73.5: Zen by Candlelight – Winners Announced

1st Place: metal king

metal king was the crowd favorite with his construction back lit by candlelight. The shape is nicely silhouetted with an eye-drawing flare from the candle flame in the center of frame. First place earns metal king $100.

2nd Place: Daniel Notary

Daniel took second place with a large decahedron basked in warm candlelight. He had this to say about his process, ” I decided on a relatively simple shape, quickly realized I wanted indirect light from the candle, and I was mindful of what reflections would show in the magnets. Bouncing light off my hand or the light walls of the room resulted in some great colors changes.” Check his flickr for alternate angles. 2nd place awards Daniel with $70.

3rd Place: Frankie

Frankie grabbed 3rd place with firework illusion photo. Using a tube of magnets as tunnel vision for his lens and a short depth of field, the candlelight reflections create a bokeh and starburst effect. Frankie had this to say, “I thought of a tube photo I saw a while ago, then went with that. I never knew the light from the candle would make such great illusion.” He receives $50 for 3rd place.

4th Place: DBOI

DBOI took 4th place with this luminescent eyeball. The glint of hot wax in the candle is a very nice highlight around the white focal point. DBOI essentially created a lantern with “a candle, surrounded by a magnet tube, surrounded by a paper tube, shot from above.” Well done. The prize for 4th place is $35.

5th Place: Purple Ixora

Purple Ixora got 5th place and good luck by jumping a magnet Jack over the candlestick. High ISO and slow shutter speed made for some crazy colors in this photo. Purple Ixora is awarded $20 for 5th place.

6th Place: lukas

In 6th place we’ve got lukas who conjured this photo from the depths of Mordor. He had this to say of his process, “I used an extreme candle and long exposure, then blew on the candle to give it this type of effect, thought it would make it look more like the eye of Sauron.” That long exposure certainly helped capture the sparks being blown from the candle. 6th place awards lukas with $15.

7th Place: y0chi

Finally, we’ve got y0chi in 7th place with a nice pedestal candle holder made of Zen Magnets. The low light gives us just enough to make out the sculpture. Well done, y0chi, 7th place gets you $10.

If you haven’t already, click on the images to check out the original size. And keep in mind that contests held here are independent of the Zen Gallery. Magnet sculptors can always submit photos to gallery.zenmagnets.com to win magnets as well. Spectators, keep your eyes peeled for the next contest, because you choose the winners. Contest winners, we’ll email you your prizes soon.

Submissions are closed for Contest #73. We have a total of 7 submissions for you to gaze upon and discern your favorites. The rules were fairly basic, no limit to number of Zen Magnets used, but must be lit solely by candlelight. Check out full sized images below and follow the link at the bottom to cast your vote for your top 3 favorites.

Cast your vote here. $300 in prizes to be divided among the winners. Voting deadline is Wednesday, December 11.