Congratulations, JeffR! Winner of the April 2006 Photo Contest!

[regnaD kciN]

:applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party:

This month's contest finals were pretty much "all over but the shouting" within the first few hours, as JeffR's powerful, poignant Cash Machine Available Here swept to an overwhelming victory.



Second place went to CC for an instant wildlife classic, The Turtles say "Get your ducks in a row."



Third place honors went to RoyGBiv for his haunting There but for the Grace of God.



:applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party:

And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the three-way tie for fourth place between intheflow's Divided We Stand, Feli's Eskimo Fish Kiss, and Ms. Toad's Alpha and Omega -- the last two making the first time ever that a mother-daughter combination tied for a top-five finish!

The final standings:

1st: JeffR
2nd: CC
3rd: RoyGBiv
4th: (tie) intheflow, Feli, and Ms. Toad
7th: RagingInMiami
8th: Cobalt Violet
9th: (tie) Immad2 and China_Cat

Congratulations to all! :woohoo:

And, now, I take my final walk down the runway before handing over my tiara to JeffR ("There he is, Mr. April Photo Contest Winner..."). I hope you have as much fun hosting next month's contest as I did this one!

:applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party: :bounce: :applause: :yourock: :party:

[Ms. Toad]

1. Congrats Jeff R

And I am really shocked that my daughter (Feli) did not blow me away! (BTW, she's 15!)

[F.Gordon]

2. Congrats to everyone

Excellent photo JeffR. Never understood all the "crop talk".
:shrug:

Now..... we have fresh blood.
:evilgrin:

What's the theme? When does the contest start? When does the voting start? Who does the voting? Who am I and what am I doing here?
:crazy:

Oh.... and a big "you rock" to Reg' for doin' an excellent job of hosting.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. And once again, the Loungers contrary to all expectations,

vote into top position photos that both reflect the theme and are compelling images in their own right. In this contest there was indeed one photo that really hit the theme very directly and very poignantly, and "even" the Lounge crowd recognized the power of that image. Congrats to JeffR, CC, and RoyGBiv, and to all other entries. I noticed that every photo entered got several votes, and thus were regarded as "best" by several people. So in this respect, each gets a "best" award from several of the judges.

[JeffR]

4. Gee

I'm a little sheepish about winning this. And not because I didn't want to win, but I think the credit here goes to the man whose picture I took. I just happened to walk past him with a camera. Hoping against hope, I hope this guy is alright, but my heart tells me he's either dead or more than halfway there.

I also feel a little dumb because my pic suffered by comparison, technically and aesthetically, to all the others in the final 10. Further, I feel unworthy compared to great shots, like Blue_In-AK's 'American Icons" among others, that inexplicably didn't make the final 10 at all.

Ill-deserving as I am, I'll try to run a good, Diebold-free contest next month. No doubt, I'll be boring previous winners to death with questions throughout the process...

Thanks to regnaD kciN for an excellent contest this month, and thanks to each and every one of you in this group for your talent, your kindness, your generosity and your All-American, chicken-fried, deep down, damn-I-love-this-country spirit. Y'all are just so cool.

Jeff.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. JeffR, your photo deserved to win

hands down. It touched my heart.

[JeffR]

9. Thanks so much

[regnaD kciN]

7. Here's where I propose something utterly unreasonable...

I think the credit here goes to the man whose picture I took. I just happened to walk past him with a camera. Hoping against hope, I hope this guy is alright, but my heart tells me he's either dead or more than halfway there.

I'm wondering...is there any way we could try to track this person down and get him some assistance? I might think that, if we have a photo of him and know where it was taken, there might be someone around there (at the store?) who might recognize him and know where he is now.

Wouldn't it be something if we could make this a DU project?

[JeffR]

10. I think it would be very difficult, though it's a wonderful thought

This was taken around the corner from a large homeless shelter in one of the seediest parts of town. During the day, shelter occupants are on their own, and many of them simply hang out on the street nearby, waiting until they can get back in for an evening meal and a bed. I hope this man was among them, but it's impossible to say.

Just across the street from where this was taken is the city's oldest Catholic parish, which does a lot of charitable outreach (I was in the neighborhood specifically to photograph the basilica). There's also an active native group in the 'hood which distributes blankets, water and food to street people, and does its best to get the worst-case street people indoors in really harsh weather.

So I hope through one means or another, he is getting some help.

I'll be in the area next week, and will take a print with me to the store to see if they know anything about him. But I'm not hopeful that they could distinguish him from the many street people around there.

I'll post back if I can get anything tangible.

:)

[regnaD kciN]

17. Thanks, JeffR!

If you can find anything, let us know.

[intheflow]

8. You are too modest.

It's a great photo. And what I've learned about photgraphy is that techinical quality often isn't as important as emotional and asthetic impact. Which your photo has. A well-deserved win, imo. Congratulations!

:applause:

So... the next theme is...?

[JeffR]

11. Thanks! Suggestions thread coming up...

:)

[RagingInMiami]

5. Congratulations

Great shot.

[JeffR]

14. Thank you!

[Robb]

12. Congrats! It's all about the 'eye'

Many pass up great photos without thinking to take them. Nice work! :toast:

[JeffR]

15. Thanks, Robb

:blush:

[CC]

13. Congrats JeffR

for a very good thought provoking photo. Though lots of people may of seen the man sitting there, the photographer in you saw a great picture and took it. That is where you deserve all the credit. Congrats also to all that entered, all the photos were great.:applause: Great job running the contest regnaD kciN. :applause:

Now for the story behind the turtles and ducks, it was taken outside of New Orleans and well the turtles and ducks really had no where else to go beyond the log unless they wanted to chance being a gator meal. And yes there were quite a few gators in the water too. So that is how the turtles got the ducks to line up. :evilgrin:
In the water.




On the banks.


Can't blame the ducks, or turtles for finding a log.:scared: They were some very active gators.

[JeffR]

16. Thanks, CC

It's neat that your composition resulted from "nature, red in tooth and claw".

[Whoa_Nelly]

18. Many CONGRATS! JeffR!

I voted for you :)

Have been out of touch with DU lately....kind of a down in the dumps month....but, today is my b-day and I feel a postive vibe moving in :party:

Looking forward to the May photo contest!

:woohoo: WTG, JeffR!

[JeffR]

19. Thanks and Happy Birthday!

Spring is here & there are better times ahead.
:party: :toast: :party:

[Whoa_Nelly]

20. Spring Rocks!

You are absolutely right! Good times, longer daylight hours :thumbsup:

Thanks! :loveya:

For that you get my Party Nun pic :D

[JeffR]

21. Excellent

The world needs more Party Nuns!

:smoke:

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Happy Birthday, Whoa...

...and many happy returns. I hope the sun is shining as brightly where you are as it is here today. :toast:

[Whoa_Nelly]

23. Thank you, Blue!

Actually overcast here today...keep hoping for the T-storms the weather guys keep announcing...

Thanks for the B-day wishes! :loveya:

[Cobalt Violet]

24. Congrats JeffR on your well deserved victory.

:kick:

[JeffR]

25. Thank you!

[priller]

26. These are all great shots

Well done on a difficult subject.

[Mutley]

27. Congrats JeffR and everyone!

:bounce: :party: :yourock: