It's time to vote for the winners of the 2007 photo contest!

To each eye, it is beholden, I look for an interesting shot, that has been made w/difficult conditions - others will look for a perfect likeness, or a shot made with difficult lighting.

We will each vote and they will be tallied. Life is still good as are the pics here.

Good luck to all, and to all - thank you for your time, interest & effort. IMHO.

Sue, I have DSL so it's not that. Both methods have the same problem. This is happening as I go along saving those that I like then I get to a certain point and the pictures stop loading. I don't have a clue why this is happening and I don't know if it's related or not but then i have a problem opening my outlook express. i have to reboot the computer and start all over again. I hope that my explanation makes sense.

I actually took a different approach to all this, as I looked at the subject and chose the subject I liked best.... not always maybe technically the best photography (because I have absolutely no clue about photography/lighting) but I know what I like in plants/landscapes, etc.

Jnana,
The very same thing happened to me yesterday. I also got some kind of a message that popped up saying that my harddrive or something was full. DG locked up and the pictures also stopped loading and the screen froze. It did something to my Outlook Express like I had tried to go into it when I hadn't. A box appeared that said something about I had used up all of my memory and to contact Microsoft. I did like you and I closed out of DG, rebooted each time and came back to DG. So, your post made lots of sense to me. I had the very same experience.

Nana3

Thanks Nana3, I was about to think that i was going nuts. The only difference is that i haven't gotten any messages. Tonight, I'll have my DH (he's the computer wizard at home) take a look at it. I hope that i can resolve this in time for the dateline.

There are so many wonderful photos that it's a huge undertaking trying to choose the best, and with this problem it makes it worse.

Try browsing with Mozilla Firefox if Outlook Express is giving you problems. It's free and easy to download and install.

I know nothing about photography and am not interesting in learning. I just know a great pic when I see it. That is how I am choosing mine.

Firefox has its memory issues too, but it may be better than IE for these pages. Make sure you have no other programs running when you try. THat might help.

Firefox is the best. I don't even use my other hard drive of IE! I just installed windows back on a new computer (LOL)

Thanks for all your help. I had to delete some temporary files that were taking up some memory. My DH doesn't like Firefox so I'm stuck using IE.

3 categories down, 9 to go!

I am really enjoying the photos. Thanks everyone for entering your pics.
And as others have said, they're all winners.

Deb

I just have 2 categories to go!

To really have a good time, i am waiting until tomorrow when I am not so tired.
The pictures are fantastic and I keep thinking how many I want to have enlarged and framed in my own home! I am hoping the photographers will be willing to share their good work.

I just had another thought on creating this Calendar.....

Dave--I hope you have enough winning photos to match them up with the appropriate season! Like--you would not want a snowy scene in the summer months, nor would you want some beautiful, blooming flower in January.

Hopefully, there will be a variety of seasonal photos. If not--you will have a dilemma!

Gita

Why wouldn't you want a beautiful flower in January? Could be just what you need to chase away the winter blues! I think it might be hard to make things match up with the appropriate season--there are so many categories that are related to plants, so undoubtedly there are going to be multiple winners that are blooming at the same time. So some things might be able to be matched with the appropriate season, but I doubt if all of them will.

And some of our members live in the southern hemisphere where January is summer.

I only have a couple of categories to go for my preliminary look through. Interesting, the number of people who used Miscellaneous to post additional pics that really belong in another category rather than putting things there that don't really fit into other places.

Well, I think I have to call it quits for tonight.

Ann

Yeah! I have finished and now am so anxious to see what others think is a pretty picture!

Everyone must've been in the voting process at the same time today, as I tried several times to get here with no luck. This will definitely take some time. So far, I haven't even viewed all the pet pics. I love looking at everyone's beloved critters, so it's gonna be a tough call.

I spent 2 days looking at all the photos. Aren't they great? It is interesting to read how all of you viewed them as you looked at each one, and the methods you used to judge.

I taught studio art at the high school level for many years, and Photography was included in the curriculum, so of course I used the method that I had when I critiqued the student's work. Even using my method, I had as much trouble as the rest of you...it was all beautiful, interesting and wonderful to view.

My thanks also to all who entered, and to DG for giving all of us the opportunity to join in or to observe.

I love the voting system this year....I only got to do one category...but I have a few more days. It was so hard to decide in the Pet category!!!

Just trying to confirm some information...
Please forgive me if this has already been asked and answered...

Do I get to pick three photos out of EACH category,
or just three photos out of ALL the categories?

Thanks!

VAwildrose
You can pick 3 photos in Each category.

Thanks! Glad to know that!
It would be near impossible to pick just three photos out of the 2000 + spectacular ones to choose from!

Whew!

I wish each category had subcategories! LOL

I had no entries in wildlife but still found it very hard to just select three. Such terrific photos both there and all of the other categories I've finished. The scenic photos were beyond belief - each one is a delight for the eyes.

