Assignment #151: Keys (ENTRY)

[Butte]

Use this thread to post your entry for #151 - Keys

Please refrain from commenting on photographs (yours and others) in this thread until after the winner has been selected. Any comments posted prior to the announcement of a winner will be deleted without warning.

This assignment will close at MIDNIGHT/2400, April 6th, 2015.

Specifics:
1) Camera phone, point & shoot, DSLR, or even film; all shooters are welcome and encouraged to participate!
2) Post processing is allowed for this assignment.
3) All forum posting rules apply regarding suitability of an image to post.
4) Your photograph for the entry has to have been taken between now and midnight/2400, Monday, April 6th, 2015.

 

[achesley]

 

[jleewebb]

 

[WoodButcher]

 

[tim_cannon]

 

[veriest1]

 

[M38A1]

 

[Butte]

Dang yall, judging these is the hardest. Like I secretly hope I don't win because I don't want to make decisions. Ha.

Alright. As Mario says in Mario Kart - here we go! (for your understanding, an audio snippet: https://youtu.be/k900hqBNc14)

Andy - A familiar sight! I know I'd be a mess without luggage. I like where you are going with this, and that the contrasty red button draws my eye to the key right off. But the fairly bright greens in the background also vie for my attention, as well as the grainy quality of the shot (guess I can't pick too many nits on that, I'm guilty of the same pretty often). I wonder how cropping the sides in would look, making it almost a square format.

Lee - This is a cool shot for me, because I know that's an old (and therefore awesome) motorbike. I like the bent key as it brings to mind a long list of possible 'how'd that happen?'s. As far as I can really tell, technically fine, but missing a little something as a photo that really strikes or wows me (I wish I could say what it is but I can't put a finger on it).

Rusty - Simple. Clean. It works, and I like the blue. I do find myself wishing I could see the rest of that keychain, maybe filling up the frame a bit more. A solid shot.

Tim - Yeah. My eyes see 'pie run'. And bokeh . This is a good shot to me - bokeh directs to the keys. The keys are just far enough away that I'm itching to know if I read the makes on them correctly (although I know that 'zuki keyshape anywhere), so there's the interest. The green/white token is nice color, not terribly distracting. Nice composition, nice shot.

Veriest - First off, I have to admit I'm a pretty big fan of the colors here. They grab my attention right away, like BOOM: KEYS. I also like the master link 'keyring' - I've never seen that before. Nice wear details, but to me the shot looks a little on the soft side.

Scott - Technically great. I like the framing and the focus. No story, but no distractions. Not much to critique here, well done.

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After much arduous deliberation (I've gone back and forth several times now between several shots for several reasons) and going back to my criteria list from the Assignment thread I have chosen. Based on that list, this one goes to Scott. Well done everybody - I enjoyed the variety this go 'round, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the next assignment brings!

 

[veriest1]

Veriest - First off, I have to admit I'm a pretty big fan of the colors here. They grab my attention right away, like BOOM: KEYS. I also like the master link 'keyring' - I've never seen that before. Nice wear details, but to me the shot looks a little on the soft side.

Thanks for the comments. I've had a lot of difficulty sharpening images on my phone. I imported the image into gimp and sharpened it a bit. Actually it's too much but the difference is easy to see.

 

[M38A1]

Wow. I did NOT see that coming my way AT ALL.

I really thought this was a great bunch of submissions all the way around from everyone this time. Glad to see a new face in here as well.....

Andy's I loved the mashed up colors/textures. Lee's made me cringe on how that might have happened or expensive it might be to find a duplicate, and Rusty's IMO was a great job of what I perceived to be a lightbox or seamless technique next to a window. Tims's made me hungry - to the point we traded PM's on it and how I cursed him for posting it! And vereist's shot I loved the colors/textures as well and staging.

I almost didn't post an entry this time, then decided to put the motorcycle key in a pair of vice-grips to hold it upright and I was going to shoot down the ridges, like a mountain range using the 105Macro with a ring-light. After a dozen shots, the DOF was soooo shallow it really didn't work so I moved the key perpendicular to be flat against the lens. Mind you, this key is only 6" or so from the lens. It took several tries to get it perfectly perpendicular so it would all be in focus and that wound up being the shot with a conversion to B&W. I posted it, then saw a few entries had been uploaded including vereist's and thought "well don't i feel stupid doing the same shot but single key/B&W".

Here's what the setup looked like:

Again, thanks for the nod, Rachel. And I do have to say "thanks" to everyone who participated as they were ALL great entries!

Stay tuned.... I'll have #152 up shortly and will extend it a bit to allow more time to think, prep, shoot and process!


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[Tracker]

All great images. Veriest1's was my favorite and hope to see more shots from all in future shoots.

 

[achesley]

Great shots everyone and loved it that we had that many entries. As others say, I love entering a pic but, really hate winning. ha ha ha ha Because, you have to do the dreaded subject choice and more so, dreaded judging. And, as always , each has their own path on where a picture brings them.

 

[Not Dave]

No handcuff key? Too bad I didn't see this until this morning.

All very good. I do like Rusty's too.

 

[WoodButcher]

Okay, the reason I didn't show more of the key chain was that it has a car dealership name on it. I was hiding that with the key, but figured I could show enough of the shape to show it was Texas.

And until Rachel clarified what she was looking for and the emphasis on bike, I was going with the keys to my heart and this picture:

Basically, I liked them all. Larry's key "chain" was a cool. Tim's would have been a winner if that were pie in the background, given the TWT propensity for pie.

 

[Not Dave]

Good one Rusty. I also thought of other "keys" besides literal. Piano comes to mind. Either way these were all very good entries.

 

[jleewebb]

Thanks for the kind comments. I turned on the lights and high beam indicator in an attempt to punch it up but agree it's a little blah. Thought I did ok with holding still for a 50th second available light shot.

That key was in the ignition through the bike's 35-year hibernation, don't remember how it got bent. It was one of two that came with the bike when I bought it in '63. The other one got broken off in the switch (in left air cleaner cover) when I hit a deer in '65 or so. I turned the bike on and off with a quarter for some time before I got the stub extracted. At some point back then I went to see Mr. Kretchmar at Honda of Austin (E. 1st and Chicon) and bought three spare keys to fit the bike, found them in jewelry box on my dresser when I went to resurrect the bike.

That's not original mileage btw, speedo with about 15k miles was replaced in '66 when a friend ran the bike into the back of a parked car. I wish I could take pics to tell all the stories the bike has to tell, but sometimes you just have to use your words.