An incredibly strong image, and deserved winner. The unusual point of view with strong parallel lines breaking the norm of taking a viewer into rather than across the image works well. It captures the busy-ness and closeness of a festival scene, and has a felling of Andreas Gursky's ability to get close detail yet from a wide view. Very difficult lightong to balance the expression was done very well and composition spot on. To get the sharpness with 1/20ths shutter speed was impressive.
Very nearly in the top 10, the composition of this caught the eye, with the two distinct halves of the crowd at the bottom and a powder clouds above, nicely linked by the up-stretched arms.
Well done on resisting the temptation to oversaturate the colour, and the pastel like mist created is pleasing.
A strong effort indeed, which had it been cropped a little more to the left (getting the girl on the far left in full and using the man on the far right as a balancing framing marker whilst losing the distracting blue powder trial to the right of his head) might have snuck in! Well done.
Glastonbury in a nut shel! The chosen saturation and colour balance hit just the right note, without being too lurid or over stylistically washed out, and give it a slightly nostalgic feel that works well. Clever composition with interest in the upper middle and lower parts of the frame and in the left, middle and right hand thirds allow the viewer to get absorbed in the scene and crowd feeling without drawing too much away from the main figure, which captures in the facial expression, hair, makeup and dress the real sense of giving oneself to the moment and the music. Well done indeed.
The euphoria of the moment screams out, and captures the spirit, mood and joy of event (and the music). The chosen framing/cropping gets the balance just right between crowd and confetti above them - not too much of either part. The timing of getting the raised hands makes this more than merely a strong wide shot and links the two parts of the scene perfectly, both by the viewer's eye being drawn heavens-wards and re-creating a feeling of exultation and worship that the audience seem to share!
802 Images entered
A fantastic image that was very close to being the winner. Capturing the scale, colours and atmosphere of a festival beautifully. What makes it really stand out is the composition of the single still figure in the centre amongst the sea of movement. Just the right amount of saturation, precisely exposed given the dark scene, and how the necessary depth of field of f/11 with an ISO of 125 for sharpness was achieved, with the just the right level of blurred movement, was very skilful. It has the feeling of Salgado's famous shot of Churchgate Station. The leading lines in the top half of the shot draw the eye in well. Very well done.
A deserved top three and pushed close to the winning shot. The composition is precise and faultless, with the outstretched hand to the left having flung the bags drawing the eye into the main group of Geisha, and is beautifully echoed in the figure to the far right doing the same motion from a different angle. The depth of field creating the foreground blur was exact and crispness of the central figures spot on. A restrained use of colour, it would have been easy over- saturate in post production, which was rightly avoided. The contrast of the white makeup did not lead to overexposure in the faces, in a scene with a wide dynamic range. A compelling shot.
An excellent image with strong composition and an evocative subject, beautifully captured. The orange flower garland gives a real point of contrast with the subtly captured and exposed painted skin tones. As a matter of pure personal preference only, I might have cropped it slightly more tightly from the top of the frame, to just above the main subject's raised hands, but others may (fairly!) disagree. Well done.
Amongst many powder/paint scenes this was a novel take and all the better for it. The level of definition is impressive from this ISO and camera, and it is the texture on the skin and the eyelashes that really make this more than just a colourful shot. It leaves the viewer wondering just what the rest of the subject might look like! The blue works well, to create more than a monochromatic feel. It evokes the powder festivals and celebrations whilst showing such a small part of a scene. If I had a (tiny) quibble, the lightening and sharpening on the iris is maybe be a stage too far, but it is really a matter of personal taste! It was a surprise to see this shot amongst the myriad of crowd scenes entered, and a very refreshing one. Well done on this inventive perspective.
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As the first few post-vaccine festivals open their doors, we’re celebrating festivals of all kinds, and reminding ourselves what we’ve been missing these last 18 months. There’s nothing like s shared interest to get us all together in a field, or under a massive tent - music, food, beer, VW cars, there’s a festival for everything!
22,487 Ratings
Strong capture of the facial expressions of the joyful children and good use of diagonal verticals from the raised arms. Getting close to, but not quite stepping over the line of over-saturation the intensity of the colour is just right. The reason it did not (just) make a top ten spot is that it could be more tightly cropped, or could at last lose an inch of sky and bring in a little more of the boy at the bottom, and perhaps the face to the far left. A strong entry and well done.
This shot is fantastic and rightly has won accolades and high placings in other photocrowd competitions. It is moving, beautifully composed and a superb example of the power of black and white. It is one of the shots of which I am most envious! I could not give it a top ten place in this competition, only because it was not wholly clear it was fully "on brief" of the "festivals" theme. A little context in the narrative would have remedied this. But nonetheless, bravo!