Did Dave indicate anywhere what size the calendar photos will be? There are some really lovely tree photos, but I have difficulty imagining them cropped to a size that will fit on a calendar. I suspect some wouldn't work well at all unless there are a variety of calendar format that can be used from page to page.

Ann

I agree, KyWoods! Would have loved to choose more pics from the many outstanding ones on display!

I've finished judging all the categories now, and I feel as though I've been given a window to so many people's gardens, passions, talents--and I wish all those people could be recognized.

Thank you, everyone!

I have spent the day looking through each entry and voting for my top three picks. Thanks so much Dave, and thanks to everyone who submitted their photos! I honestly enjoyed each and every single picture!

Ya'll inspired me with your creativity. I'm already dreaming of next spring and summer's plantings!

I started today thinking I would loose power with this Noel storm blowing through, but much to my delight, I still have power and my voting is done oh so many hours later. What a visual marathon, but such a joy to visit all these amazing gardens and pets and all the rest (including the snakes). Thanks again Dave for the contest. I rather think of it as a giant DG brag book.

Pirl you aren't the only one to bail out of your own photo's. It was a humbling experience to not pick some of my own, but necessary to try to be a good and honest judge. Plus so many where so obviously absolutely stellar compared to my "snaps". But seeing the great ones should inspire me for next year. Kind of like my garden aspirations and thoughts that it will always be better next year. Patti

Done! I had a great time viewing all the entries and narrowing things down was a real challenge.

I tried to keep several things in mind as I got it down to the last 5 or 6 in each category.
1. attitude or mood. Did one evoke a special feeling more than the others
2. the quality of the picture for light, contrasts, clarity
3. subject, did it fit into the category it was entered in and was there anything about it that made it feel unique or different?

I thought with these things in mind it would be easy...it wasn't!

This message was edited Nov 3, 2007 4:17 PM

Well, the scenic and sunset category was totally impossible. My heart was torn out on every one of my favorites that I had to click "remove this one".
For the person who took the picture of the Rainbow in the Soler Valley in Chilean Patagonia: Please D-mail me. We're going there and would love to get some perspective from you!

I'm only halfway done. I find myself lingering because I am so enjoying all the pictures. And getting nothing else done that I should be doing... arrrggghhhh

I think I've come to the conclusion that it almost doesn't matter which ones win. It is so subjective. I've enjoyed the journey immensely and I think it will help me take better pictures in the future. I do think I need a new camera for Christmas though :-)

I haven't even peeked yet! Don't you admire my ability to savor the suspense! It's especially fun knowing that I'll be looking at some of my friends' photos but won't know which ones!

Oh for heaven's sake. I started with the pets & pretty much saved every one. Not helpful! But it seems disrespectful to dismiss someone's beloved.

OK, me again. I feel like there should be an honorary category (maybe just put together for a thread?) of best photos + captions!

Petfiles ???? How about having a post one picture of each of your pets or a group shot if possible forum. No chat, just pictures. Kind of set up like DG plantfiles (name, gender, breed, age, traits, owner's DG name) That would make us all smile and it would help poor summerkid to avoid the painful task of dismissing any one's pride and joy. She better not have eliminated mine! Patti

I am on dial up and am looking at the big photo's . Wanna make sure I get to se e all the details. It take s forever. What do ya do when ya can't finish looking at the pics cuz ya gotta go do something.

Do ya have to start all over again?

Also, do ya get thre e votes per catagory. Have I got that right?

If you go back in after you've looked at some pictures it knows which ones you've already looked at, so you can pick up where you left off. And yes, you get three votes per category.

I've just finished voting in all the categories, and I have to tell you, I am overwhelmed at the exellence displayed by our membership!!

I get a few photos, on my own, that are spectacular-generally by pure accident as a professional photographer I'm not!! ha.

Do some of you use these pictures for your computer Desktop Wallpaper? If not, you're missing out on a real treat.

Thanks, Dave, for a wonderfully organized voting system! And thanks to all of you who shared all those wonderful pictures.

Sasha

Finished yesterday...whew! I learned a lot just looking at all the photos. Some were spectacular, obviously the work of a professional. What a great contest. Wish I had known about it. I would have submitted some of my own, not that I would have won anything, but it would have been fun. Next year...

Just tried something. I've been spending a lot of time downloading these pics each time I want to work on them. I finally saved the whole file - under "file", select "save page as". I selected a place in which I would save it and saved each as DG "name of category".htm (such as DG roses.htm). All of the pics saved and I won't have to download them again until I'm ready to make my final selection. I can look at them in my photo software or even in Windows Explorer. Might have to make a chart to keep track of which I want to vote for, but that's do-able. I'm at the point now where I mourn a bit each time I eliminate a picture. If you are at all worried about needing to purchase more bandwidth, you might want to try saving the pages too.

Ann