November 2011 Photo Contest

[im faster]

Competition and limited space are the biggest hurdles that participants face. Besides images that are too small, the most common issues preventing photos from advancing to the final round are pixelation and digital artifacts. Many photos look great in their small shrunken size, but when you view the original the issues become more noticeable. Natural looking photos are definitely preferred unless there is a special theme.

Well next month is taken.. but i say for January. we have a theme..
Chameleons Out of Place..

i personally im tired of the same stuff over and over..
i like to see originality in photos.

 

[okiroo]

Well next month is taken.. but i say for January. we have a theme..
Chameleons Out of Place..

i personally im tired of the same stuff over and over..
i like to see originality in photos.

out of place? well the problem is that these go in a caldender and that needs to looks clean polished, realalistic yet beautiful. a cham ina car or on a finger is sorta random. mabey for each month with a maor holiday we could pull off haveing some sort of these that fits that holiday and still looks clean polished and beautiful. example- Xmas= cham on a chirstmas tree, cham looking at the snow, cham in a stocking on a tree to keep it natural looking, cham with a santa hat on on a tree ect. the problem with this is when people throw relgious beliefs in and it stop being about the chams. someone might not celebrate x-mas and than that could cause problems on the forums.

 

[im faster]

here is what i was talking about before..
this photo didnt make it last month..

yet this month almost the same photo does..

 

[im faster]

out of place? well the problem is that these go in a caldender and that needs to looks clean polished, realalistic yet beautiful. a cham ina car or on a finger is sorta random. mabey for each month with a maor holiday we could pull off haveing some sort of these that fits that holiday and still looks clean polished and beautiful. example- Xmas= cham on a chirstmas tree, cham looking at the snow, cham in a stocking on a tree to keep it natural looking, cham with a santa hat on on a tree ect. the problem with this is when people throw relgious beliefs in and it stop being about the chams. someone might not celebrate x-mas and than that could cause problems on the forums.

here is what i mean..
by out of place..

 

[okiroo]

here is what i was talking about before..
this photo didnt make it last month..

yet this month almost the same photo does..

idk. it is a beautiful photo PM Brad and ask whys yours didnt make it NICELY. im sure he has a very well thought out reasponce and that there was a major problem.


you can see your hand but one made it this month with a finger. mabey over blurred? but than again people blurr theres alot all the time.

 

[okiroo]

here is what i mean..
by out of place..

I like that ^^! interesting idea.

 

[clarkrw3]

here is what i was talking about before..
this photo didnt make it last month..

yet this month almost the same photo does..

The one this month has a much cleaner focus on the eye which is a point of interest in a portrait style photo. The one you posted last month has a very small depth of focus that is focused right in front of the eye which isn't the best for a portrait style....but you are right they are very similar.

 

[Olimpia]

here is what i was talking about before..
this photo didnt make it last month..

yet this month almost the same photo does..

Maybe it's because the eye isn't quite in focus in this one. The focus is a little forward, closer to the nose. The entire photo can be off-focus as long as the eyes are clear - they are the soul of the subject. But I don't know, I'm not Brad. I can't tell you why he picks what he picks, but that would be my best guess.

 

[im faster]

Agree.. but it is SLIGHTLY out but better than the eye not even looking toward the camera.

 

[okiroo]

Agree.. but it is SLIGHTLY out but better than the eye not even looking toward the camera.

just PM Brad and ask him why yours didnt make the cut

 

[heartben]

Alright, I assume my picture is the one that is similar. While he isn't looking at the camera, it is in focus. Being in focus IS one of the requirements, having a your cham look at the camera... isn't. I don't mean this as a slam, but its obvious it wasn't chosen because it isn't in focus. I know how hard it can be to focus with such a shallow depth of field so I don't blame you, if you are holding the cham and the camera... the focus is a matter of luck for the most part.

For that matter, I didn't choose my picture to upload because of the focus being on his eye. I chose it because I like the way his scales all turned into individual circles. I just think its interesting.

I really wish there was something I could do to help everyone who hasn't made it. I guess in my mind, if you are entering to win a contest with a money prize... you want to make sure your photo looks like it could be sold for (or is worth) that much. I don't mean that in a negative way towards anyone, just something to think about when you are taking and selecting your photo to enter..

 

[sandrachameleon]

If I were involved in selecting which photos are included, which i am NOT, I wouldnt have choosen this one. The arm isnt pleasant (and serves no purpose - a finger with a small chameleon at least gives perspective), the background is boring, the chameleon is largely out of focus (a tight photo is fine, but if there is an eye in the photo it should be sharply in focus, IMHO, and this one isnt)

I mean no offense. And Im sure not including your photo wasnt intended to hurt your feelings. Its a very nice photo. But they cant ALL make it into the contest. Someone subjectively does have to narrow the choices down.

Most of the photos entered dont win!

Just keep trying.

here is what i was talking about before..
this photo didnt make it last month..

yet this month almost the same photo does..

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

I think some people tend to forget this is a contest. If everyone made it to the final round and got a prize then it wouldn't be a contest.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which is why we all get to vote so no one preference prevails. I have entered plenty of photos I thought were really cool and great shots and they don't make it to the final round, or only got one or two votes. Then I've had some that weren't near my favorite almost place in the top three several times. It depends on who is voting and what the competing photos are. Why do some people find beauty in abstract art while others see it as kindergarten work? That's just how art and photography are.

Of course there may be obvious things that disqualify a photo but often there is no one reason why most photos do or do not make it. We have lots of great cham subjects and photographers! I think it would be sad if we only had enough qualifying pictures just to make the final cut. Many times the photos are perfectly fine and there aren't obvious flaws to exclude them, but the other photos were just more appealing. It's a contest - that's what it's all about! And a fancy camera isn't necessarily going to give you an advantage. Don't get your feelings hurt, just try again the next month!

 

[Brad]

The Results

The Results​

1st place: James45
Species: Trioceros quadricornis
Common: Four-horned Chameleon
Sex: Male
Age: 1 year



2nd place: Hoj
Species: Trioceros quadricornis
Common: Four-horned Chameleon
Sex: male
Age: 5-6 months



3rd place: jannb5
Species: Chamaeleo calyptratus
Common: Veiled Chameleon
Sex: female
Age: 3.5 years



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 02 => 5 pts (James45)
photo 09 => 3 pts (Hoj)
photo 01 => 1 pts (jannb)


judge rankings
There were no judges for the November 2011 contest.


There were many great photos this month and I'd like to thank everyone for participating. There is always room for improvement, so if anyone has a suggestion please create a new thread in the photo contest or feedback forums. If you prefer to remain anonymous you can send me an email or private message.

Medals have been awarded.
Congratulations to the winners

 

[Hoj]

yaaaa for the 4 horns, its not showing my pic but im sure brad will fix it.
congrats to all...
thankyou eveyone!!!

 

[clarkrw3]

Congrats to the winners!!! There were some awesome photos this month as usual. I am happy 4th place is my highest finish yet Congrats Hoj on your first ribbon you earned it

 

[James45]

Well i would just like to thank everyone who voted for Peter and everyone on the forums you are all winners in my book. The joy of having these precious little chameleons is a reward in itself so everyone pat yourself on the back for giving these little guys a healthy life. Thanks again.