***Official Comments Thread for the September Photography Contest***

[GreenPartyVoter]

[Mira]

1. We're off....

and NVWhino's entry is a tough act to even contemplate following.
Great choice from your tomato harvest photos, I think. Emotionally very satisfying.

[alfredo]

2. It seems at first blush, to be an easy theme,

If you don't already have a ready image, it might take luck or planning to come up with something.

[Mira]

3. As I live with what I thought to enter, other possibilities come up. And suddenly

the palette expands.
But I really came here to say: Your photo knocks it out of the park for me, I'm simply in love with it.
I kept staring and going back. It's perfect for the contest, and perfect for everything else as well.
That's all.
Now I must go and get ready for another day.

[alfredo]

4. Thanks. I think their mother made them sit for a spell.

They lined up in the proper pecking order.

[teamster633]

5. I want to assure everyone that I came up with the idea for my entry independently.

Out of respect for Callalily, though, I will be glad to withdraw it if you all feel it's too similar.

[alfredo]

6. I have no problem. I bet there will be more with dogs than

books.

[Celebration]

7. Bet there will be

More books than dogs, but more pictures with dogs in them than books in them!

With the still life theme, it seems to me we had a lot of books!

I expect more dog photos. I've always kind of liked the picture that I submitted, and it this is about the only theme that it could possibly fit. I didn't let the presence of another dog photo in the group hinder my choice of entry.

Now JeffR should have known better, after TWO dog entries.............:rofl: (Totally kidding!)

[alfredo]

8. My picture has cute kids. Adding puppies would have been

dirty pool.

[Celebration]

9. Thank goodness

For your standards of fairness!

[alfredo]

10. We are a community.

[Callalily]

11. I ADORE your photo . . .

and please DO NOT withdraw on my account.

Please be assured that my feelings are not hurt.

Ummmmmm . . . hey . . . maybe it is one of those great things think alike? :rofl:

I learn so much from this group, and even more from the contests.

We are all congenial here. Please don't withdraw. :hug:

[teamster633]

12. Thank you for your kind response.

Being that it is more of a polemic than a photograph, it's not likely to get far, but now I feel much better leaving it in.

[handmade34]

13. I very much appreciate

your photo's sentiment and the photo itself... it caught my eye immediately

[handmade34]

14. great photos so far

I was recuperating from my trip to New Orleans and then had to move on to rural Alabama to work... haven't done much picture taking, but had my camera with me on the job today... just starting to see all the "one thing not like the others" got this quick shot going down a back road today (hopefully the right picture will come along in time to submit)

[begin_within]

15. You should not have a comment thread because it reveals the winner before all the entries are in.

You can tell from the comments who is going to win the contest, and that discourages further entries. The comment thread should be banned until after the contest is completely over.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. I'm not sure I agree that it necessarily reveals the winner, but it might be possible that some

people would feel intimidated if a particular photo was receiving a lot of praise.

Thank you for bringing this up. Let's see if anyone else has thoughts on the pros and cons of discussing the submissions as they come in.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

17. My dear GreenPartyVoter!

I don't agree with that at all. The comment thread is a very interesting thread, and I have never found it intimidating in the least.

And I haven't noticed that it has had any predictive powers...

I say we keep that thread going!

:hi:

[Celebration]

19. The predictive powers of this thread

are next to nil!!

I like the thread but I generally don't like to comment on which photo I think could win. I might comment on some other aspect of an entry, though.

But I am puzzled because I haven't seen a big consensus in this thread about who will win. The only thing I can figure out is that Alfredo's jokes about not including dogs in his were actually taken seriously by someone(?????).

I am much more likely to be intimidated by the photos than by the comments.

[alfredo]

20. The contests are about taking part, not winning. Becoming better photographers

Is the real goal.

[handmade34]

21. yes, yes

the comments are wonderful and help me to focus better and enjoy more the fun

[alfredo]

34. Of course I've never won, so it is easy to say it isn't

about winning.

[Celebration]

18. well............

First, of all, I can't tell who will win by this thread. FWIW, there is a pretty poor record of correlations between comments in this thread and future winners. The photos speak for themselves, though. Sometimes I might feel intimidated by the entries themselves, but I don't really enter this expecting to win. I might not even enter if I really thought I would win, considering the prize! This really is just for fun.........really. It isn't all about winning.

