Re: Challenge No 74 - Colour Popping
OK, I hope this doesn’t turn into Date-Gate. It did vaguely occur to me that there may be this confusion with a ‘post-processing’ type of Challenge, but I had thought my wording in my 4th bullet point (“posted images should be taken during the running period of the competition”) was sufficiently clear, but obviously not. So I apologise for any confusion arising. Anyway, once I saw there were a couple of entries that looked out of range, I did decide to comment and score on everyone anyway, but then just to choose the winners from those that qualified. Hope that’s ok. The important thing is that there are loads of great images to admire and learn from, and hopefully people enjoyed taking part.
So, to the results...
As I said in the OP I will score them on three criteria, and for your information will also give my comments and suggestions on each. Please don’t take offence at anything I say, it’s just my opinion, others will disagree. That said, in this case my word is law. Mwah haw haw *walks off rubbing hands and cackling in power-crazed Bond-villain style*.
Tesarver - Seigfried Train Depot
Colour popping technique: The popped features certainly stand out, and the building has been isolated from its surroundings well, but to my eye the gravel between the sleepers should be mono too. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: I’d seen this image in the forum earlier and loved the various treatments that you had given it. Using colour to connect the railway building with its associated track is really clever. 9/10
Overall composition: You have created a really striking image and l always love your experimentation, but for me this time there is just a bit too much going on. 8/10
Total: 25
Pelliott1954 - Breakfast In Bed
Colour popping technique: Wow, those yellows really stand out against the black. And great touch to include a little drip on the soldiers. You’ve kept the variation in yellows really well. Excellent. 10/10
Does image suit treatment?: It is possible that I am going ga-ga, but I’m sure that when I first saw the entry I said to myself ‘the flower is nice, but I wish he had also picked out the yellow of the yolk’. Then a couple of days later I looked again, and you had. I’m only not sure whether the green stalk looks right and whether it would have been better to keep it just to the yellows. 9/10
Overall composition: I’m normally a stickler for straight lines and horizons (I’m a cartographer at heart), but as this is presumably on your lap in bed a bit of looseness adds. Well lit and I like the black background. 9/10
Total: 28
Rajjayaraj - Saltburn Pier
Colour popping technique: I love how you’ve distinguished between her in pink and him in purple. I think you could have maintained this simplicity by not including the yellow on his back. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: I’d be interested in seeing the full colour original, but it seems to me that by only picking out those colours you have enabled the viewer to really focus in on the figures without any external distractions, which is what this is all about. 9/10
Overall composition: It took me quite a while to tune into what the image was, but once I did, I liked it. I liked the background all being out of focus, but just wish the man’s left arm was in. 8/10
Total: 25
Guesty - Bee on flower
Colour popping technique: As you say, a more ‘natural’ looking effect and I like its subtlety, but I would have preferred the background to be completely mono. 7/10
Does image suit treatment?: Something is bothering me, and I think that it is the bee. Normally I’d love to see it there to add interest, but in this case it distracts - part of me thinks it shouldn’t be included in the pop but I suspect that wouldn’t look right either. I reckon I’d prefer either just the bee popped, or the flower without the bee. 7/10
Overall composition: As a straight shot, I think it is all there. 9/10
Total: 24
Thndr_Strck - Cape Grey Mongoose
Colour popping technique: Those top eye lash hairs must have been the devil to work around, and you’ve done a really good job, although there is a bit of reflection in the top part of the eye that distracts me slightly. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: Very much so. Simple, bold and striking. 9/10
Overall composition: Maybe I would have given a little more space to the left of the shot for him to look into, and to see the ends of the stray hairs, but I’m being really picky. 9/10
Total: 26
mikep - Flowers at Barnes WWT
Colour popping technique: Really interesting to see it popped against sepia rather than mono, and I think this works really well. You’ve missed some spaces between the shrivelled petals, though, where the original green is coming through. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: Very much so, I think you’ve added so much more interest and created a genuine mood. 9/10
Overall composition: You’ve balanced the flower heads brilliantly from left to right, but personally I’d shave a little off the top to take the main head off the centre line. 9/10
Total: 26
antoeknee - The Real Thing
Colour popping technique: One of my previous attempts had a lot of stalks to select out, so I know what a faff that is. Good job. 9/10
Does image suit treatment?: My instinct would have been to have just popped the label, but now I reckon I’d have been wrong - I love the hints of coke left in the bottle. You’ve made an otherwise unremarkable (indeed throwaway) image memorable. 9/10
Overall composition: Lighting is really good, and by darkening the grass you’ve helped the bottle stand out. I really think I’d have preferred the front label to be showing though. 9/10
Total: 27
Unfortunately, the exif shows that it was taken outside of the dates for the competition, which is a darn shame because I really liked it - and it looks really really good in full resolution on Flickr. I did pm antoeknee to check it wasn’t just the date stamp being wrong in camera.
