After dark DPI

20 January 2024

Colour section Results

Colour section all entrants

Click a photo to open gallery

Monochrome section Results

Monochrome section all entrants

Judges Feedback

Thanks to Amanda Graham for her notes on the night

Colour

Winter Girl- reasonable portrait, snow is interesting. Limited depth of field is good. Overlay or real snow, it does look realistic. Shutter speed good as frozen the model, but got blurry snow. Slight highlight on one cheek. Needs more separation between model and background. Hands could do with darkening down a little more to bring attention to the face.

Compton Verney after Dark- reminds the judge of visit to Kew lights- similar installations. Works well, reflection is good. Exposure is good as these are not easy as the lights are constantly changing. Slight tilt on the building but not on the trees. Commended.

After Dark down the Cow Sheds- fascinating image. Slight niggle is that there’s a bit too much brightness in the very near foreground, definitely take the greens down a little bit. Cow shed is well exposed. Third.

Relaxing by the camp fire- Fire has been captured well, great shutter speed to capture it with good detail. Whole image is well exposed to light the gentleman, possibly needs a bit more light on his face. Props are excellent. Background almost monochrome which helps the foreground pop.

Show me the way to go home- Like the use of the person in the image. Good colouration and depth of field. Possibly lift shadow on right hand side of person’s coat and lower half. Tree line and horizon line work well, but pink area off to the left is too bright and draws eye away. Composition is good.

Carnival Dancer Isle of Wight- on first glance thought it was dancer somewhere like Morocco. Long-ish exposure as the cloak moves, but the skirt stays more still. Myriad colours are great, as is the exposure. Shadow a little dark, would be nice to see slightly more detail in the background.

Celebrations in the City- number of cityscapes entered tonight- fascinating how many have rivers which give great reflections. Panorama is good, and exposure on them is excellent. Purple building is very attractive. Cityscape is very good, fireworks add a bit of interest, as does the hint of sky. Needs cropping to remove some of the sky, and remove some of the foreground river.

Burning Love- flames are a little bit too low, and shutter speed is slow making it too blurry. More background detail is good, but close tree trunk needs removing as too bright. Hay bales are a bit too bright as well. Overall light balance is good, but some highlights are too bright.

Flash by- long exposure works reasonably well, but slightly confused as to what it actually is. Vehicle that isn’t the focus needs toning down a bit more, as the headlights are too bright and draw the eye. Interesting mix of light blurs and spots of light.

Camp fire- prefer real thing to fake fires! Could be a tent in the background, but not convinced it’s needed exactly where it is in the shot. Needs to be a bit closer with some of the red light falling on it. Light bulbs in the fire are blown highlights and should be taken down.

Someone doesn’t like me- street photography is a great art form. The judge likes the image. Amount of light is phenomenal with the colours reflected in the road being very attractive. Two people who have spotted the photographer make the shot! Very difficult to get the exposure right, with lots of variability and different colours. Highly Commended.

Remember remember- Fireworks are great for photography. Quite clever to isolate the one firework. Framing works well, with the 1-pixel border (any wider can overwhelm the image). Could make the firework slightly bigger in the frame.

Castle fireworks- Like the castle in the frame. Pinks are slightly too bright. Viewpoint gives the castle, which is great, but needs slightly wider angle to catch the top of the fireworks. Bang on for shutter speed.

Nocturnal elegance- Tower Bridge is iconic and is a fascinating building. Great looking lighting on the bridge. Short shutter speed to give detail in the water. A little bit bright on the iron work going up to either side. Lights on building seen through the bridge need toning down to not distract from the bridge. Good to catch the buses on the bridge.

Media City- Interesting light in the sky behind which works well. Buildings have been handled well, but the square area in the centre is a bit bright. Lit set of windows on right hand side could be darkened as they go out of the frame. Reflections are good, but could do without the handrail and red sign, as they draw the eye and is confusing.

Seville night show spectacular- wow! Fits the theme perfectly. Wonderful S curve walkway with the colours coming through. Leads well to the tower in the centre. All lines lead to the tower, compositionally beautiful. Works extremely well. Exposure spot on. Second.