Having said that, I generally try not to single out photos here in this thread. There are just usually too many good entries to single one out for praise.

I have to say that in almost two years of entering contests, there is only one time when I was certain ahead of time of the winner. It didn't have to do with the comments at all, though. It had to do with the photos. And, I entered that contest anyway, knowing I wouldn't win.

If you were thinking of entering and were discouraged by this thread, I would say, uh, reconsider. Although I cannot fathom which one you think will win, odds are it won't. The odds are pretty strong against any single entry, actually--yours, mine, and the one you feel will win. There will be a winner, though. I am certain about that, and that only.

[Mira]

28. (just between us)

there has been one time for me as well, when I absolutely knew who would win before the photos went out to GD, and it did. It had a big puppy in it.

[Celebration]

31. yep, we are thinking of the same one!!

And there was only one comment on it in this thread. I think everyone was intimidated by it, but we still managed to get 30 entries.

[Cassandra]

22. The two times I've won...

there was not one word in the comments about my entry, although I would have welcomed the comments.

[hippywife]

25. Never has predicted it before

as far as I can remember. We're just as surprised as anyone much of the time. It's totally up to the voters in GD. This is just an encouragement thread among the entrants and no way reflects the outcome of the contest. Besides, for some of us the idea is NOT to win. :rofl:

:hi:

[Mz Pip]

35. I 've never noticed a correlation

between what is praised here and what does well in the GD voting. I think that those of us who enter are often surprised by the voting. I know I have often been surprised by how well something I've entered has done.

[Celebration]

23. Okay, big thumbs up for two entries

WJMS for coming back to us, and with one of his great spotlighted shots!

ElfinYeti for taking the plunge and entering the beautiful and whimsical wine glasses plus!

I feel very happy about this!

[hippywife]

24. I wasn't going to enter but

since today is the deadline, I thought I'd throw mine into the mix. Sort of representative of the theme in three different ways, which I won't list here, but one is rather obvious. LOL

This was a really tough but excellent theme. Some really great entries which is going to force another hard decision come time to vote. There are at least a few that I'm going to have a hard time choosing between.

Great job, everyone! :hi:

[Celebration]

29. BTW

Heh heh, like your entry a lot..........well, I am one here who happens to like puppies, kittens, birds, and basically the kitchen sink of animals doing animal things.

Tons of good and varied entries here, but REALLY pleased with the great animal selection. It was a really good theme to throw in some animal pics.

[hippywife]

33. Thanx, Celebration.

I always hesitate to throw the critters in but it's what goes on around here for the most part. :hi:

[Mira]

26. About the comment thread,

to me it is part of the fun of the contest, and part of the learning not just about photography but also ourselves and each other.
I think of it as an internal family discussion and mostly see it being done without prejudice. I think as a rule we cannot sway others over a particularly spectacular entry anyway because they stand on their own, as Celebration said, and intimidate without words.

When I went nuts over Alfredo's entry, I consider that personal. That only has as much value in the greater event as a ripple in a lake.
And it does not mean I like others less, it just means they did not trigger MY emotion the same way at that time.

The comment thread is an internal part of our gathering a collective offer to the larger community who will be voting.
What we think is often proven "wrong" in their eyes as they make choices, anyway, and our jokes about predicting them, and our jokes about puppies are part of the fun.

As a matter of fact, I am often amazed at the restraint and decorum we do have, since we are human and our emotion and our egos are in the package. Some photos do deserve an outburst of joy and approval, and it often does not happen, just because we are mindful of the sensitivities of the group.

Many times I have seen a photo win that none of us even mentioned! And others that WE liked bombed out.
And I see some get votes where I wonder "WHY so many?"

I enter for the whole package of the fun that contests are, which includes the comment thread.
My personal goal each time is to end up in the final round :)

[Mira]

27. I'm seeing things that rock my boat, I've been gone from the computer while; the entries

are coming in and some are "disturbingly" :) beautiful.

I am, needless to say but I'll shout it anyway, MORE THAN HAPPY to see WJMS coming back home he has his dancing shoes on, that's very good.

I am less happy about Elfin Yeti's entry, which has nothing to do with the photo but with that I promised to run the contest for her should she win, and I think GD likes shiny objects.

