WW2 tank traps at a beach on the Thames estuary…
Sony RX100
Cheers
Hugh
Sony RX100
Cheers
Hugh
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Weekly photo contest: October 20th - 27th | Structure. Compositional structure.
- Thread starter PhilBoogie
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
One thing I find very helpful when being the one responsible for the competition, acting as judge, etc., is to record my thoughts and impressions about each image as it comes in, or whenever I can, which sometimes means reviewing a few of them together, rather than waiting until the last day to deal with the entire lot. Often we do see a flurry of last-minute images coming in during the final time frame available for participating, so it's good to have initial impressions, etc., in writing and under one's belt before tackling the most difficult part of these things, choosing the top entries....
Almost forgot -- another link, an excellent article by a long-time well-respected photographer on the topic of "structure" as it is applied in photography:
Back to basics: Structure
Judging from the correspondence and comments flying around recently, it’s about time we did a refresher course here on the fundamentals of composition and image-making. As usual, there’…
blog.mingthein.com
One thing I find very helpful when being the one responsible for the competition, acting as judge, etc., is to record my thoughts and impressions about each image as it comes in, or whenever I can, which sometimes means reviewing a few of them together, rather than waiting until the last day to deal with the entire lot. Often we do see a flurry of last-minute images coming in during the final time frame available for participating, so it's good to have initial impressions, etc., in writing and under one's belt before tackling the most difficult part of these things, choosing the top entries....
Almost forgot -- another link, an excellent article by a long-time well-respected photographer on the topic of "structure" as it is applied in photography:
Back to basics: Structure
Judging from the correspondence and comments flying around recently, it’s about time we did a refresher course here on the fundamentals of composition and image-making. As usual, there’…
Do you find with this strategy you describe (which seems really sensible) that on any given day your mood or your environment or even the weather might alter the baseline of your evaluation? That you graded Photo A on Tuesday better than Photo B on Wednesday...but Wednesday was otherwise a crappy day that put you in a bad mood that subconsciously affected your relative ranking?
That clearly happened to me a lot in school where the professor was in a bad mood when he graded my papers.
I’m with @Clix Pix on this, and record trigger notes (first impressions) as entries come in.
The final assessments generally tie in with these when I expand them on judgement day.
Cheers
Hugh
The final assessments generally tie in with these when I expand them on judgement day.
Cheers
Hugh
Basically I just note my first impressions and what about the image stands out to me. I find that helpful later when suddenly I've got a whole bunch of images to review and -- gulp! -- then narrow things down to which strike me as the top ones and why. Also, doing this throughout the week and as the images are posted makes the process less overwhelming than waiting until the final day and suddenly having something like ten, fifteen or even more images to consider all at once! Often, too, I'll look again more closely at each image throughout the week again, too, and add to my notes, as of course one will notice details that may have been overlooked the first time and which deserve more attention. Also, sometimes life gets in the way and one may not be able to get to the judging as promptly as anticipated, so having notes already made helps relieve that pressure.
My reason for mentioning this strategy was that we do have new people participating in these contests now, and the first time one is faced with the responsibility of this it can feel rather daunting! It's nice to receive some tips from those who have done this in the past, and I know I appreciated it when it was my first time.
Not too far north of Waterton National Park. Worth the stop for the Buffalo burgers and roasted potatoes. As always best viewed at full resolution.
Lumix ZS200 camera.
Lumix ZS200 camera.
This is what I'm doing, and it indeed makes it easy to review one or two photos each day.
Thank you for that article on structure from mingthein, an excellent read.
Haha! Yes, that was indeed what I was thinking when posting my photo...which turned out to be #1. I thought 'darn! now I need to act as a judge'. But, reviewing daily sure helps.Not that we actually want to win
Cheers
Hugh
@tizeye Strong image! Immediately thinking of war/destruction. But also thinking about memorials/sights to see. Love it that the end of the loop is levelled with the horizon. Only after that I started to look at the rest of the photo. Strong photo!
