Trains, Planes and Automobiles

[venta]

So, here I am on a Saturday morning, slaving over a laptop to bring you the results of the photo competition. Not my laptop, of course, but Andy's - which is set up to go click every I time I click a link, and may drive me to homicide. However.

Well, as predicted, this was actually much harder to judge than the last one, because the categories were less well defined. Also, in the votes I've received there was much less of a concensus of opinion than last time.

Quite a few people commented, too, on the difference between taking a good photo, and taking a photo of a good thing. It's possible to compose a photo of a mundane object in such a way that it looks impressive - it's also possible to produce a photo at which people will go "ooooh!" because it has cool subject matter. I've attempted to steer a happy medium between these.

So, photos which are worthy of mention (and if all these links work first time it'll be a miracle):

broadmeadow wrote, on the subject of using photoshop, in an email to me "some people may not like this". And he was very right :) General comments seemed to be that the axels and the narrowboat were (under all the 'shopping) good photos. An honourable mention, too, to the concept of the missing bus.

narenek's suspended bicycle came in for a lot of praise. He also gets points for an interesting composition for his airport shot.

addedentry managed a nice balance of good photos, and photos of good things. Obviously every one likes pink things, and shots like Heron Quay, Bankside and his planes seemed to appeal to a wide range of people.

wimble starts off at a bit of a disadvantage, as he had to prove he could take decent photos as well as get himself to Peru. However, the perspective of the train was much admired, and the water transport interested most people, though there were varied comments on its composition. Most disputed photo was his crashed car - the viewpoint of which was both loved and hated.

kneeshooter (= Simon W) went for a slightly different approach, mostly photographing details rather than whole vehicles, which went down well. His barge is a good example of this, but a number of people commented on the hang-glider and bikes, too. People who remember the last competition may wish to chalk Simon up as someone good at taking photos of things in motion :)


However, narrowly beating Simon and Addedentry, the two most admired collections were surje's and THC's. Pretty much every one of their photos was commented on by someone, and most people mentioned one or other of them as an overall winner.

Of particular note from THC: boats meet bikes, the car transporter and (my favourite) who nicked the engines?

And from Surje: shipwreck, diggers, and his reflected plane.

So, of these two, who should be the winner ? Well, I'm afraid that since Surje didn't actually meet the all the requirements for the competition (no train, and not enough visible wheels) he automatically loses on a technicality. Sorry, Surje (and feel free to appeal if you think I'm wrong!)

So, I formally declare: minor prizes to Surje, Simon and Addedentry. A major prize to THC. Which only leaves one question...

Who on earth is THC, anyway ? Do I know him/her ? Should I recognise the initials ?

Thanks to all who entered or voted. Extra thanks to Surje for providing the webspace.

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

Aha! The mystery is revealed. Do pass my regards on to him and thank him for entering :)

So, I now have to give Snow_Leopard a CD, a prize to pass on, and a growing collection of plastic bottletops. Lucky Snow_Leopard :)

[erming.livejournal.com]

I thanked him for entering and passed on your regards.

I did phone him to let him know he won and he was quite surprised and pleased. He thought the photos from Peru should have won, and liked some of the others.

The result was particularly impressive as it was taken on a £90 digital camera, proving you don't need impressive technology. He said he'd email you, so youd get some way of contacting him. He also has some nice pictures of Concorde as it landed for the last time while he was at Filton.

Hmmm, well as to Catt, I think it proves you need to come to London more often, so you don't end up with such a buildup of stuff :)