I hope this is how you post the next weekly challenge!

Thank you noelcmn for choosing my water drop collision as the winner of Challenge #539. I do hope to get around to posting a forum submission of how I go about such pictures.

Now I have to come up with a subject. I've been wondering for a while what I would come up with if I ever won one of these little contests, little thinking I ever would(!), so now I have to produce!

Show me what you've got in the way of silhouettes or very high contrast subjects.

Here are the (usual!) rules (just copied from Adam's contest listing)

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 (or Samsung DSLR) 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

Contest runs through the end of Monday, July 19 (2021) US Mountain Standard Time (Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time)

Here are a few of my ideas on this

[noelcmn]

[ramseybuckeye]

Wow, a lot of great photos here.

One of my favorite silhouettes that I have shot:

[CedrusMacro]

As I'm expecting now, so many great shots- always keeps me fired up! My entry this week.

[charliezap]

A lone surfer hoping for that perfect wave.--charliezap.

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[jacamar]

Not silhouette, but high contrast (hard B&W on the Ricoh GR III). Previously posted.

[AstroDave]

Wow - you folks are gonna make this a tough one to judge/decide!

A few more hours to go - so keep 'em coming!

[AstroDave]

Thank you all for your entries - all of these are shots that should make somebody appreciative of your efforts.

I don’t feel qualified to make quite as many comments on the artistry of all the entries, as noelcmn did last week. A bit sadly, I recognize that I am much more of a technician than an artist when it comes to my picture taking! (Please keep that in mind if you feel I missed the special element in your photo! )

But, I have to pick a winner, and do have some comments, too, so:

Gump - the Winner! This one just grabbed me when I first saw it - it meets both the silhouette criterion and the high-contrast one. I especially like all the lit-up wave tips. (I’d suggest cropping off the bottom a bit for maximum impact.)

pacerr - a very close second place - love the trees, shadows (especially the diagonals at the lower front right), and the contrast of the snow (?) in a swamp(?) (Are those Cypress knees?). One gets pulled right in to the frame and wants to go for a walk (assuming I won’t sink!?).

noelcmn - third place - nice shot of the fisherman (who is way bolder than I would be out there in those waves!) and nice adherence to my perception/intention of the theme(s)


Honorable mentions (that and a few bucks will get you coffee and a donut!)

aaacb - nice silhouette, and the shadow detail (high contrast!) is fine for the theme - too bad you couldn’t get the entire shadow of the biker

SpecialK - I like the bird: great adherence to the theme - this is perhaps the most “silhouetty” of all the entires

Vaskebjorn - your well-isolated flower does indeed match what I had in mind

Perfessor5646 - as a dog lover, I think this may be the cutest of all the entries!

atupdate - nice silhouettes of interesting subjects

CedrusMacro - I like the stark, geometric pattern/contrast


Other entries

turbo_bird - The B&W conversion for this works, along with the black background. I like the dry ice-induced wisps. Playing around with this for a theme might make some really interesting shots.

charliezap - nice silhouette; another bold venturer amid the ocean waves. (Colors are a bit funky?)

jacamar - nicely contrasty, including the contrast between the action in the foreground and the stolid high rises in the background

The sunset silhouettes:

These are all nice shots, but they just have more visible other detail in them than I had in mind:

Bruce Clark - if my sister was judging, you might be first!
Rod_grant
cooks333
ramseybuckeye


So, thanks again to all participants, and over to Gump to undertake next week’s contest.

[CedrusMacro]

Thanks for the honourable mention AstroDave- and what you said is a lot of what I like about these challenges; every judge has a unique taste and eye, so the results are hard to pin down- I would have gone with noelcmn as it was the shot that spoke most to me and hit the mark for the criteria, but it's easy to agree with your views.

Congrats to Gump for winning and all the shots taken- inspiring stuff.

[gump]

To get noticed amid what i think was a great group of photos is indeed an honor. Dave, I have cropped versions of the photo but I like this as the "edge" of the ocean is in the foreground and it gives the feeling of the separation of the two worlds. However, I could have probably come up with another artsy-fartsy reason to use a version with more boat and less foreground. The subjective nature of photos is often maddening.

[pacerr]

Well won, Andy.


Now I'm wondering what you'd have submitted for the contrast/silhouette task if you'd gone with your steam engine theme. Gotta be sumthun good there too with a l'il PP.

[gump]

Well won, Andy.


Now I'm wondering what you'd have submitted for the contrast/silhouette task if you'd gone with your steam engine theme. Gotta be sumthun good there too with a l'il PP.

As what I have is from excursion roads that run in the daytime I have very little in high contrast/night. The best to hope for is some filthy weather. Also I am intimidated by Stephen Hampshire's railroad stuff.

[gump]

Weekly Challenge #541

WEEKLY CHALLENGE #541 Those who came before - PentaxForums.com

[aaacb]

Thanks for the hm!

[Vaskebjorn]

Congrats to the winner(s) and thanks for the HM. It was a fun challenge with great entries. Must have been not easy .

[rod_grant]

Great challenge and great lot of images. Well done, all.