CHAT: Weekend Competition 12-14 March - FILL THE FRAME

[Cutter]

First and formost well done Andy deserved winner captured the theme perfect: Remember Andy the cream always rises, congratulations. Looking forward to your theme!
Really not sure about the egg! hardley filled the frame but got quite a few votes (did i miss anything?)

Anyway Above Forseti: another great image, filled the frame, great composition and should have at least had a vote. My only crtique was the reflection of the photographer it was a bit distracting for me.

Below Snowlock: Leaf: I was concidering this for my vote, great detail lovely colour and showing a good depth of field also a fantastic composition. Well done, you should have been up there!

[HinFrance]

Well done Andy for your deserved win with another very accomplished entry.

My above and belows:

Above: Matt and his peppers. Perfectly fine shot but just didn't manage to stir my interest amongst the other entries. I hope the sneezing has stopped.

Below: Michaleb104 – Crocus. This is definite contender, just leaping off of the screen. Although I didn't vote for it, it really did grab me. I'm actually staggered that it only got one more vote than my lame effort

I actually went for Elle's egg. Difficult to know why – it just seemed so cute.

I really need to get out of this creative funk I'm in at the moment. Having my 'best' eye swollen and irritated after getting some dust in it yesterday is not helping.

[jinky]

Well done Andy with a lovely shot. I went for the peppers myself as it filled the frame and I liiked the textures but Any`s was a close second for me amongst some fine entries.
Reviews:
Above reggy - cute picture and certainly had a frame within the frame but would have benefitted from a bit of fill light as her face is quite in shade with being backli. Looks a cutie - she one of your family?
Oggalily - just did not work for me as the lack of detail in the stone eye did not convince me she was watching.I know from your flickr stream that you were painting with light for this one and it`s a good attempt at that but the composition with the eye so central just fails to hit me.
Like H I`m feeling a bit challeneged just recently nand have taken too many things on at the same time in terms of projects, challenges and trying to go through my images to set up a website. Something not too taxing would be great for me this weekend Andy

[oggalily]

Great work Andy, a deserved winner.

Up and down reviews:
jinky - flower: lovely shot with deep DOF all the way through the image. How did you accomplish this? I've tried macro flowers but it seems the DOF drops off dramatically even when on a high aperture. Colours are great as well.

semaj - babbling brook - good capture and well composed. I like the motion blur of the water and think it is a great effect, but I would have been tempted to use a longer exposure/smaller aperture (or an ND filter) to smooth out the water even more. The branch on the right and the stick in the water are a little distracting, but alas no cloning this week. As I mentioned earlier, it is unfortunate to find unwanted elements in your pic after fact. Otherwise you could have dealt with them the old-fashioned way?

Looking forward to next week!

[Forseti]

Well done once again Andy, an image I believed would win this weeks competition the moment I saw it. Like Cutter, the egg in a carton is a bit lost on me - maybe the critique will help clear that one up.

Above: GUY1970 - Snail. As your image received one more vote than mine which attracted the grand sum of zero, I'm not sure as to whether or not I'm qualified to offer critique. However, for me the combination of focus and DOF just doesn't seem right. I'm also not too sure that the snail being somewhat off centre works in this case as it throws off the symmetry. Lighting a subject like this is also difficult in order to retain some detail of the texture although I'm not sure that I could have done any better.

Below: Cutter - Sunburst. A bright and cheerful image with my main criticism being of uneven lighting- the right side (particularly the top corner) being darker than the left hand side. Your choice of lighting direction has also resulted in very little texture of the orange being shown and maybe a bit more experimentation was called for here. I also think that the image would have looked better without all those drops on the bottom edge of the orange, but that of course is a matter of personal preference. But hey, 5 votes more than me so obviously they think you've got it just right.

[jinky]

lovely shot with deep DOF all the way through the image. How did you accomplish this? I've tried macro flowers but it seems the DOF drops off dramatically even when on a high aperture. Colours are great as well. ogga

Thanks ogga - I`m afraid I liked this one too much to ignore it in favour of my more fitting full frame shots and should have gone for the white one with the sensor dirt / flower dirt. It`s all about using small aperture and getting the plane right. I had that damn flower pegged with 3 different clamps in a mug holder and took 15-20 attempts to get it right using sharpening / vivid settings on my camera I`ve never used before. Greta learning - even when you don`t get a single vote. There`s always next week

[Sarasocke]

Yeah Andy!
I'm glad I backed a winner this week, I love your shot! As you're my "above" I need say no more, I think Well done!

Below : Reggy. A pretty picture indeed, but I don't think it was quite what Ogga had in mind with "filling the frame".

Looking at the immense numer of votes I got, I guess my photo wasn't a particular hit either

I was a bite surprised with a couple of others tho - Forseti, Michaelb104 and Jinky for instance. I thought they were rather good pics and deserved more ..... Go figure

[michaelb104]

Well done Andy, cracking shot and spot on with the theme.

Thanks for the vote iRebel.

Up and down.

HinFrance - really nice colours and lighting but I'm afraid that it didn't really do it for me - probably the smell

Ellell82 - It's a good capture of the detail of the egg with good lighting but for me it didn't really fit the theme, too much egg box and not enough egg, saying that it got loads more votes than mine.

Looking forward to this weekends theme, I just hope you let us do more PPing..........

[matt wilson]

well done Andy .

above old salty .I quite likw this simplw clean lines and nice texture.

Below pot pourri...sorry but it does not appeal as a pick.The frame being over filled doesn't really work for me .May well have benefited from a tighter crop.

Thanks for my votes .

Away again this weekend so entry will be dependent on the theme set .I always take camera with me but my partner can get a bit fed up.

[Semaj]

Well done Andy well deserved winner.

Above oggalily - Watching

Well taken but like me the restrictions were hard to live with.

Below SieSmith - Eye of my son

Well taken shot but just a little too realistic for me however who am I to talk.


jinky terrific shot can't understand it didn't get any votes.

I got a bit of a shock when I heard one of our old DC Mag members had passed away.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vxisme/...57623515645209



Jim.