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Edgeware & Balham on The Stratford?


cheshire~rose

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10 hours ago, Heartland said:

The Lengthsman's Cottage Stratford Canal was the winner of the Heritage & Restoration Section and would imply that this section is to highlight achievements on restoration. That the lengthsman's cottage includes new build extensions is perhaps a matter for discussion, but if the image of the cottage has been reversed that is another factor to be considered as it does not show even the true perspective.

 

The same person also had a winner in the Active Waterways Competition and again there is the question of either accuracy or alteration.

 

The wonders of digital enhancement have become available on a greater scale now, but there is the issue of ethics. Is it right to alter images for competitions? There is a clear advantage to those who have the software and the skills and such distracts from the genuine ability to take a good composition image.

 

With the 2020 IWA Competition the art of digital composition has overtaken the art of photography and may be it is time to call an end to this  competition.

 

 

 

 

 

Ashby Canal.jpg

Back to this image, does anyone know the boat, it looks a rather nice boat to me.

 

The index number looks to be 502946, which does not tie into the boat name, but of course it could have been renamed since the last update to the boat listing, and paintwork does not look that old.  I guess I am just being very suspicious of these images now !

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1 hour ago, john6767 said:

The index number looks to be 502946, which does not tie into the boat name, but of course it could have been renamed since the last update to the boat listing, and paintwork does not look that old.  I guess I am just being very suspicious of these images now !

 

The boat in the picture doesn't seem to have a name (assuming Gibson Beans is the name(s) of the owners(s)) .

 

According to the Canalplan boat listing, 502946 is a 62 ft narrow boat named Chalfont.

 

Chalfont Built by Walsall Btblders Ltd - Length : 18.9 metres ( 62 feet ) - Beam : 2.08 metres ( 6 feet 10 inches ) - Draft : 0.71 metres ( 2 feet 4 inches ). Metal hull N/A power of 52 HP. Registered with Canal & River Trust number 502946 as a Powered Motor Boat.  ( Last updated on Wednesday 22nd May 2013 )

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8 minutes ago, David Mack said:

 

The boat in the picture doesn't seem to have a name (assuming Gibson Beans is the name(s) of the owners(s)) .

 

According to the Canalplan boat listing, 502946 is a 62 ft narrow boat named Chalfont.

 

Chalfont Built by Walsall Btblders Ltd - Length : 18.9 metres ( 62 feet ) - Beam : 2.08 metres ( 6 feet 10 inches ) - Draft : 0.71 metres ( 2 feet 4 inches ). Metal hull N/A power of 52 HP. Registered with Canal & River Trust number 502946 as a Powered Motor Boat.  ( Last updated on Wednesday 22nd May 2013 )

I was assuming Gibson Beans was the boat name, an American brand of baked beans.  However a boat built by Walsall Boat Builders would fit with the style of the shell, and 62ft looks about right.

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As to the Zouch image bridge 44 

 

Looking at the canal plan photo posted on their website, there are differences with the bridge, as if that had been altered. For example the hand rails and the electric pilons behind it. Electric Pilons would no doubt distract from the composition.

 

And then there are the two dogs, the photographer was indeed fortunate to capture that pose.

 

 

 

44 Zouch.jpg

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12 minutes ago, Heartland said:

As to the Zouch image bridge 44 

 

Looking at the canal plan photo posted on their website, there are differences with the bridge, as if that had been altered. For example the hand rails and the electric pilons behind it. Electric Pilons would no doubt distract from the composition.

 

And then there are the two dogs, the photographer was indeed fortunate to capture that pose.

 

 

 

44 Zouch.jpg


Good spot.  Whilst the handrail could have been different at the times those photos were taken (but I doubt it), it does seem that the power cables have been removed. Perhaps we are naive in thinking that the entries in a photographic competition are actually images that have come out of a camera, rather then the result of digital editing.

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6 hours ago, john6767 said:

Perhaps we are naive in thinking that the entries in a photographic competition are actually images that have come out of a camera, rather then the result of digital editing.

Perhaps. Although I've always assumed that, except in the case of projected original transparencies, what came out of the camera was just the beginning - and have spent far too many hours in the darkroom to begrudge anybody the use of software manipulation.

 

For my tastes the bridge picture works far better than the one that started this thread.

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Given that photograph competitions already have many categories, one for shots with "artistic interpretation" would surely be appropriate - along with the ability for the judges to move a picture into that category from another if they felt it necessary. 

 

At the other extreme a category of "documentary photograph" might be appropriate, for photographs that are intended to illustrate and educate rather than (just) be aesthetically pleasing

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If anyone is interested, tonight there will be a live stream of the awards ceremony of another boating related photographic competition:

 

Copied from an email I have received:

 

Quote

National Historic Ships invite you to join us TONIGHT for our 2020 Awards Ceremony on 10th November.  Filmed aboard HMS Belfast last month our special guest presenter will be international yachtswoman Tracy Edwards. 

 

Join us this evening to learn the winners of our 2020 Photography Competition, Marsh Volunteer, Flagships of the Year and Excellence in Maritime Conservation Awards, plus celebrate the graduation of our SHTP 2 ship-keeping trainees. You'll also get a special curator's tour of HMS Belfast and a preview into some of the conservation work taking place while the ship is closed.

 

The ceremony will be streamed from our website at 7.30pm tonight using the following link: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/page/awards-2020, so sit back on the sofa and enjoy!!!

