BTW, here's a great gallery/photographer that deserves attention.

*travellerwolf












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Thank you all for participating in this year's "Trees Contest"!!!

Now this is how it all went down.

January 26th I started this contest to get submissions in of photographs of trees. My good friend *wb-skinner gladly helped and with a couple other friends I got together the four judges, myself, ~ryanbaker, and ~aimske. One month later I had 65 entries. That was a surprise.

Each judge rating each photo on Mood(20pts); how does the tree contribute to the mood of the photo. Originality(15pts), technical(10pts), and tilt(5pts), which was whatever the judges felt like giving points to on the photo.

After adding all the points from the judges, the top 10 were chosen. They were then voted on by you! Your votes have now been tallied and added to the judges scores to get the TOP 3.

Here they are:



The winner of this year's "Trees Contest" is:


Rays of Light 4 by ~FrederikM

The perspective of this photo really pulled through, giving the sense of looking up as the viewer follows the lines of the trees. The soft mist also gives a sense of mystery and feels a bit magical as the light glows from tree tops.



The second place winner is:

:thumb47757768:
Nuclear by ~kozywozy



And third:


Under The Yew Tree by *ciar4n


Congratulations to the winner's! Thank you all for participating!

Now for a little extra:

These are the judges favorites:

*wb-skinner
my first pick ... Under a Yew Tree by ciar4n  ... mood mood and more mood, this shot is like a fairytale ..the Hedge between the Old Forest and the Shire .. and makes me want to be there on a lazy summer afternoon... but as well as mood the lighting is fantastic, the composition very nice and the color tones almost magical ..if the photo has a weak point it is the image quality is not the sharpest.. the only place where it lost points with me ...but even that almost adds to the dream-like quality of the shot.

my second pick ... Tree Of Life by barns.. again the mood really got me in this shot ..a sunny afternoon spent in this place would be just fine with me .. the composition is great also and the tones are striking.  Although I am not generally a fan of bright contrasted light, I felt it added to the mystery and mood of the photo, and his careful control not to 'blow out' that light is to be commended.

my third pick(s)  ..a tie!.. Magic Moments by gordonrae and Countryside Sunset by plbeaulieu ...both fine examples of tree silouhette shots taken against a special backdrop ... and the rewards of TIMING.  Quite notably they both managed to maintain detail on the ground while shooting into the sun .. no easy feat. The composition in both is well thought out also.



~aimske
Nuclear by =kozywozy ..
The title describes the photo perfectly.. Nuclear. The sky conveys the terror and the firey colors that you would see in a nuclear explosion and the whiteness of the trees gives you the image of a nuclear winter. It definitely stands apart from the other photos in both the feeling and colors. Other photos convey happiness, peacefulness, somber, but this one conveys a bit of terror. Although other photos may have taken a more creative stance on the actual subject matter, the post-processing is really what makes this photo. Even though it is simply a group of trees, the entire feel of the picture is intensified by the processing and the vision.



~ryanbaker
Against A Winter Sky by *lowapproach
The rich and vibrant color is what caught my attention. The lean of the tree also broke up the monotony of a boxed shot. Topped with a good sense of depth, an a creative perspective, this piece captured me from the first time I saw it.



~darkernights
Wish you were here ... by ~marlent
I love the serenity of this photo. The two trees sitting there alone and the gentle mist across the water just gives a sense of peace. Some say the car shouldn't be there, but to me it adds to the simplicity and mood.

Again the prizes:
#1
the choice of:
1yr sub, 1yr print service, or print of equal/less value

#2
3month sub or (surprise) print of equal/lesser value

#3
1month sub

There you have it.

Points for you guys:
Top10  |  Judges score  |  votes  | Final
1       |   162        |      33 |      195
2      |     162        |      11  |     173
3       |    161        |      14    |   175
4    |       155       |       10 |      165
5    |       155       |       8     |   163
6   |        153      |        7    |    160
7     |      148     |         14 |      162
8   |        147       |       35 |      182
9              |   147       |       6    |    153
10        |  147      |       40 |     187