Weekly Photo Contest (Jan 11 - Jan 18) - Golden Hour

[melagodo]

melagodo

 

[swano]

Sunset

This is a stitched shot(s) I took looking out my 21st floor apt. It was taken in Toronto, Ontario facing west. I've since moved and miss the view I had. Ah well!

 

[liljohnny51]

Sunset at Lexington, MI

 

[Rowbear]

-25 C, very early in the morning

 

[Elbert C]

Arctic evening.

 

[rusty2192]

 

[Designer Dale]

IMG_6251 by DennisKarin, on Flickr

I fixed this for the poster. The image didn't show.

 

[gnd]

I posted this contest on January 11th at 17:38 Central European Time. Any latecomers, you have about one hour to post your images if you want them accepted into the contest.

After 17:38 Central European Time consider this contest closed.

I'll need a few hours to put my comments in order and pick a winner ...

 

[gnd]

It's now exactly 17:38 Central European Time, this contest is now closed.
I'll post the results later tonight.

 

[gnd]

Results

First of all, thank you everyone for your submissions, it's great to see such a big turnout

Next I feel the need to sincerely apologize to all the participants. It became obvious to me very early into the contest, that I should have defined the topic more precisely. To me it seemed more or less straightforward, but in retrospect there is a lot more I could have said about the topic. Golden hour (for me) is the time of the day, when the sun is shining golden light onto everything surrounding us. Shadows become longer, light is not strong enough to create very high contrasts (which cameras usually can't capture), the color temperature of the light also changes, it becomes warmer. This light is what gives the golden hour its name, golden. I usually associate sunsets with colours red or pink/purple.

Since the Wikipedia page I linked to includes reference to different definitions of golden hour (which I didn't notice at the time of my post) I'll blame me for a lack of a more clear definition and won't judge photos (that don't fall into my original idea for the topic) with prejudice.

Having said all that, let's get to the critique part. Starting with sunsets, photos of sunsets work particularly well when there is a clear subject or focal point to anchor the photo. It can be a silhouette or an illuminated subject, but there should be something besides a pretty sky. The following photos would benefit from having a stronger focal point:

As far as the rest of the submissions go, let's look at them one by one.

Awesome photo. You beautifully caught the golden light on the monument, weather was working as much as possible in your favor, you got a photo of a lifetime here.

You got this shot at the right time of the day. The empty sky doesn't help and the framing seems a bit too tight for my liking.

Beautiful shot! It's not easy to make shooting into the sun work, but this one does. The clouds are engaging, the mist adds some mistique and separation to the bottom part of the frame and the sun provides us with a clear resting point for the eye, even the flare seems to fit.

Even though the pumpkins look delicious I don't see a focal point. Maybe a bottle somewhere in there would help, a green bottle of pumpkin oil perhaps, alas the image doesn't catch my interest.

Beautiful light pouring in from the left, people providing a point of interest for the eye. Maybe there is a bit too much sky on the top, but overall a photo that works.

You caught a great sky here, I love the horizontal lines, the boat provides a very interesting subject. Hopefully you have cleaned your sensor by now

The flag would have been a nice subject, but it doesn't work this close to the center. This composition is too centered and the cut tree on the left side is distracting. Maybe a crop from the left bottom would help move the point of interest more towards one intersection of the thirds.

Very nice clouds, beautiful colours. The group of palm trees is a focal point but it's just not positioned well in the frame. It's kind of marginalized. Is it just me, or does the ocean have kind of a dent in the center, maybe some lens distortion at work here?

The sun would work as a focal point, but it's too small and too much in the center. The clouds are nice, but what I don't like about this photo is the split right down the center.

Even though the shadow looks very interesting and the climber works as a subject the image as a whole doesn't work for me. Too much shadow makes it too dark overall.

Beautiful cityscape! You managed to catch the perfect balance of artificial and natural light during the blue period of the day. It makes me wonder though, does it need to be so wide? It doesn't gain anything from the vacant part at the far right. It might work better if you crop it from the right side and a bit from the left, putting the tower at the thirds.

Very catching sky, the really distinct cloud is a nice subject, its shadow helps set it off, the eyes rest where the sun rays are coming through. The tilted horizon is distracting though.

