Forum Competition #101 - Decay

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Tracey McGovern
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Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Tracey McGovern »

Hi All

Sorry about the delay getting back with a topic for the next competition, I've been wrackling my brains to try and come up with a topic that we haven't already had, then I remembered John's talk last night and that gave me inspiration, I'm not saying that John is old or decayed :lol: but he did show us some pictures of a project he has going on in his garden at the moment and that gave me the idea for this competition, I can't believe we haven't already had this one but I've checked through the last 100 competitions and this definitely wasn't there.

So - "Decay" it is, you can interpret that in any way you like. The deadline is midnight on Sunday 20th January. Good luck everyone.

Tracey
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Re: COMPETITION 101 - DECAY

Post by yachtsman1 »

Don't like going first, but here goes. This shot was taken last summer under southport pier. As usual I have loads of suitable subjects so I will probably make an AV of those I rejected.
Regards Eric
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Re: COMPETITION 101 - DECAY

Post by Janice Freeman »

The first signs of decay....
Moulding Bough.jpg
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Re: COMPETITION 101 - DECAY

Post by John »

Paint Peel, just one sample of decay from Astley Green Colliery Museum:
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Critical Mass »

Left to rot in the basement of an abandoned castle/chateau in Belgium - The Lost Alfa's

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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by bazzasmeg »

Advanced stage of Decay on tree trunk

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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Tracey McGovern »

Hi All

Thank you to those who have entered into this competition, I thought this topic would have gone down better than it did, not to worry, I'm just glad that someone did enter :D

Yachtsman 1 - mIMG_0017
This looks like the base of a pier or bridge with obvious decay on the metalwork and seaweed/foliage to the right of the image. I think the image would benefit from a boost in contrast to give it a bit more punch, I wonder how it would look in colour? Would it make for a better image? Would the decay appear more obvious?

Janice - Moulding Bough
There is good detail and colour in the fungus on the branches and although I like the addition of the berry to give it scale, I just wished it was a bit more in focus, as it is, I'm finding it a bit distracting - sorry :(

John - Paint Peel
This fits the brief very well, there are some good rich colours coming through in the rust and the obvious decay of the metal work, Astley Colliery never fails to produce inspiration for some good images.

Critical Mass - The Lost Alfa's
What an amazing place to visit, you have captured the scene extremely well, considering the limited available light you had to work with, you have done a good job at capturing the mood of the place. Excellent detail from the first car in the foreground right through to the brickwork on the back wall.

Bazzasmeg - Decay
Another good find, this time in the woods, all of the mushrooms look like they are still in tact and are growning out of the decaying tree trunk, well spotted and captured. Good colour all round.

Now for the scoring.......

3rd Place - Bazzasmeg
2nd Place - John
1st Place - Critical Mass

Thanks again to all those who entered.

Now over to you Critical Mass to set the next subject, deadline and then judging.

Tracey
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by yachtsman1 »

Ah well you lose some, then you lose some :(
Tracey
I did think of colour for the shot, but decided the Victorian Southport pier was more appropriate in mono. On reflection I should have used one of my others I short listed. As I mentioned in my original post, I would not chuck the others into the trash bin but put them into a slide show, AV to call it a posh name, it's on YouTube, called "Decay"
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCfDvlcliUU
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Janice Freeman »

Well done Critical Mass. I liked this as soon as I saw it. Good comments Tracey. I debated whether or not to include the berry at all! I tried to use a shallow depth of field but it was too shallow to get the berry sharp. I will know for next time!

It was a disappointing entry for such a good subject. Let's hope that folk can get motivated to join in - it is a great way to learn.

C'mon Critical Mass - bring it on (but nothing to complex :] )

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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Ian Yarwood »

Hi all, congrats to winner and to all entries.
I had an entry sorted, but my laptop went bottoms up last week and refused to charge. Didn't get chance to upload my entry or transfer to a memory stick. Will def be entering next forum comp, need it to ingnite my photographic juices.
Maybe one way to ignite interest is to run bit like the monthlies, score 1st 2nd & 3rd, give points, then after say 6 to 10 rounds award a small prize for highest points scorers. It will need someone to admin it to keep a tally of scores. Only a suggestion!
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by yachtsman1 »

Ian Yarwood wrote:Hi all, congrats to winner and to all entries.
I had an entry sorted, but my laptop went bottoms up last week and refused to charge. Didn't get chance to upload my entry or transfer to a memory stick. Will def be entering next forum comp, need it to ingnite my photographic juices.
Maybe one way to ignite interest is to run bit like the monthlies, score 1st 2nd & 3rd, give points, then after say 6 to 10 rounds award a small prize for highest points scorers. It will need someone to admin it to keep a tally of scores. Only a suggestion!
I thought to inspire others to partake, if the person setting the comp' posts a sample of the subject image to set the ball rolling.
Regards
Eric.
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Paul Jones »

yachtsman1 wrote: I thought to inspire others to partake, if the person setting the comp' posts a sample of the subject image to set the ball rolling.
That's not always possible if you have nothing suitable yourself (other than raid other peoples images off the web).

Also, by posting a sample image you can influence the type of images entered. If Tracey had posted a sample picture of rusty metal the entrants may have construed that this was what they should enter. It's best to leave the interpretation of the set subject as open as possible.

If anyone wants ideas for competition subjects take a look at how DPReview.com sets their challenges - http://www.dpreview.com/challenges/


My own suggestion to renew interest in our forum competition would be to shorten the entry deadline to one week instead of two and have them as weekly challenges. Many people seem to wait until just before the deadline to enter images, so the competitions seem to drift on. Any thoughts?
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by PhilipHowe »

Only reason I haven't entered for a while is I'm a bit too busy on other things. I don't think shortening the deadline would help me, I think two weeks is best. I used to try and go out and shoot the subject fresh, but as I say, time is not my friend at the moment.

The problem I have is when I go to the club, there are too many people who say "I was going to enter but mine aren't that good". I've contemplated taking a wet fish to meetings to slap people with when I hear that. It might detract from the other smells as well (ahem).
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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by Janice Freeman »

I think that the 2 week deadline is just about right. It would be nice to see some form of scoring but not sure how this would work (not very helpful I know). The images appear to be viewed by quite a number of people. It would be nice if folk viewing the entries could also make comments anon or otherwise - however this could influence the judging. Could comments be left which could appear after the judging has been done? Perhaps a tick box to indicate excellent,v.good etc.,?

This is a good competion and we need to encourage/motivate all members to participate. It is much easier for the beginners, new members, not so experienced, to put their work up against others and to receive constructive comments which help with their image taking.

It may be that having to judge the images is putting a lot of people off. A voting system with a comment sysyem could eliminate this and perhaps encourage more entries. The winner still being able to choose the next suject. Whatever happens, let's keep it going!!!


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Re: Forum Competition #101 - Decay

Post by John »

Thanks for the ideas. Anything complex won't work, that's for sure, and as this is a forum there's a limit to what can be enabled.

So, there's nothing to stop people making comments after the judging, in fact it's encouraged. It's also possible to put a rating against the pictures using the star smilies. That's what they were added for.

As an example, my ratings would be:
yachtsman1 3S
critical mass 5S
john 4S
Jamice Freeman 3S
bazzasmeg 3S

Now if we go the the Gallery section where we publish the competition winners, it is possible to rate those as well and a running score shows as an average. Comments can also be posted. Some people do, but clearly not many! Unfortunately, the Gallery isn't intended for competitions and it makes them too remote from the forum conversations.

So I would suggest that, after the judge has finished, we all comment away and add star ratings if we wish to.
Best regards

John
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