hoopix - West Bay Beach
Colour popping technique: Nicely selected, I might have tried brightening the lifebelt itself slightly. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: Makes a lifebelt interesting. Who’d have thought that possible? 8/10
Overall composition: Clean and simple is so often the most effective, and this is a good example of that. The boat is so in line with the lifebelt did you put it there? However, because the power of the image is its abstract quality, I would prefer it without the bird (though normally I like them to add interest to the sky) and you could have straightened the horizon (but you weren’t to know that is one of my biggest bug-bears!). 8/10
Total: 24
By the way, your first entry into a Challenge - welcome!
adareimages - Taos Cemetery
Colour popping technique: Great job in selecting all of those individual elements, very precisely. 10/10
Does image suit treatment?: My initial thought was that I wished you had just done the flags as the other red elements seemed cluttered, but I’ve come back to it several times now and you’ve won me around. You need the reds at the foot of the image to balance the flags. 10/10
Overall composition: Lovely balance and composition. 10/10
Total: 30
Although no exif, as this showed snow on the ground and no leaves on the trees in New Mexico I pm’d adareimages who confirmed it was taken a while ago. Which is a shame because as you can see I loved it.
DianaS - Porsche 911
Colour popping technique: You’ve isolated the car from the background really well, and yet retained a slightly muted feel on its markings which I really like. But I’d rather you hadn’t also popped the sandy coloured banks in the background. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: What you have done focuses the attention right onto the car and away from a potentially distracting background. 9/10
Overall composition: I find the head with the light coloured cap a bit distracting although the other two figures add scale and interest. 8/10
Total: 25
It seems posts can only be 10,000 characters long, so onto part 2...
OK, I hope this doesn’t turn into Date-Gate. It did vaguely occur to me that there may be this confusion with a ‘post-processing’ type of Challenge, but I had thought my wording in my 4th bullet point (“posted images should be taken during the running period of the competition”) was sufficiently clear, but obviously not. So I apologise for any confusion arising. Anyway, once I saw there were a couple of entries that looked out of range, I did decide to comment and score on everyone anyway, but then just to choose the winners from those that qualified. Hope that’s ok. The important thing is that there are loads of great images to admire and learn from, and hopefully people enjoyed taking part.
So, to the results...
As I said in the OP I will score them on three criteria, and for your information will also give my comments and suggestions on each. Please don’t take offence at anything I say, it’s just my opinion, others will disagree. That said, in this case my word is law. Mwah haw haw *walks off rubbing hands and cackling in power-crazed Bond-villain style*.
