I SHOT IT : City Competition 3 - San Francisco : Results

Judges Comment
This abstraction of a typical San Francisco view into pure shapes and colors reminiscent of the paintings by Richard Diebenkorn, or any of the Bay Area Figurative’s group, really won us over and garnered our first place award. In addition to its painterly qualities, this photo presents a view that most San Franciscans can appreciate: the iconic architecture and the beautiful light that floods over the city most evenings
Photographers Comment
It's a great honour to win first prize! I took this on our honeymoon and was our first trip to San Francisco. We were only there for 3 days in August but were blessed with fantastic weather for the entire time. Our hotel room was on one of the higher floors and we just happened to be getting ready for an evening out when the golden hour hit and lit up the houses as seen in the photo. Apart from a crop and some minor curves, this is pretty much straight out of the camera. Although it contains no obvious landmarks it simply gives me the feeling of San Francisco perfectly. This was taken was a Panasonic Lumix G3 (I had my Nikon D3 with me at the time also).

Judges Comment
We selected this beautiful (infrared?) image of Portals of the Past and Lloyd Lake in Golden Gate Park as a merit winner because of the tranquil pleasing composition and tones. Like its namesake, this photo speaks to images from the past, and is technically well executed. The sharpness and detail matched with perfect exposure make it an exceptional image?
Photographers Comment
Thank you very much for the honorable mention of my photograph in your contest. You guessed right, it is an infrared photograph of the 'Portals of the Past' monument in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. My name is Rodney Johnson and that day I was using an 80's vintage Hasselblad 500CM with an 80mm CF Zeiss Planar T* Lens. The film used was Efke IR820c AURA (which is no longer manufactured) using a Hoya RM72 filter. The Film was processed in Kodak D76 developer. The negative was scanned using an Epson Perfection V750-M Scanner using epsonscan software. Very light post-processing was done with Corel Paint Shop Pro X software.
rodneyj.net

Judges Comment
This image was merit worthy and interesting to us in a number of ways. First, the image presents us with the obvious disparity of wealth in an urban setting. This scene is one that is quite familiar to San Franciscans and one that is not often highlighted. To us, the beautiful, youthful airbrushed models flanking this disheveled and aged man who we could presume to be homeless is even further supported by the duality of the photo’s colors. The juxtaposition of color and gray areas adds yet another layer.
Photographers Comment
I'm Lars Kampmann, I took this photo outside Victoria's Secret in Union Square. This guy would perform if you put coins in his cup. I used a Canon Powershot s90, probably on the P setting. I try not to leave the house with some kind of camera. In post I used just a little HDR toning, and a little saturation, plus some free transforming to straighten things out and some cropping.
larskampmann.com

Judges Comment
The photographer who made this image did an excellent job with timing and composition. Even if it weren’t accidental, the mirroring of lines, color and figures are all give this photo its cohesive strength. In addition to the obvious mirroring the subject matter is very typically San Franciscan which, for us, made it a stand-‐out?
Photographers Comment
My name is Kenneth Greene and I am from San Diego, California. I thank you for your votes and comments on my image. As I try to do I go out walking early wherever I am, with my camera in hand looking and photographing. I came across this wonderful alley covered with murals and got one image of this woman opening this door. As I saw it happening I hurried and fortunately captured that moment. I was shooting with a Canon 5D and likely a zoom.
www.kennethgreene.com

Judges Comment
We kept coming back to look at this image. It works for us on a number of levels. First the black and white composition, how the light draws you across the image, made it technically exceptional. Secondly, the man pictured gives us a sense of the familiar. Reminiscent of an older time in a current setting, his Willie Nelson-‐like looks are something we see regularly but often keep out of focus, like the corners of the sidewalk on which he is sitting. His eyes give us more of a story, leaving his past open to the imagination.
Photographers Comment
My name is Richard Turner,,this photo was taken at 16th and Mission in the wonderful city of San Francisco. I used a Ricoh GRD 3 set on snap focus

Judges Comment
On first glance this image looks like a mixed up puzzle with fragments of buildings stuck together, but it’s a real scene from downtown S.F. with channels of light finding their way through the tall buildings and brilliantly highlighting certain pieces. We saw the composition as a play on the way the pieces come out of the image together and the patterns of light and dark areas work well with the repeating structural building elements.
Photographers Comment
I am Truls Bergskaug from Norway. Picture is from 2nd Street in San Francisco towards Market Street. Camrea used was a Panasonic DMC-L1 with its standard lens: Leica 14-50mm f2.8-3.5 @ 40mm f8. Picture is cropped to concentrate and shadows lifted a little.

Judges Comment
This image, which appears almost as a collage, caught our attention. We are not actually sure if the bridge was though a window, a reflection or a double exposure but it does work! The creativity in composition and assembly of different San Francisco elements into a successful image deserves a merit award

Judges Comment
We appreciated this night street shot for its relevant subject matter and hurried pace. The skater culture in San Francisco is an important part of the city's identity and street scene. The photographer did a good job of technically focusing on the skateboarder but also expressing this through his composition?

Judges Comment
We always enjoy seeing new ways to show off the beautiful and rugged coastline of San Francisco and it’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The photographer of this image has managed to show off both elements in one image, successfully tying together the abundant wild and natural areas of San Francisco with the urban?

Judges Comment
We enjoyed the surreal quality of this image matched with its simple, geometric composition and framing. It’s half part Martian spaceship landing and half part San Francisco hills. Excellent capture.