>>> LPS#18 - Feedback Thread

[DoctorIt]

The seconds and milliseconds are over, here are the comments your judges have provided to me via PM. They may add more to this thread in the next few days...

Also, you'll notice that as Shay has always liked, full disclosure, each judges top10 have been indicated (otherwise, their comments don't make much sense ).

[DoctorIt]

I had a tough time with this for a variety of reasons. The biggest is that my interpretation of the theme forthis contest implies the difference between a very,very short time and a very short time :)

I'm going to leave the individual comments out and say that generally I felt the most entrants lacked anunderstanding of the theme. These demonstrate some understanding. Like (my) #1. Wow. That's a split second.

-Ian

1 - 38 - douglas - Cutting Down On The Light Bill
2 - 49 - hawkeye978 - Glitter Bomb
3 - 14 - tlee - Imminent Ignition
4 - 4 - adrian_k - Gone in a flash
5 - 9 - rolandallen - Night Train To Los Angeles
6 - 16 - NewCreation517 - Don't Tell My Wife
7 - 59 - sherstone - Bustle Break
8 - 7 - trihokie - 2 Timer
9 - 30 - AaronNelson - Zoom
10 - 17 - bgraas2001 - a good beating

[DoctorIt]

#1 - 02 - greensquared - The Potter's Hands
#2 - 48 - stedonovan - Drop from Above
#3 - 23 - muzhik - Frozen in Time
#4 - 19 - photogmomma - more mac & cheese.... please?
#5 - 56 - NanaMo - Perfect timing...
#6 - 38 - douglas - Cutting Down On The Light Bill
#7 - 46 - getchphoto - Secondhand Musical
#8 - 41 - fashiznitsngrins - Twinkle in Time
#9 - 44 - leaforte - Vibration
#10 - 63 - Strikeslip - Newton's Law

#1 - This is a photo that might have failed in all of its parts but it works perfectly as a whole. It's blurry, monotonic, sepia... but all of that suits the tone perfectly, and the whole is more than the sum of its parts. Framing, composition, set up, light, and color are all working together to build a beautiful pictorial moment.

#2 - There several similar shots in this round. It's an obvious choice for the theme, and it's become a conventional subject. This one works better than the others for several reasons: the colorful backdrop sets a festive almost chaotic mood, atypical for this subject. The asymmetry of the splash also bucks tradition, yet the symmetry of the framing plays to convention, the tension between these two thematic directly again working along with the delightful mood. Finally the sharpness of the photo along with the color reflections make the water look like glass, re-echoing that tension between form and flow, frozen time.

#3 - This shot is also an admirable work of compositional tension: white vs dark, liquid vs ice, motion vs stasis, small vs large. Technically it's an impressive exercise in exposure balance: the whites manage to be bright without being blown out, and the big shadows are also full of detail. What I like best is the how the warm weight of the shadow seems to lean into the frozen light, threatening to swallow it or crush it, but the thin icy light is sufficient to withstand it.

#4 - The girl's expression is priceless. The composition and framing are spot on. The girl's round head and the round bowl balance across a diagonal, creating a dynamic energetic composition that seems to thrust the bowl forward out of the picture plane -- thematically perfect. However I would like to have seen more sharpness and contrast.

#5 - This one of two very similar shots in this round. Although the other entry is also a fair piece of work, this one excels. First of all, it's challenging. The underexposure asks the viewer to stop and consider what's going on here. And it repays that pause with a richly moody composition. Everything important here is in the shadows. The setting sun's light is not quite gone from the ground, but like a receding wave, seems quickly to be slipping off the snow. In another moment it'll be gone. The dark windmill and the bright sun set each other off, as do the clouds and snow, the sky and the ridge.

#6 - Another example of a new twist on a stock theme: the frozen bullet. The compositional elements here play off that stock theme. If we hadn't seen a hundred pictures of breaking glass or exploding apples or speeding bullets, this shot would have less impact. Because it dances a surreal jig on those images. However, I think this could have been made stronger if the subject looked less set up, had more contextual elements, for example, a mixing bowl in the background.

#7 - A beautiful meditative shot. White on white on white. Each thematic element echoes the other: old white piano, old white paint, old white snow. Even the lines of the siding reflect back upon the lines of the piano keys. However, I think the shot could be better framed: the crop is too close, the framing is offset in the wrong direction, the angle is too high. My feeling about the shot is that it is wonderful piece of found art that was not exploited to its full potential.

#8 - I like shots that give me a new look at something familiar. This one does that. The viewer is immediately made very small -- small enough to live inside the miniature bower of a Christmas tree bough, sustained by the searing light of a single tiny bulb. I like how the needles seem to flutter and float above the light, suggestive of bacterial flagella or pili. However, I think the shot is weakened by the bit of color in the upper left; a straight greyscale would have worked better as the hint of color is just a distraction. Also, a horizontal crop might have suited the arrangement better.

