Weekly Competition - Year Two, Week 38

The Gate, originally uploaded by John the Monkey.

One of the things I try to do when I have film processed in time, or a suitable digital shot to hand, is enter the DVD Forums' weekly photography competition. One of the great things about this is the motivation it gives to pick up the camera and go out looking for things to photograph, although with 3 or 4 films still to scan, that motivation doesn't seem to be lacking here at the moment.

This week's entry is the shot above, "The Gate". Over the week that this picture has been voted on, I've warmed to it somewhat. I submitted this because I'd not processed the roll of HP5+ with the shots I had in mind as my first choices on it, my Elitechrome 100 was still at the lab and this was the strongest digital contender.

Whilst the shot has some elements usually to be found in the stuff I shoot (the idea of a landscape, but with things that are not conventionally beautiful in it, and the use of a wide angle to accentuate perspective), when I decided to submit it, this picture was very much a second choice. Perhaps with that in mind, I gave it a bit of a clichéd treatment, with a moody B&W conversion, and even a frame (something I never, ever do).

At the time, and probably blinded by the fact that my first choices were still undeveloped), I saw it as a rather predictable, crowd pleasing picture, although it did end up garnering a third place.

I have to confess that I still don't like it as much as "Pegs or "Path" (or for that matter, other entries that have sunk without trace in the voting, which probably says as much about my eye for a shot as anything else) but I don't actually dislike it anymore.

The picture was taken in Carrog on the other side of the Carrog Bridge. Walking back from the viewpoint you see in the shot, there's a large field that's ideal for sitting by the river and letting the world go by.

My children and neices spent a happy hour skimming stones instead though.