@mollyc your photo is indeed ‘structure’ but I don’t think it’s that ‘certain compositional structure’ Ken Rockwell wrote about. I did download and freeform crop your photo to see if it would be a stronger image with just the plaited fence. Alas, it didn’t resonate with me - sorry.
@lkalliance VERY strong image. I viewed it first on my laptop, and the screen was to small: I literally viewed it top to bottom, the tree in and on itself screams ‘standing’ / ‘robust’ / ‘solid’ and when scrolling down we get the hole, which makes it an ‘interesting tree’. And finally I saw the base, looking like elephant feet: ‘firmly staying put’. Another strong image!
@mtbdudex YES. Strong. Structure. I like it. Perhaps also because it’s off-centred. But the colours are amazing. This works really well. The floor appears to be wet, especially with that sharp horizontal line a third up. Somewhat dreamy, almost as if it’s covered with fallen autumn leaves, albeit very small small leaves, similar sized. I like it!
@oblomow it doesn’t seem ‘structural’ to me, composition-wise, but with the stairs I do like it! Probably because of the contrast from the balusters, where most of that contrast is.
@TheYayAreaLiving 🎗 Again, scroll viewing it top-to-bottom it’s a great image! Sea, beach, mountain…and then comes the best part: the height it was taken from. Almost scary as I cannot exactly tell how high up this is. Plus, looking first at the top half of the photo I wasn’t expecting a man-made structure to fill the bottom half. Great image.
@Allyance great photo, I like the contrast. But, as per your caption, it is indeed just that: “Seattle Space Needle”. Somehow it isn’t ‘more’ than that. Sorry.
@iSwift5 First I thought, mwah, then I thought: “Wouldn’t it be better without that house in the picture?” But the more I look at it, it’s a great photo. That plane is so instantly recognisable. And somehow the angle, the direction of that plane…it’s a great image.
@someoldguy Nice! This indeed draws me into the photo. Towards the ‘subject’. I like it.
@Strider64 I love night shots. The white lid building does stand out in the pitch black night, even with the street lights. Yet, I don’t see compositional structure. Sorry. Still, a nice photo.
@akash.nu Venice is really nice. The photo is somewhat nice. Would’ve been great if there wasn’t another gondola in front of you. Alas, what can one do? Structure wise… I don’t see that.
@Apple_Glen_UK it’s a great building, even if it’s considered ugly. I do think it would’ve been a better photo if you spot-and-patch the corners (top and bottom left, top right), in order to have just the building in the frame. It is a structure, but not ‘compositional’. Sorry.
@Jumpthesnark I could just copy-paste my comment from the previous photo (‘ugly UK building’) yet somehow this photo is ‘to be examined’. Unfortunately that’s because of the design of the building - really great architecture here - yet the composition of the photo itself doesn’t resonate with me.
@Hughmac If the concrete isn’t already ‘intimidating’, then the sky most surely is! A great photo, it stands out, even more with the dripped red paint. I call this a ‘compositional structured photo’.
@skidu Oe! That is a great photo! The line of the light, running diagonal through a rectangular photo. I like it. I like it a lot. The lines, light, the walking person looking at the cyclist. Both moving, creating a ‘story’. Whereto, wherefrom? Both moving towards the light. Very strong image, strong structure!
@Janichsan Cool! Looks like it was dropped from 100 feet up and just made a plof sound. It’s a boink photo. Structure? IDK…but the cube does scream BOOM. It’s so..in your face!
@OldMacs4Me Uhm, no. I do like the contrast (red vs white) but that its’t strong enough. No structure, as in leading the viewer into the photo. Sorry.
@Snowlover Wow! Not only beautiful, but it made me ‘look longer than normal’. Great to see that contrast on the branches, almost artificial. I downloaded it, and also viewed in in macOS Photos with a ‘silvertone’ filter > looks great as well!
