March '06 Photo Contest

[Eric Adrignola]

There was one, and it was from a VERY shady vendor - it was certainly different from the "normal"johnstoni that I've seen over the years. It was very close to this one, I bet from the same population.

It was in good shape, but I was flying Southwest, and couldnt' take anythign back with me.

 

[2by2]

I hate shady vendors.......why cant we just get these in legally??? I'd love to keep these things. The colors on that guy blow away half the panthers i see out there.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

I'm sure there's plenty of reasons why we can't get them in. I'll mention them (and send a link to the pic ) to Josh of the CRG. Maybe he can get Joe B to talk to the nice people in Uganda and get some breeders shipped over to Tanzania. A really beautiful chameleon. I imagine there's tons more situations like this - super colorful, or giant varieties of chameleons we just don't know about yet, waiting to be discovered.

 

[Damaranum]

Are uganda animals illegal in America?

We do get them in europe every now and then. But it's always difficult but legal. And when there are johnston's they often look like this ones. And I'm 99% sure johnston doens't live in tanzania. So all imports you've had where illegal then as well.

I never kept them as many people told me they're quite hard. Now I can give them the right enviroment but I've got to many other species. Maybe one day.

I'm quite sure there will be uganda imports this year in europe. So come to hamm in september and you've got a chance to find them.

 

[Brad]

Voting has ended. The results should be posted Saturday afternoon.

 

[Brad]

The Results

The Results​

1st place: 2by2
Species: Chamaeleo Trioceros johnstoni
Common: Johnston's or Ruwenzori Three-Horned Chameleon
Sex: Male
Age: wild animal
Name: na

2nd place: Eric Adrignola
Species: Chamaeleo Trioceros deremensis
Common: Giant Usambara 3-horned Chameleon
Sex: Male
Age: ??
Name: ??

3rd place: Gregory
Species: Chamaeleo Chamaeleo calyptratus
Common: Veiled or Yemen Chameleon
Sex: Male
Age: 5 months
Name: Steve

If you are not familiar with how the contest works, please review the [THREAD=102]contest rules[/THREAD].

open member vote
The top ranked photos from the open member voting received the following points:
photo 07 => 5 pts (2by2)
photo 12 => 3 pts (Eric Adrignola)
photo 05 => 1 pts (westcoastchameleons)
photo 10 => 1 pts (Drake)

judge rankings
We had three judges this month: Jamie, Prism Chameleons, and myself. The judges, in no specific order, gave the following rankings:
judge1:
photo 07 => 3 pts (2by2)
photo 12 => 2 pts (Eric Adrignola)
photo 11 => 1 pts (lele)

judge2:
photo 12 => 3pts (Eric Adrignola)
photo 07 => 2pts (2by2)
photo 04 => 1pts (Gregory)

judge3:
photo 04 => 3pts (Gregory)
photo 12 => 2pts (Eric Adrignola)
photo 07 => 1pts (2by2)

point totals
photo 03 - 2by2: 11 pts
photo 12 - Eric Adrignola: 10 pts
photo 01 - Gregory: 4 pts
photo 10 - lele: 1 pts
photo 04 - westcoastchameleons: 1pts
photo 14 - Drake: 1 pts

congratulations to the winners
medals have been awarded.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

cool - I thought I would win, until I saw that dang johnstoni... hehe

 

[Heika]

Beautiful pictures, congratulations to all three winners!

 

[Gregory]

Congrats!

Congratulations to everyone!!! Especially 2by2 and Eric Adrignola...personally, I loved the look on that little deremesis's face- so funny!

Gregory

 

[Brad]

This was definitely the toughest contest to date. You can see that only one point separated 1st and 2nd place. From comments I received from the judges, they too had a very hard time ranking the photos. Thank you judges for taking the time to help out. Some of the photos that did not win were excellent and I truly wish there could be more winners.

The contest process is still slowly evolving and is open to suggestions. If you have any new ideas or feel a part of the process could be improved, please post your suggestion in the Contest forum (not this thread) or send me a pm. Within the next few days I will be updating a few posts to better explain how I make decisions as a judge and to provide more tips on photo entries.

 

[Brad]

personally, I loved the look on that little deremesis's face- so funny!

One thing I found neat about this photo was the water drop on the cham's head. If you look closely, you can actually see a reflection of the photographer. Fantastic pic!

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Thanks - that's one of my personal favorite pics. He looked so cute in that one.
i have another, nearly identical pic, only his one eye is looking to the side - totally differetn look on him.

 

[Drake]

Congrats Noah, and all who participated! That woulda been a hard contest to judge! I never thought I would have close to 5 votes, let alone almost get 3rd, since there are soo many beautiful pictures.

Congrats all, and thanks Brad for hosting this contest!

 

[Prism Chameleons]

Congratulations to all! This was one very, very tough contest to judge as there were so many fantastic photos. Those who didn't make the top three, let me say that the point system was very close for all. In my mind, you are all winners in this contest, as all the photos each had their own character and beauty!

Till next contest... Great job all!!!!

 

[2by2]

I cant thank everyone who voted for me enough. Thank you thank you thank you. I must say, I feel bad because I think I had an unfair advantage with the colors that that guy put off for me. I think erics actual photo was way better.....and in my opinion, you can easily tell that his picture taking skills blow mine out of the water.
Eric, you had my vote. That little deremensis pic was killer!!

 

[Eric Adrignola]

I cant thank everyone who voted for me enough. Thank you thank you thank you. I must say, I feel bad because I think I had an unfair advantage with the colors that that guy put off for me. I think erics actual photo was way better.....and in my opinion, you can easily tell that his picture taking skills blow mine out of the water.
Eric, you had my vote. That little deremensis pic was killer!!

ahh... yeah sure...picture taking skills. hehe. Thanks!

Really, digital cameras, cheap compact flash cards. THEY deserve the credit!
It's easy to get good pics when you are not spending money on film.

I've finally got a tripod now, which makes macros easier. The closeup, "looking at the camera" pics are my favorites - they make the chameleons personality come out - the googly eyed pics are cool for comparison, but they really look cute when you shoot pics with the binocular vision mode on - they look almost human.

I'm trying to get some pics of Ardi, my melleri, fliipping her lobes. It's really funny. The next pic I'm going to TRY to get is a father-son pic. My big male veiled is about the nicest colored veiled I've seen, and he's a good size (17"). His year old son has possibly nicer colors, but is only 14"-15". I'm tryign to get a pic of the two of them showing off to each other. They're pretty well behaved now, and will display at each other and not charge - if my big male was as he was 3 or 4 years ago, I wouldnt' even chance it!

 

[2by2]

Cant wait to see that pic!!!

 

[LunaC]

I'm a little late in saying so, but congrats Noah! This month's contest was really a bear with so many worthy photos, but that Johnstoni and the uncluttered photo composition is really beautiful!

 

[2by2]

Much appreciated Luna. I wish I could go back to Uganda and find that guy and thank him. lol.