Sorry for the delay, it has been a hectic couple of days.

Thanks to all of you who entered this challenge, below are some comments from my side on each picture.


Merv-O / Merv: Nice flowers, is that a microwave oven that I see in the background? a vague suggestion of kitchen environment, morning coffee perhaps incoming?

atupdate / Tim: I like the color tones in this picture and also how the sunflower is mirrored in the background, also the water droplets.

Charliezap / Charlie: Great macro, a sci-fi was my first thought also, but which one? could it be "Them!" (from 1954)?



jacamar / Steven: Rare to see the geese against this kind of background but it works so well. Funny, I have tried something similar multiple times but I just couldn't get it right with a much shorter lens.

carabez / Francisco: Initially I thought this picture to be quite ordinary but the more I look at it the more I like it. The natural framing works but what captures my attention are the three(?) characters on the boat, seems that they are having a good time, wondering what were they doing? maybe the one to the right is posing while the one to the left is taking a picture? It feels there is a story behind.

Vaskebjorn / Richard: Very nice juxtaposition, again this is a frame that I have tried several times but I couldn't get more than one gull in the background

Kerrowdown: Such beautiful colors on this one, love the dreamy / pastel look.

SpecialK: You made me look up the Fullerton house and Wayne Daniels, this 73-year-old retired schoolteacher is having a blast

Flanoman: I don't know exactly know what's going on here but it feels like Ireland Love the girl's expression and also the smile of the guy from the left, what is he thinking about? also the reflections on the musical instrument above her.

RGlasel: Interesting framing, but I don't quite understand what's going on in the background.

aaacb: Just when I thought I had my favorites set, here comes your wonderful picture to give me some more headache. I love the subtle way the wrinkles on his shirt and his right hand are guiding my view towards the center of the picture.

sealonsf / Lynda: Photographer being photographed, one of my own hobbies I think those green jackets in the background make this one work.

StephenHampshire / Stephen: I like the juxtaposition of the scenes in this one and again it's something that I have tried myself, to have the background image captured on someone's phone when he's taking a picture, but it works much better with a tablet it seems.

jchorst / Christoph: Nice portrait of daughter number two... many times the streets of Italy are so full of life!

DeKay: Nice portrait and I like her pose and expression l lot but I can't quite understand what's going on in the background.

noelcmn / Noel: A strong message indeed which is perhaps illustrated in the background. Maybe I'm overthinking and not sure if this was indeed your intention when you took the picture, but in the background I can distinguish an old man walking and in front of him maybe somebody with a stroller - it's at the beginning and the end of the life cycle when life is the most fragile. Just curious, why are the benches facing to the left, away from the alley? seems weird.

Andrej: I think the former judging by the banners in the background.

mingdie: I have noticed that bars and pubs always make for interesting backgrounds and bokeh. Cheers!


I had a great time going through this thread, it was nice to recognize some of my own attempts but better executed. But now comes the hard part. There were a lot of pictures which I liked, two of them in particular and spent quite some time going back and forth between them. But in the end, there can be only one. Also, spring is blooming all over the place so perhaps this somehow influenced my decision. So here goes.

1st Place and the host of the next challenge: aaacb


2nd Place: charliezap


3rd Place: noelcmn


Honorable Mentions: carabez, vaskebjorn, jacamar, StephenHampshire

Congratulations and see you at the next challenge!

[Vaskebjorn]

Congrats to aaacb, charliezap and Noelcmn and extended to the HM. Thanks for placing my photo amongst them. I am looking forward to the next challenge.

[noelcmn]

Congrats aaacb, wonderful shot that, spot on for this interesting challenge. And extended to my fellow podia placed CharlieZap. And not forgetting the HM's carabez, vaskebjorn, jacamar, StephenHampshire. What an interesting challenge, delightful to say the least, and as usual, the variety of interpretations is wonderful! Honored to be on the podia among such strong contenders. Thank you! To answer your questions, the benches are facing Zoo Lake. The other direction is in fact a major arterial road. And yes, I waited for the homeless guy with his collection of recyclable plastics to be closer to the guy sitting on the bench and the other folk (that also walk daily as I do at Zoo Lake) to be on the horizon. The old man with walking stick (a genuine home made one, complete with taped ferrule) makes me laugh, as when I greet him he seems almost shocked, with a "Hi, followed quickly by a "hello", almost as if he is checking himself not to use slang. It is a couple with their baby, the mom pushing a perambulator, so yes, a hint of the cycle of life! There are a few other juxtaposing in the image which I guess is not as easy to see, though of course for me it's pretty obvious-all of us survivors, the homeless guy with his message, the retired gentleman on the bench, the old man walking with an aid.

[Flanoman]

congrats to the final three winners, but aaabc being first is well deserved the bokeh in the background of two people just about to walk past each other is sublime.and best bokeh wins.

[Hattifnatt]

Congrats aaacb, wonderful shot that, spot on for this interesting challenge. And extended to my fellow podia placed CharlieZap. And not forgetting the HM's carabez, vaskebjorn, jacamar, StephenHampshire. What an interesting challenge, delightful to say the least, and as usual, the variety of interpretations is wonderful! Honored to be on the podia among such strong contenders. Thank you! To answer your questions, the benches are facing Zoo Lake. The other direction is in fact a major arterial road. And yes, I waited for the homeless guy with his collection of recyclable plastics to be closer to the guy sitting on the bench and the other folk (that also walk daily as I do at Zoo Lake) to be on the horizon. The old man with walking stick (a genuine home made one, complete with taped ferrule) makes me laugh, as when I greet him he seems almost shocked, with a "Hi, followed quickly by a "hello", almost as if he is checking himself not to use slang. It is a couple with their baby, the mom pushing a perambulator, so yes, a hint of the cycle of life! There are a few other juxtaposing in the image which I guess is not as easy to see, though of course for me it's pretty obvious-all of us survivors, the homeless guy with his message, the retired gentleman on the bench, the old man walking with an aid.

Nice to hear the whole story, glad I deciphered a part of it

[jacamar]

Congrats to aacb, charleyzap and Noel - great shots - glad to be among the HMs. Looking forward to the next challenge.

[aaacb]

Thanks for the first place, it's again proof that you should get others to give feedback on your work, I would have never expected to win this I'll get the new thread started soon in a day or so.

[mingdie]

Very interesting subject and congrats to the winners. Many great photos

[Merv-O]

Liked this Bokeh challenge. I think we should start a new permanent thread (is there one already?--so many threads, so little time) highlighting Bokeh.

[Vaskebjorn]

Ps. harrifnatt,

Gulls in a row is not to hard if you have a good position. We have a number of little bridges in the area where people feed the ducks. And there where is food are gulls .
I got this one some time ago, but did not post it in the challenge as there is less to no bokeh.

[Hattifnatt]

Liked this Bokeh challenge. I think we should start a new permanent thread (is there one already?--so many threads, so little time) highlighting Bokeh.

There is already a big bokeh thread here as far as I know of, there could be others. This challenge was about a particular type of bokeh.

[noelcmn]

And here too Merv-O
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/26-mini-challenges-games-photo-stories/9...bokeh-329.html

[Merv-O]

Thanks Hattifnatt and Noel for the update--Bokeh is where it's At !!!

[aaacb]

New challenge is up Welcome to Weekly Challenge #456 -- "Deep focus" - PentaxForums.com