Challenge 191 - Retro

[powernapper]

This challenge, Retro, is about taking a picture that conveys to the viewer a sense of having been taken in an age gone by. Entries may include, but certainly not be limited to, a 1940's style Hollywood portrait, an antique artifact, a tumble down building, old machinery, vintage vehicle(s), etc etc. Feel free to explore your imagination using black-and-white, sepia, duotone, HDR, full colour - whatever takes a your fancy - the colour pallet is entirely your choice - but a word of caution: I am not a fan of over processing - less CAN be more. The byword is subtle.

For those new or shy on this forum, I would encourage you to enter. Hopefully in doing so you will challenge yourself and have a bit of fun at the same time.

Judging will be based on :-

* fulfilling the brief
* a good photo based on composition, focus and consideration to the light.
* Having impact. Will I remember your image after I go away from the computer?

The usual 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.
• All entries to be shot with a Canon EOS camera i.e. SLR / DSLR / M & R series
• 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 maximum (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- on this or another thread- 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).

And now my apology. Because it has taken me a short while to get my act together setting this challenge, I'm going to extend the deadline slightly and the challenge will close at midnight on New Year's Eve, 31st December 2022 - so if you've asked Santa to bring you some shiny new photographic gear then here's your chance to put it to the test!

Best wishes, and good luck with your entry.
powernapper

[John Liddle]

Just a friendly bump

[Lavenderhill]

Retro....Lighting

Retro lighting by Rose, on Flickr

[SpringfieldPhoto]

Vintage Hollywood

[AlexR!]

Sorry that I haven't been around much lately, for years I entered every single Challenge, and indeed used it to get me out and about with my camera, but over the last year I found I'd lost my mojo somewhat. My plan is to regain it in the new year. To get me back in the groove, here's a film noir styling:


ROH staircase noir style by AlexR!, on Flickr

[Farider]

The Steam Roller....

The Steam Roller by Ian, on Flickr

Ian

[Performancebywassberg]

Old style painting!

[Daisy M]

My Ties Through the Ages.

EOS Challenge by David Miller, on Flickr

[powernapper]

Thank you to everyone who supported my Retro themed challenge with your very interesting and diverse entries. This challenge is now closed. I will settle down later today to compose my comments/observations and announce my choice for the top three entries.
Regards.
Steve.

[powernapper]

First I would like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in my challenge, and to commend you all for the diverse entries that you submitted.

I was once asked to design the sleeve for a corporate DVD. To my surprise my client declined the opportunity to view a proof copy of the sleeve before it went off to the printers, and the reason he gave was that there are probably 1,000 ways to design the sleeve and that while some may pour scorn upon my creation an equal number would quite probably heap praise upon it - "one man's meat" etc.

I mention this simply because in the absence of any discussion or right of reply I am about to commit to print my comments and observations on the creations of six people whom I have never met, so it is quite reasonable to anticipate (a hopefully small) degree of disagreement. My comments are my own and as such should not be taken to heart by anyone who does not share my point of view - absolutely no criticism or offence intended.

So here are my thoughts which I offer in the order of members' submissions:

Lavenderhill - Retro ... Lighting
A nice compliance with the theme, both in subject matter and colour. As my eyes wandered from left to right, and back again, I felt that the composition might be a little confusing with no single focal point of interest. I pondered that you may have missed a trick here, if the lighted candle (minus its lovely holder) had been discretely hidden behind the oil lamp allowing the viewer to see only the candle's flame then perhaps it may have given the illusion that the lamp had been lit - just a thought.

SpringfieldPhoto - Vintage Hollywood
Again, nice compliance with the theme. I couldn't decide if this subtle image is monochrome or duotone, and I find that quite interesting. Perfect rendition of skintones, while retaining details in both highlights and shadows, has produced an accomplished and difficult to achieve image.

AlexR - ROH Staircase noir style
Your image took my thoughts back to the golden days of the silver screen as I imagined myself ascending the steps from the foyer up to the circle. Compressing the shadow detail on the edges of frame obliges the viewer to focus on the stairs themselves and I found myself following the steps right up to their vanishing point.

Farider - The Steam Roller
Retro indeed. Sometimes the opportunities to capture these workhorses of the past come upon us at short notice, and I suspect that maybe that is what happened here. Despite the interesting old wagon to the right of frame the cluttered foreground creates an unfortunate distraction to your primary subject and the lack of detail in the almost silhouette figures of the driver and his mate take away from your image of an interesting moment in time, or should that be time-gone-by?

Performancebywassberg - Old style painting!
A charming image indeed, and one which almost makes me shiver just looking at it. A good point of view ensured that the small upturned boats do not interfere with the view of the building in the background which itself adds depth to the image. I found it hard to decide if this really is a photograph of an actual location, or could it be a photograph of a painting? There's a compliment in there somewhere!

Daisy M - My Ties Through The Ages
A simple, or maybe a rather basic composition, which unfortunately does little to establish your creativity. I'm sure your local gents' outfitter (do they still exist?) would have been a little more creative with his display, but then again he's probably useless with a camera! I don't consider myself to be a fashion victim, indeed I can relate quite easily to one or two of your prized possessions, but it does seem quite apparent to me that your image has certainly grasped the retro theme.

So my choices are:

1st: AlexR for his ROH Staircase noir style
2nd: SpringfieldPhoto with Vintage Hollywood
3rd: Lavenderhill with Retro ... Lighting

Congratulations to AlexR, we look forward to your Challenge No 192.

Steve.

[Daisy M]

Congratulations Alex and thanks for comments and challenge Steve.

[Farider]

Congratulations to Alex, Alan and Rose and many thanks to Steve for the challenge, judging and the comments

Look forward to your challenge Alex !

Ian

[Lavenderhill]

Thank you Steve for the interesting challenge, judging and comments.

Congratulations to Alex and also Alan, I look forward to the next challenge

Rose

[AlexR!]

Oh gosh, Steve, thanks so much; this is completely unexpected. Thanks also for your detailed comments, and I completely understand your discomfort at commenting on other peoples images, but everyone on this forum understands that is the role of the setter, and that it is just one persons view. And I think most of us who post here want to learn from other peoples reactions to their images so thanks for your honesty.
Well done to my fellow podium dwellers.
I will put my thinking cap on and hope to post the next challenge shortly.

[SpringfieldPhoto]

Congratulations to Alex!!

A big thankyou to Steve for setting and judging the challenge!!