Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

My vote goes to Macros

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

I will "do a full juiceme" and write up s brief review of all pictures. My ratings are a combination of technical and aesthetic quality of the entry, how it IMO fits the theme and other subjective factors.

1. Maemish (storage media)

The photo is so dark I had a hard time determining what is actually in it. I can see the CD just about make out the HDD but the rest is in a complete darkness. Even after you explained what I was supposed to see I can still not really see it. I see you tried some artistic composition with objects lying across each other (or was it a coincidence?) but it kind of lost the effect because of the darkness.
My rating: 1/10

2. mosen (pink blossoms)

A really nice shot bursting with colours. The open flowers are nicely in focus and the buds are somewhat blurry, which may be a coincidence but it looks deliberate and adds a nice effect and an impression of an intended message: "look at these flowers, and BTW, there are three more to come!"
If I had to pick on something, it is not clear whether there are three open flowers or four. It looks like there is one flower growing on the other side of the twig and we can see the back of it, right in the middle of the picture.
My rating: 8/10

3. Fellfrosch (dice)

Unlike mosen's picture before, yours is almost monochromatic but one would barely notice (without focusing on it specifically) because the red is so vivid. I like the fact that the focus is on the die in the middle, not the ones in the foreground. The light and shadow play gives the shot a nice dramatic effect, although the shadow in the top right corner is a bit distracting.
I was hesitant what to thing about there being five dice rather than three but "three of a kind" are mercifully grouped together with the other two slightly separated so it actually works out rather well.
My rating: 8/10

4. levone (sheep)

If you had not told us the subject of the photo were the sheep then I would have not guessed. It is hard to tell whether the creature in the front is a sheep, a dog, a bear or some mythical creature and the two at the back are barely noticeable, especially the one by the shed, which looks like a white smudge. I thought it was a dog. It would also have helped if the focus was on the front sheep and not on the tree behind it. And it would definitely have helped to try to group the sheep a bit closer together.
Other than that, I really like the composition, although, like in Fellfrosch's case, there is a distracting element, this time the rail in the foreground. On the other hand, the trees and the sheds at the back are a really nice touch.
My rating: 7/10


5. Juiceme (some kind of artistic installation)

It is hard to tell what it is. Good job you said "art", as that explains everything. The metal frame in the foreground is out of focus which is probably intentional but I am not sure what to make out of the white/blue thing at the top. I like the light play but cannot get over that thing, it is too distracting.
My rating: 6/10 (it would have been 7/10 without that blue thing)

6. eson (stone urns)

The whole picture is slightly out of focus. Other than that, the angle and the cropping are just right. I also like the fact that one of the three urns is a different shape and colour. It may have been because that's what you had available but it looks intentional and gives it a nice touch.
My rating: 7/10

7. wikiwide (branches and wires)

The image has disappeared so I can only review it from memory. To be absolutely honest, I was struggling to tell what was there three of. Also the wires across half of the picture were rather distracting. It would have helped to zoom in on the subject (unless the wires were supposed to be the subject, but I could not see how). Also shooting against the sky is always tricky. It sometimes helps to shoot things like that with the flash on, although it might not have helped in this case since the subject was so far.
My rating: 3/10

8. pichlo (archery)

An altogether wonderful picture with not a single fault :D
Just kidding, juiceme would not say that. He would say it is "too small". Not that it would matter in this particular case since minute details are not important but he would say that anyway.
I like the colours and the focus on the target, with the ends of the arrows with the fletching being slightly out of focus. The green netting at the background adds to the mood. Maybe experimenting a bit with the angle to fit the whole arrows might have improved the composition, as might if the arrows did not cross one another.
My rating: 8/10

9. robthebold (Easter eggs)

A lovely thee fitting the season. I like the colours. I would have used a bit more aggressive cropping, there is too much grass in the foreground. The dead leaves are a bit distracting but the random shadows (from a tree just behind you?) compensate for it and add a nice touch.
My rating: 6/10

10. catbus (bird footprints on a car bonnet)

You sure like your car :) The footprints are very pronounced, almost artificial. I am not accusing you, it is meant to be a compliment. Not often do you get such sharp bird footprints. The reflection of the trees add a nice atmosphere.
Unlike in robthebold's entry, though, I think the crop was too aggressive. You could have moved slightly further, zoomed out or perhaps taken the shot in portrait.
My rating: 5/10

11. Pentona (purple flowers)

It is hard to fault this picture. The composition is just right, the focus is where it should be and the colours work really well. I particularly like the hint of more flowers at the background. They are (quite rightly) very out of focus but that is a good thing.
I would have moved the camera ever so slightly to the right to move the flowers bang in the middle horizontally, but left them where they are vertically. Or cropped the left 20% off.
My rating: 9/10

