Mini Challenge #258 RESULTS

JAG

A big thank you for those who participated in this challenge. I know this time of year can be hectic as it was for myself, I never did get my examples up. But you all did fabulous at expressing the seasons celebrations.

@jwear - your lone image was perfect for starting out the challenge. An interesting find when out and about to shoot at wildlife!

@pegelli - all three of your images scream the theme. Out of them I liked the standard firework shot as being the most celebrated!

@grandmaR - I like your historic house decorations best to show the season.

@slpollett - your kitty is like all kitties, they love the holidays don't they?!

Honorable Mentions
@puzzledpaul - you have 3 very unique images here. I keep coming back to the grebe with the snow falling. That is one thing we are missing here in Alaska, snow.

@DavidRGillespie - I like your heavily decorated tree. Kudos on getting the little star lights in the shot!

3rd place goes to;
@sarasphotos - The market at the town hall is a perfect example of seasons celebration. I can almost feel the brisk air!

2nd place there was a tie...

@lkbart - all 3 of your images were spot on and all 3 deserved to place. However, I figured the only way to do this was to tie one of your images with second place, but if there is a conflict with the winner posting a new challenge, then kurzvorzwoelf will get the honor of running the next challenge. Your ballet image would have tied for first, but I just thought it would be better to place it here at second. Kudos for having 3 awesome images this round!

@kurzvorzwoelf - of the 3 you posted, I really liked this first one because of the tree in the background brings it all into a more interesting picture.

And first place goes to @lkbart - Your kitty watching the lights of the little town, perhaps hoping to get a glimpse of little fairies looming about the little houses. Beautifully shot!

So congrats to all! Have a happy New Year! I look forward to seeing what you come up with for the next round Lillian.

sarasphotos

Congratulations to Lillian and kurzvorzwoelf for the beautiful shots and thanks, Joyce for the third place.

puzzledpaul

Thumbs up to all who bothered to have a go and thanks for the HM ... it's a Cormorant, btw - but could just as easily have been a GCG if one had showed itself on the day ...

Re my other 2 shots - or more accurately, scans ... Whilst it's difficult to imagine there's not someone else on this plane who's making cards similar to those in my first shot - I've not come across any others .... yet.:)

pp

Edit
FWIW, there are several GCG shots on my flickr page - including the first one. I've no idea what similar species / groups look like in your neck o the woods, but a big give away is the hooked bill end on the cormorant ... presumably as it tears / rips flesh of prey* ... as opposed to spearing and swallowing whole in the grebe's case.

• no expert on this, btw.

lkbart

Oh wow! What wonderful praise - thank you so much Joyce! We did have to make the streets of the little town wide enough for big kitty traffic!

Congrats to @kurzvorzwoelf and Sara @sarasphotos too! Hope everyone is having a great holiday! I'll have a new mini posted as soon as I figure out how to do it!

pegelli

Congratulations Lillian, kurzvorzwoelf and Sara for the "wins"

And thanks to Joyce for a nice mini and the extensive commenting. Much appreciated

Looking forward to the next one!

bfluegie

Congratulations to @lkbart, @kurzvorzwoelf, and @sarasphotos. And to everyone who found the time to compete at this busy time of year. I really enjoyed all the different takes on the theme.

grandmaR

Great job everyone - Looking forward to the next

sapphire73

Congratulations Lillian, kurzvorzwoelf and Sara! And thank you, Joyce, for a fun challenge! I enjoyed seeing the variety of entries!

kurzvorzwoelf

Better late than never - I was abroad for holidays

Congratulations @lkbart and @sarasphotos for first and third places and also thanks @JAG for the honour of nominating my entry second. Thanks everyone participating for such a fun challenge!