Collecting is a big part of the hobby world. It can often start without us even knowing. This image makes me think that. Is it more casual than it may seem? Perhaps each beverage is a reminder of a conversation from a specific place or time, a collection of stories. Or maybe most are gifts and finds, thought of more as trading cards. 'Got that one already', etc. Either way I like the vintage designs and the texture of the bends in the caps as they've been separated from their bottles. A still life that makes me wonder things.
Some of the greatest things come from the smallest beginnings. I don't need to wax too much about that when the image explains it so well. I wasn't expecting to have a macro photograph standout in a still life competition but this pleasantly opens up a new angle on how to think about the genre. The difference between the manmade metals contrast well against the softer more delicate nature of the woven cotton fibres. Thanks for the lovely photo.
I would have liked to have seen more horticulture in this competition. Still life of living forms can be fascinating and dramatic but is hard to execute. Some lovely textures and colours on display here but more play time is needed to make the most of them. Definitely makes me want to get more plants though! Im very jealous of your collection, a talented cacti grower indeed.
A creative art piece here and i appreciate the effort and ability. With a little more play i think further iterations could be very striking indeed. Perhaps less contrast and being bedded on a lighter and more delicate background could make for something very pleasing indeed. Id like to see more attempts. Great idea!
Traditionally in painting, a still life can still be considered a still life even if it contains human elements such as a hand holding an object. I'm extending this to the photography genre and standing by it. Weaving and producing fabrics has been part of our human story from time immemorial and the human hand is integral to this. The age of the hands lends a voice to the skill and ability that's necessary for arguably one of the more important of all hobbies. Stories themselves have been woven in to rugs and tapestries from the earliest cultures and are still in practice today. A lovely photograph for my top 10.
This still life is very pleasing on the eye. It encompasses several hobbies and interests and wraps them together in a very lovely way. The colours are carefully balanced and the photograph flows in that natural 'Z' way that we follow when we look at images. Indeed it could be a flag from The Good Ship Of Hobbies. Well executed with very pretty light.
I love the clean crisp nature of this photograph. It's hard to avoid the cliched images that could so easily be made when trying to make one that represents reading as a hobby. I saw many. This is unique from the rest and it soon went in to my highly merited category to revisit later. The colours are super and although still, the movement of turning pages is implied - with their near perfect spacing. Lovely and soft on the broad side of the pages but paper-cut sharp at their outer edges.
Cooking is a hobby as old as time. From necessity to the pure joy of it. Either way an indulgence. The way the colour pallets reverse in this still life is very pleasing. it implies a start and a finish with a phase of change in the middle. The texture on the bread and bowl that mirror each other lend to an implied creation of something from nothing. The intrusion of the bowl in to the bread's space adds to this. Nice diptych.
I adore the colour pallet here. The absence of the thin black line that separates the yellow from the white would change the image dramatically, yet remains subtle. The lines of composition are just right and the texture of the spices and seeds bring life to the otherwise sterile, but very lovely, objects in the photograph. Looks very much like a painting from the art-deco period. Needs to be on a kitchen wall.
Of course philately belongs in the top 10! As one of the oldest hobbies in modern history, it deserves a beautiful photograph. I like the way the images of the stamps are playfully unimportant here. It says more about the hobby as a whole rather than the items in the actual image. A slight similarity of Frans Hals Laughing Cavalier portrait being the focal point nods toward the nature of reproduction in the stamp industry. I also like the fact that its not contrived. We are in the collectors home and see the natural light from their window blind as they show us their archive. It has realness. A cool and creative still life.
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When it comes to art for art's sake, I like a photograph that has an essence of timelessness about it, indeed this image could almost come from any point in time. Stripping the colour has also further focussed the attention on the process. Ceramics and potting have been part of human life for many thousands of years. From necessity to the pure pleasure of it as a hobby, the satisfaction of practicing the craft comes across in this image well. It has warmth and texture and just the right amount of movement. Great light. unfortunately doesn't quite fit the brief for still life, but a lovely photograph none the less
Brief
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The world of hobbies is a rich and varied one, and most come with a requirement to buy all manner of specialist kit. A lot of hobbies involve collecting things, and many others are about building and creating things. For many hobbyists, photographing their collections, their kit, their constructions, is part of the fun. Maybe you have a hobby but haven’t photographed it with a still life approach before, or maybe you know someone who might be open to you turning your lens on their hobby. Submitted images should be still life in nature, so a focus on objects and not people, and shot in a deliberate fashion.
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