Mini Challenge #213 - Your Favorite

CHANDLERJACHANDLERJA Registered Users Posts: 400 Major grins
edited September 25, 2015 in The Dgrin Challenges
Over the years I have taken many thousands of photos of just about every type of subject. Enough to fill about 6 terabytes of hard drive space to date. I have uploaded just a few 1000 I felt were at least good enough to allow others to see. But after all the years and shots, there are only around 10 images I am truly proud of and satisfied with. These are ones I always show off first when someone asks to see some of my photos. They are the shots that make me want to go out and keep shooting in hopes of getting one more to add to that very short list! They may not be technically perfect or another’s cup of tea, but to me they are my personal favorites!

This is what I want to see from you! Show us those shots (any subject matter) that make you smile every time you get an opportunity to show them off! And if there happens to be an interesting story behind the shot or you just want to explain why it’s one of your favorites please feel free to share!!

And in the end somehow I will pick one as a "winner" only because I have to. :D


I have added some of mine below and since it’s my challenge I get to post 4 :D


This challenge will run for 2 weeks - from today until Friday, September 25, 2015 @ 5:00pm PST-USA.



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OUR UN-OFFICIAL 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. The 1st place winner becomes the next host, chooses the next topic and becomes the next judge.
3. Any photo you’ve taken is eligible, regardless of when taken or camera used.
4. Any amount of post-processing is allowed. However, it is helpful if you list your camera and lens along with your photo.
5. You may comment on other contestant's images. If you want someone to leave you some critique or criticism, just ask within your post.
6. 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 starting 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 using the prior formats) and post your Winner and runners-up. It is important to have runners up in case the winner does not show within the 72-hour window.
6. PM the winner with this info above and let them know they have 72 hours to set up the next mini-challenge.
7. If the winner does not show/start the next mini-challenge after 72 hours, 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 next mini challenge!

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Examples:

1.This was taken from my Hotel balcony on a weekend trip with my wife to Orleans.
To date, it is my favorite cityscape shot by far! I wish I could find light like that more often!

untitled_panorama2d%20copy6%20%282%29-XL.jpg

2. I worked hard for this one! Hours and hours of walking and sneaking trying to get one of these guys
just right! Hundreds of not just right shots of very uncooperative frogs!! :wxwax
But in the end for me this single shot made it all worth it! And I never plan to shoot another frog again! :D

AN7O9967s2b2B-XL.jpg

3. This was my entry into my first Mega Challenge years ago. Here is one of the comments on the image
that pretty much sums up my feelings for it!

"Okay, let's see... Not a straight line to be seen... crop at the top right through I and N of INRI... an unusual (if not awkward) choice of torso crop... AND... rule
of thirds working overtime on the hand and the face... processing to die for... a presentation of the theme that works on multiple levels. This is one
rule-breaking, rule-following contradiction and it blows me away. Where are the little clappy, bowing, emoticons when you need them."

FAITH-XL.jpg

4. This was one of my most discussed entries into a challenge many years ago. Everyone had very strong feelings of how it should have been processed, lit and
composed. And even though it was and accident (I was actually trying to shoot the birds) It is still to date my favorite image of a person I have ever captured!

BWMANCROPB2s-XL.jpg
Jeromy
http://snaptx.smugmug.com/
Light is everything in life and photography.

Comments

  • grandmaRgrandmaR Registered Users Posts: 1,942 Major grins
    edited September 12, 2015
    I am feeling totally inadequate because I am really just a snapshot photographer. And I don't as a rule think my photos are something I can be 'satisfied' with as a photographer. Some of the photos were taken with a point and shoot camera so the quality suffers some. So I am going to try to post photos that I have a reason to like for other reasons than the photography involved.

    00001836.jpg

    This is a very poor black and white print - I can't find the original color print. I was sitting out on a cross country course in NC in 1982 taking photos of competitors doing the water jump while I was waiting for my daughter to come through on her pony in the Preliminary section. This is the Training level jump which was the first part of the Preliminary jump. Training level people just jumped in and crossed over to the bank. Preliminary division jumped in and cantered through the water where there was a jump IN the water to jump before they left the water.

    I was just sitting there taking photos. And it was, of course, in those days, a film camera

    And I got this one. Before I went home, I copied down all the results from all the divisions. When I went to match up my photos with the competitors, I found this girl had won her division. She didn't have the 60 penalty points that should have been assessed for the fall. So I made this copy and sent it to the organizer to find out why.

    Her mother had gone to the Technical Delegate and claimed that the previous horse on the course was blocking the jump. And the TD, without asking the jump judge voided the jump penalties. You can see the previous horse up by the jump judge who is standing by the fence - all of them are out of the 20 meter penalty zone. (I marked the flag that shows were the penalty zone was on the edge of the photo)

    If it had been now, the girl would have been disqualified - a fall now is elimination, and my photo would have been available right away to prove that she fell and should not have won.

    I have other photos of horses jumping and even other photos of riders falling - this one is the only one where procedures were not followed to the detriment of others.


