Krakow Challenge Winner

[andybarton]

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Once again, many thanks to all who took part, and all who voted in the Krakow Challenge

 

A particularly interesting and difficult year, I'd say, with some varied entries.

 

I am pleased to announce, for those of you who haven't been counting for yourselves, that the top three shots are:-

 

Da dah!

 

In first place, with 66 points, John Amiet (Erl) with Nr 10 "For Whom The Bell Tolls"

 

In second place, with 65 points, Brian Parkes (spylaw4) with Nr 8 "Points of View"

 

In third place, with 38 points, Ann Barton (Ann) with Nr 4 "Coffee"

 

So John, who lives in Australia, is the lucky winner of the Polish Zlota and the Euros and the shirt, generously offered by our friends at Leica UK.

 

Congratulations to John, and everyone in the top three. Special commiserations to Brian - this was the closest Challenge that I recall.

 

As usual, a complete spreadsheet of all the voting, is available here. http://www.andybarton.com/krakow/votes.pdf

 

So, three cheers to John, and here's to Malta in 2009

[andybarton]

The technical details of all the entries are:

 

1 Clash of Civilisations

Stefan Seider

M6Classic

50 Summicron

BW400CN@320

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2 Untitled

Tim Delbeck

M6

35 Summicron

Tri-X @ 400

 

3 Lunchtime

Steve Unsworth

M8

35 pre-ASPH Summilux

ISO 160

 

4 Coffee

Ann Barton

D-Lux 3

28mm

ISO 100

 

5 Fortune Teller

Philippe Octo

M7

50 Elmar-M

ISO 400 film

 

6 New Shoes

Robert Parker

M8

35 Summicron

ISO 160

 

7 Banking Crisis

Andy Barton

M7

50 Summicron

Fuji 160S

 

8 Points of View

Brian Parkes

M8

Zeiss 28/f2.8

ISO 160

 

9 The Future's Green

John Howarth

R8

28 PC/f2.8

Superia Extra 400

 

10 For Whom The Bell Tolls

John Amiet

M8

24 Elmarit

ISO 1250

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[andybarton]

11 Straight from the horse's mouth!

James Earley

M2

35 Summaron

FP4 @ 125

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12 Chess

Rebecca Barton

R4

50 Summicron

Fuji Pro 160S

 

13 Autumn

Carl Brettevile

M8

Zeiss 21/f 2.8

ISO 160

[earleygallery]

Congratualtions John, and to the runners up Brian and Ann.

 

It's always fascinating to find out who took what, I thought I spotted a few 'signatures' but was completely wrong!

[andybarton]

I am going to find it very frustrating next year, not knowing who has submitted what

 

A close finish for 1 and 2, and also a tie for 4 and 5. Good stuff

[timd.]

now, that was quick, andy. once more a big thankyou for doing all the organizing.

 

but now:

congratulations to erl !!!!

(now you've got to buy the m8.2 to fill the third street shooter )

 

what a close finish!

[stunsworth]

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Erl, congratulations.

 

Can you let me know your address via PM or email and I'll pass the details on to Leica UK at Milton Keynes so that they can send you the shirt - could you indicate the size required (S, M, L etc.) as well.

 

Thanks, and congratulations to everyone who took part, and thank you to everyone who voted.

[robert_parker]

Wow !! The closest result yet !!

 

Congratulations to Erl for an excellent shot and commiserations to Brian for a near miss !!

 

Congratulations to Ann, who's well deserved third place demonstrates how well the D-Lux 3 works in B+W and also well done to Becca, a first time entrant, whose excellently composed shot got my vote.

 

As James says, it was hard this year to tell who had taken which shot

 

..and not to forget to say well done Andy, for a well organised and prompt administration of the competition

[erl]

Wow! Whata blast. I was happy within myself with my pic, but I had no idea how the voting was going. I am not a bean counter, nor ever will be so I am as surprised as anyone at being part of a what must have been a "cliffhanger".

 

To Brian, I congratulate you on being a worthy and close competitor and to Ann I can only say, "go girls"! It's great to have the ladies showing us the way. We just need more of them to give it a go. I hope everyone enjoyed the experience of Krakow as much as I did.

