First of all I want to thank all of you folks for stepping up to the challenge this week. I think all of the entries are great and I know I learned a lot by looking at how you all attacked this contest.
Here are the learning points I think I’m taking away from this.
1) Familiarity is key, since the photograph needs to rely on the viewer’s imagination to supply the sound, its important that the target sound be something the viewer recognizes and can easily associate with the object(s) shown.
2) Motion blur and soft focus can suggest the sense of vibration and echoing involved in the generation of sound.
3) The presence of a listener in the image reinforces that sound is being created.
I’m sure many of you will have different observations and I’d be interested in hearing them either as a discussion here or via private message.
Judging this is a bit subjective since it’s more about personal interpretation. I’ve tried to share below what worked and didn’t work for me with each photograph:
CycloneBandDad – Air force jet
I’ve stood on the deck of the USS John F Kennedy when they were testing jet engines strapped to the railing so I’m sure you’ve submitted the photograph of the loudest thing this week. (Also one of the loudest sounds I've ever heard in my life.) The angle of flight upward helps create the expectation that the engines are at work as do the puffs of jet plume out the end. That you used a fast shutter speed to capture a great image of the moving plane works against you as little bit as the plane seems a little too static to strongly convey how much noise it is making at the time you shot it.
If you could have captured someone on the ground reacting to the plane’s noise it would have worked better to convey the sense of sound. Something like a shot of the jet taking off from the flight deck with the ground crew in the foreground wearing earmuffs.
rburgoss, - Thrill ride
I really like the effect you get by using the zoom effect even though the blurriness is a bit harsh. But it serves to both remind (this viewer at least) that sound comes to us as vibrations and also creates an effective visual funnel that channels the viewer's eye right to the screamer on the chair. Add in that the central image is happy and upbeat and you are telling the story very nicely.
ve2vfd: - Blue Man
How'd you get your K110 into a Blueman show? I get a strong sense of anticipation of noise - and action - from your shot of the Blueman. The sound I get out of this is the echoing resonance of the previous gong strike.
Mingdie - Young singer
I’m glad your photo displayed cleanly after all the early issues I had. You definitely captured the young lad giving full voice! Without your caption I couldn’t really tell that he was singing vs. yelling. The presence of his fellow performers in the shot –mostly eyeing him as if waiting for their cue – adds to the sense that he and whatever noise he’s making is the central theme here.
roentarre- Thrill Ride 2
I can absolutely hear the happy little screamers in this shot - kids screaming on a rollercoaster is a sound icon that I’m pretty familiar with since my girlfriend adores and drags me to Universal Studios on a regular basis. They also appear to be on one of those vertical types of ride that are my favorites. My guess from body position and facial expressions is they are on the way up so my mind is adding the Doppler effect to the screams. This is the only shot in this group that gave me this effect.
NaclH2o (This is one of the best I-net nicknames I've seen, btw) - Japanese Drummers
As you said, you've gone for the post-noise phase with your shot. You succeed in getting beyond the visual with me, but the effect is more visceral than audio. The response I have is remembering how my ear drums still echo that deep, rich bone vibrating beat of Japanese drums -which I love - after the drumming ends (and before the crowd applause takes over.)
xs400 - Moody Blues Concert
Congrats on the 1000th post. (Now we know who flooded the server causing it to crash last week!)
I keep trying to figure out what song the Moody Blue's are playing. I do get a lot of rock concert memories and general concert sounds from your shot. But not a specific sound. I can't match the singer's face to any of the MB lyrics I'm familiar with so its a bit unattached for me.
Bud- Bull Frog
I'm getting both "-wiser-er!" and "Griiibb-IT"
I'm racking my brain trying to figure out how the bull frog uses the throat bulge to make that "GRIB-IT" sound. I also did a little googling on it and found a fascinating article on male bullfrogs on one island using hollowed out tree stumps to amplify their mating calls. They apparently do sound tests on various stumps and are able to modulate their call to get the best “come-here-baby” effect.
It's a great shot with the grass blade framing the frog's head and you even got a catch eye so I’m guessing you used a flash. As for conveying the sense of sound, I think you’d have benefited from just a little motion blur on the air-sac which would help make the viewer aware that he's really making a noise at the moment.
Schmikey – Party Girls
The Girls gone wild gang is definitely captured in the act of making noise but I can't clue in what kind in particular are they cheering for or in protest to something. I’m sure I don't think I want to be the target of that finger though as this is the hand signal my girlfriend uses to remind me to schedule the dreaded annual prostate exam.
Davef- Swim meet fans
The passion of your subjects is on full display and carries the photo. Looking at the shape of the mouths on most of the folks in this shot I get a strong sense of the stroke-timed “Go- Go- Go” chants I’m familiar with from swim meets I’ve attended. But I don’t think I’d have gotten there without the benefit of your caption that these are in fact swim meet fans. I might have gotten sporting event, but probably not swim meet.
Daacon - Waterfall:
Another beautiful image and I know how loud a waterfall like that can be. I think it would have helped sell it by showing someone in the foreground.
Fletcherkane - Electric Harp:
As a photographic image, this is one of my favorite entries this week. But there is nothing in the image that lets me know the harp is in use and actually producing sound at the moment. I think it would work better at this if you showed the harpist’s fingers in the shot. An extra bonus would be if the sheet music of what is being played was also in the shot.
MrApoollinax - Drummers in parade:
Another familiar sound to key into – everyone knows the sound of parade drummers. But this shot seems to catch them between songs or at least between drum strokes.
Honorable Mentions:
Daacon & Fletcherkane deserve to be highlighted simply because their's are fantastic photographs:
For conveying sound to me (and I stress again this is my own subjective standard influenced heavily by my familiarity with the sounds being conveyed
Thrid place:
CycloneBandDad
Second Place:
Roentarre:
Winner:
Rburgoss
Thanks again to everyone for participation and my apologies to anyone I scared off this week. Hopefully Robert will be kinder!
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