Ghosts

I said in my review of the winning entry that to me a good ghost picture has to be creepy in a subtle way that leaves as much to the imagination as possible and that technical expertise is very much secondary to the emotion it conveys and the story it sets off in the viewers mind.

This image doesn't fit those expectations and in no way can I imagine this young lady to be anything other than very much alive. She's too pretty, too solid to be a ghost that could inhabit my imagination and I'm not convinced that lipstick is worn in the spirit world.

That said I couldn't let this image go without recognition as it's a stunning piece of work and I absolutely adore it. The setup, the technical ability and the attention to detail are top notch and in another competition where I had maybe a different set of expectations then this would be a sure fire winner.

Quite beautiful and very highly commended .........

To me a good ghost picture has to be creepy in a subtle way that leaves as much to the imagination as possible. Technical expertise is very much secondary to the emotion the image conveys and the story it sets off in the viewers mind.

This image fits the bill perfectly and I find it makes for genuinely unsettling viewing. From your description you obviously experimented a great deal in the post-processing of this image with the aim of giving “an old, worn and creepy feel” and to my eye you have achieved this aim admirably.

I was going to make a suggestion that you try a version with the reflection of the figure removed. This would certainly give the viewer something else to think about but in hindsight would probably unbalance the image from a compositional viewpoint.

All in all a very worthy winner of the “Ghosts” competition and an image that I could and probably will come back to look at over and over again.

Congratulations on your first place ........

I said in my review of the winning entry that to me a good ghost picture has to be creepy in a subtle way that leaves as much to the imagination as possible and of all the winning and commended images it seems that this one leaves the most to my imagination.

I keep looking at that blurred shape come figure thinking "what the hell is that". The image is small with no larger resolution version available which if anything just adds to it's mystery and reinforces the ambiguity of that shape.

Creepy indeed and congratulations on fourth place .......

I almost imagine this as a still from a horror movie with our heroine padding around her house checking that all windows and doors are secure whilst blissfully unaware of the happening in the mirror behind her.

High Gothic horror with a touch of eroticism thrown in for good measure makes for a wonderfully enjoyable image.

Congratulations on fifth place .......

Well I'd got my top ten sorted out, commendations assigned and reviews written and then this appeared late in the day and forced me to totally rethink my judging.

What a wonderful, spooky and yet quite beautiful image. I love that flow of figures up the stairs, so blurred that you can't really appreciate what they are until you see the little hand and arm towards the top of the stairs and you cotton on that you're looking at the ghostly shapes of children in period costume. It's very subtle yet very effective.

The setting works a treat as does the sepia treatment and all in all this is pretty much the archetypal ghost photograph that I had in mind when creating this competition. The only factor which separates this image and the one which I have awarded first place is that the latter for some strange reason gives me the absolute willies.

Congratulations though on a very well deserved second place .......

Your tags describe this image perfectly ......... ghostly, spooky, slightly scary and definitely blurry.

I love the grey softness, the lack of any degree of definition or background context and the tilted questioning incline of the figure's head. It's an intriguing image that plays in the mind and certainly asks more questions than it answers.

I must admit to not being totally sure about the hint of red to the lips and what may or may not be red fingernails below, but all in all this is a fascinating image and spookily minimal.

Congratulations ......

I love the inter-play between the three "characters" in this image, the woman admiring the view and blissfully unaware of the ghostly presence whilst the dog couldn't care less about the view and only has eyes for the ghost.

They do say that dogs are far more sensitive to the presence of ghosts than human beings and this is pictorial proof if ever that were needed .........

I said in my review of the winning entry that to me a good ghost picture has to be creepy in a subtle way that leaves as much to the imagination as possible and that technical expertise is very much secondary to the emotion it conveys and the story it sets off in the viewers mind.

This is neither creepy or subtle but it is colourful, ambiguous and great fun and certainly gets my mind weaving stories to explain what's going on.. In most cases I think leaving a photo untitled is a cop-out but in this case it works a treat as you're giving me no pointers as to what the image is meant to be about so forcing me to come up with my own story.

So yes, this is the seance from hell with the medium staring at the ceiling, ectoplasm dripping from the lampshade while she implores the spirits not to be afraid of the decor and to come on down and make themselves heard.

And all the while, like most youth of today, the other members of the seance have the attention span of frogs and bored with proceedings they wander the room trying to get a wi-fi signal on their iDevices so they can Facebook their mates.

Am I close?

I love everything about this image, the composition, the limited but rich colour palette, the girl's hair and wistful stare out of the window and that fabulous blaze of light burning out the top corner detail. I'm so glad that you didn't correctly align the exposures as the slippage gives the image a wonderful dynamism and bags of visual impact.

I'm not convinced in any way that she's a ghost which is the only reason that you have a commendation rather than flying high in the top ten. I'm imagining her in a long white period gown rather than jeans and modern jacket and in my minds eye that image is a thing of real beauty and ghostly as hell.

Congratulations on a smashing image though .........

I've looked at a lot of "ghostly figure in graveyards" pictures whilst judging this competition and for me this stands out as very much the best of that bunch.

The composition is excellent with the photogenic graveyard being framed all around with leaves and foliage and the bright arch of light in the centre of the image is most effective in breaking up the background and balancing the main gravestone on the left and the figure of the girl on the right.

The girl come ghost is just about spot on being neither too opaque to be an obvious solid figure or too transparent to look like an obviously faked ghost. I also like the way that her face is in deep shade and her features almost subliminal.

Congratulations on a well deserved third place .......