@Laird Knox No idea why there’s a white dividing line in this picture. Is this one landscape and one portrait photo? If so, amazing to get the composition for the 2nd photo right, matching the other. Anyway, I really like the lighting here: sun shining from behind but the front is lit as well. Nice contrast, dark is really dark. The rounded shadow gives it a swoosh. I like it.
Final thoughts: these photos look so amazingly better after I downloaded them all and viewing them full screen. MR would do us a great favour if we can do just that on their website. Taking away all other fluff - not that Captions and Comments aren’t worth reading.
Winners:
3 Janichsan Nothing else to see but the cube
3 Hughmac Tank traps. Spooky, with red paint splash.
2 lkalliance Elephant feet tree
2 Mtbdudex airport floor. It even looks wet
1 Skidu diagonal line through a rectangular photo
I’m a newby here, so please don’t be offended if my judging, or English for that matter, is different from what you guys and gals are used to. Happy to contribute, a bit difficult to act as a judge ‘as a first timer’ and also happy to be allowed to have created this weeks’ contest. So, in short, thanks guys, and hope to participate in the next contest.
Cheers,
Phil
edit: grammar
@mollyc your photo is indeed ‘structure’ but I don’t think it’s that ‘certain compositional structure’ Ken Rockwell wrote about. I did download and freeform crop your photo to see if it would be a stronger image with just the plaited fence. Alas, it didn’t resonate with me - sorry.
@lkalliance VERY strong image. I viewed it first on my laptop, and the screen was to small: I literally viewed it top to bottom, the tree in and on itself screams ‘standing’ / ‘robust’ / ‘solid’ and when scrolling down we get the hole, which makes it an ‘interesting tree’. And finally I saw the base, looking like elephant feet: ‘firmly staying put’. Another strong image!
@mtbdudex YES. Strong. Structure. I like it. Perhaps also because it’s off-centred. But the colours are amazing. This works really well. The floor appears to be wet, especially with that sharp horizontal line a third up. Somewhat dreamy, almost as if it’s covered with fallen autumn leaves, albeit very small small leaves, similar sized. I like it!
@oblomow it doesn’t seem ‘structural’ to me, composition-wise, but with the stairs I do like it! Probably because of the contrast from the balusters, where most of that contrast is.
@TheYayAreaLiving 🎗 Again, scroll viewing it top-to-bottom it’s a great image! Sea, beach, mountain…and then comes the best part: the height it was taken from. Almost scary as I cannot exactly tell how high up this is. Plus, looking first at the top half of the photo I wasn’t expecting a man-made structure to fill the bottom half. Great image.
@Allyance great photo, I like the contrast. But, as per your caption, it is indeed just that: “Seattle Space Needle”. Somehow it isn’t ‘more’ than that. Sorry.
@iSwift5 First I thought, mwah, then I thought: “Wouldn’t it be better without that house in the picture?” But the more I look at it, it’s a great photo. That plane is so instantly recognisable. And somehow the angle, the direction of that plane…it’s a great image.
@someoldguy Nice! This indeed draws me into the photo. Towards the ‘subject’. I like it.
@Strider64 I love night shots. The white lid building does stand out in the pitch black night, even with the street lights. Yet, I don’t see compositional structure. Sorry. Still, a nice photo.
@akash.nu Venice is really nice. The photo is somewhat nice. Would’ve been great if there wasn’t another gondola in front of you. Alas, what can one do? Structure wise… I don’t see that.
@Apple_Glen_UK it’s a great building, even if it’s considered ugly. I do think it would’ve been a better photo if you spot-and-patch the corners (top and bottom left, top right), in order to have just the building in the frame. It is a structure, but not ‘compositional’. Sorry.
@Jumpthesnark I could just copy-paste my comment from the previous photo (‘ugly UK building’) yet somehow this photo is ‘to be examined’. Unfortunately that’s because of the design of the building - really great architecture here - yet the composition of the photo itself doesn’t resonate with me.
