Forum Competition #124 "A Day to Remember"

[melbarnes]

Thanks Shaun - what a pleasant surprise that was - I thought that there were many excellent photos submitted for your chosen topic.

I particularly like the body paint artistry that Lisa took, for two reasons - one of which is obvious (there's life in the old dog yet...), and the other is that it is superb art with many diverse designs, and living art to boot!

My chosen topic for this competition is "A day to remember". This leaves the field wide open, and I'm certain that you'll all have photos of people, places, events, etc that have had a lasting impact on your memory. I look forward to the stories behind the photos, so on with the competition...

The competition will close at midnight on Friday 14 March. Hope you all have fun with this one!

Mel

[yachtsman1]

In 2001 we took early retirement, sold up & bought a yacht in Corsica. After spending 3 months re-fitting her we set of for Spain via France. After many adventures we finally arrived in Aguadulce, our home for the next 12 months, a pretty memorable day for us.
Eric.

Aguadulce Costa Del Sol by E & MS, on Flickr

[Donna]

Hi Mel!

This is my "Day to Remember" photo. My first DSLR camera had arrived the day before, courtesy of eBay, and so this was the first time that I got to use it. We'd picked a scorching week in September last year to have off work and we went on my favourite day out...to the zoo (no surprises there!). I'd heard that you could get close to the animals at Blackpool Zoo. "Perfect" I thought. And this is what happened. They say that you should never work with animals, but I love this one - it's not the best photo in the world, but it's cheeky and it always makes me laugh (I'm childish like that!), plus it contains 4 of my favourite things - an animal, a sunny day, a camera and my hubby (creep creep!).

Cheers,

Donna

[Janice Freeman]

Criccieth Castle.jpg (120.93 KiB) Viewed 9360 times

This is the view that met us as we rounded the headland to drop down into Criccieth, North Wales. It was my first holiday for over 20 years - and Gerry's first for over 30 years. It was our first holiday together and we had a fabulous time.

[Mrs Yachtsman1]

This is the very first picture I took with my first DSLR Nikon D40. It's our eldest grand-daughter Corrin during a Christmas visit, Eric had bought the camera for my Christmas present.
Margaret
Mrs Yachtsman1.

My First DSLR Picture by E & MS, on Flickr

[lisacroft]

A hot day in June my daughter and husband swimming downstream in the river Lune. A picnic on the bank and a pint on the way home, definitely a day to remember. Sorry I made the picture too big!!! not sure how to do that!

[John]

The day that ADAPS dressed up for Whitby, certainly a Day To Remember!

046 ADAPS Whitby Group.jpg (317.74 KiB) Viewed 9308 times

[Phil Jones]

Hi All.
My day to remember was last July in Pamplona. This photo was taken at 7.00 in the morning, one hour before the first of the annual bull runs through the tiny cobbled streets. As you can see the party had been going on all night. I've never seen so many drunks in my life & they were preparing to take on six bulls weighing a ton each!
An unbelievable experience & one I recommend to anyone. You don't have to run of course!
You could also take in Bilbao courtesy of Easyjet. Stunning architecture & the stained glass window in the railway station is incredible.
Regards,

Phil.

[melbarnes]

Hi to all contestants, and thank you for your entries - here are my comments:

Eric (yachtsman 1):

It's great to be retired, isn't it Eric - it's like being at school but with playtime instead of lessons! Selling up and buying a yacht is a big step, which takes some courage, but what an adventure! You have captured a relaxing continental harbour scene here Eric, framed by the backdrop of the hills (I take it that this is the Aguadulce in Almeria, and not the Aguadulce in Sevilla). The photo is fairly pixelated, which makes it hard to see the detail, which is a shame. Nevertheless it certainly reflects a very important day to remember.


Donna:

Blackpool Zoo and South Lakes Wild Animal Park are two place on my list to visit. I have been disappointed with photographic access to animals at some zoos, either via wire cages, dirty glass windows/dimmed lighting, or looking down into pits, so I'll make Blackpool Zoo the first on my list. I like the composition of your shot Donna, and the fact that you've capture the lemur (?) sitting fairly still. Some of my photos have suffered from a few over-exposed bits - like the white on the animal in your shot, and I've found that setting the exposure lock on mid-tones in the scene then re-composing helps reduce this (and I'm no expert) - but hey, when you are photographing animals, they don't wait around while you adjust your camera, so you've got take the shot as soon as you can. A memorable day for you and hubby - don't know about the lemur??


Janice Freeman:

Gosh Janice - I can't imagine me not having a holiday for 20 or 30 years - no wonder it was a fabulous day to remember! A great shot of the headland, and I wonder if Photoshopping (now a verb in my vocabulary) the sky to enhance the cloud detail would add to the impact of the photo. I've never been to Criccieth, but it looks like there might be photo opportunities with the castle at the top of the hill. However, given the choice between your usual holiday haunt of Italy and that of Wales, I think I'd opt for pasta land. A very memorable photo for you.

Mrs Yachtsman1:

Hi Margaret (I don't think we've met yet?); your photo of Corrin is sharp where it matters, and you've caught her in a happy moment. You must have been pleased to receive the camera as a present, and very pleased with the quality of this shot given it was the first with your new Nikon. The background of the wicker chair is a bit distracting, but the photo is an impromptu shot taken in a moment of Christmas-present-excitement, so I'm sure you'll now be considering some additional photos, which will evoke happy memories for years to come (especially now that with digital shots we can store them then retrieve them in their original quality after many years - unlike printed photographs which tend to fade and become cracked).

Lisa:

I love the composition of this shot Lisa - I think most people can recall idyllic days in their youth when finding a warm enough day to swim in a river - I'm sure that this was a very memorable day for you and your family. I don't know if your photo breaks any of the "rules" of photography, but you've managed to get the shot in thirds horizontally, with grass & floral foreground, the river in the middle section with the swimmers and spectator, and the far bank and trees in the top section, and I think it's a great composition. The people are a little over-exposed, as is the grass in the clearing in the top right-hand corner, but you've captured the colours of the foreground, the stream, and the trees on the far bank superbly.

John Riley:

This certainly was a day to remember - for the damp and cold weather (until the sun popped out later) - but from the smiles on everyone's faces the weather didn't dampen your spirits! It was also a day to remember for the many good photos we obtained, and to cap it all off, for the great meal we all had at the Tanglewood - a real good social outing! You've captured the true British spirit in this photo, John. Great contrasts and detail in the clothing, and maybe could only have been improved by bringing out the detail in the clouds (assuming that there was detail of course, and not just a white-out..).

Phil Jones:

I think I would remember this day if I were in the crowd - and I would certainly be running Phil, but in the opposite direction from the six bulls - it's suicidal ! You've captured the spirit of the festival, and a memorable day for all the spectators. It's a shame that you didn't have a photo showing the bulls, I would like to have seen a bull charging towards the camera just to see how you managed the camera shake....


Results:

3rd place goes to John

2nd place goes to Donna

1st place goes to Lisa - well done, and now over to you to set a new competition.

[John]

Well done Lisa, and well done Mel for being quick off the mark and the well written and considered comments.

[Janice Freeman]

Nice one Lisa, looks like a lovely day and that water is so inviting - pity I cant swim! Well judged Mel and looking forward to Lisa's choice.

Janice.