Weekly Photo Contest - Dec 3 - Dec 10 - The Fibonacci Spiral

[Schtumple]

Weekly Photo Contest - Dec 3 - Dec 10 - The Fibonacci Spiral

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: The Fibonacci Spiral

I've always loved the fibonacci spiral, I think it's a really interesting way to gauge framing. Some generic examples of fibonacci framing are below:





And the actual spiral:



For anyone who's not heard of the fibonacci spiral, in photography terms, you want your focal point to be where the spiral converges, the shot should draw your eye into this point, be it through the use of DOF, lighting, framing, singling out your subject etc.

Feel free to shoot anything you like, portrait or landscape, I'm hoping to see a diverse set of subjects and shots.

[macrumormonger]

This is hard. Searching through my catalog looking for something similar, and I realized that I really like shooting dead center. This is the closest I could get.



Camera Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 100
Zeiss Distagon T* 2/35 ZE

[erickg]

Little boy in Charikar, Afghanistan

[Hitrate]

This was a quick shot I took last night, as my friend was very impatient. I achieved the red colour and slightly "foggy" or "dreamy" look by waving an iphone with a red solid image in front of the lens for a few seconds during the long exposure.... iso100, f/9.0 shutter 8sec.

[fcortese]

One of the rams from a herd of bighorn sheep that moved down from the high mountains the past few days:

[VirtualRain]

[flutegirl822]

Sunrise Kiss

[Captpegleg]

Nags Head Dunes

[trsnrtr]

[luminosity]

F100+85/1.4D on Ektar:

[Keleko]

[Indydenny]

IMG_6251 by DennisKarin, on Flickr

[pukifloyd]

Really difficult topic this time for me as I normally take pictures with the subject in the center...

[Schtumple]

Last few hours to submit your photos!

[JDDavis]

Not sure it really fits but...

[acearchie]

Hope it's in time! Found it difficult to frame within the viewfinder! But I did try!

[Schtumple]

Ok, competitions now closed, I'm currently in my stride in writing my dissertation, but once I've given up for the night, I will give comments and announce the winner

[jabbott]

Stairs in Old Point Loma Lighthouse, San Diego, California
1/30s, f/3.5, ISO 1600, 10mm
Canon EOS Rebel T2i + EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM

Sorry -- did not see that the competition was closed until after posting.

[El Cabong]

[Schtumple]

macrumormonger: I like the overwhelving greys and lack of saturation in this shot, the framing is nice, although her expression seems slightly off, as if it was snapped a split second or after it's prime, still, I get a complete sense for where the shot is and I'm drawn to the subjects facial expression.

erickg: I love the colours in this, the child's expression is brilliant, and perfectly captures what I'm guessing was a simple, playful walk, I'm not so sure about the vignette, as it begins to cut into the subject a bit, where a little extra headroom would've stopped that, but, it does give an intimate feeling to it, coupling that to the facial expression is pretty priceless.

Hitrate: Interesting use of your iPhone to create that dreamy lomography style, the red is definitely very nice, but your friends impatience didn't help this shot, the subject moved slightly causing some motion blur, I'd suggest to have the lens wide open if you're shooting in such a dark environment, still the colours are nice and the framing is great.

fcortese: I saw you post some other shots related to these in the other thread, this is definitely a great shot, whilst the framing lines up, there's something that doesn't seem right, perhaps it would've been better to have more room on the right rather than left, to give the illusion it's bleating at nothing, at it's current framing it's almost mysterious why it's facing to the right.

VirtualRain: Lovely warm colours, the ball ball is nicely framed, it's the first thing I noticed, my only suggestion is that a wider aperture might've allowed for some larger bokeh to occur in the back.

flutegirl822: Very sweet image, the exposure is perfect and the silhouette really makes this shot more emotional, the sea looks a little bit too grey, where a blue gradient filter either in photoshop or glass could've improved the seas colour a little, otherwise, great framing and colours.

Captpegleg: This shot definite seems like it's stapled to a nice story? You've allowed the positioning to depict a nice sense of scale, but the shot feels a little underexposed, was this fairly late in the evening?

trsnrtr: Another shot that definitely has a story to it, perfect framing, my eyes immediately drawn to the helmet, then out onto the road from there, feels slightly dull though, the grey clouds suggest it was a particularly dull day overall? It's often hard to bring out vibrant colour, which I think would've really helped this shot, especially with the grass in the background (and the shirt).

luminosity: Lovely DOF, whilst the framing is definitely closer to central than fibonacci everything else is spot on, wonderful colours, not too over saturated, the detail on the white dress still visible, no over exposure etc, a great shot.

Keleko: I like shots where the subject isn't something you'd expect, whilst this plant is by no means anything spectacular, under no circumstances means it doesn't deserve a photo, I try and shoot things like this the most, it's a great shot, with the DOF really helping to make it pop, it does feel a little off with white balance, a little too blue, otherwise, a nice shot of something most people would pass.

Indydenny: Lovely tones in this shot, the boat is definitely lined perfectly, sailing towards the sun, however the sun does seem a bit distracting, this seems better as a rule of thirds type shot, however the reflection (and difference) of the sun and boat against the sea is brilliant, definitely caught my eye.

pukifloyd: I find it's nice to be challenged, it makes you realise you're missing something! Lovely expression, my eyes drawn from right to left, the dull de-saturation effect really works with the quite high contrast, is there post work on the far left to give the illusion of an ending to that wall? Or is that how the shot originally looked? Definitely interesting for their expressions if anything, completely natural.

JDDavis: The colours of this are incredible, coupled with the detail on the butterfly, it's definitely a shot that keeps you looking, the DOF works nicely in singly out the butterfly and plant, but it looks like there was possibly something interesting in the background with the shift in colour?

acearchie: Nice use of subjective lighting to single out your subject, the expression made me laugh (in a good way), the subtle saturation works nicely too with the lighting, the framing I'm unsure about, but I'm also not sure how I would've improved it still, a nice shot overall.

jabbott: This shot definitely fits the fibonacci spiral in a very literal sense, I like how the staircase draws your eye all the way around to the bottom, there's something not quite right with the lighting though, I guess that's more limitations with location than anything else, nice shot though, the pattern is very engaging.

El Cabong: Brilliant framing, my eyes drawn in across the road/sea into the light house, shot might've been improved with a slightly longer exposure though, seems a dark in places, like you're caught in bleeding light, the colours are nice though, the blue and orange sky is wonderful.

Picking the winner was quite difficult, as the subject is more about framing it was quite difficult for me to pick one shot to win. However, without further stalling, the results are as follows:

1st: VirtualRain
2nd: erickg
3rd: El Cabong

I hope my feedback is helpful, let me know if you need any clarification, it's 4am here in the UK, so it wouldn't surprise me if I've made a mistake or 2.

Thanks everyone for your submissions and I look forward to the next contest!

[Indydenny]

The feedback is very helpful. Thanks for taking the time.

I would have picked VirtualRain as the winner also. Nice photo!

[VirtualRain]

Thanks Schtumple for thinking of a very creative subject and undertaking the difficult duty of judging. I'm humbled by some of the photos submitted.

A new contest has already been posted.

[andygabriel]

nice pictures

[El Cabong]

Nice theme, thanks for taking the time for all the feedback.

[fcortese]

thanks for the feedback and a great set of pictures.