Challenge 120 "Singular"

[ST-EOS]

Hello everyone. Sorry! It’s me again!
Your next challenge should you wish to take it, is Singular. I really hope you do join in the fun.


The challenge starts immediately and finishes at Midnight on Sunday August 21st, 2016. That gives everyone time to consider their options with four weekends included to get you motivated to create an image for the challenge. Hopefully this amount of time will encourage members to get involved and bring plenty of entries.
The challenge is “Your take on Singular” which I hope will allow you to create a photo of something that meets a rough definition of singular i.e. “showing or indicating no more than one thing”.
But a single subject will have associated elements, think about for example an aircraft being the “singular” subject in a nice sky. In my example the sky is secondary to the singular subject the aircraft. I hope that makes sense.

The standard competition rules apply:

• The competition subject shall be selected by the winner of the preceding competition who will also judge the competition.
• One picture per person; images should conform to general image posting rules.
• Please use a Canon DSLR.
• Posted images should be taken during the running period of the competition. Any images submitted that were taken before the competition started, or after the competition has ended, will be deemed invalid.
• Images 800 pixels widest max (to help those with small monitors).
• No Photoshop frames and borders.
• Include a title; the image must convey the theme without title description.
• Please, no comments, on images until the round is over.
• No canvassing e.g. “I’m thinking of posting this image for the challenge, what do you think?”
• I will pick 1st 2nd and 3rd favourite images (please don’t PM me to discuss my choices).

I, like previous members, will do my best to give an honest assessment of every entry. However I am not a judge and my assessments can only ever be my personal views of each of the entries.

So Ladies and Gentlemen, get your thinking caps on and produce some interesting takes on “Singular”. But most importantly get your camera out, stretch yourself try something different and enjoy the challenge.

[daversmth]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Balancing Act

IMG_0324_800 by david smith, on Flickr

[John Liddle]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

A solitary power pole (in a big sky).

A solitary power pole by John Liddle, on Flickr

[Chris J]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

A solitary tree on the bleak hill side above the Big Pit coal mining museum in Blaenavon in Wales.



7D + 24-105 on a blowy, cloudy day.

Cheers, Chris.

[David Stallard]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Not sure I'm going to get anything else in the time so just to make sure I get something up:

Single cylinder / single headlight / single seat.


5DmkIII, 70-200 2.8 mkII. 1/500, f/4, iso 100, 88mm

.DAVID.

[Dave61]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Solitary washed up ruin

Alone and Beyond repair by David Ore, on Flickr

[rcarca]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Singular yacht

Sailing through the sunset at Sounio by Richard Anderson, on Flickr

Best

Richard

[ST-EOS]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

BUMP

Only seven days to run, six entries to date. Come and join in the challenge

[TonyT]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

The Lone Hunter

[Wayne Els]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

A singular stream.

[AlexR!]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

A singular 'rectilinear' haystack in a field of round bales.


Harvest field by AlexR!, on Flickr

[ST-EOS]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Just another BUMP, approximately thirty five hours left for this challenge. The clocks ticking, any more for any more, roll up roll up etc.


Peter

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

[lunarbo]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Local Fiestas in my village,San Clemente

"No Fun at the Fair"

[IMG]No Fun at the Fair by Barbara Bett, on Flickr[/IMG]

[ST-EOS]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

This Challenge is now closed. Thanks to all of the entrants, I shall have a look at them all and report back.

[ST-EOS]

Re: Challenge 120 "Singular"

Thank you to those that entered. I had hoped for a few more entries with this subject. But we did get into double figures (just) and there are some great interpretations of singular.

Before I get to my thoughts on the images entered in to this challenge, I would just like to point out that there are a number of the images entered where I could not see the Exif data, in particular the date that the image was made. I have decided to accept that those entering would abide by the challenge rules and that all of the images were within the time period of the challenge.

My thoughts and comments on the entries are as follows:-

1. Dave Smith Balancing Act
Nice clean image with the focus on the main subject, the dead leaves in the foreground are bright and take my eye away from the Blackbird, but I believe that you would have a stronger image Dave if you cropped some off the left side of this image to make the image more about the bird. A square crop works well and allows the eye of the bird to sit nicely on a third, with the bird looking in to space on the right, but that crop still leaves the aforementioned foreground distraction, having said that, it would be quite easy to remove using cloning or content aware.

2. John Liddle Solitary Power Pole
What a great sky John, I tried a portrait crop on this image, keeping the pole on the left third. That crop gave a much stronger image and more in keeping with my interpretation of the challenge.

3. ChrisJ Single Tree
I really like the angle of the hill in the image, my initial thought when I saw this was “what a shame about the sky”. I think in this instance the tree gets overtaken by the rest of the landscape which is a shame as the tree has a lovely shape to it. I would want to be just to the right of the tree with the camera low down to try and position the tree on the skyline, but it would need a nice blue sky and some clouds, which sadly you didn’t have.

4. Dave Stallard Single cylinder / single headlight / single seat
Great “one off” (see what I did there) machine, I can’t imagine that it would be a very comfortable ride but it would turn some heads on the road. The modern BMX style wheels for me create a tension with the remainder of the machine. The routing of the exhaust makes me want to see the other side to determine how it connects to the silencer on the left side of the frame, if that’s what it does. I do like the contrast between it bike next to it with its sprung seat and more normal riding position. Sadly the blue bike spoils this image from my interpretation of the challenge.

5. Dave61 Solitary washed up ruin
I look at this and wonder how it was processed and what it looked like prior to the processing. Great composition with pen and ink or charcoal and chalk type of process applied to it. A very brave approach to processing, coupled with a subject which fits very well with the challenge.

6. Richard Singular yacht
A magical image, with great bands of colour in the sky and the land masses showing a channel to the ocean. Then there’s that sunlight reflected in the ocean with the yacht sitting in the beam of sunlight on a third as well.

7. TonyT Lone Hunter
A lovely image of a Heron, looking for its next meal. The heron is shown in its natural environment. The added benefit of its reflection in the water adds to the image.

8. Wayne Els Singular Stream
The stream looks like one of those nice quiet spots that a youngster with a net and jam jar to catch stickleback would be in their element. The cultivated fields across the valley in the far ground add a depth to the image. Interesting use of a 100mm prime, I personally would have used f16 rather than the f9 you chose, but that’s just me. I think I can see some dust bunnies in the sky! Which are more notiable when view on Flickr.

9. AlexR, Rectilinear Haystack
Did you ask the farmer to change machines from his round hay baler for this image Alex. When I look at this field with the cloud formation you have captured with sunlight peeping through at the top, I just want to see it in colour but that’s just me. I think I may be seeing some adjustments (a lighter area) around the base of haystack. But it could be the way the clouds are making the light hit the ground.

10. Lunarbo, No fun at the fair.
This one made me smile. The girl looks so despondent being at the fair sitting in a dodgem car with nobody to crash into! The single individual in the image meets my interpretation the challenge. The fact that there are other cars in the image is by the by as they don’t have anybody in them.


I have to say that as always I find the judging/ranking of these images in to a first to third placing very difficult. They all met the criteria of the challenge, each in their individual interpretation of the challenge. So my personal ranking is as follows:-

Third Place Barbara

Second Place Richard

First Place Dave61

Once again thanks to everyone who contributed to this challenge, it would have been nice to have had more entries but we have what we have.

I shall now pass the baton to Dave, over to you Dave.