Although the seagulls are cute taking their morning stroll (with their long shadows), the perspective seems wrong. I would prefer to see them from much lower down, from their level. And the sun is on the wrong side, might be worthwhile trying to take this shot at the opposite golden hour of the day.

Beautiful sunset photo! The catamaran is a very fitting subject, moving in the right direction, not too dark, the seagull adds a nice touch, exposure is spot on, if only the horizon was perfectly horizontal

Another very nice sunset shot! Clouds provide a nice fill on the sky, shadowing the sun just enough to make it interesting. Unfortunately the paraglider is too low and is being intersected awkwardly with the pier and the ocean is not horizontal.

Interesting shot, the flare almost works as a subject (but it's too small). I keep wanting something on the tracks, they lead me into the frame but there is nothing rewarding there waiting for me.

Nice panorama, unfortunately the building on the right looks like it's going to fall over and I don't think the horizon at this zoom level looks rounded

I want this image to work, but the darkness takes away more than it gives it. The boat would have been a good subject, but it's too centered.

Very nice long exposure shot! The water is very nicely blurred, it leads me into the frame where there is nothing. It leaves me missing something.

Great colours in the sky and on the ground, the wheat provides a nice connection between the sky and the ground, but it feels a bit empty, if only there was something going on down on the beach.

So, time to pick the winners!
Honorable mentions: dcains and Indydenny
3rd. place: Policar
2nd. place: Juanbond
1st. place: flosseR

flosseR, take it away, next contest is yours!

(And, last of all, a big thanks to the moderator, it's so much easier to judge a photo contest by looking at tiny thumbnails )

 

[flosseR]

wow.. thanks... it was a dumb luck shot as i mentioned in the POTD threat. we were driving by stonehenge and it was raining like hell. Got out of the car anyway and it stopped raining. we walked to the monument with very few people around and I waited for 15 minutes hoping for some light... well i got 2 minutes of sunrays coving the monument and shot about 100 frames
This one is my favorite..

New Contest will open tomorrow (Northern european time

 

[TheReef]

Congrats flosseR, that's a stunner!
Submissions from oblomow, dcains and Policar also caught my eye with honest analytical judging from gnd, great work all.

 

[VirtualRain]

Congrats everyone. In general, I enjoy these contests that garner lots of participation, although I would dread judging one.

@gnd... I can imagine it was a tough contest to judge (so many photos), and agree with your assesments of most photos. I see mine was lumped in with "there should be something besides a pretty sky" and I'm wondering if you would mind commenting further... what would you have done differently with that coastal scene?

@ flosseR... When I first looked at this contest a week ago and saw you had posted your Stonehenge photo (as the first submission), I knew the contest was literally over before it had really begun! I think we need a rule that this photo cannot appear in future contests.

@JDDavis... I think your pic of the mountain's pyramid like shadow is epic! In my eyes the climber symbolizes how tiny we are.

@Juanbond... that is a stunning photo! Where did you take that from? I'd love to try that shot myself sometime (although the conditions were absolutely perfect for you which is extremely rare in this part of the world).

@Policar... another stunner. Beautiful scene and surreal looking.

Cheers!

 

[fcortese]

Congrats flosseR I agree with many that that was a photo shot of a lifetime. The photo gods were smiling on you, but you also had the wherewithal to recognize and take the shot. And gnd thanks for taking the time to really give some constructive feedback.

 

[Phrasikleia]

@gnd... I can imagine it was a tough contest to judge (so many photos), and agree with your assesments of most photos. I see mine was lumped in with "there should be something besides a pretty sky" and I'm wondering if you would mind commenting further... what would you have done differently with that coastal scene?

Yes, quite a Herculean labor of judging with so many photos this time! Wow!

VirtualRain, you posed your question to gnd, and I'm sure he'll be happy to share thoughts of his own, but I can offer a few answers to your question. Three things come to mind for me:

1) Wait for a boat to enter the frame and serve as a focal point. Of course, it might happen that no boat appears within the 10 minutes or so that the sunset is most interesting.

2) Reposition yourself so that something on the land gets silhouetted in the foreground and serves as a focal point: a tree, a lamp post, an interesting rock, a building, etc. If for some reason repositioning yourself ruins the perspective of the background, then this won't work either.

3) The one option that always works: put someone, perhaps yourself, in the foreground to appear as a small, but distinct silhouette, gazing out to the sunset or striking whatever pose works for you.