#9 - I'm usually not very interested in close-ups of instruments. But this one works and sustains my attention for several reasons: the story of the guitar is told in a few clear bright strokes across a jet sea. I like the way the rim of the box sweeps away into the distance like a line of breakers along a night beach. I like how the bridge is reflected in the watery blackness of the soundboard. I like how the out-of-focus pegs glimmer in the deep distance. Two things I don't like: I don't like the way the box is tilted off the horizontal. This treatment is classy and austere; the tilt doesn't work with that. Secondly I think the hole needs to be black; seeing inside the box puts too much white into the composition.

#10 - Another treatment of the frozen droplet theme. The light on the surface of the water makes it look viscous, rather than frozen fast -- as though time has been slowed to a creeping pace. The complex reflections of red and blue give additional interest to the composition, as do the beautiful lines of the post and ball and the deep well they rise from. Drawbacks: the post is not vertical, the noise in the background is distracting, and a closer crop would better emphasize the part of the shot that works best.

[DoctorIt]

1-07-trihokie-2 Timer
Comment: Perfect fit for theme, captures emotion in face of second place runner, nice style to shot, like the blurred orange pylon on left

2-02-Greensquared-The Potter's Hands
Comment: great texture and tone--reflects theme very well engaging shot

3-48-stedonovan-Drop from Above
Comment: great color and perspective

4-04-adrian_k-gone in a flash
Comment:captures theme very well, visually stimulating

5-32-Dalantech-Blue Splash
Comment: reflects theme well, great lenswork, and color

6-42-ravic-Leaving off time
Comment: Artful capture and skill in lenswork. Wish subject was larger

7-05-pemmett-Taipei Traffic Triptych
Comment: captures theme well and is witty

8-54-TPBinKC-Break Time!!
Comment: good energy-wish more of the face was seen

9-50-lynnesite-Moment of Suspension
Comment: nice color, framing, and sharpness. I keep looking at this picture

10-26-achambers-Electric Light
Comment: clever and fun

[DoctorIt]

1 - 59 - sherstone - Bustle break
2 - 09 - rolandallen - Night Train to Los Angeles
3 - 17 - bgaras2001 - a good beating
4 - 50 - lynnesite - Moment of Suspension
5 - 40 - LiquidAir - Salt Water Taffy
6 - 38 - douglas - Cutting Down On The Light Bill
7 - 63 - Strikeslip - Newton's Law
8 - 60 - The Curios Camel - they all fall down
9 - 06 - jwear - Impending Doom
10 - 07 - trihokie - 2 Timer

[DoctorIt]

#1 - 32 - dalantech - blue splash
I'm a scientist, a fluid mechanician, so am I biased when I picked this photo as a frozen second in time? You bet yer ass! But aside from the fact that when I think stop motion, I think a droplet with a perfect crown and satellite droplet formation, this image is also very pleasing. The color, the sharpness - well done both technically and emotionally.

#2 - 5 - pemmett - taipei traffic triptych
Maybe this is another case of me being a methodical thinker, but I can feel the seconds ticking down in this one. That sense of stopped motion is there. Usually not a huge triptych fan, but I like this one, in an almost cartoonish way, it tells me a story.

#3 - 38 - douglas - cutting down on the light bill
See my comment for #1. I've done my share of high-speed imaging in the lab, and again, nail on the head here. That kind of even really screams "MILLISECONDS!!!" so me. The dark mood, excellent composition, and good monochrome conversion just add to it.

#4 - 9 - rolandallen - night train to LA
In the same way the others say stopped motion to me, this one really says MANY seconds, progression in time. Textbook use of diagonal lines and composition here just make it a great photo.

#5 - 17 - bgaras2001 - a good beating
The color! The action! woo hoo we're at a party! No two seconds are the same!

#6 - 63 - strikeslip - Newton's law
Another droplet, so it has my attention. But the use of color and reflection in this one make it atypical. Very surreal and almost untrue. Also, the fluid must be atypical as we don't see the usual crown and jet formation. Yeah, I'm drawn in, but the visual impact is as good as the science.

#7 - 52 - sunita - curvilicious
This is a beautiful photo. The color, the curves, it certainly is delicious. Again, the fluidity of this speaks to me personally. Fluids (smoke included) are never the same as they flow, differing one second to the next.

#8 - 59 - sherstone - bustle break
Perhaps best of all, this photo really captures the theme. There are seconds and milliseconds ticking by AND being stopped in this scene. I wish it were a bit more colorful and grabbed my eye more. Technically it's good, composition, exposure, etc... just want a little more... pop? to get top votes.

#9 - 54 - TPBinKC - break time!!
This is an action photo, plain and simple. Good composition, blur is well pulled off, and we even get a hint of a face with emotion, although I wish it was the kicker and not the kickee.

#10 - 60 - The Curious Camel - they all fall down
At first I dismissed this as too much blur and too much motion. But I looked again and it is a pleasing result. There is a chain of events, several seconds that all come together.

[Dalantech]

Thanks for the feedback and the votes!

Note to Doc: Wait until you see how I took it -behind the scenes post coming soon :)

[Greensquared]

Thanks so much for all of the feedback...I know it takes extra work on the judges part and I truly appreciate it!

[sherstone]

Awesome feedback!

Thank you for taking the time!

[sherstone]

Originally Posted by Dalantech

Wait until you see how I took it -behind the scenes post coming soon :)

I am quite interested in this as well!