It's time to vote for the winners of the 2008 photo contest

1,730 entries this year and it's time to vote for the winners of the 2008 photo contest!

To start casting your votes, go here:

http://davesgarden.com/contest/2008/

Then select the category you wish to judge, and then just follow the directions.

We'll announce the winners on November 17th.

Dave

Wow, I just started voting myself, and I am in awe of the photos again!! Like all of you, this is my first time seeing these pictures and I can't believe the talent represented. I can't wait to see who is the photographer behind each of my favorites.

SO many beautiful photos!!!

and I've barely begun...

Gosh, how did I miss entering pictures? I had bunches to enter - Dave, what did I miss?
Kathy

Kathy, that's too bad. There's a still-active thread in this forum, and Dave put a "note from Dave" announcement in the home page sidebar for a while, trying to let everyone know this year's contest was underway.

For any photographers who missed out, we hope you'll vote on this year's entries, and mark your calendars for next October, since that's when we've traditionally opened the contest to submissions.

Wow there are some GREAT photos there. I guess we're not just gardeners!!! Good luck to all the contestants.

Doug

Ok I have questions. Can you save them all to look at again before you vote or will that blow it up? Also can you vote for the same pic for all your choices? Can you change your vote later? I'm afraid I'm going to bungle this eek!!!

Enquiring minds want to know! Same questions. Beautiful photos and hard to chose.

Yes! Thank you.

Oh, no. I thought the entry deadline was tonight at midnight. At least I did get most categories with photos entered; however, I had not made up my mind selected the final ones I wanted. Not being able to make up my mind is my problem. I was sooo organized this year with all my best photos listed by category. Oh, well. I have begun voting and am enjoying everyone's photos. I have a new computer that is really fast this year and am able to view the photos more quickly. Thanks to all of the members who entered photos.

Wow! I don't know how I will ever choose among these pictures and I haven't even finished the first category. So many outstanding pictures. I never got around to entering and now I don't regret it. There are some very talented photographers on DG. I am learning from them.

I know the subject of changing/adding categories comes up every year, but I have to say, as I am trying to make my choices, that Scenic, Seasonal and Sunsets just covers too much! I think Sunsets (or possibly, Skies, to include sunrise/sunset and weather/cloud shots) warrants a category by itself. Scenic and Seasonal would still be very difficult!

I would also like to see a People category.

Thanks Terry. ok I'm going in. LOL this is like a space mission ^_^

Yes, I think a people category would be interesting. I'm not sure how it would relate to gardens, though. I guess you could just stick people in wherever! I meant to enter a person one in Misc. but never got around to it. Would people need to be domesticated or wild people? Relatives or strangers? l.o.l. Plus there are the issues about having permission to use someone's picture if it got published.

Victor,

I always like feedback, especially when it's given before it's too late. We had a planning session in this same forum last month that lasted several days. We would have been better off if you had joined that conversation.

Dave

Not all categories are garden related. Misc., Scenic and Pets are three examples.

Sorry I missed that, Dave. By the time I caught that thread you had already decided to leave it the same as last year. I only brought it up now (to consider for the future) because of how difficult I found it to pick in that category with so many great shots.

I generally try to give feedback before it's too late.

Very beautiful photos. I think some pictures of flowers ended up in Misc. - and they would have been voted for, at least in my mind, if they were in the perennial or annual category. Misc should cover everything not already under a category. I love the contests and really hate I missed out this year. I did vote on every category! Great job everyone.
Kathy

WOW!!!! The pics are incredible. I started with containers with the fewest entrys. Out of 57 I have 57 favorites ^_^ This is gonna take a looooooong time. CYA I'm going back in.

I generally do the choosing by a process of elimination.

First, I pick whatever really appeals to me as really good--and I know we all see different things in a photo. It needs to be photographically good! It needs to focus on the subject and should not have any distracting "other things" in the peripheries. (this is where cropping helps).

Then, I go back through the ones I have chosen and compare all the ones in this group to one another, dropping out the ones that do not measure up.

And so on. The hardest is to choose the top 3 once my choices have been reduced to maybe 5 or 6. It can be agonizing! It also takes a long time in each category to do this.

Gita

Oh my gosh! There are too many wonderful pictures to choose from! I think my head is going to explode! :o

I have been working all morning on voting and have only finished trees and domestic animals. I felt I needed a lot more than 3 votes ( ok 9) in the animals. They all looked so sweet and soulful or full of fun that I had a heck of a time getting down to just first, second and third place votes. I wanted to vote for at least 25!

My eyes are falling out! Time for a break.

LOL so far I've only finished Containers (I think) then cuz I was hungry I went to the Veggie catagory where I luved every pic and now I'm STARVING! I think veggie entrants should have to send samples to the judges ^_^

This is HARD! So many are my favorites, I'd be thrilled to have them printed and hang on my walls.

Got my top 10 in pets picked, now the hard part LOL
was easy in containers got 5.
Sooooo hard. But I am haveing a problem with thumbnails, I pick the pic but I can't go back to the thumbnail page. What am I going wrong?

tillysrat, the thumbnails open to their own new window, close it and you're back on the thumbnails page.

I got it, kept trying every thing else but that one.
Thanks
I have a neck ache LOL

OMG I good spend hours in Gardenscapes!!!!! I'm saving my beluved dahlias for the very last because it will take days to oogle them I just know it!!!

I agree with Victor (again too late to be much help!) that scenic seasonal and sunset is such a broad subject that generates so many excellent candidates that it's nearly impossible to pick. I'm saving that one for last because it's so daunting!

Great photos everyone!

I had a picnic lunch with the trees and shrubs. LOL I noticed there are some sneaky photos in some catagorys. Such as 'here is my photo of something OT with a little something from this catagory here somewhere' ^_^ Brilliant idea! Next year I'm going to put a dahlia in every catagory and just title it for the catagory such as 'Dahlia Hanging with Veggies' or 'Dahlia beside a Bush' or 'Dahlia in a Tropical Mood'. Sorry I need to take a time out from photos cuz I'm getting punchy.

Have you got into insects yet? thats a headache and a half. So many great bugs I can't decide LOL

I can just see next year I will know which ones are yours LOL

Dave, I have a suggestion for next year. Is there a way we could see are choices in a thumbnail too, I can't remember if this was brought up last year or not. For us that have real busy schedules, this would help.
Its hard to compair one at a time. Just a thought.

I think the Pets and Insects were that hardest to pare down for me. I just had to go fast with my first gut instinct, if I pondered too long, it was harder LOL! I would love a whole calendar each for just those two categories!

Wildlife and Birds is a riot!!! There are some very funny captions to go with incredible shots. I think that's going to be a toughie!! I going to do Insects with a fortifying beverage (or two).

Is it time for a fortifying beverage yet? I'm on Garden Scenes. so many nice ones. I'll have to work up to Insects. I can't imagine.

Taking a break my neck is stuck in one place, need a better chair LOL

Insects is very difficult, I had way too many favorites, had to have dinner and start working again. Top 10 would have been easier!

I just had a black out in thumbnails, each time I clik on a pic screen went black. Go back try again LOL

Dahlianut, I noticed that too of sort of thing like you mentioned as an example, a dahlia in a tropical mood and then put in the tropical thread. I'm glad i'm not the only one who wasn't too sure what to think of it either.

I'm having a hard time with all the categories, all great. I took the easy way out and started with the ones with the least amount of entries first and working my up to the ones with the most. Off for a drink as well!