April Forum Contest - Shapes

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Robert Fehnel
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April Forum Contest - Shapes

The April theme is: Shapes

This month's judge is anonymous for now.

Theme description: 

The April theme is "Shapes".  We often hear how photos with certain shapes tend to have a bit more pop.  Your photo should include a prominent shape, this could be any shape but it should be noticeable. Some more prominent shapes that we see often include circles and triangles.  Entries could range from street photography to abstract and everything in between.  Have fun and enjoy shooting.  

 

Rules can be found here. Keep in mind this is just for fun and has no impact on points gained during our regular monthly competitions.

If you are unsure how to post a photo visit this post here where you can learn how to add a photo to your reply.

 

 

Submissions are due by April 23 2015 by 6 P.M. To submit simple reply to this posting by adding a comment below.

 

If you have any questions or problems uploading a photo please email Robert Fehnel at rrf2c@virginia.edu

Karen Lang
Karen Lang's picture

The shape of roses for sale

Stan Kaslusky
Stan Kaslusky's picture

Tractor at the county fair

Sandy Hodge
Sandy Hodge's picture

All that glitters..

Deborah Kellams
Deborah Kellams's picture

Deborah Kellams The Culbreth

Alda Vidrich
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Shapes and Reflections

Toni Zappone
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Canon at Fort Sumter, SC

Robert Fehnel
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Below are my critiques for each photo.  At the end I have chosen the winner for this months competition.  

 

Karen Lang – The shape of roses for sale – An interesting photo perhaps found at a market area with local vendors.  The photo seems to keep the flowers all in focus as they are in the same plane, as well as offering an interesting contrast of the purple versus the white flowers.  When looking for shapes my eye is drawn to the many small circles within the soon to be open purple flowers.  These circles appear darker and therefore grab my attention.  I also recognized the rectangular shapes of the groups of flowers as a whole, and the area above the flowers.  For me the many circles don’t work in harmony and seem like a bunch of small spots in essence.  I wonder if a stronger composition would involve a cropped version without the area above, and perhaps only one color of the flowers.  

 

Rick Stillings – no title – Some form of light painting perhaps?  As those who know me they would think this is right up my alley as well.  I like how the two overlapping ovular shapes complement each other.  The placement of the red and green ovals overlap to create more interest and are placed perfectly allowing for some dead space to balance the photo.  Each of the shapes also has the fine detail of the multiple lines filling in the shape.  With abstracts it is always hard to say how it can be improved and I am not sure I have any suggestions for this photo.  I do like the colors used in this photo and think they help make this photo, other colors just may not work.  

 

Stan Kaslusky – Tractor at the County Fair – Circles, Circles, circles.  They are in abundance here.  I really enjoy how they overlap with each other, with the gears interlocking.  Also the fact that the two largest circles go off the frame makes it more interesting and by having larger circles it takes less to fill the frame.  The colors of the picture are also alluring to me as I think it is a very complimentary tones of red and green.  Finally the texture of the base metal and grit of the grease near the gears gives it even more interest.  If I had to make a suggestion I might look at a cropping such that the photo only contained the metal gears, I would want to see the tree/sky background removed from the photo although as they are substantially blurry it isn’t necessary.  I am not sure this would be possible with this photo as it would also mean cropping some of the shapes out as well.  

 

Sandy Hodge – All that Glitters – This is the first different shape posted, here I notice the upside down tear drops.  The leaves also have some triangular elements to them.  Color wise it is rather simple with a black background and mainly gold and red showing on the item.  I am not sure that this photo necessarily exemplifies the use of shapes although it contains them.  The photo feels a bit stagnant as the item is almost centered on the photo.  Also the fingers that stick up in front seem a bit soft to me as well and a bit distracting as they extend from the edge onto the item in the photo.  

 

Deborah Kellams – The Culbreth – Triangles are a shape that can be used to create a strong composition.  This could be a photo that asks the viewer to count the number of triangles as there are plenty.  The striking red triangle created by the seats is apparent right from the start.  The floor creates more triangles, and the walls have a sort of parallelogram shape.  My one possible edit I might try, is to crop out the dark upper right corner.  This would in fact also create another prominent triangle.  

 

Alda Vidich – Shapes and Reflections – In this photo I see a square with a triangle reflected into the water.  The basic shape of a house or building that we start drawing as children have these two shapes and that is what my eye sees in this photo.  I do have a few issues with this photo.  I can understand what the photographer was going for, having the fog around this structure.  However, it creates more of a haze that washes out the photo and softens the subject rather than adding interest.  The tree that comes in the top left also intrudes on the photo, if it drooped over more it might create a natural frame, but where it is now just distracts.  The foreground does help anchor the photo but I am not sure it really helps and it also seems a little soft.  

 

Toni Zappone – Cannon at Fort Sumter – Hmmm, I wonder what the shape is here.  In this case the circle is right there dead center.  You have the bore of the cannon in the center then the cannon itself is sort of circular and it is also rather centered.  There are also the rectangles of the stone that the cannon sits on as well as a triangle created by the stairs in the upper left of the photo.  However, the cannon centered doesn’t allow for much intrigue, and the offsetting stair case seems to unbalance the photo which is basically symmetric otherwise.  I am not sure that there is enough of interest here for me, as I am not picking up on other colors, textures or shapes.  

 

 

For me the winner is: Stan Kaslusky with “Tractor at the County Fair” this industrial looking photo was the clear winner to me.  The use of circles and the way they were placed gave this photo a lot of interest and was a perfect example of using shapes to create a strong composition.  

 

If I had to give a second place it would be Deborah Kellams, and a third place would go to Rick Stillings.  

 

So with that I would like to say I enjoyed seeing all the entries.  I hope that my critiques may help you in the future when you take other photos or for getting these photos ready to submit to our regular competitions.  

 

Again thank you all for entering.  Please feel free to discuss each other’s photos and give feedback.  The more we discuss the photos the better photographers we all will become.  

 

Toni Zappone
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Thanks, Rob. Some good and interesting critiques. We appreciate your taking the time to do this.

Sandy Hodge
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Thanks Rob for judging. I appreciate the comments. Helpful!

Alda Vidrich
Alda Vidrich's picture

Congratulations Stan. Had no idea tractors had such lively colors.

Thanks for the critique Rob. Next time I see something I'd like to photograph in pea soup fog I'll remember your suggestions.