DSLR Speed Challenge #373: Four Basic Elements

DSLR Speed Challenge #373: The Four Basic Elements

The ancient Greeks believed that all matter (and to a degree, human nature) was composed of one or more of the four basic elements of Earth, Air (or Wind), Fire, and Water. This week, show me a photo where one or more of these four basic elements is prominently featured. It may or may not be the subject, but it should be a key part of the photo.

Be safe & be creative!!
(And if you've never heard any music by Earth, Wind, & Fire, go check them out if interested.)

**Please note the addition of adding a title to the post.**

This challenge begins when posted, and will end at 10:00p.m. Eastern time Monday, April 20, 2015. Winner of this challenge will be announced shortly thereafter.

Standard Rules apply
Photo Submissions:
1. Camera: Any DSLR Camera
2. Time: Any on-topic photo taken at any time is eligible, although photos that have won other competitions should NOT be entered.
3. Size: Please visit Image Posting Rules.
4. Post Processing: Do whatever you like and the host will decide if it works.
5. Posting:

ONE PHOTO per photographer in each challenge.


Post photo title in the first line of the post


Post brief EXIF data including ISO, shutter speed and aperture used


Camera model & lens used

Creekside

IMAGE LINK: http://s78.photobucket​.com …est-_zpsas2rbzqm.jpg.html

Granuja Falls

T3i EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II @ 18mm; 5" ƒ7.1 ISO 100

Canon 5D MkIII
Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 Sport @ 300mm
f2.8
1/4000 sec
ISO 100

Earth, Wind, and Fire

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/pEkT​Ab

Glassworking Fire

Into the Fire

Contest is closed. Results will be up shortly.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge this week. Here are a few thoughts & comments on the photos. Again, they're just my thoughts on my take on the photos as I see them.

kbColorado - Creekside: This is a nice b&w white shot of a guitar by a creek. Overall it's a pleasing composition & makes me feel like someone's about to sit down on a log or rock and strum out a few songs. I wish there was a little more water in the photo for the theme.

Benitoit - Granuja Falls: I always like nice waterfall shots. I think I would prefer a little tighter crop on the falls themselves and a little less of the rock on the right in the foreground. Maybe it's my monitor, but it looks like the rocks on the falls are a little soft.

M_Six - Earth, Wind, and Fire: I like the "God Rays" in the photo. The one transmission tower with all the wires leading to and away from it with all the wind turbines surrounding it is a simple composition that works for me.

teekay- Glassworking Fire: I like the subject of this photo. I saw a glassblower a few months ago myself and was impressed with what she could do with a blowtorch. I think I would have preferred a vertical crop on the guy on the left so that he is the main focus of the image.

Jason C - Into the Fire: You managed to get all 4 elements of the theme in the photo. I am curious as to why you left the branch of the palm tree in the upper right instead of cropping or editing it out. You may not have been able to crop that without cropping out some key elements of the photo.

Soooo..... I considered the theme and the composition and elements of the photo and how they all fit together in deciding the winner for this week. Based on those, this week's winner is Jason C and his Into the Fire image.
Runner up was really close for me, but that goes to M_Six.

Congrats guys, and thanks again to everyone for participating!!

Congrats, Jason! What a great image!

lavanut wrote in post #17525752
Jason C - Into the Fire: I am curious as to why you left the branch of the palm tree in the upper right instead of cropping or editing it out. You may not have been able to crop that without cropping out some key elements of the photo.

I think the inclusion of the fore ground tree makes it a better image. If I had been at that scene, I would have positioned myself so that I could be sure to get the top of the palm tree into the frame, the way Jason did. The blurred out tree lets the viewer know that there was tall vegetation looming over the area where the photo was taken from. it tells the viewer something additional about the scene. Also, from a compositional standpoint, I think that it balances the helicopter nicely. Just my opinion, which is not worth any more than anyone else's. I do find it interesting that lavanut thinks the image would be better if the tree were not included.

I'm not sure if I think it would be better. I was just curious as to why he left it in the image. Part of me likes it, and part of me thinks it's a little out of place. I lean more to liking it, but that's why I wanted to ask Jason why he chose to leave it in there. Jason usually has a good reason for everything in his images.

Admittedly, one thing I often struggle with is what to crop and what to leave. I remember reading more than once that everything in the photo should contribute to the main subject or theme of the photo. If it doesn't add to it, then it takes away from it. Making sure you know what the main subject is and making sure (in general) that all the elements contribute to that subject should be a key factor in composition. I find myself thinking more and more about that these days.

I know I'm paraphrasing what I read, but that's the general gist. I welcome other thoughts & viewpoints!

Nice work everyone. Kudos, Jason. Nice shot. Was there a bigger fire on the other side of the hill?

Thank you Lisa for the nod, and the challenge. Very good work from everyone!

Yes, that branch annoys me, but as Lisa mentioned, keeping key elements in the frame made the choice for me. I did NIT want to clone-out the tree, because I wanted to keep the photo-journalist aspect of the event intact...so I did not clone Hillary out of the war room.

And, it is a big crop to begin with, you should see everything else I cropped out.

Anyway, thank you again.

I will post the new challenge Wednesday, reason being, my work station began crashing during the last week, very bad. System restore to factory settings did not solve the issue, so as of now I am on a 10' notepad running XP, with a screen res of 800x600. Online navigation is a chore.

Next challenge will be up tomorrow.

Thank you all.

Jason

Thanks Lisa for the challenge, particularly for taking the time to discuss each entry. Congrats, Jason!

Congratulations, Jason, on getting every element into your winning shot - and I would have also left the palm tree in

New challenge is up:

DSLR Speed Challenge # 374Man versus Nature

Looking forward to your submissions!


Jason