RESULTS Mini Challenge #380 - Winter Wonderland

slpollett

Our last Dgrin Mini! This makes me so sad.

I hope everyone has seen the announcement that Dgrin is ending and "moving" to a Flickr forum. I (and several others) have joined the group there. I hope when more of us have moved that the Flickr community grows into something as great as this group is. So far, I don't like it much there, but that could be because I'm older and don't like change much. Anyway, please join if you haven't already so we can try to continue the mini's there.

Y'all really came through with the Winter Wonderland images. So many absolutely gorgeous winter photos. I really don't like being cold, but I do love a great pic of a winter scene.

@sarasphotos : yours weren't for judging, but I loved all 3 of yours. The Balloons over Hopfensee was pretty cool, but my favorite was your Snow Laden Tree.
@grandmaR : I have always appreciated that you have so many images that were originally film or slides. I like the mood in your Oberlin, Ohio photo. I loved the tree-lined street and the mood the oof shot created.
@Cavalier : I love all 3 of yours also. The trees in your backyard shot are so beautiful with all the snow weighing down the branches. I also love the Great White Buffalo in the tree. That one made me chuckle. My favorite though, is the Tahoe National Forest. So gorgeous.
@sapphire73 : I really love A Tree and Its Shadow. (I'm kind of seeing a theme emerging here--I have really been drawn to all the beautiful trees covered in snow). I love this pic so much. You have a nice blue sky, a beautiful snow covered tree, plus more trees in the background. I also love Cairnwood Mansion. That one is very interesting after dark. I love the reflections in the frozen rain.
@bfluegie : All 3 of yours just nailed this theme. 3 totally gorgeous Winter Wonderland Shots. Again, I fell in love with the snow-covered trees in Big Thomson River. That scene is lovely with some remaining fall color emerging from the snow-covered branches and the snow-covered rocks in the river. Sunset at Crater Lake is also simply beautiful. My favorite though is the Crater Lake Pano at Discovery Point. I love the blue sky, the deeper blue lake, snow-topped mountains in the background, beautiful green trees and snow in the foreground. So pretty. I wanted to be there, even if I knew I'd be too cold.

Now to pick winners. I wish I could give 1st place to all of them. These shots gave me all the feels, especially being the last mini. Alas, I did finally rank them further, but honestly there are 7 pics I loved enough to declare them the winner. Here goes:

Honorable Mentions
GrandmaR - Oberlin, Ohio
Cavalier - Great White Buffalo & your backyard shot
sapphire73 - Cairnwood Mansion
bfluegie - Big Thomson River and Sunset at Crater Lake

3rd place: Cavalier - Tahoe National Forest

2nd Place: sapphire73 - A Tree and Its Shadow

1st Place: bfluegie - Crater Lake Pano

Congrats all and thank you for participating. Hope to see you in the Flickr group.

Sherry P.

sapphire73

@slpollett Thank you for running a great mini! When it started, we had no idea that Dgrin would be shutting down in the very near future. I have really enjoyed "meeting" so many photographers in this forum and seeing your photos.

It was fun to see all of these winter wonderland photos and then to read Sherry's appreciative commentary. Congratulations to @bfluegie and @Cavalier on first and third places in this final mini-challenge on Dgrin and to all who entered winter wonderland photos! And thank you, Sherry, for second place and an honorable mention for the photos I shared. It is snowing again in the Philadelphia area just now, and it remains to be seen whether it will look like a winter wonderland out there when the storm moves out!

Gretchen

Cavalier

Sherry, thanks for running the last Mini in such fine fashion I am surprised and sadden to hear that Dgrin is closing. I've had a great time over the years on Dgrin and will miss all the wonderful people on here. Goodbuy to all Mini players - it wa fun while it lasted. And thanks for the 3 place!

sapphire73

@Cavalier I just started a thread for those who want to say farewell to folks in this group and perhaps share some memories from the past. Please feel free to share your thoughts in that thread as well!

bfluegie

Sherry @slpollett, Thank you for running a great mini. I really loved this theme. All the entries were on point, and they made me appreciate my warm house. Thank you for picking my pano of Crater Lake as the final mini winner. It's kind of bittersweet. But since it's ending, a good challenge with beautiful photos isn't a bad way to say goodbye.

Congrats to everyone who participated. I agree with Sherry. Everyone had an entry worthy of first place. I've enjoyed all the years of challenges on Dgrin. Hopefully something evolves on Flickr to keep the fun going on.

sapphire73

As a reminder, one can get a free account on Flickr. And there are a few of the Dgrin Mini-Challenge folks on Flickr now. It would be great to be able to keep up with folks on the Flickr forum but certainly understand if people would rather not try a new forum.