WINNER ANNOUCNED: The Tenth Photographer's Lounge Salon Challenge: A WIDE VIEW

Taken with the little Olympus 9mm body cap lens just a few days after getting it. I'd been seeing this shot but never really had quite the angle of view to get it. Slightly de-fished and cropped. And there's no HDR here either.
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I must say that the entries in this challenge are, quite simply, blowing me away. But all good things must come to an end, as the old saying goes - and this Challenge will reach its end tomorrow night - the night of Monday, April 6, at exactly midnight. So for those of you who still have the inclination, entries will be accepted up until then. The clock is ticking......think W-I-D-E......and then W---I---D---E---R still :--)
 
Fellow Photographers' Lounge photographers - the Tenth Challenge - a WIDE VIEW - is now officially closed.

I will be taking several days to review the entries - and the review them again - and again .... and in the interim period, my thanks again to all of you for stretching the limits - and sharing images and photographs that, during the last few weeks, have left me basically in awe.

Stay tuned ....
 
I must say first of all, the trying to judge the entries in this challenge has been somewhere between exhilarating - and brutal. There are so many remarkable and amazing photographs entered here in this Challenge that it’s taken me longer - and been vastly more difficult - to try to come to some sort of decision.

That said, each and every photograph entered in this Challenge is worthy of accolades and props in its own right; and I have a few words to say about them all.

kyteflyer / Sue, your image of a cloudy ocean sunrise - is, in a word, simply spectacular - I love the verticality of this photograph, from the wet sands at the bottom, rising through layers and levels of water, surf, sky and cloud to the dappled cloudlets at the top - it’s really beautiful.

dougpayne - the slightly distorted ultra-wide angle shot of tiny old metal toy cars and trailers - is a very very cool image. It made me smile every time I looked at it. It’s got a special whimsical quality - maybe this has something to do with the notion of a traffic jam caused by toy vehicles - or maybe it’s the angle - but it’s a great image, Doug.

P. Jacobs / Paul, your the wide-angle of a cotton candy street seller + customers - totally pulls me in to this world, makes me feel as though I’m there, standing at the end of the line, waiting impatiently for my one handspun ball of sugary goodness. A great sense of place in this photo.

drd1135 - I like the way the ancient ruined ancient buildings are framed by so many things: clouds, land & ocean. And I love that one lone errant seagull perched atop the tallest standing building. The textures the light, and the sense of antiquity surviving the ravages of time - it all comes together. Really nice, Steve

ReD / Roger, I kept coming back to your the wide beach shot. Partly because of the view but also the light - that hot almost merciless sunlight beating down, cooking everything and (from the photographer’s perspective) whiting everything out. A very evocative photo for me.

bilzmale - the ultra wide view of a train station, is just simply cool - and gives serious meaning to the concept of seeing the world in a W-I-D-E way. This photograph seems simple, Bill, but there’s a lot to see in the frame, the more one looks.

BillN / Bill, your monochome beachscape is very cool. My favorite parts are the sense of light and contrast: in the whitecaps of the breaking surf - in the whiteness of the houses and the dark near-blacks of the grasses. This image conveys to me a truly interesting sense of place.

christilou / Christina, your wide angle view of a palm-tree lined boulevard somewhere in one of the tropics - Barbados? Hawaii? Tahiti? - speaks to me on many levels, but the strongest one for me is the intensity of your colors. Those brilliant shop awnings - the deep, rich saturated colors of those palm trees - the shadows falling across the street - and the white clouds against that deep blue sky - it all makes me want to leave the cold, gray, rainy Oregon afternoon where I am sitting, writing these words, and step into your photograph (grin) …

tonyturley - this image - a cross atop a grassy hill, offset by those ragged leafless trees, with the pale clouds swimming across the sky behind - it has a dramatic feeling - and with it, for me, almost a sense of anticipation, that something unexpected - or profound - is on the verge of happening. Nice photo, Tony.

bartjeej / Bart - this incredibly wide angle of sunrise at a Moroccan oasis, is….fantastic. A great sense of place - and light - one of these wiiiiide shots that just seem to go on, and on…..and on. Really, really nice.

yohan / Yohan - your wide angle shot of this master craftsman - aka Luthier - inside his workspace, surrounded by bouzoukis, fiddles, laouta, and other exotic Greek stringed instruments - is just plain cool. I love how your field-of-view shows so much of his world.

