Clocks and watches

A great range of tones and contrast give a quality feel to this image. By placing the face of the watch virtually parallel to the camera, the wide aperture has created some pleasing out of focus areas in the surroundings, but the entire watch face has retained sharpness. The shallow depth of field reduces any distraction from the potentially "busy" background and keeps focus on the subject. Strong composition, with the chain on the left and ragged edge of the paper in the foreground providing balance to the shot.

The inclusion of the old wedding photograph underneath the pocket watch tells a story and invites the viewer to create their own narrative. The set-up has been very well done, with the placement of the chain framing the couple. The framing of the shot works well, and I think the decision to crop off the chain on either side gives a stronger image than if there had been clear space all around the subject. Conversion to black and white suits the subject, and although a good range of tones, the contrasts are not too harsh. You have done well to avoid any glare on the glass of the watch.

This is a well composed, sharply focused close up image of the inner workings of a watch. Lighting looks natural and white balance looks accurate, with no ugly colour casts or unusual hues. Shadow and highlights are well balanced, and the image has good depth as we get a good perception of the different layers of cogs and wheels extending into the mechanism. If anything the white digital frame distracts, as it is quite deep and the brightness of the white tends to draw the eye away from the image. If you want to "contain" the subject in some way, a narrow keyline just a few pixels wide could be more suitable, framing the subject without taking the attention. White frame aside, this is still a strong close-up still life.

There are some fabulously intricate details which have been captured here, especially on the nearest watch. A relatively wide aperture has narrowed the depth of field to draw the eye to the main subject, with the rest of the set up falling gradually out of focus. The image had been confidently converted to black and white, and although darker tones predominate, the range of tones is from black through to white, and the small areas of highlights and brighter tones help lift the image. Well composed, the slightly angled viewpoint works well with the subject.

A simple but effective composition of an attractive pocket watch. The wide aperture has kept the depth of field shallow, allowing the watch face to be in focus, and some rather attractive bokeh on the backdrop, which just avoids being too "busy" and potentially drawing the attention. The bright white digital frame does tend to draw the eye away from the subject, and I do not think anything is added by its inclusion. Good black and white work. The shadow you have captured under the watch case is important to the success of the shot, as it avoids the lower section being plain and uninteresting.

This image has been well composed, with careful attention being taken to frame the clock within the background building. The wide angle lens has been used with good effect, as the exaggerated perspective creates an interesting dynamic to the composition. Strong black and white conversion with some bold and punchy contrasts. The face of the clock has retained brightness which along with the vignette, ensures it remains the subject of the image.

There were not surprisingly a lot of entries of clocks in this contest, but many were either simple record shots of an attractive clock possibly encountered whilst travelling, or were an urban cityscape scene which just happened to contain a clock somewhere in shot if you look hard enough to find it. Here however we have a creatively captured image where the subject is obviously the clock, but the setting is still visible to give context The wide aperture has captured the clock in sharp focus, but allowed the background to be nicely out of focus. Some good bold contrasts in the black and white converstion, and the white of the clockface appropriately draws the eye to the subject of the image.

Whether all thse parts are from the same timepiece does not matter, as this is an interesting still life composition of the inner workings of dismantled clocks/watches. For me the bright date cog wheel is key to the composition and acts as a strong focal point, and also ties the other elements together, rather than being an assorted pile of metal bits. The subject is well lit against the black surround, and choice of aperture is spot on to allow a good amount of the subject to be in sharp focus, with only the furthest pieces falling nicely out of focus. Some nice natural colours, good tones and contrast. The shiny surface on which the items are placed show a subtle mirrored reflection, which provides some interest on the lower half of the frame, but does not compete for attention over the main subject.

Despite being relatively small within the frame, the way the light falls on the watch makes it for me the main subject of the image. A well constructed set up of harmonious items in this still life composition, the inclusion of the flower gives the set-up some height and the lighter tones match that of the watch face. Super sharpness across the image, which is well lit to create a lovely mood. The limited colour palette, mottled backdrop and textured surface further adds a vintage look to the shot.

One of the benefits of photographing objects in close-up with a macro lens is the creativity which can be added by having a shallow depth of field, which can draw the eye to key parts of the subject, and allowing other areas further away from the point of focus to gradually fall out of focus. This image has good potential, but for me the depth of field is far too shallow, with the amount of the subject in shart focus being just a narrow slither, and unfortunately the rest has become a not too attractive blur. Had a wider aperture been selected, say f/5.6 or f/8, a little more of the subject would likely have been in focus, whilst still retaining some nicely softened focus. With a subject such as this, I would generally expect the purpose of the image is to show off the subject, not hide it behind blur. It is always worth experimenting with different apertures to compare the effect, but unfortunately for me too much of the subject cannot be seen here due to the blur. You have an ideal subject though for further experimentation.

This has all the elements for a great image, with sharp focus on the subject, which is well exposed and some lovely highlights to show the shine of the gold. What lets the image down a little for me is the intensity of tbe bokeh highlights in the background, which tends to overshadow the watch and becomes more the focus of the image. It can be worth experimenting with different backgrounds when shooting a still life image. Maybe if the brightness and sharpness of the circular highlights were softened, the watch could stand out as the subject and make a stronger image.

I very much like simple, graphic images such as this, however with such minimal shots, there is nowhere to hide. The scene is set for a super minimalist image, but what just lets it down for me is the angle of view, which is taken from below looking up slightly, which has caused the clock to become off-circular, weakening the graphics and preventing the image being an abstract of lines and a circle. For me the shot would have been much stronger by a slight adjustment of camera position, being held slightly higher more in line with the clock. In some circumstances, simply raising the camera above the head and composing the shot using the back screen provides enough height increase. It may also be possible to alter the perspective slightly in post processing to enable the clock to be shown as a true circle. Close to an award, but not quite there on this occasion.

This is a very creative image, and a well executed composite. Although probably not to everyone's tastes, it has been very well created. The reason why it did not make the awards is that for me the theme of the contest, the watch, looks incidental to the image and not a strong enough element to be considered as meeting the brief closely enough to be awarded. A clever image, but not for this contest theme.

For me this is a strong image. The scene is quite mundane, which I like, and there are plenty of strong and interesting shapes and odd little details such as the chairs tipped up against the wall. The lighting is good, with a brightness on the brickwork contrasting with the grey of the sky from the passing storm. The image has not been awarded in this contest as the subject of the image does not obviously look to be the clock, which was the requirement for this contest. An image I like a lot, but not awarded in this contest.

I like this image and it was close to the awards, however just a couple of things let it down and kept it out of the commendations. For me there seems to be an incongruence between what I anticipate was the aim of the image, and the result. The set up looks to be trying to suggest class and stylishness, with a little touch of luxury, however the ragged edge of the scarf for me spoils the look. It would be interesting to see the same set up using a silk scarf or similar luxurious fabric, or even hiding the rough edges underneath the other folds, which have been well captured. Also, the white background is rather bright and harsh for the softness of the fabric, and for me that jars slightly. It would also be worth experimenting with the format of this image, as a square crop, with much of the empty space on the left and a more centralised subject, could work well. A shot with good potential.