Winners - March Photo Competition (Water)

[jak]

Congratulations to the following winners. Especially to asdfjkl, for easily (and deservedly) scoring the most votes in a very strong field.

Winners:
1st - asdfjkl - 300 points
2nd - tie between Canalien and frgn8r - 150 points each.
3rd - none

Because 2nd place is a draw, then 2nd and 3rd points are split evenly.

Details (including who took each photo) etc can be found here (http://forums.zgeek.com/showthread.php?t=32914)

Will get Pirate to award the rep soon. Feel free to +rep the winners for their good effort!

:)

[druid]

Congratulations for the winners! :pir8dan:

It would be nice if every competitor would tell something about their entry. I'll start:

My entry was "Walking on water".

In March it was still pretty much winter time so actual water in a fluid state was scarce in the nature. One Sunday we went walking on the ice of the local river which was mostly covered in snow. However under some bridges there wasn't any and one could almost see through the ice into the water (it looks scary at first). The ice was at least 30 cm thick and could carry light vehicles. Unfortunately the water isn't too clear so the depth effect isn't conveyed very well in photos (works better in 3D). Even the reflection looked better.

I was also told by a few people that it doesn't really look like thick ice but a concrete slab with a thin layer of ice on it. I guess you had to be there... Some hints of depth in the photo are the air bubbles trapped in the ice (the 3 big ones are all on top of one another) and the cracks in the ice which continue deeper (see the lighter strips under the cracks).

In the end I was just happy to get even one vote, let alone two (and I didn't vote for myself).

I've attached another picture from the same day that I considered for submission. There was also a closeup on a mass of smaller air bubbles trapped in the ice in all three dimensions but I can't find it now.

Technical details for the submission are: 1/500 sec, ISO 50, F2.8

[Canalien]

Ok, I came 2nd(ish), so I suppose I should get in before asdfjkl steals the spotlight (seriously sweet photo btw).
The pic was of an Eastern Water Dragon taken at the Mt. Coot-Tha Botanic Gardens sometime early march (I can't remember the day exactly). Anyway, I was basically there snapping happily away with my girlfriend's camera at ducks and what not (she's big on looking at the ducks, I just like eating them), when I saw that mean looking little bugger sitting there poking his head up and I just KNEW he was waiting for a fuzzy little duckling to swim too close. At least I like to think so. Anyway, what I thought was pretty sweet is that he must have been waiting there for a while because the portion of his body that was out of the water had completely air-dried while he just sat motionless.
I didn't know the photo comp was on water that month, so a week or so later I submitted the pic when I found out. By the way, the quality is shocking because I had to use the dodgy digital zoom to get a real close shot of him.

[ttpuk]

i'll start with a thankyou. im a first timer and i actually got a vote! even better was it wasnt from me! so thankyou whoever it was.
my attempt was the carwash. i was looking for more than just a standard water shot, i was looking for something explosive. my wife took the shot as i was driving, i told her to take it when the back wheels entered the water but as you can see she couldnt see them.
i take all my photos with an old 3 megapixel kodak digital camera.

[dozer]

yeah i was the greenman, taken in hyde park.

heres where i post the other pics i took and wonder why i entered what i did.

yeah jak recommends i go with greenman then leaves him off the poll, i was cheated ;)

[Nodbugger]

My picture was from my fish tank. It was of a coral called a Nepthea. The sucker has grown so much since I got it. It has propagated way too many times to count, once they get bigger I can sell them for $20+.

[TK-421]

Mine was the surfing shot. Since then I believe my shots have improved a hell of a lot. It was over exposed and I was looking almost directly into the sun but it was one of the better shots I had taken in march.
If anyone wants to check out some more of my shots I have a gallery (http://www.photozo.com/album/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=7294)

I forgot about the details.
It was all pretty standard, the camera is a Samsung v3 3.1 mp. Shutter: 1 sec (i know, how bad is that? amazed it wasn't as blurry as fuck), aperture:f/3.6.

If any of you enjoy going in the surf I urge you all to try out a camera with a water housing, it is so much fun, even those dodgy disposable ones.

[BlueBoy]

Shanty Pier is a shot i'd been thinking about taking for a few months now. I'm a big fan of single-point perspective and always hoped that I could get a shot lined up like that.

The shot was taken at Sorrento, Victoria (a place with fantastic views and just enough history). I'd wandered down there expecting to get a few boat shots and maybe one of the cross-bay ferry. I attempted to get a shot of my foot imprinted in the sand but it didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped.