Wall painting- Not sure if it’s actually lit like that, are if they’ve used light painting. Works extremely well. Very clever use of trees in the background and spots of light in the sky. When there’s writing in a shot, always need to be able to read it and you can in this case.

Golden bridge- took a while to get in to this one. Fascinating, very simple with well controlled light. Blues are not overpowering and the light on the railings is great. Enough information but also air of mystery. Exposure and composition are both spot on. One niggle- follow the blue lit column and it looks like a pair of eyes! First.

Saumur, France- captures blue hour really well. Exposure is spot on, blues of sky with warm tones- well balanced. Turbulent water at the bottom right could be cropped out. Commended.

Marina Bay Sands Singapore- amazing building. Best example of this area that the judge has seen. Bright purples handled well. Little bright in the centre at the river edge. Long exposure has smoothed the water nicely. Highly Commended.

Time for sleep- reasonable picture of a challenging setting. Background detail is good, but the lights are a bit too bright, with some areas of reflected light on the path needing taking down. Distracting area bottom left, could be edge of tripod? Possibly some lens damage across window in the centre?

Mono

Out of this world!- very competent night shot, silhouette at the bottom is very good and nicely backlit. Light pollution tends to bleed up higher, but not in this case. Very well done. Second.

Cuckoo Lane- Lovely and simple. Very classic photography style. Just used the one light, almost provides a vignette. Caught all the edges nicely. Left hand side something catches the light which needs removing, and could be cropped in slightly. Mono conversion works brilliantly. Square box above window on the left could be cloned out. Cracking image. First.

Santa Claus is coming to town- Santa has changed a bit! Makes you laugh! 3 people in the shadows aren’t necessary so should be removed.

Road Bridge over the Reine, Germany- fast shutter speed gives detail in the water. Sharp front to back, and starburst suggest high f number. Illumination of bridge very good, and mono conversion works well. Would prefer slightly more blur on the water.

Towering Beacon- deliberate use of converging verticals. Very easy to miss top of the tower so this is well done. Reflected light from the city gives interesting sky detail, Exposure is good. Some parallel lines at bottom left could be taken out. Highly Commended.

Campfire lament- good set up, lots of information. Left hand side wheel needs to be either more in the shot or totally out. Tone down background somewhat. Good detail through the accordion, but loses detail a bit on the model.

Dancing in the moonlight- very good attempt. Good detail in the centre where it’s in focus, lighting is controlled well. Foreground mushrooms are too out of focus, as are some at the back. Good monochrome conversion. Some detail in the bark on the right is too bright.

Cathedral Light painting- enjoy this shot. Item in middle of foreground is dangerous, but works well in this occasion. Light painting is fascinating, like the idea behind it. Highlight in the middle needs taking down. Commended.

Night patrol- like the speed/movement blur. Background works extremely well. Foreground figure works well. Slight confusion with 3 vertical columns behind his shoulder- why are there almost sharp details? Dramatic. Third.

Play it again- Glad it’s a still, not video! Interesting lighting coming from the left hand side, but still keep details on the right and on his beret. Eyes open, eye contact would have helped slightly.

Queueing for the bridge- doesn’t work quite as well as the other Tower Bridge scene. Inclusion of the bus is good. Too much brightness down the road.

Fear at the Fair- People in the foreground work well. Well balanced image. Commended

Lamplight- evidence of very high f stop. Composition not the strongest, but enjoy the shadows from the bushes. Path in the centre is risky, but helped by the flowerpots. Slightly too bright in places. Sky a bit too blanket grey.

Up in the air- very graphic image, exposure handled well. Needs someone in the baskets to break up the pattern, add a point to the picture.

New Year’s Eve in the Highlands- Good detail and ambience. Slightly close crop as touches sleeves on both sides. Would be a great image to share with the participants. Exposure well controlled to not burn out faces behind the flares. Mono conversion good, but some highlights on wall to the right that could be toned down.

Lights Out- Again a very high f stop. Wonderful light in the distance, possibly slightly misty. Could be cropped to take out blank sky and grass foreground as there’s no relevant detail.