NOV/DEC Contest Winners!

[Cassandra]

1st Place

Seattle Celebration (or "Freedom from another King George")
regnaD kclN




2nd Place (tie)

Christmas Angels Consorting
superconnected




Leash-Free!
JeffR




3rd Place

Honoring 25 yrs. of the Music of Mt.Zion's choir
Mira



Congratulations to the winners!
:fistbump: :fistbump: :fistbump: :fistbump: :fistbump: :fistbump:

Host's Choice

Swinging with the Beat
Mz Pip



I just loved this shot; it is music expressed as embroidery and just a beautiful image.


Choosing a Goat for the Eid al Adha Sacrifice
JCMach1



This was an example of how much the title can add; in this case showing the sadness inherent when celebrating requires a loss. She looks so conflicted. Also her pretty dress really popped against the neutral goats and railing.


And an extra honorable mention to:

boys and their toys...
mth44sc



What a wonderful expression on his face and congratulations for capturing it.

[Mira]

1. Kudos and Congratulations to every single entrant and to Cassandra,

thank you for the Forum, thanks for the fun, and thanks for your votes !!!

[alfredo]

2. Great competition. Thanks for a job well done.

[JeffR]

3. You did a great job hosting, Cassandra

I only had a few chances to check in to watch the contest progress, but it was gratifying to watch the winner win with what I think is the finest contest entry I've seen going back to my days as a Photo Group newb. Had anyone but regnaD kciN won this, I'd be writing letters of protest to Congress about electoral fraud. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary.

Great Host's Choice picks, too!

[Cassandra]

4. Thanks.

I had lots of great mentoring from previous hosts.
regnaD kciN's entry was as perfect as it gets; beautiful shot, technically great and a wonderful expression of the theme. It was so good, it removed some of the suspense from the contest. I used my picks to say something about the images that I found compelling.

[blueraven95]

5. congratulations to all the winners!

They are all wonderful!

Cassandra, you did a great job!


And may I add that I absolutely loved Shipwack's "Bubbles". Something about the expressions on the couple's faces was perfect.

[Mira]

6. Beginner's luck for me. I cannot BELIEVE

that I placed in such exalted company and it makes me feel like dancing





edited for typo while dashing off to dance

[superconnected]

7. Great job Regnad! That firework shot is really something!

I love the pics of the black girls dancing in the church too. Swinging with the beat strikes me as very jazzy. I adore that pic too. And the b/w dog is great! The diversity for this contest is awesome.

[Cassandra]

9. It's funny how I thought...

that the theme of celebrating around Thanksgiving time would produce multiple, Norman Rockwell-ish shots of the family around the table staring at the turkey, or something like that. Fortunately, this is a much more creative group.

[regnaD kciN]

8. Moral of the story: Trust your focus groups...

The fact is, had it not won by such a large margin in my "help me pick an entry" poll, I would never have entered that shot. And, even after the preliminary rounds, I didn't think it was going to come out ahead in the finals.

Why not? Well, last July 4th, I had planned to shoot the Elliot Bay fireworks display (Seattle has two: Elliot Bay and Lake Union) and, accordingly, positioned myself at a spot in West Seattle where I would get a good view of the proceedings, and have the fireworks with the Seattle skyline in the background. Except that I miscalculated badly; the Elliot Bay fireworks were shot off from a barge placed much further north than in the past, meaning not only that I didn't have a good background, but that the lower third of the display was blocked by trees. After several minutes of trying and failing to get a decent photo, I noticed that the Lake Union display had begun, waaaaay off in the distance, but without anything obstructing it. I had no choice but to change plans on the spot, slap on the longest lens I owned, zoom it all the way out to 300mm, and start snapping away. But, while the Lake Union display was spectacular (as it turned out, far better than the Elliot Bay one), it wasn't the display I had planned to capture and, because it was so far away, I had zero choice in terms of composition, perspective, or background elements; indeed, had I been planning to shoot that display, I would have chosen a vantage point literally miles away, on the other side of the water.

So, in other words, I've been tending to mentally downgrade the shots I got that night, because they weren't the ones I'd been hoping/planning to get. Thanks to the Photo Group for setting me straight!

P.S. Ironically, this was a (literal) mirror-image of three years earlier; that year, superconnected and I tried to shoot the Lake Union display from a spot on First Hill, but found trees blocking the view, so we wound up going to "Plan B" and shooting the Elliot Bay display instead -- once again, at full tele and with the Space Needle in the foreground. ;-)

P.P.S.: Based on how spectacular the Lake Union show was this year, I would sure like to get it from my ideal vantage point next time around. The problem is, there may not be a next time around. That particular display was sponsored by...WaMu. This may have been the last time for it. :shrug:

P.P.P.S.: I, too, thought Swinging with the Beat was the best photo in the contest, and am delighted it got a Host's Award.

[Mz Pip]

11. I loved your pic

I have tried all to many times to capture fireworks and the results always ccome out looking like crap to me. You said it perfectly when you mentioned mentally downgrading shots because they don't come out as you invisioned. We often think too much and forget that serendipity can often be just as important as skill.

P.S. Thanks for the compliment on my photo. I was feeling particularly festive at the time I took it. It was taken 4 days after the election. :party:

Mz Pip

[mth44sc]

10. an extra honorable mention

there is a trophy that comes with that - right? :-)

All the picks of the crop were just wonderful! Congrats. Someone hide Reg's camera - please...

Well done, Cassandra!!!

[Blue_In_AK]

12. Congrats to the winners .

I love that little boy, too. I've seen that very look on my grandsons' faces. :)

[JCMach1]

13. Congrats to the Winners...

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. Congatulation!!!

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: