Weekly Photo Contest | 20-28 July | Old Faithful

[OldMacs4Me]

Feel free to post images of the geyser, but I am thinking more of subjects or locations we keep coming back to. Or maybe something or even someone we can always rely upon. Feel free to take a short paragraph to further explain.

As always, standard rules apply:

• The photographs must be your own work
• You may only submit one photo per contest.
• No commenting or liking photos until after the judging has taken place.
• This contest runs for about a week, starting now.
• At the end of the competition, the judge (last week's winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible. Apparently as emojis are challenging, their use should also include interpretation.
• The 1st place winner will start a new thread here with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place).
• Be sure to update the Contest Master List as soon as you post a new theme.
• Contest ends 10:00 PM MDT (UTC -6) on July 28, 2023. As I may not be around a computer on the 27th, I am including an extra day at no additional charge.

 

[ovbacon]

It always feels a little doomed to be the one posting the first photo in the Contest thread but I'll go ahead and kick it off because I know my "old faithful" or my place of joy, the place that just fill my heart and soul. I especially love it in the winter when there are hardly any visitors. But even during crazy times like the 4th of July it still holds all its magic. You only have to hike 20/30 min up and you lose the crowds and if you are willing to go for a 7, 8 hour or longer hike you see true majestic views, waterfalls animals and most important peace of mind... I would suggest any and everyone to visit Yosemite if you ever have the chance. We live pretty close and so have been many many times including several years of skiing in on NY.

It is hard to choose any one image from this amazing place but here goes.... the focal point in the distance is probably the most famous point in yosemite, Half Dome.

 

[Fravin]

That's it. I love to been connected with nature. It is my reliable source of motivation and new hope.

 

[akash.nu]

Edinburgh, Scotland

December 2022

iPhone 14 Pro Max

Scotland is one of my favourite countries to visit. Since last 15 years I’ve been going there at least once every year, save the couple of covid years.

I’m a sucker for medieval history and a nature lover in general. With under 4 and half hours of train journey from London, Scotland gives me an abundance of both whenever I want a bit of a casual break.

Edinburgh being the entry point via train or plane I’ve visited it so many times that it feels like my own neighbourhood. The city itself and the surrounding countryside plus the highlands show a different side of nature’s beauty in each season.

To everyone who hasn’t been to Scotland, definitely put it up on your bucket list. It’s also cheaper than London in general and the famous Scottish single malt whiskey range will definitely please you, if you’re into it.

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Giving this a bump in the hopes of seeing some more entries. Just a bit more than 2 days to go.

 

[mollyc]

daily walk with halley in the woods

 

[macguru212]

Bethesda Fountain, Central Park NYC. I've seen this fountain covered in graffiti and abandoned, but now it's quite a sight.

 

[zagato27]

Well, I was almost going to post a photo of one of our dogs sleeping with one of our cats. You can always rely on the love of our four footed family members as opposed to our two legged ones. However it would have been slotted behind mollyc's dog. Tough competition. So I'm changing it up a bit. So, you can always rely upon a good watch. In this case a Seiko automatic diver. This one's nickname in the watch world is "Shogun". Although a diver it's super lightweight as it's titanium. You're going to get even more in this photo....Blackhawk (UH60) emblem. You don't find these out in the "wild" as they are given to all the pilots who qualify in the UH60. Yup, very reliable. Next, Audi key fob for my Audi S4. Think I read a quote from Jeremy Clarkson that everyone should own an Alfa once in their lifetime. Haven't got there yet but I'd say that everyone should own an Audi once too. Oscar Mayer Weinermobile whistle....well you gotta be able to go back to when you were a kid every once in a while. Cheers

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Reminder you have about 12 hours till this weeks contest closes.

 

[someoldguy]

I'll drop one in , just to add numbers ...

Lower Manhattan ... somehow it always seems to be there when I look .

 

[OldMacs4Me]

Closed. Back in the morning with the results.

 

[OldMacs4Me]

While not a huge response it was nice to see the big variety. Thanks everyone for solid entries across the board.
Here's the comments:

@ovbacon Shooting into the sun usually means haze and loss of shadow detail. In this case the lens flair makes the image.

@Fravin Love the backlighting and yes most of my go to subjects involve nature.

@akash.nu Thanks for the short explanation. Almost makes me want to visit Scotland, even though I would have a great deal of difficulty translating the lingo into Canadian English.

@mollyc Black dogs are a really tough subject. Especially on film. Very hard to capture details in the blacks, and you did come up a teeny bit weak, but I am not sure if that was in the neg or the scan. That said I really love this image. The eyes are beautiful and you have nicely isolated the subject from the background. Plus I am a sucker for big black dogs.

@macguru212 Another subject entirely. In my early years I was a stickler for having detail in the shadows. More recently I am more than willing to let some things go black when I want the eye settling elsewhere. You've managed to get a reasonably good balance. I did have to zoom into full resolution to see the detail in the deeper shadows.

@zagato27 A well thought out approach. Created especially for this thread and that is appreciated. Again thanks for the explanation.