 

We'll also be live-tweeting throughout the ceremony, using the hashtag #NatHistShipsAwards2020 and hosting a live watch party on our Facebook page - please join us to share your comments and congratulate the winners as they are announced. They will also be a live instagram takeover with one of our judges Ash Faire – Ring and our newly crowned winner.

Having been honoured to attend a previous ceremony in person at Trinity House I have to say I am really looking forward to watching this.

 

The calibre of the photography is always amazing and it depicts some seriously interesting vessels and their maintenance. use and restoration.

 

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This is view of the cottages , of the first post, taken in 2011 (Heartland Press Collection) from the Lock 25  looking to the cottages and the extensions. The hire boat was from Worcester.

 

Dicks Lane is only a foot path over the split bridge. This image shows the correct orientation of the towing path.

 

 

735109.jpg

 

It is worth noting the satellite disc on this image, which is missing from the first post.

 

Edited by Heartland
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  • 1 month later...

Good morning to fellow critics 

The photo which is causing such constination is a composite, it complies to competition rules, as each component part has been recorded during 35 years and many thousands of miles taking photo's on our gorgeous waterways.

It is for sure a "marmite" photo, my idea was to create an image reflecting the restoration on one of my favourite canals, and as such is open to many eagle eyed viewers.

A few very bored members would have visited my Flickr site and seen a fair variety of photo ventures, a composite is just another genre.

I guess reaching everyone's approval is a big ask, true photographers know "you take photos for your own pleasure first".

Nigel

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Nice of you to come on and comment Nigel. The original poster was unsure of the location and general aspect of the composition which led to much else.

Personally I would not consider your method of composing images for a photographic competition as valid. They may well be an 'art' form, but whatever the competition rules may be, they are not direct photographs of reality as can be seen with the naked eye and that is where the majority of criticism would appear to have come from. They may meet the competition rules - but clearly they do not impress the majority of commenters on this section of the forum.

 

"You take photos for you own pleasure". Yes that's true in one instance. But taking photos is also a way of recording what is there at a specific point or place in time. Your image does not meet that criteria in any way. Photography has always had its images that have been touched up ever since the creation of photography and todays technology allows images to look as though they have been 'painted', with superimposed elements such as you have done. It's clever, but unreal. It comes over as false and misleading.

 

 

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It also comes over as embarrassingly bad when you have a boat and butty moored across Stoke Bruerne lock 14 or a seemingly 100ft moored pair blocking Broad St bridge. A mistake that could be made by a non- waterways person maybe, but surely not by someone who has travelled thousands of miles on boats.

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5 hours ago, Nigel - the photographer said:

The photo which is causing such constination is a composite, it complies to competition rules, as each component part has been recorded during 35 years and many thousands of miles taking photo's on our gorgeous waterways.

It is for sure a "marmite" photo, my idea was to create an image reflecting the restoration on one of my favourite canals, and as such is open to many eagle eyed viewers.

 

One of the component parts is not a true image of one of your favourite canals, since it is a mirror image. A mirror of the boats might have been acceptable, given that boats are more or less symmetrical (apart from the signwriting). But the house and bridge are not, and presenting them the wrong way round is a misrepresentation.

The Southern Stratford was restored to navigation more than 55 years ago. And at that time Balham and Edgeware would have looked very different. Their neglect over recent years is to be regretted (although thankfully they are now on the way up again under new ownership), and I fail to see how planting a recent(ish) picture of them in decay onto a background of a long-reopened canal can relate in any way to the canal's restoration.

Using a composite in this way is a charade, and if the rules of the competition allow it, then to my mind the rules should be changed.

Edited by David Mack
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5 hours ago, Nigel - the photographer said:

The photo which is causing such constination is a composite, it complies to competition rules, as each component part has been recorded during 35 years and many thousands of miles taking photo's on our gorgeous waterways.

Can you please provide a link to the competition rules where it says that composite images are permitted?

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5 hours ago, Nigel - the photographer said:

Good morning to fellow critics 

The photo which is causing such constination is a composite, it complies to competition rules, as each component part has been recorded during 35 years and many thousands of miles taking photo's on our gorgeous waterways.

It is for sure a "marmite" photo, my idea was to create an image reflecting the restoration on one of my favourite canals, and as such is open to many eagle eyed viewers.

A few very bored members would have visited my Flickr site and seen a fair variety of photo ventures, a composite is just another genre.

I guess reaching everyone's approval is a big ask, true photographers know "you take photos for your own pleasure first".

Nigel

Thanks for coming on here and commenting. 
 

To me I would not have expected that a “cartoon” such as the original photograph on this thread, that does not reflect an actual waterway scene, would have been acceptable.  I suspect most others entering would have thought the same and that you would need to submit an actual photograph, not a digital painting which is a mirrored and edited composite of multiple photographs.

 

I would be interested in how the rules for a competition like this are framed, but I was unable to find them, do you have link to them?

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36 minutes ago, john6767 said:

 

 

I would be interested in how the rules for a competition like this are framed, but I was unable to find them, do you have link to them?

It was an IWA competition so expect the rules to be something like...

1. Members only

2. Must be your own photograph.

3. No dirty CCers or tramp boats allowed.

4. Wide beam photographs will result in cancellation of your membership.

Edited by matty40s
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