Ok, contest is officially closed and I'll try to get the results up in a few hours or as soon as we get back from a summer barbecue we were invited to.
Wow, I didn’t think judging this would be as hard as it turned out to be. Quite a few different views on what represents a summer scene. I hope I made some sense in my comments on the shots.
AlexH - sunset picture. sharp focus on the grass fronds in the foreground with the background and setting sun nicely blurred. Good muted colors for the sunset. The picture gives a nice calming feeling and suggests a summer evening it doesn’t give me a specific feeling that it’s summer, it could be spring time or fall.
dwfaust - guy napping on what looks like a porch with the American flag blowing behind him in bright sun light definitely looks like a summer scene. I would have liked the picture to be a bit wider so as to capture more of the surroundings that might give a stronger indication it is summer.
Alexander.of.oz - a bee and his sunflower. A beautiful capture of a bee gathering pollen. The sharpness and colors are great. The only distracting item I found in the picture is that the bee is to close to the color of the background so that the body doesn’t immediately stand out. It sort of blends into the background.
RedOctober - The beach access sign is beautifully done, it is crisp, positioned nicely and breaks the horizon line so the viewers attention is drawn immediately to the sign. The background is nicely blurred also. Again, I would have liked to have seen a bit more in the picture to really pin down that it is a summer scene, like someone in the background in a bathing suit going in the direction of the beach.
someoldguy - down at the shore on the avon boardwalk. This is definitely a summer scene showing the boardwalk and beach in the bright summer sunshine. The shot is crisp and the colors are true to the bright sun at the shore. The only negative that I see in this shot is that the people on the beach and broad walk are so distant that they don’t capture your attention, it’s the empty broad walk in the foreground that captures most of the attention. If the shot had been taken a little further down the boardwalk and panned a bit more to the beach it would have brought the crowd on the beach more into the shot and given more of crowded summer beach feel.
Kenoh - sunset from apartment in Spain. Another great sunset shot with good colors but to me that one palm in almost the center of the picture draws to much attention and leads the eye away from the setting sun down to the cars parked along the road. If the camera could have been just moved to right a bit then the setting sun wouldn’t have been blocked and the palm would have been less distracting. The lower portion of the picture is just too distracting.
Indydenny - End of summer at the lake - a beautiful sunset capture with the sunlight reflecting off the clouds onto the lake. Again I sound like a broken record but I don’t get that strong summer feeling, this could also be a spring or fall shot.
Anotherscotsmen - Gulf coast sunset. - Stunning colors and cloud formation and I like the people sitting on the beach in the foreground they give the scene that summer feel. The pier is nice leading line to the horizon and sort of frames the beach area.
Apple fanboy - butterfly capture - That is a fantastic butterfly capture, the subject is sharp and isolated against a background that makes it stand out.The purple flower adds a bit of color but it’s blurred enough in the foreground that it leads the eye to the butterfly.
OzBok - A tropical beach scene that has a summer vibe. I like the darker tone and the color in the sky but I think there could be a more summer feel to it if the beach area was ligther in tone so that the beach goers could be seen in their summer ware.
jkramerbob - The boys of summer - this picture captures the American summer scene. There is good color and sharpness in the foreground and the blurred background still provides the context. The only thing I would have liked to see is a bit more of the stands and spectators.
MacNut - Another sunset scene - The colors are good and the light rays off the top of the clouds are a great capture. To me though the picture doesn’t quite hit the mark since I don’t see a strong indicator of summer in the picture plus the horizon line is a bit tilted which is a distracting.
rx7dude - Dock - A very nice summer scene on the water. The exposure setting, the slightly washed out colors give it a strong summer feeling.
koilvr - Going surfing - This is great summer shot. The surfers, the color cast and the gentle surf give it that hot summer feel. Technically it might not be spot on because the two surfers are split apart but it definitely hits the spot mood wise.
inkmich - Summer Home - is a good capture of the summer furniture we see so often here in the states. Good color and sharpness though I think a bit of blur in the background would have helped to center attention on the chairs even more.
Hughmac - Purple Dahlia - Dahlias are summer flowers and this a great shot of them. The strong colors and sharpness of the front flowers really catch your attention and stand out nicely against the blurred background.
Alvesang - Summer portrait - That is a great portrait shot. The warm color and her pose gives it that languid feeling of summer. Nicely done.
There are quite a few shots here that capture that summer feel but the three shots that I thought did the best are:
3rd place - rx7dude
2nd place - anotherscotman
1st place - koilvr
Congratulations to the top finishers and to everyone else for their submissions.
Next contest theme is up to koilvr.
End of Summer at the Lake
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Dock
