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| Untitled
- THIRD |
| Mark says:
A very nice shot to open the themed competition. Lots of strong diagonals
and plenty of shadows. There is a nice sense of movement in the water, without being a smooth blur. I would perhaps have cut down the green twig in the bottom left as it does draw the eye across, away from the branches and water.Very good effort. |
| Ron says:
There is a lot of interest in this shot with some nice shadow. A slower shutter speed to blur the water would add some nice movement. There is also good interest in the foreground created by the moss on the logs. |
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| Abkhazi
Gardens 01 - WINNER |
| Mark says:
A super shot of the gardens, with the red bush in the centre nicely framed
by the branches. The grass has a good texture formed by the shadows from the over head trees. Depth of field is well controlled and the picture is sharp were is matters. |
| Ron says:
A great shot well framed by the branches, good pattern, strong shadows
and a strong splash of colour to hold the eye when it gets into the shot. To be critical I would liked to have seen a more interesting sky. |
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| Abkhazi
Gardens 02 |
| Mark says:
A different angle of the same area of the garden I suspect, and one that,
although fitting the theme well, does not work as well for me. Although the tree on the left provides a good frame, the dominant feature is the red bush which is hidden a bit too much by the tree. Presumably there was no further room to move to the left. Very good colours and contrast and a good effort all the same. |
| Ron says:
Again a great shot with good strong shadow pattern and the eye being led
into the shot. As the last shot a bland sky. |
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| Aberdeen
Aircraft |
| Mark says:
Having taken a few pictures through aircraft windows myself, this one
is well done, with only a little evidence showing on the plain sky. The skyline is not horizontal, which would have been preferred. |
| Ron says: Nice cloud formation giving good shadow on the ground. The building because they have good definition also help to pull this shot up but it does not have that something extra to raise it to the top. |
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| Scottish
Port |
| Mark says:
The railings have produced some nice shadows down the key side. There is a well detailed sky, but the sea is a little bland, with only a couple of seagulls to break it up. |
| Ron says:
This shot has another good sky and nice understated shadow from the railings. The lamp post on the right could do with being cropped out, and what looks like a seagull mid left should be shot so it does not show. |
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| Shadows
at Sunset |
| Mark says:
This is a well composed shot, with the lamppost being sat nicely on the
thirds. The diagonal from the lamppost to the jetty works well, although
I think I would have liked the sign a either little better lit, or darker
– the tendency at the moment is to try and read the words! I do like the sunset, with lovely transition from the blue to the red. In some ways the lamppost does split the picture into two and I’m not sure if it would be better with a slightly different viewpoint. Still, it’s a nice shot and worthy of its inclusion. |
| Ron says: A nice sunset with some nice colour. I find my eye is drawn from left to right along the jetty then gets stuck at the rather dominant sign for the water-ski school. The lamp post takes the eye from bottom to top then out of the frame. |
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| Path
through a forest |
| Mark says:
I like the way this shots path leads you into the picture and leaves you
wondering where it goes to; a sense of mystery! The shadows across the path break up the path and give a nice contrast. There is a slight problem of flare at the top of the picture due to shooting into the sun; similarly a bit of CA is evident. |
| Ron says:
It is difficult to shoot into the light, and get a result but here it
has worked and given an interesting shot with the eye being nicely led
into the distance. It looks a little over exposed with some blown highlights. There is no discernable lens flare which is nice |
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| Sutton
Churchyard |
| Mark says:
A pleasant shot of a churchyard which is well framed by the tree to the
left. The gravestone on the right front almost keeps the eye into the
picture, but the one just a bit farther back and right pulls it out again.