@Hughmac If the concrete isn’t already ‘intimidating’, then the sky most surely is! A great photo, it stands out, even more with the dripped red paint. I call this a ‘compositional structured photo’.
@skidu Oe! That is a great photo! The line of the light, running diagonal through a rectangular photo. I like it. I like it a lot. The lines, light, the walking person looking at the cyclist. Both moving, creating a ‘story’. Whereto, wherefrom? Both moving towards the light. Very strong image, strong structure!
@Janichsan Cool! Looks like it was dropped from 100 feet up and just made a plof sound. It’s a boink photo. Structure? IDK…but the cube does scream BOOM. It’s so..in your face!
@OldMacs4Me Uhm, no. I do like the contrast (red vs white) but that its’t strong enough. No structure, as in leading the viewer into the photo. Sorry.
@Snowlover Wow! Not only beautiful, but it made me ‘look longer than normal’. Great to see that contrast on the branches, almost artificial. I downloaded it, and also viewed in in macOS Photos with a ‘silvertone’ filter > looks great as well!
@Laird Knox No idea why there’s a white dividing line in this picture. Is this one landscape and one portrait photo? If so, amazing to get the composition for the 2nd photo right, matching the other. Anyway, I really like the lighting here: sun shining from behind but the front is lit as well. Nice contrast, dark is really dark. The rounded shadow gives it a swoosh. I like it.
Final thoughts: these photos look so amazingly better after I downloaded them all and viewing them full screen. MR would do us a great favour if we can do just that on their website. Taking away all other fluff - not that Captions and Comments aren’t worth reading.
Winners:
3 Janichsan Nothing else to see but the cube
3 Hughmac Tank traps. Spooky, with red paint splash.
2 lkalliance Elephant feet tree
2 Mtbdudex airport floor. It even looks wet
1 Skidu diagonal line through a rectangular photo
I’m a newby here, so please don’t be offended if my judging, or English for that matter, is different from what you guys and gals are used to. Happy to contribute, a bit difficult to act as a judge ‘as a first timer’ and also happy to be allowed to have created this weeks’ contest. So, in short, thanks guys, and hope to participate in the next contest.
Cheers,
Phil
edit: grammar
Last edited:
Well done, Phil.
Thanks for your impressions and thoughtful comments.
Congrats to the winners.
Love this! As soon as I saw it I thought "There's the winner!"
Thanks for your thoughtful consideration of all of the images, Phil! Congrats to the winners!
Congratulations to the winners and everyone with the strong submissions this month. It was a great topic and thank you for the feedback.
As noted in my comment when posting, this was my second choice. First consideration was Mission Nombre De Dois with its 210 foot cross that rises from the marshes and dominates the horizon. On the same trip to St Augustine with the drive home along A1A, the ocean road, was this photo at Ft Matanzas that is a small military outpost that guards the southern approach to St Augustine that was largely unprotected during the first 100 years after Castillo De San Marcos was built in the city. While the original brought compositional structure as seen from hundreds of feet away, this one established the structure with the line of sight of the distant inlet, when seen up close. No ships dare tread.
The best part about Ft Matanzas and Mission De Dois is that they are both free. At Ft Matanzas, the National Park Service ferry's you across the river to the fort, but it is supported by the entrance fees as the more popular and well known Castillo De San Marcos. The Mission is part of the Catholic Diocese and the site of the first Mass when the original 800 Spanish arrived.
In terms of war/destruction, technically the Fort didn't see action as it was built after the fact following a blockade and unsuccessful siege attempt in the 1740's, using that approach rather than the primary harbor at St Augustine. However the naming of the river and inlet about 200 years earlier in 1565 was related to war/destruction. Matanzas is Spanish for slaughter, and the French Huguenots, settling further north in Jacksonville, intended to attack the Spanish but became off course and shipwrecked in a hurricane where they were caught and slaughtered in the marshes around the inlet despite their surrender.
