Photo contest time!

True, and that's why I suggest a garden nymph category.

- and for my part my heart has not been into entering pics the last few years. - until this year.
I've been taking a lot of pics this year, not for the purpose of winning a contest but rather for the mere enjoyment of practicing an art/ hobby which I'm familiar with . Been to many places I wouldn't have otherwise gone to and met other photographers out there doing what they love to do. - So winning is like 'Icing on the cake' for me, I've already won many times over this year, ...Just by doing what I like to do and having fun doing it! lol!!

- The competition is getting tougher, which is a good thing methinks, and there are more good shots, so 'the bar has gotten higher'. I suspect they'll be even more entries next year as well!

FInally had a chance to give the winning photos more than just a glance. Pirl, loved the clematis! I must find that one! Congrats to ALL the NE winners! I think I only ended up voting in two categories this year. There were just too many photos and not enough time!

Funny, WC. I actually thought there were fewer truly standout shots this year than in previous years (present company excluded, of course :)! At least in the couple categories I had time to look through.

This message was edited Nov 16, 2010 7:50 PM

I agree with Victor about the voting seeming much too tedious this year and that cute trumps quality all too often. I, too, would love to see pre-judging to lessen the burden of final selections and narrow them down to the best of the best.

I agree, Christina. I thought there were better top shots in the past. Also, either fewer people voted this year or there was just no consensus because the winning shots seem to have garnered far fewer points compared to last year - at least from what I could see.

But it was still fun and that's all that counts!

Yes, it's all in good fun, regardless of the outcome. I think all the winning photos are great. It just seemed like the ratio of great vs. average was higher in previous years.

I disagree about the quality, but then everybody has a different eye for photography since art is subjective, I guess it's all up to the number of votes. Sort of like 'Mass Appeal'.

that's why so many cute animal videos go viral... if it makes people go aaawwww... it's a winner

Yes - like the 'scared kitty'!!!

loved that... LOL

My kids have already asked me if we can teach our next kitties to do that!

hehe

Mass appeal, LOL! I also think the thumbnail voting can create a disadvantage. I tried that with one category in an effort to speed things up. Literally NOTHING jumped out at me with the thumbnails. So I switched to full size and was surprised at how many good ones didn't look promising as a thumbnail.

Yes - that's why the thumbnails need to be bigger.

How many categories did you win Songs?

I used the thumbnails last year for a few categories and regretted it. Too many great photos that I missed when I saw the winners. I think the low count on votes was due to the fact that this year the contest was" super secret " They still don't have a banner up announcing the winners. Good job Brownie.

Here's a suggestion, what if the categories were split up quarterly? 5 cats are run in the spring, next 5 in summer, etc and then at the end of the year, all winners could be judged for the calendar? It could keep photography interest up all year and circumvent the achy breaky eyeball strain of looking through all the categories in a short time frame.

ps...I put up a congrat thread before I saw this one, sorry bout that. WC, I think you swept the emmys :) Great job by all!!

Just one third place shot. Nothing compared to your windfall :) I think I only entered 3 pics total this year - not enough time :(

There were so many out of focus but then so many were REALLY good. Thumbnails def need to be bigger, esp since I was doing the voting late at night my eyes were bugging.

I preferred it when there were fewer categories, even though I did not agree with all the category choices. It just got out of hand last year. Way too many. Used to be 12 or 14. How many now? I'm expecting 'Domestic (not foreign) pets in a scenic winter sunset.'

I have hundreds to choose from, sometimes it's just a matter of choosing the right one to put up..

Did you guys see that the calendar is done? They didn't let us vote on the months??? They want 20.95 for it....Little pricey for me

I did see that it's done and that we didn't vote! Rather surprising.

From older pros to rank beginners,
NE Forum's many winners
Showing off their garden glories
In all contest categories.
Prove New England's not just scenic
But also very photogenic.

Thats wonderful Don!
No voting this year? It's still very pretty, great bunch of photographers on DG!!

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1143888/

The calendar is now available for 2011.