This month’s theme relates to something that is not very common in the Algarve which made this a little more challenging for a lot of folks, hence the few images submitted. We are talking about “Cold Weather and Keeping Warm”. Yes, Precisely!
We invited Mark Braun to pass judgement on the 9 images submitted.
Mark is an advanced Amateur photographer. Mark served on the task force that led to the International Photography Hall of Fame moving to St. Louis. He currently Co-Chairs the board of directors, the Collections Committee, and is also a member of the Hall of Fame Induction Committee.
More information about Mark and his work can be seen on his website.
This year, the group has adopted to rank the selected images from 1st to 5th with each rank obtaining between 25 and 5 points that will score for Order of Merit.
Well done to everyone thise that took part and congratulations to those who were selected and can be seen in January’s edition of the Algarve Plus Magazine.
The next theme for Algarve Plus for February is quite fittingly...”Valentine’s”
Selected & Published Images
01 Around the campfire by Gerry Kerr
07 Snow in Gerês by Jan Tromp
02 Cold Start by Daryl Gabin
08 Syncronised Standing by Ligia Glover
06 Hot Galão by Ina Tanzer
Words of Wisdom
1st Place: 01 Around the campfire by Gerry Kerr
The maker captured a wonderful image conveying the theme of Cold Weather/ Keeping warm and included the humanity of the situation. Composition is good, exposure is good. A couple of small improvements would be to crop the image if possible so the fire and all of the ashes were in the image leaving some bare dirt in front of the fire and moving slightly to the right so the tent pole behind the woman doesn’t merge with her face.
2nd Place: 07 Snow in Gerês by Jan Tromp
Including the window scraper ensures that the viewer is part of the image and “feels’ the cold associated with cleaning the windshield/ or windscreen. The inclusion of the map of Portugal adds emphasis to the scene as most would expect it to be a more tempered climate. Some detail is lost in the blacks, so I’d suggest adjusting the exposer a bit and the crop seems a little bit tight. I’d like to see more of the windshield scraper, possibly all of it. Possibly converting this to a landscape would give room to include more of the scraper.
3rd Place: 02 Cold Start by Daryl Gabin
This is a nice landscape and capturing the fog gives the impression of temperature changes implying a convergence of warm and cold. Exposure is good but the foreground seems to be the dominant part of the image and stops my eye from seeing the whole image. I’d suggest cropping some of the foreground to see if it pushes the viewer further into the image and possibly increasing the blacks or using “dehaze” to give a bit more detail to the trees in the fog.
4th Place: 08 Synchronized Standing by Ligia Glover
This is a good capture of animal behaviour and can imply that the temperature is cold and they are trying to stay warm but it’s also a standard pose for these birds. The exposure and focus are good but the image feels tight and I’d suggest opening up the crop and offsetting the birds in the image to give it more tension to hold the viewer longer.
5th Place: 06 Hot Galão by Ina Tanzer
By staging the hot drink with the cold almost ominous sky, the photographer did a nice job of highlighting both elements of the theme. Composition is good and while it might be a composite image, I like that the foreground and sky are in focus even though the beach and water are not. It adds a bit of layering to the image.
Main Gallery