I came in from the left of the pier and took a few shots around and under it. I didn't think much of the pier until i got to the righthand side and saw the shot I'd had in my head. A few snaps later and I had what I wanted.

If I had to say one bad thing about it, it's that there's too many boats in the shot. However, I'm really happy with how it turned out in the end.

Shot was taken with a Canon A40 2-megapixel camera.

[asdfjkl]

DAmmit, i jsut posted this in the vote thread, not realising this one had been created, so i'll jsut cut and paste....

I am the creator of splash, thanks to those who voted and the positive comments and well done everyone else to who entered there were some very worthy competition indeed.

As some of you Newcastle members noticed this photo was taken at the very photogenic Merewether Ocean Baths. This was taken about 20 minutes after sunrise.

The technical details are as follows.

Film - FujiChrome Velvia 100 ISO 35mm Slide Film
Camera - Pentax MX-50 SLR
Focal length - about 30-40mm
Apature f/22
Shutter 1/4 sec

I also used a NDx2 filter as well which slowed the film down to the equivalent of a 50 ISO which is the film i normally prefer to use. (I may even have used an NDx4, to be honest I cant remember)

Yeap Kyle you are correct. I also used a polarising filter which greatly cut down the glare from the sun on the water. Next time you are wearing you polarising sun glasses and there is glare on water or glass or something, look at it both with the glasses on and off and you will see what a polarising filter does when you put it on your lens. They reduce the glare from most non metalic objects.

The tiny apature and NDx2 filter (and to a very small extend the polarising filter) cut the light through the lens to allow for the longer shutter speed to catch the movement in the water.

I made a 24x16 inch print of this and it came out quite sharp. I was pretty happy with it.

At lunch time I will post some other photo's that I have taken that involve water and how I took them if anyone is interested in seeing them.

Oh yeah, and the pump house does look quite like a submarine.

Thanks again guys!

[frgn8r]

The sea was angry that night my friends, like an old man trying to send soup back at a restaurant...

Ha ha - you got me... thanks for the votes guys... the picture was actually taken with a cheap ass Konika Digital Camera, 5.1 Megpix... with a few little adjustments to the standard settings, but no post-production...

I think Bifrost asked if I got lucky or just took dozens of shots... both are true... about 600 to get a series of about 10 workable shots...

[ShinymetalASS]

Mine was Bruce.

It was taken at Wynnum with Dave's camera.

I just liked the balance of the shot. Liked the aspect of the photo. I dont know anything about taking photos at all. If I see something I like, I snap it!

All pics from hereon will be on my phone camera until the Nikon gets fixed. Bastard.

Thanks to everyone else for their pics. I thought everyone was excellent.

I have to be honest and say though that Splash was my favourite of the lot

[m0loch]

Mine was Kaltes Klares (German for cold, clear..as in cold clear water...)
It's a close up of the Snake River in northwestern Wyoming (USA)
Taken with my new toy, Nikon D70, crap sigma lens, cropped and resized.

Good competition everyone! I'm looking forward to this month's contest. Still haven't taken any pictures worthy, but Will go out next weekend and see what I can do.

[muga]

Mine was 'The Falls'
It was taken at Carrington Falls, New South Wales. (near Robertson) with a Nikon 8700 with no filters and using the manual settings on the camera. I took lot's of photos from all kinds of angles, even some while standing over the top of the falls but this one was my favorite, just like the colours and angle of the shot.

Well done to everyone who entered the comp, some great photos all round.

[dozer]

well done asdjfkl, you can really see the velvia colours come out in the shot.

[jak]

Yeah, I agree, great colours in your shot asdjfkl. My girlfriend shoots a lot velvia tranny film (doesnt 'do' digital). Colours are incredible.

btw, I trust we are all repping the winners!

[dozer]

theres a velvia photoshop plugin here that has very similar results

http://www.fixit-4u.net/mrk/root/photos/velvia.atn/Velvia.atn

[muga]

^
wow - that is great!!
thanks!!

Edit: before & after shot
http://gutter.customer.netspace.net.au/falls_compare.jpg

[jak]

cool. will give it a go.

I personally use the velvia plugin from www.fredmiranda.com

:)

[asdfjkl]

Thanks guys,

Velvia = Best film ever, i love it.

The colour saturation is outstanding.

[jak]

Did the winners get their rep?