective. Also the colours are amazing. I'm noticing the Canadian flag, where was this taken?



This was taken at the beach grill in St.Clair Shores, MI It's on lake St. Clair. most of the places on the water and many of the boats fly U.S and the Canadian flag. :)

That's near that tall building off Nine Mile road, sort of a landmark.

[PeteB]

I'm pretty new to photography so i guess this was beginners luck!

I'll try and have a new thread up and running ASAP.

NathanCH : I'm a doctor so getting access wasn't a problem. The hospital itself was built in 1123 (so nearly 900 years old!) and these theatres are located in the basement. Pretty spooky when no ones around!

Really nice photo there. A worthy winner, I'd say!!

[NathanCH]

"*los507*: Now that's a perfect example of a city that truly NEVER sleeps. I imagine something is going on every street corner."

Thanks for the feedback nathanch. This has been my second picture submitted and i must tell you its addictive. Great job with judging this weeks contest!!!

No problem! And yeah, it does become addictive + it's a great motivation to go out and take photos.

I'm pretty new to photography so i guess this was beginners luck!

I'll try and have a new thread up and running ASAP.

NathanCH : I'm a doctor so getting access wasn't a problem. The hospital itself was built in 1123 (so nearly 900 years old!) and these theatres are located in the basement. Pretty spooky when no ones around!

Wow that's old, especially for a hospital. I bet it has an amazing history


liljohnny51: Sweet perspective. Also the colours are amazing. I'm noticing the Canadian flag, where was this taken?


This was taken at the beach grill in St.Clair Shores, MI It's on lake St. Clair. most of the places on the water and many of the boats fly U.S and the Canadian flag. :)

Ah, okay. Cool :)

[PeteB]

PeteB: The mood of this photo is quite impressive. I don't know how you had such great access to take a photo of this owl, but I'm glad you did because I really like it. The detail in the feathers is perfect, and adding on top of that the look this animal is giving really captures what I had in mind for this contest.





Thanks for the kind words. The owl shot was taken at a bird sanctuary - it was inside an enclosure that allowed the public entrance in small numbers. A little bit of patience allowed the bird enough time to grow accustomed to me and to get it's interest enough for a direct look.

[deep diver]

NathanCH -- This one was particularly difficult to judge. You did an outstanding job.

All of these images are worthy. The winners are, each in it's own way, captivating.


JDDavis -- You took this shot at night. I do hope you intended to grab the Nalgene WITHOUT the duct tape. :D:D:D

[JDDavis]

JDDavis -- You took this shot at night. I do hope you intended to grab the Nalgene WITHOUT the duct tape. :D:D:D

LOL....Nalgene bottles are useful for lots of stuff. We were on a climbing trip and goofing with the camera. There's a light inside the cap of the bottle and it was our only light. I was just laying the camera on the ground and taking long exposures of the bottle.

Alot of these shots are really great. I look forward to each weeks contest.

[liljohnny51]

That's near that tall building off Nine Mile road, sort of a landmark.

haha yeah its nine mile tower.

[paintball312]

paintball312: If this is a placeholder, I can't imagine what the photo you wanted to find is like. I'm a HUGE sucker for astronomy, and living in a big city, I very very rarely get the chances to see more than 10 stars at night, but what you captured is something I can only dream of seeing. Plus the dying light of the sun over the hill... wow!


Thanks, the one I was looking for was a similar image, but I just couldn't find it.

Also, I cheated on the light :P it's coming from a town off in the distance.

[tenshin5426]

http://i1039.photobucket.com/albums/a475/Liam_Marsh/FloorShow.jpg