2016 - Image of the Week #39

[Minerve101]

The time lapse is indeed very cool!

[cls]

The time lapse is indeed very cool!

Thanks! I’m rather happy with it myself, and I’ll probably try it again with some improvements:

1. I thought an interval of 10 seconds would be sufficient, but the moon moves more than I expected in 10 seconds – next time I’ll try a shorter interval for a smoother timelapse.

2. Next time I’ll bring a remote trigger. I hadn’t planned shooting a timelapse, so I hadn’t brought any this time. (I got the idea when I had set up the tripod and was waiting for the moonrise.) I used the 2 seconds delay trigger, and that’s probably the reason for the slight variations in composition (the island is for sure a fix point, but it moves around a bit in the timelapse).

One thing that worked out quite well was the selection of camera position. The day before I used Google maps, photoephemeris.com and an old-fashioned pocket calculator to select a point along the shoreline. Then I went there and selected the exact rock for the tripod. On the shooting day I was quite pleased to see the moon show up right where I had expected it.

[NFLD Stephen]

Puffin Conversation by Stephen, on Flickr

Stephen

[Kombi]

I've already picked a winner from above posts, but it's been so long since I posted I thought I'd share again.

Retro Inspired Pin up - Aureanna and Ford 'Jeep'
Retro Inspired-Pin Up
by Dave Bennett, on Flickr

[Jonathan Huyer]

Pocaterra Ridge, Kananaskis
It's that time of year when the larch trees turn gold, making the high alpine landscape look magical. Hard to go wrong here!

[Sean Setters]

This was a really tough decision this week...

I like HDNitehawk's "Second Star To The Right And Straight On Till Morning" because it's a captivating image. I don't shoot silhouettes terribly often, and I'm always impressed how they can be incorporated into an compelling image. I also love the cloud movement captured in neuroanatomist's Saint-Gatien Cathedral. The "Harvest moon rising" time lapse created by cls is extremely cool. Being a portrait buff, I can certainly appreciate the work involved in Kombi's "Retro Inspired Pin up". And as usual, Jonathan Huyer turned in an excellent contender with is postcard-esque "Pocaterra Ridge, Kananaskis."

But out of all the images, I kept coming back to NFLD Stephen's "Puffin Conversation." Wildlife photography is a segment I really struggle with, but Stephen has captured a moment which allows me to identify with the puffins on a very human level. When I look at the image, I imagine three old men drinking coffee at a cafe discussing politics or sharing old war stories. The rather bland background actually helps the viewer to better appreciate the overall framing and the birds' postures and expressions. It's an image I could easily see becoming a popular meme with some clever text at the top.

Maybe, "I'm not just flying south for the winter, I'm flying south for the next four years!"

[Jonathan Huyer]

Great choice! It's quite rare to get three birds all sharp in focus like that, and together they really make a compelling (and amusing) picture. Congrats Stephen!

[NFLD Stephen]

Thanks Sean! Very honored to even be considered here, let alone chosen for the week.

Jonathan: I learned my lesson about having multiple birds in one shot last year. Had some last year with multiple birds, but usually only one in focus. Here I specifically stopped down a bit (f8) and the birds being a bid aligned helped out a lot as well.

Stephen

[Minerve101]

Congratulations, Stephen! Technically wonderful and the scene has great charm.

Danny

[cls]

Congrats Stephen! That’s a great shot that not only looks very good, it also makes me think of what they are doing and what the "conversation" is all about. It also invites to coming up with various imaginative captions.