If you want more emphasis on the person/object, then you can introduce some off-camera flash, but even just having a silhouette to anchor the image can do wonders for it.

Some lovely entries in this contest. Congrats to the winners!

 

[acearchie]

Hope I can make the cut. Time to get back into the WPC 2011!


Click for lightbox view

 

[oblomow]

thanks gnd for judging. Your speed and judgement are impressive.
FlosseR congratulations on your (deserved) victory.

 

[JDDavis]

GND, outstanding job judging. Glad to see so many entries and glad I didn't have to judge them. Great job!

 

[Keleko]

There were a lot of great submissions. When I saw the first picture with Stonehenge, I knew if it wasn't the winner, then the competition was going to be really amazing.

As for my shot, the sky I couldn't do anything about - that's just what it was when I took the picture. As for the framing, I was trying to get just the mansion portion of the building. There were cars in the parking lot to the left and the sanctuary is on the right, and I didn't want in that shot. I had another that included the sanctuary that may feel less tight.

 

[gnd]

@gnd... I can imagine it was a tough contest to judge (so many photos), and agree with your assesments of most photos. I see mine was lumped in with "there should be something besides a pretty sky" and I'm wondering if you would mind commenting further... what would you have done differently with that coastal scene?

Imagine a boat in the straight between the land on the right and the left, where the sea is the brightest. Or maybe a bird sailing past in the bright orange part of the sky (preferably on the right side facing left or vice versa). The setting is perfect, it just needs a subject. I know you can't control that but that's just how it is, more often than not you are forced to walk away with a photo, that is 90% there.

 

[gnd]

Hope I can make the cut.

Lovely photo, but you are exactly 6 hours too late.
I really like the setting, the silhouette of the photographer, the back-lit hair, the fact that she is connecting both halves of the frame. But therein lies the problem (for me) with this photo, splits in halves. The water level is on the horizontal half of the frame and she's standing on the vertical half of the frame looking out (which I find more disturbing than the horizontal split). Ideally I would position her more to the right side so she would have more space in front of her looking into the frame and then either include more water or more sky to move the horizontal split away from the half (maybe more water with her shadow would be a better choice).

 

[gnd]

As for my shot, the sky I couldn't do anything about - that's just what it was when I took the picture. As for the framing, I was trying to get just the mansion portion of the building. There were cars in the parking lot to the left and the sanctuary is on the right, and I didn't want in that shot. I had another that included the sanctuary that may feel less tight.

Don't worry about it, it just means that on that particular day the winning shot was not there. No one expects to be able to get National Geographic photos every day. Now you at least know the setting there so that the next time, when the sun and the clouds DO align, you can go there and take that perfect shot

 

[Juanbond]

Great Contest!!

This is one of the better contests I seen on here for quite a while. It was fun seeing new shots being added every day. Usually a whole bunch are posted at the beginning of the week and then a few right at the end. Everyone did a great job.

@VirtualRain: I took this picture from an area called Kerry Park (on Queen Anne hill), just north of downtown Seattle. Whenever I have family or friends in town I take them to the overlook because the view is breath taking. I've only lived here for a couple of years but I love it!

 

[Policar]

Thanks! Happy to be a runner up to an awesome shot. Even if the lighting for the winner was allegedly due to dumb luck (and it is the "ideal" lighting, what storm chasing photographers chase after: storm breaks during magic hour), the composition is quite excellent and of course it's more interesting subject matter than the field down my street, so bravo on a shot that does it all just right.

For those who were wondering (probably no one), I had some luck, too. I was burning off a roll of 120 film and that was the last shot I took, two seconds after the sun rose over the horizon, lifting up the fog, only hours before the field was mowed. If the colors seem unusual it's because I used velvia 100 (the least realistic film available) and a 3-stop soft nd grad filter. Sadly, I sold my lens (my favorite for the format) and mailed it off today. Miss it already.

 

[VirtualRain]

@VirtualRain: I took this picture from an area called Kerry Park (on Queen Anne hill), just north of downtown Seattle. Whenever I have family or friends in town I take them to the overlook because the view is breath taking. I've only lived here for a couple of years but I love it!

Thanks. Next time I'm in Seattle, I will seek it out.