Winners - Weekly Challenge #64 - Ruins

[F-Stop]

Well, what can I say but that I can only blame myself for the mess I'm in. I'm terrible or at least hate making decisions and when this started I was like Awesome, I want to see more entries but then it came to a point wow, how do I choose?

I hate to leave anyone out as already said there have been a lot of great shots so a lot of this comes down to first impression, technical merit and expression of the theme for this week. I would comment on every photo but I've spent well over an hour so far. I was originally going to label it as 'Abandoned' which would have been a broader spectrum of subjects and I was somewhat hoping to see that here also, to a degree I have.

In no particular order here are a few (puts up flying monkey poo shield) photos that I felt I had a connection to in some way:

reeftool
I like this picture because it reminds me of the river and old bridge that used to be in place for a saw mill my father and grandfather worked in. My father, brother and I went fishing there when I was 16, it was a great time.

Peter Zack
Nicely captured. A now typical Newfoundland scene. Sadly this boat didn't see an extended life after the end to the Cod fishery in the early 90's. My great aunt & uncle live in the next community over in Hearts Delight in my great grandfathers old house.

MrApollinax
All I can say is wow, super detail, what lens did you use for that?

tpeace
Amazing colors and great contrast with the old house/cabin.

daleroy
You take me back to my childhood or wishing I was 7 years old again helping my grandfather put hay in his bar and take care of the cows.

alohadave
Your time to the Parthenon must have been exciting. I was able to visit the replica in Nashville last summer at least and took endless photos myself, sadly the SLR was back here at home during that time; sadly it was closed for a private party that day.


Bramela
Thanks for the picture in color, I personally like it better. I have a better sense of depth and the trees almost create a room around the old cabin. Seems like a nice place to have lived or visited at one point, very quaint and cute looking.



Mallee Boy
I wish you were the only one that posted as I loved your photo from the start. The setting is absolutely beautiful and the fact you managed to get it while sheep were around kinda puts a purpose to the house or what the family did while they were there. I wish I could move in. It's so peaceful and inviting. I'd love to just walk around on those hills and relax under a tree all day. If I was 20 years younger I'd be tumbling down head over heals or rolling like a log till I hit the bottom.




Dale
I love your photo on a personal level. It reminds me of the fence at the end of my grandfathers land that my brother and I used to climb over so often to go to the beach or just going off and exploring places with my cousin when we were young. I spent all my time there in the Summer.




Workingdog
I must say, great subject and blend and contrast of colors. A tough choice to decide from. More of the train would be nice depending. My only critique was the limited depth of field which made my eye want to be in focus but was blurry.




gawan
Nice detail, one of those limited time moments as the seagull IMO really adds to it as if to say "Ah, so yeah... where's the rest gone" yet at the same time makes a temporary resting place or home of it's own. The crumbling brick wall really pops!




NaClH2O
I love this type of thing. Nostalgia of the past, the world so simple back then compared to how things are today, everyone coming together in one place to Ooo and Aww of new creations. To picture the trade floor full and people walking about or walking down the stairs and seeing 'New Technology' for the first time.




J.Scott
What a great find! I'd probably spend a good hour walking around trying to take as many pictures from as many angles as possible for something like this. Really makes you think how this place looked before it was abandoned and overgrown. Another tough decision for first place. The lighting and detail is perfect. The same can be said for your photo garth1948 Really makes you think what it was like when they built that structure in the beginning.




daacon
I had you as a top contender at first. Awesome capture although I think cropped and rotated horizontal a little more would made it just that much better and tweaked slightly. If it had been for that I think you would have won this week.




ftpaddict
While I'm not a fan of HDR as it's generally over done you managed to hang on to the ranges rather well with a little bit of high contrast in the foreground. The colors, lighting and shadows really set the mood and the lines throughout the whole space tie everything together from the floor, windows and walls. Again, another tough decision from first place and I wanted to pick it for sure.






And the Winner for this Weeks Challenge is...

Fritz!

While similar to the types of scenes I have been shooting locally that's not the reason I decided on it. The contrasting green and white on the walls really catches your attention. The low and blurred ceiling at the beginning along with the rust lined cracks force your eye further into the image, pushing you from room to room where you're hit by a change in color in the end from everything else around. The shadows and light guide you around and make you want to explore every small space available. Not only that but you then wonder while walking around who had been there in the past, what was the purpose of it all and what did it really look like at one point.





Thanks to everyone that contributed, a lot of great work and I love the stories behind the photo. A few photos were larger than the 1000x1000 which slowed the computer down a bit when browsing through the pages. I hope I don't have to make a decision like this again any time soon.

[Workingdog]

Congratulations Fritz and thanks F-Stop for the mention. There were so many great entries this week I was relieved that I would not have to do the judging.

[Peter Zack]

Good one Fritz, Well deserved. Thanks F-Stop and great job Judging, it was a tough one. appreciate the mention as well.

[NaClH2O]

Thanks F-stop for a wonderful judging job and of course the HM. I also apologise for submitting an oversize photo, hadn't realized I had done that. I'm usually careful to pick the 800X535 size but I mistakenly got one size larger, again, apologies. Also congrats to all the other HM's and to Fritz for that great winning shot.

NaCl(glad I didn't have to judge this one!)H2O

[Fritz]

Wow, thanks for the honor of placing my shot first among so many fine photos. This is the first contest like this that I have won, so give me a little while to figure out what I'm doing, and I'll try to get a new contest posted later today. This will be a learning experience for me, picking out a topic and judging.

[MrApollinax]

Originally Posted by F-Stop

MrApollinax
All I can say is wow, super detail, what lens did you use for that?

Believe it or not this picture was taken with the Mk I 18-55 Kit lens. This was part of the first set of pictures I took with my camera when I first bought it.

Originally shot in JPEG in Program mode. ISO 200 and default settings in the camera. The version I posted here I cropped and played around with the lighting using Lightzone to bring out the details I remembered at the time I took the shot. Thanks for the mention this thread was seriously stacked with some amazing shots.

[Bramela]

Congrulations to the winner, and indeed, all the entries. Some really great shots entered. Well done, one and all.
Regarding comments on my shot: it is quaint but very isolated. I think you would need to be a hermit or total drop out to have lived in that one.

[daacon]

Great job F-stop - thanks for the mention and wow that was a tough one. Really diverse interpretation of ruins well done all. Congrats to Fritz.

[Mallee Boy]

Congratulations F stop and Fritz,
good topic, great photo(s) and well judged.
Cheers.

[khardur]

those were some fine photos. I really enjoyed seeing all the entries. Congrats Fritz!

[gawan]

Thank you very much for the mentioning. These photos are just so worthy a company! Congrats to Fritz an all others too!

[Zewrak]

Aww. I did'nt even get a comment.

Grats to winner.

[gawan]

Originally Posted by Zewrak

Aww. I did'nt even get a comment.

Grats to winner.

LOL, well... here you are:
I liked your photo very much, the centred symmetry works well in your photo creating a mood as when time stops and clocks cease ticking. The subtle and darkish colours also contribute to the mood well. This photo somehow looks familiar, but then again, you are from the neighbourhood

[Dale]

Well done Fitz, good shot!

Part of the fun here is the great commentary F-Stop gave us.

Good luck for next week!