Mini-Challenge 239: your best of 2016

pegelli

Since it's the end of the year I'll make it easy for you, I just want to see your best 3 pictures of 2016. No special theme is required, only that you made the picture between Jan 1, 2016 and Dec 31, 2016. If you leave the exif in the shot I can check it, but if it's stripped out I can't check but if you "cheat" who are you fooling then anyway

I'm looking forward to your entries, and don't be surprised if picking the very best 3 is a harder task then you think. Picking the best 10 or 15 is probably easy, but limiting to your very best 3 is a different story.

This Mini-Challenge will end on Friday, January 6, 2017 at 8am Pacific Standard Time (17:00 Central European Time), that way you can still use the last 10 days of this year to produce a few more masterpieces for entering here.

OUR UNOFFICIAL GENERAL RULES

1. Have fun sharing and seeing what others share!
2. The host supplies a topic and you post 1-3 images. The host judges the winners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and is not eligible to enter.
3. The 1st place winner then chooses the next topic, judges the winner and then passes on the baton to the new champion.
4. Any photo you’ve taken is eligible, regardless of when taken or camera used (but for this challenge it has to be taken in 2016).
5. Any amount of post-processing is allowed. However, it is helpful if you list your camera and lens along with your photo.
6. You may comment on other contestant's images. If you want someone to leave you some critique or criticism, just ask within your post.
7. The winner has up to three days (72 hours) to begin a new mini-challenge, or the honor goes to the #2 finisher and so forth.

Guidelines:

1. Enter 1-3 photos and put them in a single post.
2. Either embed your image in the thread or, if you must, supply a link to it. Keep in mind, however, most people don't want to click to open photos hosted elsewhere (i.e. on your website).
3. Also try and resize your photos prior to posting so they're sized appropriately for viewing without having to scroll (~800 pixels on the longest side works best.)
4. Give each image you enter a title.
5. Enjoy discussion with members about their images, don't let this just be an entry thread!
6. When quoting a post change the IMG urls to a 200x200 size picture so it is clear your post is feedback and not another entry. (see here for help)
7. Don't be hesitant, share'em and enter!

Mini-Challenge pointers:

1. Upon winning a mini-challenge round your first step is coming up with a new theme, and start a new thread using the same format as others have used.
2. Make sure to notify the admin of this thread to update the main thread links with your entry thread.
3. Feel free to watch the thread as it grows or wait to the end time and look at all the entries all at once.
4. After the time/date has passed, then officially close the thread with a single post notifying everyone of the fact.
5. After you're finished judging start a new thread (again use the prior formats) and post your Winner and runners-up, it is important to have runners up incase the winner does not show within the 72hr window.
6. PM the winner with this info above and let them know they have 72hrs.
7. After the 72hrs and the winner does not show up, notify the next runner-up and post a message on the Winner thread of the fact.
8. Remember, if you're the Winner, you run the show.

Here are some of my examples. The good thing as organizer is that I can post more then 3 pictures, but the bad thing is I can't win

Urban looks

Tuscany

Plumes

Köln by night

Fabuleus 20 years anniversary dance performance

sarasphotos

Great idea, Pieter! I'm looking forward to seeing lots of entries.

JAG

Wow! Great challenge! Although I would imagine that the challenge will be most difficult for you to pick a winner Pieter. Good luck everyone (especially Pieter).

travelways

Great challenge, but..... difficult!

pegelli

@travelways said:
Great challenge, but..... difficult!

Yes, but if it wasn't difficult it wouldn't be a (mini) challenge

travelways

@pegelli said:

@travelways said:
Great challenge, but..... difficult!

Yes, but if it wasn't difficult it wouldn't be a (mini) challenge

I knew you will give me this answer

Just to let you know, this year I've been in:

Las Vegas for several events, including the Chinese New Year,

Arizona: The Wild West side, Route 66, Chloride, Grand Canyon

California: Route 66, Needles, Death Valley and South

Mexico: Baja California - which is bigger than Italy , Lake Chapala (Guadalajara), and many other places like Patzcuaro, Tequila and now in Oaxaca

Ha, ha...

travelways

OK, I'll start, because by the end of the year we have to go to Guatemala border to renew the 6 months Mexican visa, and I'll not have the time for anything...

• I haven't uploaded yet anything from the Grad Canyon, but it would have been too many photos anyway...

So here are my 3 I think best from this year, or at least 3 I like more...

1. Backyard gems in Wild West Arizona

2. Death Valley Dante's View

3. Mexican snack at San Quintin, Baja California

Cavalier

It appears that I've been pretty much focused on animals in 2016, so my entries reflect my obsession . Here are my three picks:

Northern Pintail Drake - Merced Wildlife Refuge

Hawk - Merced Wildlife Refuge

And another type of animal and their human Dressage Riders

pegelli

Thanks for entering Tatiana and Jo, judging is going to be fun (and a challenge as well), but for the time being I'm enjoying what you bring to the table this time

sarasphotos

This has been a tough photographic year for me. Due to many extenuating circumstances I've haven't been able to devote much time to photography and even less to post-processing work - I have hundreds of pictures in my computer that haven't been developed and published to SmugMug. In spite of that I've picked a few that are my favorites from the year.

I've decided to choose pictures from three categories that I photograph a lot: flowers, architectural details and landscape.

Pieter, since my time will be severly limited in the coming weeks (we're moving to a new apartment) please consider these entries as "just for fun".

1) Orange rose in half-shadow

2) Weathered church door handle

3) A rest stop with a view

pegelli

I'm hoping for some more entries, everybody should be able to post some "best" shots.

5 more days left to do so!

DonRicklin

1) Arched Gateway near Sequoia.

2) Bubbling Koi Pond

3) Former Main South Decrepitude - Lost

A so so year for me, except the last...

Don

JAG

I cannot officially participate in the challenge itself for judging, but just for fun, here are my 3.

1 Hello Mr. Lion

2 Dare to be different

3 Playing with my new Nikon D600 with the time lapse settings, I took series of the aroura borialis out my front yard. This was what it turned out like.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Time-lapse/i-QFpzm6h/0/1280/14423257_1100528003335558_3059014087762509824_n-1280.mp4

Unfortunately it won't show it embedded in this post. Don't know why. Click the link to see the video.

grandmaR

The reason the photo won't show is something I've had a problem with too - the hosting site does not put .jpg after the end of the URL.

Coming to this late because I didn't know the previous challenge had ended (I sort of lost track) - so a quick pick

**1. Christmas Sunset **

2. London from the Air

3. Reflections of Tulips on a glass table in Holland in April

sapphire73

We are far away from home (in Australia) just now but I am going to try to share a couple of photos from 2016 (using a borrowed tablet). Not sure if they are my best of 2016 but they made it onto SmugMug where I can access them!

Happy New Year everyone!

1) Rocky Mountain National Park in Winter

2) California State Park after Rain

3) Grand Canyon

(Here is a link to the gallery to facilitate checking exif for the photos.)

pegelli

This challenge is now closed. I'll start judging and will let you all know the results in the next couple of days.