 

At some point I remember offereing a StreetShooter to the winner. Seems a bit silly now doesn't it! So I will now offer the same to both Brian and Ann as very worthy competitors. Either analog or digital model at their choice. Expect a PM from me soon in that regard.

 

Hopefully, later today I will post the real inspiration for my particular shot which I was not free to do prior to judging. For me it was a very moving experience, but more about that later.

 

To all participants and voters, thank you for contributing to a very enjoyable event. Also to Andy whom seems to have laboured long and hard on the score counting and web organizing and who knows what else. IF my vision were better than it is, I would say, "see you all in Malta" next year, but I can't see that far. Time will tell. Cheers all.

[erl]

As promised, I have now posted below my inspiration for my Challenge entry. I hope it is not too obscure to everyone, but it did impress me.

 

Two days prior to the Challenge, I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, both of which made an enormous impression on me. In the current context, a vision of the furnace chamber where bodies were burned at Auschwitz really chilled me and the image I captured of it stayed in my mind. Days later when competing in the "One Challenge" I was struck by the 'visual parrallel' of some of the components in what I saw at the base exit of the Wawel Cathedral bell tower. Specifically, the red brick wall will 'aperture' in it, the single electric light globe as illumination. The presence of the bell immediately suggested the title "For Whom The Bell Tolls" to me. AlL I had to do was wait for someone to pass through the opening in the wall to complete my image. It was VERY dark in there. Handheld at 1/8th sec and f2.8 on the 24mm using ISO2500. Clearly there is camera shake and digital noise in the image(s) and I was very ambivalent about submitting it as my entry over other subjects I had taken, but I was so moved by the suggestion of the image and my recent experience that I stuck with it. My wife says I should have submitted any of my other pics, she does not like my choice, but I am not surprised.

 

I will soon post other pics of Krakow, including my "outtakes" from the Challege and hope others will do the same. It is always interesting to see how we all edit our own selections.

 

And now my comparative images.

 

Auschwitz Oven

 

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My 'Bell' entry as inspired by the above.

[cbretteville]

Congratulations to Erl, Brian and Ann!

Cheers,

- Carl

[spylaw4]

Congratulations to Erl and Ann, but not forgetting all the others who took part, and who helped make it such a great weekend.

 

I would also like to thank James for the on-site arrangements, Andy for the "back-office" work, and those voters who liked my shot enough to give me some points.

(This is beginning to sounds like the Oscars! ).

 

I hope there will be a thread for "the ones that got away", and like Erl there was a build-up to the shot I submitted, which I'll post later.

 

Here's to Malta!

[masjah]

Warmest congratulations to all three well deserved winners!

 

Grateful thanks to Andy for collating the images and the voting, and to James for organising things on the ground.

 

 

Here's to Malta next year!

[octo]

Congratulations to the winners: as usual, it's a privilege to be in such company. Erl and Brian and Ann do us proud. Looking forward to Malta, now.

[azzo]

Erl..... Congratulations.

 

Brian and Mrs.B ... and the rest of the participants, well done too.....

 

...and hope to see you people here in Malta too.

 

- - -

[bill]

My heartiest congratulations to John, and to the very worthy runners-up. It was a really tough choice this year, as evidenced by the close scoring, and the high standard of the entries.

 

Here's to the next year!

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[ejd]

Congratulations to the winners -- John, Brian, and Ann! I hope to get to Malta next year.

All the best, John

[StS]

My congratulations to John, Brian and Ann!

Thank you to Andy for collecting and evaluating the votes.

This was great fun.

 

As a side notice - last year I had the impression the direction of the Challenge was going digital. This year, it was an even split again between film and digital.

 

Cheers to the winners

 

Stefan

[andybarton]

 

As a side notice - last year I had the impression the direction of the Challenge was going digital. This year, it was an even split again between film and digital.

 

 

I would stick with this thought for the next 12 months...

 

Very interesting, I agree. Film is no where near dead. Dr Kaufmann please take note.

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[azzo]

Film is no where near dead. Dr Kaufmann please take note.

 

 

 

Seconded !!!