WithOpenedEyes - the semi-fisheye view from your Olympus bodycap len gives a great perspective. It transforms this seemingly older, traditional building - distorting it and turning it from mundane architecture….into something "fantastic".


In THE NEXT SECTION, there are the MIGUEL HONORABLE MENTIONS. Somewhat of a misnomer since every photograph in this Challenge is worth both an Honorable and/or Special Mention on its own merits. But those in this group affected me in special ways…

WoodWorks / David, your outrageously cool monochrome wide angle image - of a rock in Death Valley - takes me into another world I’ve never seen before - a world of light and shadow, of extraordinary textures, definitely worthy of multiple looks. It’s a killer image.

Luke - this shot of a bridge with the clouds above, and that enigmatic poster hanging from it (“Accidental Genius”) is a very cool image, and a great photograph. I kept looking at it, Luke, trying to figure out why I liked/like it so much. Finally I gave up. But damn it’s nice.

pictogramax / Milan, there’s something magical about your boats floating in the world’s widest harbor at sunset . Part of it is the light - the lights of the buildings, the hints of dying sunllight in the crepuscular sky - there may be other parts too, that I don't know how to put into words - but it’s a great image.

KillRamsey - the architectural, geometric vertical view looking up, up, up, up at a building which never seems to end, an ocean of evenly spaced windows like eyes looking back at us - it’s a great shot, Kyle, one which requires multiple viewings to really appreciate.

SnapDawg / Ken’s monochrome photo - boys standing at a fence, far above the distant cityscape which they are looking down on - is just plain cool. One of those moments which good photographers are able to see, or imagine, in the moments right before they press the shutter. A great image.

torsteinh - this simple wide view of the interior of a whitewashed building - those curving walls, ceilings and arches - contrasting with the sinuously curving round brick walkway - is very, very cool, Torstein. I like the distortion, too.

john m flores - the wide angle “Which way do we go?” - with the motorcyclists lost in some remote jungle/tropical, surrounded by a small army of locals - has so many things that make me want to look at it again: the sense of place, the crazy situation, the title, and last but not least, that tiny figure of a motorcyclist at the literal center of the photo, who’s taken off his helmet and is scratching his head in puzzlement. A great photo, John!

Lightmancer - this photograph, of the interior of the Cathedral in Pisa, Italy, is a classic example why we (all of us, my fellow Photographer’s Loungers) are drawn to wide angle lenses. It’s a classic image, Bill. I love the details, the sense of space, the geometry and the shapes within other shapes, and most of all, the multiple senses of light here - brilliant to shadowy, and everything between.


AND FINALLY….THE FINALISTS. With all so many great images and photographs, I can’t pretend to objectively say one is ‘better’ than another; my final judging process has been subjective and personal, and also subject to frequent change - I’ve gone back and forth so many times, from one photo to another - all ‘winners’, obviously - but here are my Finalists -

mnhoj - This photograph, John - “Adventure Playground” - your wide w-i-d-e shot of a playground - with the child sliding down the rope, seemingly near the center of your frame - is wonderful. And those intense, almost exaggerated colors are just right. A great image.

Boid - your monochrome shot of a cityscape with the elevated train at the center - gives a fantastic, moody view of a city. The dark quality of the light - the clouds in a dark sky - all contribute to the ‘whole’. There are probably too many things I like and admire in this photograph to list them all. Great shot, Rajiv.

