RESULTS: Mini challenge # 345: "Your best photo of the last 12 month"
pegelli
Registered Users Posts: 8,909 Major grins
Thanks all for entering in this mini and making my judging difficult, but after some thinking (and flipping a coin 
) I have the results.
First some comments on the entries:
@JAG You did well with your phone, the frosty day is a beautiful photo only slightly ahead of the first. And your third photo made me stop and think about you and your family and the difficult times you all had to get through. You're still in my thoughts and prayers.
@Gatto The landing bird is very good, would have even been better if the whole reflection was in the photo. The "Invader" is another top shot, well seen and executed, both composition and colours.
@slpollett Beautifil colours in all three photo's, the first is a lovely scene and well worth to turn around for. The bird photo survived the cropping very well, still detailed and sharp. Only comment is your signature, especially in the sunrise photo it is hugely distracting.
@grandmaR I always love your entries, not only for the photo's but also the stories behind them and these are again no exception. The two brothers are very high on my cute-o-meter and you thinking to grab your phone to make a photo after you've been emergency air lifted with a serious medical problem shows your unwavering dedication to our mutual hobby!
@moose135 Three super entries from you, the panning on the racecar is perfect and has a true sense of speed. The USAF Thunderbirds is a spectacular photo of a spectacular maneuver.
@sapphire73 I really like your rainbow image, also for the beautiful backdrop. The low standpoint on the bighorn sheep works well and makes them stand out nicely against the sky. Do I see it correctly that it was raining when you shot the Elk? Also a very nice capture!
And now for the difficult part.
HM's go to
@JAG for the frosty tree
@slpollett for the lovely vacation scene (1st photo)
@grandmaR for the hospital scene (with extra points for the extraordinary circumstances)
3rd place goes to @sapphire73 for the bighorn sheep
and 1st/2nd place was decided by a coin flip, I just couldn't decide which one I like better 
But here it is:
2nd place goes to @moose135 for the USAF Thunderbirds
Which means 1st place is for @Gatto 's "Invader"
Well done @Gatto (and all others), and I'm looking forward to the next mini you come up with.
My SmugMug
Comments
As usual, nicely thought out and well run of a challenge Pieter @pegelli . Thank you for the comments and the HM. Congratulations to the placers @sapphire73 for 3rd, @moose135 for 2nd and @Gatto for first place! I look forward to see what you come up with @Gatto for the next challenge. You have 3 days to get one up. Let me know if you have any questions via PM.
Thank you for flipping the Coin in my favor :-)...thank you to all the participants that were all worthy of first place. You guys push me to do better all the times, I don't post much but I do follow almost all the chats and I admire your work and treasure your advises. Thank you @pegelli for this challenge and for solving the issues along with @JAG. i will post the new challenge shortly.
Thank you, @pegelli for running this and for your kind words on my photos! Congratulations, @gatto! Looking forward to your challenge!
http://www.moose135photography.com
@pegelli, thank you for running a fine mini and for the 3rd place nod. Congratulations to @Gatto for first and @moose135 for second. I enjoyed seeing all of the images.
Pegelli, sorry to take so long to respond to your questions. We are just beginning to be hit with the rainy, chilly, windy weather sweeping across North America right now, and it takes me back to the windy, rainy, cold weather we experienced at high altitudes in the Rocky Mountains last September. I can't remember whether it was still raining when I took this shot of the elk, but it was rainy and cold much of that day. We may have heard the elk bugling all the better with the moisture in the air but it made photography a little more challenging. We were hoping that a bighorn ram would come down a nearby ridge, but he decided to stay mostly out of sight amid rocks and tree cover. It was easier to photograph the bighorn sheep on Mount Evans as we could pull over on the road and walk to where I could photograph them. But less than an hour later we had rain mixed with sleet there as well.
Happy holidays to all. Stay safe out there!
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Ok, I just got a PM from Gatto. It looks like between the weather where he is and the workload, he is unable to run the next challenge. So, the baton gets passed onto the next runner up, which in this case is @moose135 . Congratulations! You get to set up the next mini challenge. Check out the Un-official Mini-Challenge rules and pick a theme. Enjoy the privilege! Please let me know if you have any questions.
Ok, I just got a PM from moose135, who states they are currently traveling and cannot do the challenge and wants to pass the baton on. So, that means 3rd runner up @sapphire73 gets the honors of starting the next challenge. I'm going to say this now, Gretchen, you can start the challenge after Christmas. Say, about the 27th? Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah everyone!
Ok, just got a PM from sapphire73 and it looks like she will be gone until mid-January. Thus, at this point, I will step in and post the next challenge. Since many are gone and the holiday seasons are here. I will post something that has a longer run time. Hopefully people can check in and post something to it during a 3 week run time.
Thank you for taking care of this, Joyce! Much appreciated!
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Thank you for the comments and the HM. I have to say I lay there a long time waiting for a room to open up. I was told that I shouldn't post the photos I took there. But I thought that probably that was for patients and not for visitors.