Tesarver - Seigfried Train Depot
Colour popping technique: The popped features certainly stand out, and the building has been isolated from its surroundings well, but to my eye the gravel between the sleepers should be mono too. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: I’d seen this image in the forum earlier and loved the various treatments that you had given it. Using colour to connect the railway building with its associated track is really clever. 9/10
Overall composition: You have created a really striking image and l always love your experimentation, but for me this time there is just a bit too much going on. 8/10
Total: 25
Pelliott1954 - Breakfast In Bed
Colour popping technique: Wow, those yellows really stand out against the black. And great touch to include a little drip on the soldiers. You’ve kept the variation in yellows really well. Excellent. 10/10
Does image suit treatment?: It is possible that I am going ga-ga, but I’m sure that when I first saw the entry I said to myself ‘the flower is nice, but I wish he had also picked out the yellow of the yolk’. Then a couple of days later I looked again, and you had. I’m only not sure whether the green stalk looks right and whether it would have been better to keep it just to the yellows. 9/10
Overall composition: I’m normally a stickler for straight lines and horizons (I’m a cartographer at heart), but as this is presumably on your lap in bed a bit of looseness adds. Well lit and I like the black background. 9/10
Total: 28
Rajjayaraj - Saltburn Pier
Colour popping technique: I love how you’ve distinguished between her in pink and him in purple. I think you could have maintained this simplicity by not including the yellow on his back. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: I’d be interested in seeing the full colour original, but it seems to me that by only picking out those colours you have enabled the viewer to really focus in on the figures without any external distractions, which is what this is all about. 9/10
Overall composition: It took me quite a while to tune into what the image was, but once I did, I liked it. I liked the background all being out of focus, but just wish the man’s left arm was in. 8/10
Total: 25
Guesty - Bee on flower
Colour popping technique: As you say, a more ‘natural’ looking effect and I like its subtlety, but I would have preferred the background to be completely mono. 7/10
Does image suit treatment?: Something is bothering me, and I think that it is the bee. Normally I’d love to see it there to add interest, but in this case it distracts - part of me thinks it shouldn’t be included in the pop but I suspect that wouldn’t look right either. I reckon I’d prefer either just the bee popped, or the flower without the bee. 7/10
Overall composition: As a straight shot, I think it is all there. 9/10
Total: 24
Thndr_Strck - Cape Grey Mongoose
Colour popping technique: Those top eye lash hairs must have been the devil to work around, and you’ve done a really good job, although there is a bit of reflection in the top part of the eye that distracts me slightly. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: Very much so. Simple, bold and striking. 9/10
Overall composition: Maybe I would have given a little more space to the left of the shot for him to look into, and to see the ends of the stray hairs, but I’m being really picky. 9/10
Total: 26
mikep - Flowers at Barnes WWT
Colour popping technique: Really interesting to see it popped against sepia rather than mono, and I think this works really well. You’ve missed some spaces between the shrivelled petals, though, where the original green is coming through. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: Very much so, I think you’ve added so much more interest and created a genuine mood. 9/10
Overall composition: You’ve balanced the flower heads brilliantly from left to right, but personally I’d shave a little off the top to take the main head off the centre line. 9/10
Total: 26
antoeknee - The Real Thing
Colour popping technique: One of my previous attempts had a lot of stalks to select out, so I know what a faff that is. Good job. 9/10
Does image suit treatment?: My instinct would have been to have just popped the label, but now I reckon I’d have been wrong - I love the hints of coke left in the bottle. You’ve made an otherwise unremarkable (indeed throwaway) image memorable. 9/10
Overall composition: Lighting is really good, and by darkening the grass you’ve helped the bottle stand out. I really think I’d have preferred the front label to be showing though. 9/10
Total: 27
Unfortunately, the exif shows that it was taken outside of the dates for the competition, which is a darn shame because I really liked it - and it looks really really good in full resolution on Flickr. I did pm antoeknee to check it wasn’t just the date stamp being wrong in camera.
hoopix - West Bay Beach
Colour popping technique: Nicely selected, I might have tried brightening the lifebelt itself slightly. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: Makes a lifebelt interesting. Who’d have thought that possible? 8/10
Overall composition: Clean and simple is so often the most effective, and this is a good example of that. The boat is so in line with the lifebelt did you put it there? However, because the power of the image is its abstract quality, I would prefer it without the bird (though normally I like them to add interest to the sky) and you could have straightened the horizon (but you weren’t to know that is one of my biggest bug-bears!). 8/10
Total: 24
By the way, your first entry into a Challenge - welcome!
adareimages - Taos Cemetery
Colour popping technique: Great job in selecting all of those individual elements, very precisely. 10/10
Does image suit treatment?: My initial thought was that I wished you had just done the flags as the other red elements seemed cluttered, but I’ve come back to it several times now and you’ve won me around. You need the reds at the foot of the image to balance the flags. 10/10
Overall composition: Lovely balance and composition. 10/10
Total: 30
Although no exif, as this showed snow on the ground and no leaves on the trees in New Mexico I pm’d adareimages who confirmed it was taken a while ago. Which is a shame because as you can see I loved it.
DianaS - Porsche 911
Colour popping technique: You’ve isolated the car from the background really well, and yet retained a slightly muted feel on its markings which I really like. But I’d rather you hadn’t also popped the sandy coloured banks in the background. 8/10
Does image suit treatment?: What you have done focuses the attention right onto the car and away from a potentially distracting background. 9/10
Overall composition: I find the head with the light coloured cap a bit distracting although the other two figures add scale and interest. 8/10
Total: 25
It seems posts can only be 10,000 characters long, so onto part 2...
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