Competition #42 - 'MUSIC'

[Tom Gerrard]

Hello to everyone,

For the next competition I have chosen ‘MUSIC’ as the theme. Anything associated with music, a title inspired by a song, piece of music, instruments or people playing instruments, singing, dancing from all parts of the world. The possibilities are endless, so have a fiddle, blow your own trumpet or just take off your shoes, hum and have a go. Closing date, Midnight, 28th Aug.

Best of luck to everyone.

Regards, Tom.

[John]

The Music of Flowers:

[Sue]

Beatle Music:

[Myra]

MY ENTRY IS A SONG

Daisy,Daisy, give me your answer do.

[Tracey McGovern]

A local AC/DC tribute band called DC-79........

DC-79.jpg (109.93 KiB) Viewed 9104 times

[bert haddock]

Hi Tom,
My entry, street entertainer.

[markculshaw]

Hi Tom,
My entry, John Thorne on Double Bass, photographed at the Manchester Jazz festival

[Des]

Hi Tom
Just had a senior citizen moment travelled far and wide to get this image [our back door].
Music title:- "Green green grass of home " Tom Jones.



Cheers
Des

[bazzasmeg]

My entry is a french pipe organ at the Slaidburn Steam Rally 2009,

Regards, Barry

[keith richardson]

The Singing Ringing Tree.

A new version of a favourite subject.

singing 004.jpg (90.97 KiB) Viewed 8978 times

regards, keith.

[Tom Gerrard]

Greetings from Sunny Bolton,

A big thank you to everyone who entered the competition. So many interpretations and well thought out ideas, I really enjoyed looking at your entries.


John – Many references to music of flowers go back to time immemorial and can be heard in songs sung by Aboriginal tribes of all continents. I guess this was taken at a flower show where the lighting was not being too kind to you and I find the image a wee bit ‘flat’. But I do like the choice of subject for this competition and the combination and contrast of the products of nature and that of a man made instrument. My eye wanders to and fro appreciating both more and more, a great idea, well seen.

Sue – You certainly would have a hard day’s night trying to get a tune out of this ‘instrument’. I’m still trying to figure out how you could tune it. Again we have the same combination as the last entry, natural and man made subjects complementing each other. The unusual angle you have chosen to capture this image works well and the method you have used to emphasise the main part of the image whilst slightly blurring the rest is well accomplished.

Myra – I do believe the next line of the song goes…. ‘I’m half crazy …….’ Hmmmmm… But a good idea and image for this competition. Up to your usual high standard, beautifully exposed, capturing details in both the highlights and shadows makes for a simple, but very effective image.

Tracey – From Vaudeville in New York NY. to heavy rock in Hindley. I can see where you are coming from in trying capture the atmosphere being generated in this kind of location by the band and this a good attempt. But for me, there is just too much and I find it far too cluttered. In PS there is a very powerful but much underused tool, in my opinion, that is the Crop tool. I would have got rid of that half person on the left and the dark area in front of him and perhaps the white ‘thing’ hanging from the top. I can see at least two or three other images which could be obtained by even more tighter cropping whist retaining the atmosphere and mood of the event. Again this is just an opinion and I hope you don’t mind me expressing it. I can appreciate that any sort of image taken in this kind of environment can be considered an achievement, so well done for that.

Bert – Is this guy singing or playing the blues, he certainly dressed for it. From the position of his fingers more likely to be classical or perhaps flamenco. A competent shot, as always from you, of one of the many street entertainers who proliferate our cities. The colours are the strong point for me, the blue of his suit against the green of the grass, and the cedar of the guitar work exceptionally well and contribute to make a very striking image.

Mark – I think this is a great shot of a jazz musician. At first I was a bit perturbed by the Hi hat hiding his plucking fingers but now I see that it gives the image more balance and makes it all the better for its inclusion. I like the way you let us see the machine heads, the size of which just reminds us what a powerful instrument the bass fiddle is. With his stance, counter balanced by the angle of the bass, the expression on his face, obviously engrossed in his presentation, I can almost hear the music being played. Shooting it in black and white also contributes into making this a good piece of photography.

Des – You are a jocund fellow aren’t you? One can see the beautifully manicured lawn at Lambton Towers – open to the public all the year round inc Christmas Day. (Just see the woman on the door, cross her palm with silver and you’ll be alright). Maybe a wider shot, with perhaps a herd of buffalo peacefully grazing would help to give more foreground interest. But as it is, I like the lead in from over here to somewhere over there and the clever use of DOF focuses our attention to where it might be. My only criticism is the leaf near the top right hand corner. I find it distracting and it takes my eye away from the focal point of this placid and tranquil scene. But it is green, it is grass and it is home, so coupled with the time and effort you have expended it becomes a worthy contender in the competition. Also I am pleased to announce that a recent legal challenge from another contender to the eligibility of this image for the competition as been settled amicably out of court.

Bazzasmeg – A fine record shot of fairground organ. Usually found on a ‘three abreast set of gallopers’ or carousel. Reminds me of my time on the fairground up in the N.E. of England. As old fashioned as they are, they still attract both young and old at fairgrounds and steam rallies. Usually quite difficult to photograph as they are normally positioned at the centre of the ride and a clear view is often blocked by horses, peacocks or whatever. You have done well to get good clear shot and have captured some of the traditional fairground artwork of rural scenes and flowers usually framed by very ornate scrolling. Observe the blue pillars on either of the three figures and the ‘marbleing’ effect used. This is called feathering, where the artist actually uses bird feathers and not Photoshop, but that’s where the blending technique gets its name. Perhaps it’s my monitor but I find the colours not as vibrant as I remember and I would like to have seen it a little sharper. As with a previous entry I can almost hear the music – Oh, happy days. Well taken.

Keith Richardson – A very dramatic image of The Singing Ringing Tree which is situated at Crown Point overlooking Burnley. Why is it entered into a competition entitled ‘Music’? Well I’m not sure about the ringing bit but I know all the pipes were cut to specific lengths so that when the wind blows they produce notes which harmonize. I can appreciate the difficulty in photographing this subject and I think you have done a great job. The exposure is spot on for the tree and rendition of the detail is excellent. It’s the sky that troubles me somewhat; the bottom third seems a bit too ‘contrasty’ on my screen. The top section whilst showing a full range of tones, I feel there is little too much and diminishes the stature of the sculpture. Or have you left it in deliberately to represent the foliage of a tree? Anyway, it’s a cracking image which you should be very proud of.

3rd Myra.
2nd Keith.
1st Mark.

So Mark I guess we’ll be hearing from you soon.

Thank you once again, Tom.

[John]

Congrats to our winners and also to Tom for a very fine, and sometimes very amusing, in depth judgement.

After this I can see we will have to add Tom to our list of Judges......