12. peterleinchen (three Jollas on a kitchen hob)

First of all, I am impressed that you had three(!) Jollas to take a picture of. I can see what you were trying to do with the composition but I cannot help it, I find the kitchen hob a bit distracting.
Other than that, the picture works pretty well. I like the colour scheme, it kind of reminds me of an old cartoon (Calvin and Hobbs?) where a father was fooling around with his son by telling him that the world in the past was black and white and old black-and-white photos were colour pictures of the black-and-white world.
I do not know how you managed to achieve the effect that the two Jollas on either side are sharper than the one in the middle, but I like it.
My rating: 5/10

13. nh1402 (Durdle door)

A lovely photo of a lovely place but I feel that the fitting with the theme is a bit forced. You could at least have said that it was three cliffs.
The composition is perfect, although the door itself is lost in the dark. It might have helped to try it at a different time of day, although I suspect there might not have been so many bathers at a different time. I would definitely not change the angle, I think this was just right. Also, although the door may be lost in dark, it adds to the nice moody effect with the water around it. The random rubbish in the foreground (bottom right) is distracting and, sadly, disturbing. Humans are such pigs.
My rating: 9/10

14. spfoo (mangos)

Good composition and colour scheme, including the table top. I even like the odd mamey (never heard of it before!). I somewhat less like the edge of the table in the bottom right. You should have moved the camera slightly to the left.
My rating: 7/10

15. Macros (skyscrapers at night)

You say three towers but I can see at least six ;) But fair enough, I can see what you mean.
The photo is surprisingly sharp for the light conditions, a good demonstration of what can be achieved with a good camera and stabilization.
I do not know whether the light at the right was a deliberate part of the composition for a dramatic effect or whether you just could not find a spot to cut it out but the photo would IMO work better without it. Also, I would like to see the towers' feet, unless there was something in the way or the ground level was particularly non-photogenic. Other than that, the composition is just right, with the towers bang in the middle, their tops gracefully receding from you. Moving slightly to the right would work even better but then the light in that corner would get even more in the way so I think you found the right spot.
My rating: 7/10

And my vote goes to... 3. Fellfrosch.

There are a few entries that I rated higher but I cannot help myself, this picture just speaks to me.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Darn! I liked the dark tone and I myself can see really clearly a harddrive underneath, a cd and an usb stick coming out of the cd. The rest was supposed to stay dark. I accept the verdict but would not do this pic differently. And was really sick for two weeks and wanted to get competition started and afterwards didn't want to change to something else. Maybe I try harder for the next one.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Don't be too hard to yourself! Picture was good but not the best, sorry to tell about that... And Yours Was better than mine.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Thank you for the very good read pichlo!
You shed some more light on some of the pictures and made me confident to vote for Pentona now.
Mostly because the three tiny flowers are a better version of what i wanted to do :)
Now i see my picture could have profited from some more spacing. I did not crop but could have moved the Phaelenopsis a bit further away.

I do not feel competent enough to give a detailed pichlo&Juiceme style synopsis, but want to share following sub category awards:

- Yummiest Food display:
Spfoo who made me buy ripe mango last week

- Best shot with a shitty camera:
Pichlo for his super crisp and colorful use of a Jolla 1

- Screw the topic, it's beautifull:
nh1402s perfect postcard scene

- Perfect pairing of topic and current season:
robthebolds easter egg hunt

- Artistical use of shadow
Fellfroschs nicer dicer

- "Can't unsee" award
Peterleinchen some moments from putting fire to his Jolla 1s :D

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Great!!
:D:D:D

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Thank You very much of very spesific analyze for every picture, like juiceme always does!

And no, I'm not offended, No. Great analyze. I think all deserved to win this month, as said before, different approach but everyone was still on topic and the level was higher than ever. I think...

I just want to clarify why this kind of angle of my picture... I had to "crop", not software but by "camera handling hand" ("like the clove" ;) ) because there were so many bird footprints on the roof and it was quite difficult to pick just three of them with right reflection, and yes, also thinking about portrait but then "heaven" could not seen enought with portrait... And for Maemish... No, "S+He" was no only one "brilliant 'shitting' thinker" which white-walked over the roof ;)

I usually try to pick some music in my ears or mind, when i do things like this, sorry about that. This just is me. (Music in my ears for this picture was FC -versio of Stairway to heaven)...

...and "pichlo". You "kind of" asked behind the lines, "You sure like your car..." - Answer... No! I don't like it...

I Love it! -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaEM4JYFPfw ;)

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Stairway to heaven definitely fits your picture! ;)

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

My votes goes to Juiceme.

