In this weeks challenge I am looking at backgrounds.

I tend to concentrate on the main subject of a photograph and treat the background as something of a problem and not part of the solution. How can I frame this so get rid of some distracting element. Can I blur the background? How can I crop this to remove the truck in the distance? When I have time to think about things, I try to deliberately put the subject in front of an interesting background. Sometimes this involves selecting a different angle of view Sometimes it means waiting for the right background to come along. Sometimes it is pot luck.

Examples

#1 Pot luck. It happens occasionally.






# 2 Bending, crouching and eventually lying on the ground to get the two flowers lined up.




#3 Seeing a possibility and waiting for the elements to line up. The pelican and reflection of a red and yellow truck passing on the freeway behind. I waited 30 minutes for this one.




# 4 A similar shaped flower of a contrasting colour, blurred just enough conveys a repetition of the subject and a break in the otherwise uniform background.



For this exercise I would prefer no composites. It does not have to be soft and dreamy. If something dramatic is going on behind well and good.

Rules
1. Post ONE photo (max 1024x1024).
2. The photo must portray an interpretation of the theme.
3. Post your single picture in this thread and explain what motivated you to take the picture and/or how you feel it represents the weekly theme (especially if it's not obvious).
4. The challenge is interactive. Any response is welcome.
5. The judge will pick the WINNERS and choose one of them to be the judge for the next week.
6. This challenge runs for 7 days plus an additional day for the judge to choose the winners.
7. Any Pentax/Ricoh camera can be used.
8. Pictures can be from any time frame, not just within the week of the current theme.
9. In case the winner of a challenge is unable to become the judge for the next challenge, they will PM the #2 winner for that person to be the judge.

Read more at: About the weekly challenges - PentaxForums.com

[ramseybuckeye]

which one of the two photos did you take

very nice and yes I once saw the film on late night TV in the early '70s hosted by some one called Elvira Mistress of the Dark

at that age, I may have been more impressed by her décolletage than the quality of the films being broad cast

Whatever happened to Elvira?

[aslyfox]

Whatever happened to Elvira?

there appears to be an active web site

"Mark your calendars! Elvira's feature film debut, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988) is coming to Blu-ray on April 24th 2017""

there is an interview on the site

https://www.elvira.https://www.elvira.com

[charliezap]

which one of the two photos did you take

very nice and yes I once saw the film on late night TV in the early '70s hosted by some one called Elvira Mistress of the Dark

at that age, I may have been more impressed by her décolletage than the quality of the films being broad cast

The first photo is my official entry for the Challenge--The 2nd one is from the movie "Them" just to show my thoughts of why I picked it for the challenge.--charliezap

[ramseybuckeye]

Even though this butterfly was in an enclosed butterfly habitat, it took some time lining up to get the bokeh colors I wanted, finding a spot he would land on and positioning.

[Arjay Bee]

Discovery Bay Hong Kong, 'tropical' residential resort in front, metropolis behind (and squall behind that)

[jchorst]

Trying out the Helios 44-M7.

[Tamia]

Well, this is an interesting subject, Bruce, and so many super entries so far. I guess this fits the theme, a shot through...

Condensation on a Cold Late-Autumn Window

[Scotteroni]

I was lucky with this shot because the flock of Flamingos were in mixed shade and a particular one was sitting in a sunbeam. Not exactly blurry in the background but enough to imply the context of the surroundings and not draw too much attention from the main subject..

[Hattifnatt]

This is probably my best when it comes to background. I took several pictures of this girl in a bar and only noticed the background at home on a bigger display - it was pot luck.

[tessfully]

Love this topic and amazing entries! I think I'll go with this one as I took it yesterday.

[noelcmn]

The image of a Indian Myna would not be anything near as interesting without that background.

[Bruce Clark]

Some great entries so far. I will be closing the competition this evening and hope to get a result posted tomorrow morning (Australian time)

[Bruce Clark]

Contest is now closed. Winners will be posted in a couple of hours. Thanks to everybody for the wonderful entries.