Weekly Competition #165 - Depth of Field Competition

Depth of Field Competition

Good Day

I apologise for the delay in completing the Judging of this weeks competition. With 37 high quality entries the task has been pretty tricky to say the least . Finally I had to decide and I would like to congratulate Judith Anne for her excellent Peek- A-Boo entry.

I would like to thank everyone for taking part in this competition and I now pass the baton to Judith to set the next one.

Please find below the Judges comments.

Best regards

Brian


1.Lotus – By Rustythe clown.
Good example of shallow depth of field, I also especially liked the detail highlighted by backing lighting of the petals.

2.Driftwood- by Darlene
Well spotted..another good example how you can isolate the subject using DOF. I like this type of image as it makes you constantly ask yourself.. what is it? Deer ? Fish on a Stick?

3.Song in A Minor -by Adrian
I really enjoyed this image, composition, lighting, an excellent example of what I was looking for. Sorry, I could only choose one winner.

4.Women Dressed as Maiko- By Howath
Good example of shallow depth of field, full of colour. I feel if you could have obtained catchlights in the eyes it would have brought the subject more to life.

5.In the Botanic Garden Oxford – By Mark Crean
Mark an excellent image, and works well even when enlarged, you managed to focus exactly on the stigma isolating it from fore and background.

6.The Harvest – By Alun
I enjoyed reviewing this image, which is full of life and detail, and tells the story of the hard life in the fields during harvesting.

7.My Strap – By Tim
Good Bokeh in this image also I liked the vivid colours. Considering the title I would like to have has a stronger silhouette of the strap buckle.

8.Together we Stand – By Barrie
Barrie Great title, the Black and White Conversion worked well. Great detail.

9.Pussy Willow- By Malcom Leader
Malcom good composition and another example of an image with narrow depth of field.

10.A la Broncante by Drofmit
Tim, you captured the scene well, my eye was lead to the deep red glasses through the image, It made me go looking for a tasty bottle of Red!!

11.Tree Frog – By Gareth
Another excellent image, with shallow depth of field isolating the subject perfectly You also managed to obtain a catchlight which makes a huge difference / improvement, one of my favourite pictures.

12.Sisters – By David Trout
David a well taken and delightful image, it is a shame that the 'face' of the third deer is hidden.

13.Drawing Pins – By Coker
Roger, I am really impressed by this image. You created an extremely interesting using simple object, very creative and imaginative. Another one very close winner.

14.A Boat in the Solway Firth – By Graeme dorrance
Graham, Lovely image full of atmosphere, its extremely striking picture, worth framing!!

15.Plant Earth – By Jo Aylen
Jo You have created an excellent image with a deep DOF, holding everything in focus. Great colours also. Also I see you hand held the shot!

16.Wall – By jprictor
John, Thanks for the good example of the depth of field capturing the texture of the wall well. I see from the Exif data you have a lens with a very small aperture F38?

17.Depth of Lawn- By Glyn Morgan
Glyn, good effort, it made me smile and brighten the weekend!! Thanks

18.Penny Saved – By Larry Mundy
Larry, Great to see something different, well created and the exposure is perfect.

19.Sea Railing – By Tim Norris
Tim, this is a really good example of the title of the set competition . You have managed to keep a small area pin sharp and allowing the the fore and background blur . The use of the telephoto lens help compress the background which adds to the effect.

20.Paul the Thinker – By Daniel
Danny, Good Portrait, using an aperture of F4 has ensured that you threw the background out of focus.

21.Painted Grasshopper- By Ed Mattis
Ed, really good image full of colour and detail.

22.The Bells- By Arsen
Arsen, Great example of what I was looking for, you managed to hold the detail well, I assume that is down to the 50mm F1.7

23.Yiorgos pondering souvlaki- By Dr Mhuni
Dr. Mhuni, Wonderful Portrait, I really like the look of concentration on face of the subject.

24.Life through the looking glass – By Edward Anthony Grant
Edward, Thank you for an interesting and different interpretation of the theme.

25.Wicker Ball- By Jonathan Bowles
Jonathan, Excellent image well exposed showing the detail and texture of the wicker.

26.Shunting by Noel
Noel- I really enjoyed the picture of the Steam Train, it reminds me of my youth. You managed to maintain a deep depth of field. I would have liked to see more of the engine.

27.Siblings – By Adrian Mills
Adrian, I really like this Portrait, your choice of a B/W conversion works really well.

