Poll WEATHER : entries comp 8th-15th March 2015

[Hinfrance]

Thanks everyone who voted for my effort. My vote went to Andy for his blue skies shot.

I'll post next week's topic as soon as I can think of one!

[DigiDiva]

A lovely image H. Looks like a delicate pencil sketch.

[Beaux Reflets]

Congratulations Howard.

[Hinfrance]

A lovely image H. Looks like a delicate pencil sketch.

It is a jpg from the Fujifilm X20. I used the micro contrast slider in DxO to enhance edges a bit, and then used Nik Silver Effex to convert to mono and add some grain. Those were just my software choices, the same effect can be achieved using just about any editor. Simples.

[spikeyjen]

congratulations Howard, your image Mist in the Valley got my vote as well, love the B&W conversion (gotta love Nik Silver) and the dreamy feel to this. Shame we don't see more B&W landscapes but you do have to have the right image for this.

Here's my comments - remember they are just my opinion and I take responsibility for that (not you)
Hot Hot Summer - nearly made me homesick - its such a classic Australian beach image. I found the people just a little close and with some disturbing clutter above the a male's head. I think the horizon is a little crooked too.
Cloudy and Bright - Nice colors, nice clouds that could have been a stronger image with more dramatic clouds (when you can find them) or perhaps a little work on the clouds with a burn tool
I'm not sure about Murky, I like the layering effect, but it need a point of interest in the foreground
Driving rain - I loved this and it nearly got my vote. I have tried this on several occasions and it's tricky to get enough of the scene in front to know what you are looking at, with the rain on the windscreen clear. it does create a nice bokeh effect

[spikeyjen]

sorry, pushed the wrong button....
I like the effect created by 'warming'. but I would have liked to be a lot closer to the ice and drip with clarity at the point.

In general I found the quality of the images a bit down on last week, but it's nice to see different aspects of the theme set.
Thanks everyone

[Hinfrance]

Thanks Jen for the thoughts on the entries.

Pretty much what I was thinking, but here are a few of my additional thoughts:

Hot Hot Summer - yes, the horizon is quite off, and I thought for a sunny beach scene there could have been a bit more shadow detail.
Cloudy n Bright - got my vote this week - I was sucked in by the blue sky and 'rule breaking' composition. Although again there is a dearth of shadow detail.
Quebec in Winter - almost went for this. I like the composition and the leading lines from the street lights and the meandering path. A little too blurry, but I bet that was the weather itself that did that.
Murky - is as murky does. Despite the features of interest at varying depths in the image they all murked into one. Not enough contrast and rather flat for my taste.
Driving Rain - classic shot, the like of which I too was considering, but I find daylight drizzle doesn't really have much visual appeal.
Warming - lovely blue, simple single object focus. Probably not possible with this particular view, but I would like to have seen more of the icicle in focus.

I have to admit I was surprised to win this week, as I had missed the few moments of early morning sun shining sideways across the valley while I went to get my camera. The resulting colour shot was so flat that only a mono conversion stood any chance of working.

I do like Nik, but my favourite mono tool is Topaz BW Effects. I recently acquired DxO film pack 3 on one of their give aways, and that looks very promising too. For straight black and white there is a plugin on a years old copy of Aftershot Pro I have called Nostalgia which I find excellent at reproducing the more grainy old monochromatic films. I still don't really get on with Lightroom for many tasks, although look at what Abers can do with it!

[Beaux Reflets]

Thank you Howard and to who ever voted for my effort.

This week I was attracted to vote for; Driving Rain, Mist in the Valley, Quebec in Winter and Warming as my top four.

In the end my vote went to Warming for its simplicity and metaphoric air.

[jinky]

Well done Howard. My vote this week (I think) went to Cloudy and Bright as it summed up the weather best for me in a nice clean shot. I say think because I was on the cusp of voting for Howard`s - only those interloping shrubs trees at the edges put me off a little of this nice misty shot. Next would have been Quebec Winter which would have got my vote for colour / atmosphere but suffered from blurriness.
Hot Hot Summer has a wonky horizon and might have benefitted from a wider shot and losing those cluttering bottles but they might not have been with you and I appreciate it`s hard to shoot strangers never mind move their stuff 
Murky was... murky and a little dull which means you summed up the weather nicely but not enough interest in the shot
Warming was a nice simple idea but needed to be sharper on point of focus I felt.

My driving rain was grabbed with my new LX100 as I parked at the side of the road in the only slight shower we had. Actually had to supplement it with a water bottle spray but I need more time with that camera to get the best out of it.

A bit more awkward to look at larger  sized images when the poll is done without a link I find but at least yours looked neater than mine do Andy!

[Oldboy]

Actually, there's a herd of Wilderbeasts thundering across the grass in the foreground but, the murk hides them! 

[jinky]

Actually, there's a herd of Wilderbeasts thundering across the grass in the foreground but, the murk hides them! 

[spikeyjen]

Thanks for the comments guys. I guess I want to add that it was intended that mine was blurred. It was taken through a window and I had focussed on the raindrops on the window. Guess I didn't achieve what I was trying to do.