I like the perspective and composition, even though I have to agree with picholo, the lamps power supply hurts the image very much and almost made me give my vote to the others with are just equally great in my eyes:

Mosen whom I gave a slight minus for the easy topic,
same for pentona, although both show the beauty of nature and robthebold for his colorful easter egg hunt.


Thank you picholo for the detailed critique.
The spot and composition was the result of the topic. The big tower in the middle is actually the Shanghai tower and over twice as high as the other two, just from this particular spot the perspective is just right. This is also why you can't see the base. Other "small" buildings obstruct it. And even from this far away, the field of view of the Nokia 808 was just not great enough to fit the whole building ;)

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

What a tough choice this time. But my vote goes to 2. Mosen's orchids.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

It is indeed forced, but saying 3 cliffs which is essentially the same landmass didn't sit right with me, but I thought I managed to take a good picture for once and wanted to share, the place was packed when I got there so that was the best I could do. Didn't think I would get a 9/10 rating for it though!

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Thanks :D I was impressed myself how well (technically) the photo turned out with, let's just say, not the best camera in the world. The light conditions were next to perfect on the day, which certainly helped.

It may have been the best photo that fitted the theme but not the best photo I took with my Jolla on the day. That accolade belongs to this photo. You can even see an arrow in mid flight:

Attachment 40507

The shooting girl is my daughter. The other one in the back is from another group.

BTW, this photo was also my candidate. One of the sessions the kids attended on the day was bushcraft. These are doughnuts they cooked on the camp fire:

Attachment 40508

Lastly, what is happening with the TMO image uploader? All three photos I tried to submit in this thread failed to upload. I had to touch them in Paint. Just open and save was enough, but I also took the opportunity to shrink them to 50%.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

I know, technically too late. But what is time at tmo?

This is a picture of the sun taken with my N900. I think the two reflections come from the two shades of the sun filter (shown in second image) used to take the picture.

The sun filter is printed SLA parts with a foil from a 3.25 floppy disk as filter material.
The point of this image was to use the N900 as a sextant for celestial navigation. But sadly the accelerometer is not accurate enough, the mean error from six measurements was >1 °.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Sorry I haven't gotten around to tallying the votes. Thanks Macros for pm-ing me so I got an email. I've been occupied trying to figure how to fix the smashed screen on my Xperia X everyone around here pretends they've never heard of such a thing. This shouldn't have kept me from my duties, but it did.

Any way, the totals

mosen (4): imaginaryenemy, eson, Pentona, spfoo
Fellfrosch (2): robthebold, pichlo
Macros (2): peterleinchen, Amboss
catbus (1): Maemish
Pentona (3): catbus, Fellfrosch, mosen
Juiceme (1): Macros

Macros count the same, so I think we can say mosen is the winner of this month's well attended contest. Congratulations!

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

That's ingenious. Does is snap on the kickstand magnetically?

Also, if you're interested in pursuing this solar project further, I've got leftover eclipse glasses from which you could re-purpose the foil if you want it. According to my neighbor the photographer, it's 1 million:1 transparent (or would that be opaque?). I suppose that's about 20 f-stops. I haven't verified this, but it does work to bring the light of the sun down to a level you can stare at it.

And thanks for adding the picture even if it was late.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Thanks and yes, it snaps magnetically to the base of the kickstand and the leg of the kickstand goes through the two slots.

I have leftover eclipse glasses too, but i didn't want to cut them. So you should keep yours and take a peek at the sun from time to time ;)

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

to all from my side :)

Sorry for the delay, may topic "Lighting" is open now.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

If only this would have been the topic for last month.

Near Guilin in China there is a cave named "Red Flute Cave".
Its overwhelmingly huge and has the most impressive stalagmite and stalactite formations I have seen till today. And here the clou: They decided to light it with colored lights, and It looks just incredibly amazing.

http://macros.nahfeldtelemetrie.de/b...04-22-8720.jpg

http://macros.nahfeldtelemetrie.de/b...04-22-8695.jpg

The best thing: The guide doesn't push you trough, you are free to roam around.

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

Wonderful. I love caves!

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

I would like a gategory with zero points :)

Re: Camera phone competition April 2019: Three of a Kind
 

I am so happy you took the trouble to do this full analysis! I was worried that in my absence the full scrutiny of the exhibition would have been missed! :D:D


It was pretty much nigh impossible to take a shot of three of the dandelions without having that "white/blue thing" in the view :p

I'd hazard a guess you should know what it is... It's the backside of the LED assembly that powers each flower, it's got 2 tantalum capacitors (lighter shade) mounted on a bluish PCB, the front side of which you can see behind the middle flower. (which seems to contain the LED of course and one SMD-transistor)