Jock Elliott - this landscape / cityscape / cloudscape has some amazing qualities for me. The deep, darkness of the clouds, the intense sliver of sunlit sky slicing through just above the horizon line, the somberness of the bottom third - they all combine into a remarkable image. And a compelling photograph.

ramboorider1 - such a cool wide-angle street shot - where the photographer was in exactly the right place at the right time for this exposure. My eye is drawn to the old woman in the foreground, the jut of her jaw, with the guitarist behind her doing the soundtrack for her epic street journey, and everything else in this frame (the walkers on the left, the pedestrians on the right) none of which would have been possible without the wide angle. A great shot, Ray!

NightBird - this wide angle photograph - of hanging birdcages above a narrow lane in Sydney - I kept coming back to, again and again, seeing something new or different each time. It seems like such a simple image - looking up from ground level at a plethora of hanging metal birdcages - but the more you look, the more you see: lines, angles, shapes, forms which mesmerize the eye of the beholder (me). A great wide angle shot, Darren!

Livnius - your low wide-angle street shot, from Melbourne, is seriously cool. Especially the faces which both frame and fill this photograph. Even though this is a ‘candid’ street shot, it also has a classic, almost theatrical feeling to it it’s got so much inherent human drama. Your black & white processing, incidentally, is beautifully done, Joe, and further enhances the power of this photograph. Major props!

donlaw - “Car in the Window 2” - Don’s shot of a Cadillac - combined with the reflected and complex images in a window glass - create a complex photograph, one which it’s impossible not to come back for 2nd, 3rd and 4th looks as well. What can I say, Don, except that I love this shot.

tdekany - the ultra-wide composite photo (7 shots stitched together) has great visual elements - a remarkable sky, clouds, a forest of trees - which fuse together into a seamless and compelling whole. Great image, Thomas, and a very cool photograph.

Petach - a standout image for me, this candid wide-angle street shot of men strolling and talking, on a riverside walkway, is simply a superb photograph. The old adage of being in the right place at the right time with the right f stop and shutter speed was never truer than here. It’s a great photo, Pete, and one which does justice to the w-i-d-e requirements of this Challenge.

DigitalD - David, your wide angle of this Bus - and everything behind and around it - grass, gravel, roads, telephone poles, clouds, traffic, business, and muchmore - is truly compelling. And did I mention the reflections of even more clouds, in the Bus’s front windshield? When push came to shove, this photo took me right down to the wire, it was one I had to keep coming back, to study …. to experience …. or just plain to enjoy.


Which brings us, at long last, to the winner of this Tenth Photographer’s Lounge Challenge …

serhan - your monochrome shot, taken with the great CV 12mm lens, of the inside of an airplane hanger, is truly a mind-boggling and fantastic image. The use of the wide angle gives the photo an almost larger-than-life quality. But it’s not just the angle that creates this photograph: the light, the tones, the gradations of grays (between the near absolute blacks and the hints of white here and there), the reflections from the floor - everything adds up to make a unique photograph, whether you look at it just once….or a hundred times.

My congratulations to Serhan - and to every other photographer who participated in this Challenge as well…..thanks to all of you for opening my eyes a little wider.
 
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I agree, a well-deserved selection. I remember admiring that photo when Serhan posted it over in TalkEmount a few months ago, and thought it perfectly captured the theme of this challenge. So many great photos here, but it's the top choice for me too.

Thanks Miguel!
 
Miguel,

Thanks for all the hard work in reviewing the photographs and your comments on each. It made me go back and review all of the entries again. You set a very high standard for whoever comes next.

And congratulations to Serhan. Is that an SR71 in the photograph?

Cheers, Jock
 
well done to a worthy winner, super, super shot. It must have been hard to pick a winner from such a great compilation. Also, a big, big kudos to Miguel for taking such care to pick a winner AND to give in depth reasonings for all. Thanks Miguel.
 
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