July 2011 Competition

[Gruditch]

To enter the competition, please post a single image, taken within the month of July 2011 (1 post per member) as follows:

- Click on the "Gallery" link and then open the "July 2011" album
- Click the "NEWIMAGE" button
- Follow the instructions to upload a single image

To view the entries:

- Click on the "Gallery" link and then open the "July 2011" album

You'll be able to edit or delete your entry until 5th August. To do this:

- Select the "Moderate" link at the bottom of the image details
- Take the appropriate action

You will be unable to rate or comment on the image until the competition has been voted on. Comments and constructive critique are very welcome thereafter.

Look forward to seeing the entries roll in , good luck !

Gruditch

[Gruditch]

VOTING IS NOW OPEN.

You have on till the 10.59pm on the 20th July to vote.

To vote, click on Comments: No comments yet under an image, then at the bottom of the page you will see Your rating: rate the image then submit.

In the interests of fair play, please try to vote.

Regards Gruditch

[John W]

VOTING IS NOW OPEN.

You have on till the 10.59pm on the 20th July to vote.

Presumably you meant 20th August?

[Padfield]

Gruditch has been a little shaky with dates ever since I took him for a trip in my tardis and returned him in July 2012.

Guy

[Gruditch]

The tardis trip was essential, for it was the only way Guy could explain higgs boson in under a minute.

Yes sorry, I meant August.

Regards Gruditch

[Gruditch]

Congratulations to Julian 1st, Fishiee 2nd and Nigel Kiteley 3rd, and well done to all that entered.

Regards Gruditch

[Julian]

Thanks everybody . This comes as quite a shock and is very humbling . I really thought John’s or Nigel’s Marblies would win since the compositions of both were excellent. Top of them all for me though was probably Vince’s Brown Argus. Simply stunning and sharp and with some nice background details.I also liked the images of vanessids from Ian and Pawpasaurus, and Susie's Chalkies made for a nice image. Well done to everybody for taking part, particularly at this incredibly busy time of year.

[Vince Massimo]

Top of them all for me though was probably Vince’s Brown Argus. Simply stunning and sharp and with some nice background details.

Thanks Julian , high praise indeed. Coincidentally I voted your image as my winner. I felt it was a beautifully composed and highly evocative study of a perfect individual and of course one I wish I had taken . Closely followed by philB's Chalkhill Blue, Rosalyn's Peacock, Nigel's Marbled White and Susie's Chalkhill group. Some difficult decisions to be made with the others, so well done to all that entered and thanks to those that voted .

Vince

[Pete Eeles]

The tardis trip was essential, for it was the only way Guy could explain higgs boson in under a minute.

I must have missed this while on hols. Absolutely hilarious! Gary did, indeed, set Guy the challenge of explaining the Higgs-Boson particle in under a minute, while we were in Switzerland. Guy did really well, explaining two manifestations of mass in terms of inertia and gravity within 20 seconds, before the beers kicked in. I wish we'd video'd that session, because it will remain with me forever for so many reasons!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Pete Eeles]

And as for the photo comp, I'm blown away with the quality of entries! Most are better than images in magazines! And a lot are from members that have attended our annual photo workshop for those thinking of attending next year

Definitely a collective improvement over time!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Susie]

Congratulations to a very worthy winner! Your brown hairstreak pic was my favourite and definitely has the wow factor.

Well done to everyone else too. There were so many great photos, as always.

[NickB]

I agree with Pete - it just gets more difficult. Well done to all!
Bucking the trend, my personal favourite was Brian Anderson's Daisy composition...
And my top 4 or 5 included PhilB, Julian, millerd and Susie....

[David M]

I particularly liked the Large Heath open wing shot, if only for its novelty value.

[FISHiEE]

Congratulations to Julian. A well deserved win!

Brown Hairstreak are a species that have alluded me this year due to little free time, and little co-operation from the weather grr!!

Nigel's open winged Marbled white was my favourite this month - a real stunner. I also thought Suzie's Chalkhill Blue trio was excellent and can't work out how it ended up so far down the list?! PhilB's Chalkhill Blue was also impressive - great tip to tip sharpness for an open wing shot which is hard to achieve with the blues. Millerd's Purple Emperor shot was also superb with stunning sharp detail in the butterfly and much nicer than the more common on the ground shots.

I also thought the composition of Pauline's Wood Whites was excellent, but the dark background didn't help it out. I also think that it suffers, like several images in these competitions, from not being sharpened after reducing to 800 pixels. I think there's a lot of potentially really great shots let down by this.

I have included before and after sharpening versions of Pauline's image to show what I mean. I also added a little fill light in the shadows.

Original file

After sharpening

[Susie]

I also thought Suzie's Chalkhill Blue trio was excellent and can't work out how it ended up so far down the list?!
...
I also thought the composition of Pauline's Wood Whites was excellent, but the dark background didn't help it out. I also think that it suffers, like several images in these competitions, from not being sharpened after reducing to 800 pixels. I think there's a lot of potentially really great shots let down by this.

I have included before and after sharpening versions of Pauline's image to show what I mean. I also added a little fill light in the shadows.

That's easy, I have some great subjects, I'm just not a very good photographer and don't do them justice I just can't be bothered with all that post photography tweaking so generally what comes out of the camera is what ends up online. Lazy, I know ...

[David M]

I'm just not a very good photographer and don't do them justice I just can't be bothered with all that post photography tweaking so generally what comes out of the camera is what ends up online. Lazy, I know ...

I sincerely agree. I rarely 'tweak' mine, and if I do, it's only to take the edge off the natural light captured within the picture (if it interferes with the butterfly itself). I never alter the brightness or contrast by more than 10%, and I don't think I'd know how to 'sharpen' an image if my life depended on it.

[Susie]

With due deference to Fishee the post production of an image is hugely skilled and an art form in it's own right. The competition winners are extremely worthy and combine great knowledge of the subject and how to capture it perfectly and then present that image. I have huge respect for them.

[FISHiEE]

A great photo is 30% field craft, 10% camera craft, 10% computer craft, 50% luck

[Julian]

Thanks again folks.

I agree that the standards have again been very high, but it's no wonder since butterflies are indeed a wonderful subject and an inspiration.

Fishiee's comments are definitely worth looking at again as his work on the Wood Whites shows what can be done. The thing is, why not do it? It's fine to leave things as shot, straight from the camera but it is worth pointing out that most modern cameras don't see what the eyes see and have filters in front of the sensor to prevent moiré (interference patterns) which looks ugly and these filters unfortunately soften the image. Therefore, the photographer is missing out on redeeming the image if it stays as it is, i.e., soft. The Wood White example shows how 2 short simple steps transform the potential image into something much, much better and really as it should have been in the first place...

[FISHiEE]

It took maybe 10 seconds to do the sharpening. It's about the simplest of things you can do.