Now I tremble to see if Trusty Elf shows up with something, which would probably also be a scary contender, because I made him the same promise.
:ROFL:

Actually, I think we are as a group improving all the time, I look forward to seeing the last entries coming in.

[Celebration]

30. LOL, you agreed to host if Elfin Yeti wins????

:rofl:

I'll "try" not to let that influence my vote!!

BTW, the capitalized :ROFL: must not work, but I get your meaning.

[Mira]

32. Hell Fire, as they say around here

My hosting is humorous, the mistakes and idiot-syncracies make it an event.

The capitalized :ROFL: illustrates my point.

:rofl:

[Elfin Yeti]

36. I tried to warn you Mira!

I was poking around late last night and leaned heavily upon your promise as I hit the "post message" button! I'm blond, rapidly heading toward gray, so I never had a chance -- consider your offer one of charity should I take top honors! No matter what happens, I think we'll emerge stronger for having endured the threat! [smiling now with sweaty palms, especially in view of Celebration's comment! :)

[Mira]

37. Re-iterating: I'll be glad to do it if you win, practice makes perfect.

(I assume you were unable to find a photograph that's a little less fabulous?)

[Elfin Yeti]

44. Tee hee!

How 'bout a collaboration if I/you win?

[Mira]

45. As You Wish.

That way next time you'll be on easy street.

[alfredo]

38. I've noticed some newcomers. Welcome

[Solly Mack]

39. There are so many great photographers on DU.

I enter for the fun of it. I enjoy reading the comment thread because you often find tips and people are very supportive of each other. That's a very good thing.

I don't post much here but then I'm not a photographer...I'm more of lucky shot every now and then kind of picture taker. I just enjoy taking pictures.

[alfredo]

40. The beauty of digital, you can take a shit load of pictures

without incurring huge processing bills. The more pictures you take the better the chances of taking a "lucky shot."

[Sheepshank]

41. Last day for entries?

Beautiful day, sun is out, housework is done, jigsaw puzzle completed, and decided that it would be lovely walking around the neighborhood with my camera and with dd who has a pictorial school contest. She got her pics (the theme was "together we can make it work"....she took several pics to make a collage of honey bees on various flowers)...and I just happened to spot one I thought may work for DU. So here it is. A little off scew, but entered.

[Mira]

42. Maniac Joe

that's a jaw dropping beautiful photo. I'm so glad you entered it.
A number of these later entries make the field tougher and more fun.

I can't wait for the voting to start.

[ManiacJoe]

43. Thanks!

[handmade34]

46. all I can say is

WOW! to the last two entries... ManiacJoe and BuddhaGirl... so glad you got them in

[Mira]

47. Question to the Hostess:

was there any reason for BuddhaGirl's photo to be withdrawn OTHER than that it was too large?
What did I miss?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

48. I presume it was because it was

selectively processed? ie part color, part b/w?

that is not beyond film and/or darkroom techniques, especially an easy one like that with straight edges.

[Mira]

49. AH SO.

I was looking forward to learning just how this was done. I loved it. Had it been just a matter of size we know what to do :)

Just between you and me, WannaJump, I'm so glad to see you!

[GreenPartyVoter]

52. Mira, you should still ask her about her process. It's a neat look and maybe

it's something you'd like to experiment with. (If you win this month's contest maybe you can make the next theme all pictures with that type of processing. That could be really interesting, seeing what people choose to highlight in a scene.) :)

[BuddhaGirl]

55. thanks, Mira!

I created the effect in Photobucket where I store my photos online. :-)

[GreenPartyVoter]

50. Yes, I asked for some clarification on the rules and passed

the information on to jethro_tull, who I am hosting in proxy for, and he made the decision.

In hindsight I should have not had her submit it and then wait on the rules clarification and decision, but at the time I was worried that she might not have a slot left to use if the answer was too long in coming. Chalk it up to a newbie non-photographer proxy hostess' mistake. :(

[JeffR]

51. Very nice to see you here!

I don't want to second-guess the host, but I do want to comment that I thought that photo was really special.

So is yours!

[Mira]

53. Blue - you made my day.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously ....."
I love V

[HarveyDarkey]

54. Good luck to all the entrants, some astounding photos

And great to see you back WJMS, you've been missed.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

56. when do it end?

I think there is no real battle, except for second place here and there?

[GreenPartyVoter]

57. Whenever the mods receive my alert. Just sent it in a minute ago. :^)