Winter Photo Competition

Okay, so my local camera club is having another competition. I never win nor do I even place, so entering is not about that. It's just fun to take part and learn from the critiques, and even examine the photos on a big screen as opposed to a laptop. My only goal is not to humiliate myself and I haven't, with the exception of a really bad slide show that made me look like a total doofus. (The slide show was not exactly my fault although I was warned that the program I used would degrade the slide quality significantly which one couldn't fully appreciate until it was on a giant 20 foot screen. Oh, quelle horreur. I wanted to slide under my chair but I knew I wouldn't fit, rendering further humiliation....) Mostly I just slip by in the middle of the pack, and never has 'average' been so desirable.

Oh, hang on a tick. I just remembered the first time I submitted something in the nature competition which is technically supposed to include all plants and all animals, and all correctly identified, sometimes using the Latin name and showing the animal in its natural environment. I later learned it's heavy on the animals, mostly birds. Rare birds. Snapped by photographers who travel great distances, get up before dawn and wait for hours, nay days in specially constructed blinds, in order to get one perfect shot. I did not know this. I submitted 3 photos.

I was horrified when the slide show began and the first photo was of two warring hippos, water arching above their open mouths, then the second slide was of a graceful leopard on the savannah, the sun artfully lighting its lithe body, then another was of a rare bird (correctly identified in Latin) gently alighting on a branch, each feather exquisitely outlined. Then came my contributions.

I had one photo I called "weed with water drops" and the second was "pine buds" then my piece de resistance, "red squirrel." These were followed by someone's photo of a cheetah mother and three babies that looked like it came out of National Geographic and on and on in that vein. Still, I remain committed.

Mostly I submit photos because my friend Brenda guilts me into it encourages my participation and, I suppose, is a born optimist.

I usually run my short list past her because I value her opinion as a photographer and it's hard to judge one's own photographs and really see what works, but I don't want to keep pestering her. Plus she reads my blog so if she wants to jump in and comment, she will, and if not, she can find someone else to sit with at the meetings.

This is what the website says about the judging:

The first score is awarded for the application of image making skills such as: appropriate exposure, focus, sharpness, depth-of-field, and composition. The second score addresses the actual content or value of the image; some may prefer to think of this simply as impact. For theme competitions the score measures how well the judges think that the image interprets the theme.

So with that in mind, I'm going to post my short list for the next competition.

The theme is WINTER. I need to choose 3 photos. Tell me in the comments section which 3 are your favourites and I'll be eternally grateful. Well, maybe not eternally, but definitely for a few days, maybe even a week.

One:
Two:
Three:
Four:
Five:
Six:
Seven:
Eight:
I know there are two with the red doors, but they're cropped differently.

So, which three would you choose?