28.Peek-a-Boo -By Judith Ann
Judith, an excellent example of what I was looking for, the Puffin is perfectly isolated however there is still some detail in the fore and background to understand its environment
A worthy Winner.

29.Li'l Sis- By Lowela Pialago
Lowela, Wonderful portrait of the little girl, the DOF is perfect. It would have been even better if you could have a gained a catchlight in her eyes.

30.Standing out from the crowd- By Hyram
Hyram, Well spotted and great title. You managed to isolate the subject well.

31.A guitar which I made myself- By Jyrki
Jyrki- Nice Guitar!!! I assume this is a copy a Fender Stratocaster. Good example of the DOF.

32.chrismas path- By Shaun
Shaun, Really good example of what I have been looking for , your image leads your eye from the foreground all the way to the end of the woods

33 . Stone Owl - By Tom Whitehead
Tom, Another good example of an image with a shallow depth of field.

34. Bridge -By I- Berg

I-Berg – I was really pleased to see your image and was a excellent example of how to control DOF, also detail is excellent.

35.Underground Manchester – By John Riley
John, Good Control of the exposure, considering ( I assume ) the use of available light only. Good DOF allow ones eye to lead into the subject.

36.Russian Chapel- By Axel Luther
Axel- Thank you for think outside the box, submitting an excellent example of how a tilt shift lens maybe used. Very imaginative with great colours and detail.

37.This is Sparta!!! -By Brian Barnett
Brian, Thank you for your image , it put a smile on my face, also it features my favourite sweet.
Great idea well executed.

Well done JudithAnne brilliant shot a worthy winner you
spur me on I look forward to the next competition with relish.


Jo

Great judging, and thankyou for your comments
much appreciated.


Jo

Great judging and this was a very hard one so a job well done Brian and what a excellent photo Judith Anne and good luck on your job ahead.

Well done JudithAnn, your image caught my eye as well.

Well done Brian - well judged and not ewasy with a bumper crop of entries!

Congratulations JudithAnn, Lovely image. Well done with the judging Brian, you certainly attracted a bumper crop of entries with your chosen subject.

Great competition, many thanks.

Congratulations to JudithAnn, I loved that puffin shot.

Glyn

Great judging and great feedback. Well done to JudithAnne, the puffin was one of my favourintes too.
H

Many thanks for judging such a large post bag and congrats to the winner for a cracking shot. Some lovely shots all round in this comp.

It was either the puffin or the piano for me, Brian! A great set of inspiring shots... when I have the time....
You got what I saw in the shot with the red glass at the bottom... the stall holder wanted to charge me for taking photos... I think/hope he was joking!

flickr

Old equip: K2; MX; ME Super;
New equip: istD; K7
Assorted lenses & accessories inc: Tamron Adaptall2 75-250... still going strong on manual!

Thanks Brian, and congrats to a worthy winner.

My sincere congratulations to everybody who participated in the competition and most of all to JudithAnne. What a wonderful shot it is!

Thank you one and all.....I loved this shot, but I was concerned that it lacked the full impact, due to the fact that it should have/could have been cropped. I had a member suggest that I should remember the rule of the third, and by cropping off the white, it would improve the shot. i took his advice and did so...it was a major improvement.

Congrats to all whom entered...it was a wonderful lot of great photos.

I will post our new comp in about 1 hour from now.

Regards, Judithann

Congrats JudithAnn and thanks to Brian for chosing and judging a very interesting topic.
David

WOW , I absolutely loved your shot of the puffin JudithAnn. Excellent. Congrats ! The judging was Great...Thanks for the comments. I enjoyed your topic.

Well done JudithAnn for the memorable image, and thanks for the judging and the theme, Brian, which inspired a good set of photos.

Congratulations JudithAnne! Your puffin shot was one of my favourites... Lovely and well composed! Great judging too Brian! Thanks for last weeks competition....

Lowela

Congratulations to JudithAnn and many thanks to BAJ for the competition.

An excellent set of entries.

Good comp BAJ, well done! Even though you missed a few of the late entries (I'm just teasing, it doesn't matter as I think Judith and Adrian had it sewn up!)

Big congratulations to JudithAnn , your puffin along with Adrian's piano were my clear favourites.

what a greta competition with amazing pictures and such a wonderful winning pic. During this competition seeing the amount of good photos I thught - poor Brian facing the effort to judge but - so thanks Brian for this great judging.

Good work BAJ, and congrats to JudithAnn!