I think it would have benefited from being cropped a little to take out
this gravestone. Once the eye is back in the frame it is lead down the path to the blossom covered tree which forms a nice focal point. Good shot, well done. |
| Ron says: Oh boy is this shot green, not that this is all bad. It could do with making the shadows a little stronger and maybe altering the hue a little. I would try a little sharpening but it looks as this has been done, over sharpening would be worse than soft. |
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| Bank-side
shadows |
| Mark says:
The trees over the water form a canopy to generate the shadows demanded
by the theme this month. However, this is another shot that appears to
be shot into the sun, but this time doesn’t work as well as some
of the others. This is because the bright trees at the top right third
of the shot is demanding too much of the camera to be able to resolve
both these bright areas and the shadows of the main part of the shot. I wonder if it could have been taken from the other bank and still retained the shadows being sort without the highlights to make the exposure easier to control. |
| Ron says: Again on this shot the highlights have blown and this catches the eye. If the shot had been under exposed by about half to two thirds of a stop it would have helped. This would also have helped the shadows stand out, as it is there are more highlights than shadow. |
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| Thirtlby
Lane |
| Mark says:
The trees are casting some strong shadows on the road, which is forming
a leading diagonal across the image. I would have preferred the photographer to have turned just slightly left to get the road starting from the bottom of the frame, rather than the side and bottom. This would also have the effect of making the diagonal of the road much stronger and lost some of the excess hedgerow on the right. |
| Ron says: Nice shot with the road leading of into the distance. It would be nice to see the same shot done from the other side of the road. The eye would then be going with the shadow and the road a little better. |
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| Moorland
Shade |
| Mark says:
This is a charming shot of the sitter and dog. I assume there is another
dog out of frame to the right as the lead disappears? I assume the camera was set on wide-ish angle as the shoes and legs are relatively large to the rest of the body. It’s a generally pleasing shot, but I do think its more of a shot in shadow and is stretching the theme a little! The exposure is generally ok, with just the dogs coat blown a little. A bit of selective dodging may have helped a little to tone it down. |
| Ron says:
Once again some blown highlights. I do like the look on the dogs face,
it says it all love and happiness. I notice she has the dogs lead but who has the girls red lead, loose this and the photo would be a lot better. |
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| Forest
Walk |
| Mark says:
I think the same comment can probably be applied to this one as well as
the last. There is shadow in the shot, but is stretching the theme a little. It’s a little blown in places, and the flare at the top left is irritating. The walker is a nice addition, and does lift the shot out of the ordinary. Would have been better a little farther into shot, to get right on the thirds. |
| Ron says:
Shot into the light, very little shadow and lens flare. This is such a
difficult style of shot to get right and in this instance I don’t
think it worked. A graduated N.D. filter would have helped a lot. |
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| Flower
Tubs - SECOND |
| Mark says:
The title lets this shot down more than the image itself. Bearing in mind
the theme is “Shadows”, the image would have been better with
a more appropriate title! Anyway that aside. its a good shot, with a nice diagonal running through the image and a very nice strong shadow line from the overhanging building. The exposure of the wall has been well controlled and looks white rather than the grey it can sometimes have care is not taken. Good effort. |
| Ron says:
Nice crisp whites, nice black blacks all combined with good strong shadow.
The eye just get into the scene and forgets to leave, there is so much
to see Well done this is my favourite (I think) |
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| Entry
1 |
| Mark says: Strong diagonal through the shot. Definitely a shot of shadow. What else can I say? |
| Ron says:
A nice example of using your photographic eye to spot the shot that just
seems to work. There is a little of one shadow head cut of, and I would like to see the shadows a little stronger. Well done in using your imagination for this theme it catches the eye. |
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| Entry
2 |
| Mark says: The castle has been placed onto the thirds well, but there is a lot of plain blue sky. It’s a shame the cloud behind the tree wasn’t in the left hand corner! |
| Ron says:
Is this at York? This is a shot that has me puzzled, I like it but for some reason I don’t know why. The sky on the right is a little over exposed and the branches I cannot make my mind up about. I still like the shot. |
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| A
hint of shadow |
| Mark says:
The plane is located on the thirds, but is a shame its not flying into
the picture rather than out of it. As the title suggests, there is a hint of shadow, Just! |
| Ron says: Yes there is a hint of shadow, but oh what a lot of sky. There is no sense of motion or scale it could be a model. One for the plane enthusiast I think |
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| 5
O'clock Shadow |
| Mark says: This one is mine, so I’ll make no comment! |
| Ron says:
This is the one shot I am going to keep for ever. I will use it to frighten children, ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night. It might even frighten off mothers in law but that is pushing it a bit. Well done on an interesting twist on shadows. |