    This one I did not see at the time, and I think it did not happen in real life. In 1998 we went to Tikal and I scheduled the trip at the time of the full moon - hoping to see the moon rise over the Tikal Temple II. My little point and shoot camera batteries were going bad and I could only do one shot at a time. I bought a battery there (cost $8.00) and it too was discharged already. We stayed in the park until the time that the moon should rise, but it was cloudy and we couldn't see the moon rise, so I took a photo of the temple, but I did not see the red sky. I think it is an artifact of the low battery.


    x96996_36.JPG

    I don't know if I will keep this as the third one but this was taken in 1965 at one of the movie studios - a demonstration by the stunt men of how they did falls, fights etc. Taken with a Kodak Retina Reflex camera on Kodachrome slide film.

    2939-00710019.jpg

    I realize that none of these were digital photos. Digital photos seem so ephemeral and almost too easy. My Kodak camera didn't have a flash or auto focus or auto exposure.
    “"..an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." G.K. Chesterton”
  • DonRicklinDonRicklin Registered Users Posts: 5,551 Major grins
    edited September 13, 2015
    1) Sentinel Snag, Hurricane Ridge, Olympic NF, WA. © 2006
    46932_24-L.jpg

    2) Old Payson Pier reaching out towards Popasquash Point. Walker's Cove, Bristol Harbor © 2009
    IMGP1502-L.jpg

    3) Me observing the Swan in squalor. © 2012
    IMGP1169-L.jpg

    The first is one of my Film (Photoworks to Disc), with a Pentax SLR.

    Don
    Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
    'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
    My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook
    .
  • Cygnus StudiosCygnus Studios Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2015
    As a commercial photographer most of my time is spent capturing what the client wants and often this conflicts with what I might choose. After each shoot, we do get some time to play around with the products or models and sometimes I happen to get lucky and capture some pretty cool shots. Here are my favorites:

    Lighting the match:

    i-3TFmP2b-L.jpg

    Playing with gravity:

    image%206-L.jpg

    Cascading feather:

    i-5ZrQpQb-L.jpg
    Steve

    Website
  • travelwaystravelways Registered Users Posts: 7,854 Major grins
    edited September 14, 2015
    Hard to decide which ones of my photos I like best...

    Here are some:

    1. The philosopher (at the Bremenhaven Zoo)

    The philosopher - Zoo of Bremerhaven, Germany

    2. Rainy day in Heidelberg

    In the rain  - Heidelberg, Germany

    3. Low tide in Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

    Fishermen's buildings at  Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia
    Tatiana - Seeing the world through my camera
    TravelwaysPhotos.com ...... Facebook
    VegasGreatAttractions.com
    Travelways.com
  • CavalierCavalier Registered Users Posts: 3,030 Major grins
    edited September 18, 2015
    Usually my latest is my new favorite - I'm so fickle! (Edit = Please don't consider these for judging this time. Thanks)

    1. Praying Mantis on Day Lilly - Day one.

    IMG_1546%20raw%20adj%20vign-X2.jpg


    2. Praying Mantis on same Day Lilly the next day. He was watching me.

    IMG_1549%20raw%20adj%20wt%20bal%20change-X2.jpg


    3. Swan Pair - Mariposa, Ca

    IMG_6269%20Topaz%20My%20CollectionLighter%20signed-X2.jpg
  • BMW KurtBMW Kurt Registered Users Posts: 229 Major grins
    edited September 21, 2015
    Blue%20Ridge%20Parkway-L.jpg


    This is just a dumb luck shot. I set a GoPro camera to take a shot every minute in the way home via the Blue Ridge Parkway. This shot just happened to coincide with entering a tunnel at the point that the end of the tunnel was just visible.


    P9041725-L.jpg


    Taken from the bridge of the Rickmers Hamburg somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The light was amazing!

    P1142999_3000_3001_tonemapped-L.jpg


    This heavily processed shot is of the Chain Bridge in Budapest, Hungary. I know the HDR processing is over the top, but I like it in this case.
  • ThelensspotThelensspot Registered Users Posts: 2,041 Major grins
    edited September 22, 2015
    Another great Challenge! Some very hard acts to follow above, but I have a few travel shots I thought turned out OK...

    1. Paris, France

    DSC_0230-4-XL.jpg

    2. Powhatan Creek fisherman, Jamestown, Va.

    DSC_1325B1-8-XL.jpg

    3. And for B&W, stray dogs in Athens, Greece.

    dscn0151_edited-2-2-XL.jpg
    "Photography is partly art and partly science. Really good photography adds discipline, sacrifice and a never ending pursuit of photographic excellence"...ziggy53

  • sapphire73sapphire73 Registered Users, Super Moderators Posts: 1,942 moderator
    edited September 22, 2015
    So many great entries!

    Not sure whether I will get a chance to add more, but here is one of my favorites:

    1. The Unseen Pennypack (a nature preserve along the Pennypack River in Pennsylvania)
    Crooked%20fence%20-%20neutral%20-%20bw%20preset%20lr3-pse-L.jpg

    I had been photographing spring flowers and the river late in the day and packed up when it started to rain. But I pulled over and got out my camera & tripod when I saw this....
  • CHANDLERJACHANDLERJA Registered Users Posts: 400 Major grins
    edited September 25, 2015
    Thanks for all who posted! Some great photos!! I will post my top pics tomorrow.
    Jeromy
    http://snaptx.smugmug.com/
    Light is everything in life and photography.
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