I'm no professional or even an experienced photographer but isn't that somewhat the point of many photos? Catching a really cool pose or event or colouration that isn't normally seen? I would think that anybody with the right equipment and photography experience could take a nice clear close up of their cham or setup but the magic is when you get a clear pic of that special or bizarre moment.

Anyhow ... that's just the way that I see it. I kind of like the idea of themes and think it would add a level of creativity to the pics people take.

Dyesub Dave.

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3.3.30 Eggs Veiled Chams, 1.0.0 Banded Gecko, 1.2.0 Crested Geckos, 0.0.2 Micro Geckos,
1.1.0 Honduran Milk Snakes,0.1.0 Snow Corn Snake, 7 - Fish Tanks and 1 AWESOME boy!!

I think it might be interesting to have like a fall/Thanksgiving type theme for November, and then maybe a Winter/Holiday/Christmas theme for December.

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~Liz~ Check out my site http://freewebs.com/lbesok
*2.3 Nosy Be *1.2.5 Ambilobe*2 Melleri .1 Beardie *.1 Leopard Gecko

I think what Royden was trying to say, or what I would say, was/is that the favorites usually seem to be kitch. People seem to prefer, "awwwww, look at the little baby" over a well composed photograph. I guess it boils down to personal preference, and if that is the popular theme then so be it. We certainly do not want to create more work for Brad. But it would be nice to somehow have a standard of what is wanted for the contest.

Personally, I think a picture of a Chameleon with a santa hat on would be cheesy.

In my opinion, the best THEME contests are ones that are not limiting which people can enter- based on what chameleons they keep.

Ie, no Baby photo contests, because nto everyone has a baby chameleon, or no Veiled chameleon only contests.

Etc etc. Just a thought for those suggesting contest themes.

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WILL HAYWARD

Hey Brad, sorry I haven't got caught up on this thread.

The fly on the nose is a creative shot but, (no offense to the photgrapher who took it) it's not a product of creativity. I'm pretty sure the photographer didn't say "I know I'll put a fly on the nose of the cham.." The situation happened; the owner had a camera and took the shot.

Yes, good photography is about both being at the right place at the right time, and having the skill to capture it. But even greater skill comes with taking the every day ordinary shots and reminding people about why it's great to be alive, or in this case why we're involvoed in this hobby. If you can take a shot of a cham just sitting their basking and making an incredible photo out of it (color/lighting/composition/depth of field), that impresses me more than an "awwww, look at his funny position".

That's that weirdest thing about photography Dave. Two photographers can got to he same shoot with the exact same equipment with the exact same lighting and the exact same model, and they come away from the shoot with two entirely different portfolio's. You'd think it was as easy as point it shoot. From my experience - it aint.

These are just my personal opinions and I am by no means a pro. I make my living by creating art, photography is still a "dabbling" area. And if this isn't the direction we want to go, that's absolutely fine with me.

I'd love to see themes based on species I think. Brevs, veileds, panthers etc. Not everyone can participate, but it's really hard to judge an incredible shot of a brev against a fired up ambilobe or whatever. Sorry Will I know that's comepletely the opposite of what you just said.

just my two cents. please don't take any offense, anyone, to my critique or opinion. I'll continue to participate in submission and voting whatever direction we go with photo contests. It's all for fun.

I'll stick my 2 cents back in here, too. I agree with the themes. As for not everyone being able to enter every single month, well so be it. There is always next month. Royden's right when he says how hard it is to judge a brev against a fired up panther. Frankly, I get tired of seeing all the fired up panthers. OK, I can hear the screaming now, but it's true. Maybe we need a "Fired up Panther" month, or maybe a monthly theme along with a Fired Up Panther EVERY month in order to accommodate all the Fired Up Panther pics(!) maybe that would work.

I think the "awww, isn't that cute" factor is necessary, so yes one month hatchlings, another sleeping, another acrobatic poses, tongue shots, etc. and here's one that could be fun - expressions

Yeah I totally agree. I still think we need to have those fun "caught the moment" photos. They are the most entertaining.

This is what I'm talking about.
New pics of Gus!

Those first two pics could be on the cover of any herphobby magazine. They're well composed, well lit, and make a beautiful animal looking even more beautiful. And the cham isn't doing anything at all. Great photos!

I have several theme suggestions for future months' photo contest that would not limit the number of entries while spicing up the contest a bit.

• Sleeping shots
• Head shots
• Basking shots
• Angry shots
• Eyes directly looking at you shots
• Dangling from a branch shots

These are some that I can think of. What do you think?

After all the theme talk, I have decided not to use one for the November contest. I apologize to everyone looking forward to a theme this month.

As previously announced, this is the last scheduled photo contest for the year. To give everyone a fair chance in the 'best of 2007' poll, I want people to have the opportunity to enter their favorite photo.

Theme suggestions for future contests are still welcome and appreciated.