@someoldguy I am not a huge fan of cities, big cities or very big cities. That bit of personal bias aside, I love the lighting on this shot. Once I zoomed into full resolution, I noticed some through the window sky speckles which I would have cloned out. Also some minor jpeg artifacts in the sky. The latter only noticeable at full size. Excellent entry.

Y'all will have to imagine the drum roll and the trumpet flourish as I announce the results:
3rd Place; @mollyc
2nd Place; @Fravin
1st Place; @akash.nu

Truthfully if I had done this tonight or tomorrow morning the podium might look entirely different. While everyone probably deserves a spot I had to pick three. But that's what made this one so much fun to judge. Thanks to everyone who entered.

 

[someoldguy]

Congrats to those on the podium , and thanks for taking time for individual commentary . My entry was intended to be the start ( or end) of a giant panorama of the entire West side of Manhattan ( all 13+ miles ) taken from the NJ side .
Didn't work out , but I got a contest entry out of it.

 

[mollyc]

While not a huge response it was nice to see the big variety. Thanks everyone for solid entries across the board.
Here's the comments:

@ovbacon Shooting into the sun usually means haze and loss of shadow detail. In this case the lens flair makes the image.

@Fravin Love the backlighting and yes most of my go to subjects involve nature.

@akash.nu Thanks for the short explanation. Almost makes me want to visit Scotland, even though I would have a great deal of difficulty translating the lingo into Canadian English.

@mollyc Black dogs are a really tough subject. Especially on film. Very hard to capture details in the blacks, and you did come up a teeny bit weak, but I am not sure if that was in the neg or the scan. That said I really love this image. The eyes are beautiful and you have nicely isolated the subject from the background. Plus I am a sucker for big black dogs.

@macguru212 Another subject entirely. In my early years I was a stickler for having detail in the shadows. More recently I am more than willing to let some things go black when I want the eye settling elsewhere. You've managed to get a reasonably good balance. I did have to zoom into full resolution to see the detail in the deeper shadows.

@zagato27 A well thought out approach. Created especially for this thread and that is appreciated. Again thanks for the explanation.

@someoldguy I am not a huge fan of cities, big cities or very big cities. That bit of personal bias aside, I love the lighting on this shot. Once I zoomed into full resolution, I noticed some through the window sky speckles which I would have cloned out. Also some minor jpeg artifacts in the sky. The latter only noticeable at full size. Excellent entry.

Y'all will have to imagine the drum roll and the trumpet flourish as I announce the results:
3rd Place; @mollyc
2nd Place; @Fravin
1st Place; @akash.nu

Truthfully if I had done this tonight or tomorrow morning the podium might look entirely different. While everyone probably deserves a spot I had to pick three. But that's what made this one so much fun to judge. Thanks to everyone who entered.

thank you so much for the mention and congratulations to @akash.nu and @Fravin!!

 

[chown33]

Well, I was almost going to post a photo of one of our dogs sleeping with one of our cats. You can always rely on the love of our four footed family members as opposed to our two legged ones. However it would have been slotted behind mollyc's dog. Tough competition. So I'm changing it up a bit. So, you can always rely upon a good watch. In this case a Seiko automatic diver. This one's nickname in the watch world is "Shogun". Although a diver it's super lightweight as it's titanium. You're going to get even more in this photo....Blackhawk (UH60) emblem. You don't find these out in the "wild" as they are given to all the pilots who qualify in the UH60. Yup, very reliable. Next, Audi key fob for my Audi S4. Think I read a quote from Jeremy Clarkson that everyone should own an Alfa once in their lifetime. Haven't got there yet but I'd say that everyone should own an Audi once too. Oscar Mayer Weinermobile whistle....well you gotta be able to go back to when you were a kid every once in a while. Cheers

With the contest ended, I'm really curious about the plate all those "faithfuls" are on.

Was there a set of collectible "Vermin of the World" or "Rats on Parade" plates issued by some ceramic factory, or is it part of some other set? If so, I'm wondering what the other plates in the set look like, or even an unobstructed shot of this one.

I've seen collectible plates and spoons for many subjects, such as cities, animals, dog breeds, etc. but I would never have predicted one for "Rattus rattus".

 

[akash.nu]

Wow that was not expected at all. Thanks a lot for letting me host the next competition. It’s a bit too late here in the U.K. I’ll try to get one going tomorrow.

Congratulations to everyone! Some good shots this time around.

 

[zagato27]

With the contest ended, I'm really curious about the plate all those "faithfuls" are on.

Was there a set of collectible "Vermin of the World" or "Rats on Parade" plates issued by some ceramic factory, or is it part of some other set? If so, I'm wondering what the other plates in the set look like, or even an unobstructed shot of this one.

I've seen collectible plates and spoons for many subjects, such as cities, animals, dog breeds, etc. but I would never have predicted one for "Rattus rattus".

Well, the plate was actually made in Columbus, OH but my daughter in Brooklyn sent it to me. Don't know if she was commerating NYC and their rat problem or some other reason. As to a series of "invasive" critter plates, no idea. Anyway, it's heavy duty porcelain and I deposit my "EDC" stuff at the end of the day. Cheers

 

[akash.nu]

New topic is up https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/weekly-photo-contest-31-july-6-august-rustic.2397314/