An Open Door
James Puttock

An Open Door

November 2023

Entry 16929398
64th
36
Entry 16930311
60th
4
Entry 16930689
23rd
25

I liked this shot as is different to most of the others. A car door open, after a storm, with rain drops on the window. But importantly, a silhouette of a figure standing looking at the sunset. Dark, moody, atmospheric, and works really well.

Entry 16940798
273rd
170

This doorway is perfectly centred in the frame, with much of the interest in the shot being what's is in front on the doorway, not through the doorway. Columns aligned, the old church with its stripped interior is no more than a ruin. But the photographer has captured lovely sunlight coming through the doorway to provide interest, warmth and colour. Perfect shot for this brief, with great exposure, detail, and focal depth.

Entry 16964365
57th
138
Entry 17038318
1609th
40

This shot was interesting to me for the green coloured motor vehicle parked within the room, and having the doorway open to the street and temple beyond. Great to have the walking figures too. Lovely exposure, framing, colours, and balance between inside and outside.

Entry 17058586
3rd
167

Cloisters are always such a fantastic eye catching element to any shot. This image answers the competition really well as the doorframe is beautifully captured, with one door open and one closed. Like the red on the door and the blue hue behind. F/22 gives detail from the doorway all the way to the end of the cloisters behind. Well taken.

Entry 17358324
40th
37
Entry 17464422
51st
110
Entry 17614616
624th
13

I am not sure what this building is, but it grabs you and keeps your attention really well. With the strange angles of wooden walls and ceilings, variety of doors and sizes, with lighting coming into the huge room, you want to know what space it is? With an ISO of 64, and aperture of F/11, this shot gives you great detail.

Entry 17614617
1445th
9
Entry 17732064
1097th
26
Entry 17735351
58th
13
Entry 17775688
16th
83
Entry 17784500
17th
11
Entry 17855666
993rd
8
Entry 17881208
279th
8
Entry 17894884
1531st
19
Entry 17896667
367th
78
Entry 17899825
26th
23
Entry 17905219
1451st
24
Entry 17907880
1546th
43
Entry 17913113
1028th
22
Entry 17913114
362nd
16
Entry 17925159
3147th
15
Entry 17929703
45th
39
Entry 17961400
1832nd
12
Entry 17967020
175th
21
Entry 18014608
895th
3
Entry 18038267
659th
49
Entry 18038268
3171st
52
Entry 18052703
152nd
5
Entry 18083190
1780th
100
Entry 18121657
824th
3
Entry 18140620
11th
122
Entry 18163650
1614th
12
Entry 18195132
2348th
13
Entry 18206893
1959th
8
Expert
winner
Entry 18206937
119th
71

'Into the unknown' is the perfect caption for both this image, but also for this competition. The door is not quite open enough to see inside, so it tempts the viewer to want to see more. It's a great shot, with nice light. A forgotten doorway, overgrown. Intriguing.

Entry 18214693
514th
7
Entry 18242897
1009th
10
Entry 18246750
47th
55
Entry 18247286
858th
10
Entry 18248628
1051st
17
Entry 18255000
267th
13
Entry 18258020
2417th
21
Entry 18265333
1086th
105
Entry 18279904
265th
34
Entry 18288373
37th
13
Entry 18306572
1726th
8
Entry 18311689
938th
5
Entry 18319448
13th
99
Entry 18323035
2393rd
31
Entry 18325774
1574th
10
Entry 18335845
12th
43
Entry 18356086
53rd
13
Entry 18367151
2830th
23
Entry 18390560
2109th
14
Entry 18390562
77th
114
Entry 18395889
192nd
197
Entry 18395890
48th
155
Entry 18409875
819th
21
Entry 18409933
266th
7
Entry 18421648
212th
40
Entry 18421649
105th
66
Entry 18424248
415th
1

Meet the expert judge

Crowd
winner

Many open doorways in this image, gives interest in this dilapidated building. Nicely framed, and exposed, the details within each room providing intrigue as to what the function of the building was when it was being used in the past.

Entry 17899826
9th
324
Entry 17941617
1660th
13
Entry 18051455
239th
21
Entry 18221053
581st
4
Entry 18273121
78th
74

Striking! I liked this shot due to the perfection of the person's painted face, against the in-perfect surrounding doorway and wall. The darkened interior hardly providing any detail of what's inside, makes you want to see more. 50mm f/4, great choice.

With doorways that look as though they lead from one room to another, but not giving the viewer any glimpses of what's the other side makes this shot retain your attention within the main room and the pitted and damaged walls. The golden light coming through is stunning too and was another reason why I put this shot into my top 10.

Entry 18427410
316th
45
Entry 18429382
186th
41
Entry 18432068
2085th
11
Entry 18432607
1751st
1
131
Entry 18432627
1147th
14
Entry 18432629
1401st
4
Entry 18433293
784th
10
Entry 18437685
136th
13
Entry 18439114
678th
7
Entry 18444975
134th
15
Entry 18444976
894th
14
Entry 18444979
614th
52
Entry 18444980
397th
7
Entry 18450975
877th
20
Entry 18452897
1495th
54

Sometimes, the simplest shots are the best for communicating a message, or answering a brief or competition. I think this capture does that perfectly beautifully, with the multi-coloured fabrics on display covering the entire door surround. and only a door handle providing the information to tell you it's an entrance. Again, making you want to see more as darkened interior doesn't provide any clue as to what's inside.

Entry 18459738
100th
18
Entry 18463165
1484th
6
Entry 18471628
671st
8
Entry 18471647
1375th
202
Entry 18472152
353rd
13
Entry 18482234
1867th
22
Entry 18482819
1191st
29
Entry 18482820
1626th
37
Entry 18482822
214th
129
Entry 18483287
1343rd
39
Entry 18483301
3117th
9
Entry 18483896
236th
97

Stunning blues, an open door, interesting shapes, all make this image a standout shot. The facade of this building keeps your attention, but it doesn't take too long before you want to see what's inside. Perhaps a slightly wider crop might have given a bit more context of what surrounds this property, but love it.

Entry 18490813
18th
67

This was one of a number of images entered into this competition showing buildings at Kolmanskop. But I felt this shot was the best as the exposure, colours, golden sunlight, milkiness of the sand, and framing of the doorframes all worked so well together. A superb shot, and an example of why getting to your location early in the morning pays off.

Simply captured, the key element of this image is the rabbit looking into the room from behind the door. With a glimpse of lovely autumnal colour behind it. The shot works so well due to the emptiness of the room and the hue of the autumn colour touching all parts.

3,540 Images entered

1,779 Photographers

Brief

See more contest details

As an invite to move forward and look beyond, does anything work quite as well as an open door? The house within, the next room, the outdoors and an escape from confinement. Or maybe nothing, maybe it’s better in here, or maybe it’s a ruin, and the door now leads nowhere. The open door is an interesting construct and aid for us to play with in our photography. From a technical perspective beware of different levels of brightness on either side of the door, although software nowadays does allow for an easier balancing of these light levels.

169,485 Ratings

Entry 18487747
165th
150
Entry 18491026
842nd
7
Entry 18493699
2899th
8
Entry 18494103
52nd
35