The image is presented and framed as a diptych so the line is where the prints are divided. I have a series titled “Trip-tychs” where all is the images are diptychs, triptychs, or quads. They are not all triptychs but they are all trippy. Each image was titled Trip #x and this one is “Trip #15.”
The series also has several elements tying the images together. All of the panoramas were taken incorrectly - tripod tilted and not level. They were all taken at night in the moonlight with a tungsten white balance. They all also had a tungsten light source illuminating part of the image. They all also have manmade and natural elements.
What you thought was the sun is actually the moon. If you look closely you should be able to see some stars in the sky. The tungsten white balance makes it a bit deceiving. The tungsten light source is behind a bush so it creates a dappled light on the walls and was set to skim the side wall to accentuate the texture. If you look at the door jam you can see a line dividing the warm artificial light and the cool moonlight.
Even though it is titled #15 it was the first one in the series that I shot. The pano was overkill. I used a very wide lens and took three rows of 12 images. The overlap was extreme. The rest of the series was shot as a single row of five or six images. The camera was shooting in a portrait orientation.
Because I was intentionally shooting with the tripod way off center it created some interesting results. The walls look more or less normal and the horizon is straight, but if you look at the building’s shadow you can see it is heavily curved. Not something that would happen naturally. The whole series turned up confusing images the more you looked at them.
Another thing I really enjoy about this one is the yellow you see along the ground behind the old mill. This was shot during one of the uncommon super blooms in Death Valley. Normally you would just see a rocky expanse and no plants.
I picked this image based on the contest description. It holds up from a distance but as you look deeper into it there are more and more details. It was a fun topic to consider.
Thanks for taking the time to judge the contest and offer critiques of the images.
Thanks for the great judging, and the podium place.
A good competition with superb entries, and congrats to the winners.
Cheers
Hugh
A good competition with superb entries, and congrats to the winners.
Cheers
Hugh
Thanks for the contest and comments! I perhaps didn't understand the assignment, but the gate that I shared wasn't "plaited" per se, although maybe you just used that as an easy descriptor. 🙂 It is really woven of metal, and the areas that appear to be plaits are actually shadows. So in my head I used the structure of the gate to give an extra compositional element to the image by the use of shadow play. And the plant is there on purpose as a form of juxtaposition. I think I just don’t think like Ken Rockwell. 😉
Lots of great entries this week, congrats to the podium holders!
Lots of great entries this week, congrats to the podium holders!
Last edited:
Excellent photo @skidu! IMO a perfect exposure, wish I'd taken it! 🤣
thank you! it was actually taken on an iphone 6, many years ago. i originally had another shot in mind but after reading @Clix Pix article, thought this better suited the theme.
plus i liked the idea of the image having a bit of a story which @PhilBoogie kindly picked up on, in his wonderful feedback of the group.
congrats to all the other participants, @Snowlover @Hughmac were my personal favourites.
will have the new thread up tomorrow.
Oh dear, English isn't my native tongue, so please forgive me when I say I had to look up 'plaided', which in Dutch (gevlochten) is the exact same thing as 'woven'.
Didn't know it was metal, it looks like wood to me. Anyway, obviously the shadows were indeed your 'point', which I did see. And like. Keeping the plant in the frame was just something for me to check out if the image was 'stronger' when left out. For me, that didn't do much.
@everyone: I have to say, this judging is not easy. No need to be derogative, but one must be frank, straight forward about your opinion on the photos. Not so easy.
As for Ken Rockwell: I looked at all his galleries. Really great photos from him, but they are indeed over-saturated. All of them, and that's too much - for my taste.
Indeed, mollyc, really great entries!
a ha! in english, plaited means braided, three or more strands forming a rope; and the way the shadows work it does sort of look like braids. but i wasn’t sure if you had interpreted it as a street art painting.
we’ll agree to differ on opinions of ken rockwell, but a fun challenge regardless. 🙂