Vote in the 3rd Monthly DU Photography Group Contest!

[intheflow]

Hello Guys and Gals.

We've decided in the Photography group that Longgrain should have the chance to enter the photo contest he invented, so this month it's my turn to host this gala event.

This month's photo theme is CEMETERIES. Below are the first 10 entries to the contest in no particular order. Vote in the poll and we'll announce a winner tomorrow around this time. To keep this from being a popularity contest, all entries are being posted anonymously.

A number of photos were entered late, but are still great photos, so I'll put them in a separate post later this evening.

Without further ado, here are the photos:


Two Graveyards



Kneeling Angel, Laredo City Cemetery



The Crypt



Mt. Zion



At McBain's



Grief



Babyland



Needless Loss



Cemetery 2



Postcard



Good luck to all the photographers! :hi:

[Longgrain]

1. Congratulations intheflow!

Thanks for getting this going!

:toast: :bounce: :toast: :bounce: :toast:

[intheflow]

4. Au contraire!

It is YOU that got it going! I am but humbly following in your footsteps. :hi:

[Longgrain]

5. It was just an idea I had...

I never knew it would become a trend...:shrug:

[intheflow]

11. That's just what I think of

when I think of you. "That Longgrain--what a trend-setter!" :silly:

Man, this thread seems to be slow getting going. Were the other two contests like this?

[Longgrain]

14. Very slow...believe me...

The first one was on Christmas Eve...it took me hours to even get one reply.

Jus' keep kicking it up dearrie.

[DS1]

26. It's a great idea

I'm glad you started it. Things on DU are hard to start, much like herding cats as my mother would say, but this seems to have become a regular thing. I remember my photoshop contest was an ideal example of how people ~don't~ read directions :D

Anyway, I've voted, and I'm hoping the next one is something more common than cemetaries. Not that I have anything against cemetaries, but eh, so be it.

[Longgrain]

8. Hey flow! When you going to post those non-entries?

Just asking...:shrug:

[intheflow]

9. I'm thinking in about

20 minutes or so. 8pm-ish your time. :hi:

[Longgrain]

12. I see it now, thanks!

:hi:

[auntAgonist]

2. Excellent work here .. /// kick

[Longgrain]

6. Thanks for the kick in the pants...

:kick:

Us artists/ photographers sometimes need that!

:hi:

[Nite Owl]

3. Very hard to choose

They are all so good.

[Longgrain]

7. Of course...Tons of talent here at DU...

When was the last time you've seen a freeper Photography contest...:shrug:

[Longgrain]

10. Kick!

:kick:

[intheflow]

13. **** Late Entries To The Photo Contest ****

There are some great late entries you won't want to miss. You can visit them here.

[outraged2]

15. Great work everybody!

:kick:

[Rocinante]

16. .

:kick:

[intheflow]

17. People voting but not posting?

C'mon, Peoples! Let the artists know what you think of their stuff! :hi:

[Longgrain]

19. It happens all the time when I post these things..

Welcome to my world..

Jus, saying...

[slutticus]

18. kick

Nice work everyone! :thumbsup:

[Anarcho-Socialist]

20. Damn, I'm tired. I misread the thread title "...Photography"

as "pornography". :)

[intheflow]

21. Sorry to

disappoint? :shrug:

[Anarcho-Socialist]

28. It's OK

Although at first I wondered why a sex thread entitled '3rd Monthly DU Pornography Group Contest' managed to slip under the mods' radar. I just wasn't paying attention. :bounce:

[Longgrain]

22. Kick!

[intheflow]

23. kickin'

:kick:

[DS1]

24. Well, I voted, and my vote certainly isn't winning

but as a budding photographer, I ask that can we PLEASE have something more common that freakin cemetaries as the next topic?

Thanks
/soapbox - @F11

[Longgrain]

27. How about old abandoned Amusement parks?

Is that "Common" enough...:7

[DS1]

31. How about noted theologians?

:7

[intheflow]

32. Who is that?

If you're talking about noted theologians, I think you gotta go for one with face recognition:

[DS1]

44. It's one of us

;-)

[intheflow]

51. I need a hint.

I looked all through the gallery for zip. I know it's not you. But I gots to know who the theologican is.

A hint. Pleeeease???

[Amaya]

60. Hey, I know him

:)

[intheflow]

71. I feel so out of the loop!

I attend seminary and all we ever study are old, dead, boring theologians. I want to know who rock and roll theologian dude is! :cry:

[Rhiannon12866]

55. They don't even have to be abandoned

The one where I worked, summers, while I was in school, is quite a sight when it's just closed for the winter!
:scared:

[intheflow]

29. What can I say?

The photography group must be a macabre lot. This is the topic that won in the group poll of themes. :shrug:

It wasn't my first choice, either. But then, all the better for me to host it! :)

[Longgrain]

30. If you must know the truth...

I didn't even cast my vote in that poll...

I guess I'm just a slacker...:D

[DS1]

36. I know

I'm just complaining. Cemetaries I've never considered something I'd want to take a picture of, for some reason I see them as for other people.

:shrug:

I hope I can enter the next one.

[intheflow]

50. I hope you can, too.

:kick:

[Sporadicus]

25. Excellent Work, Everyone!

I found it difficult to choose a favorite from among all those great photos.

[intheflow]

33. The artists thank you.

And so do I. :hi:

[Longgrain]

34. Kick....

:kick:

[Longgrain]

35. Kick again...

[intheflow]

37. Ay Caromba!

It's a dead heat!

[Longgrain]

38. OY! BUT...

The winner has to host the next contest...EH?

[intheflow]

47. YES! The winner this month has to host next month's contest!

I wonder who it will be...

[Longgrain]

39. Uber duber kick!!

Jus because....

[intheflow]

43. Egads!

The uber duber kick kicked it! :kick:

[shesemsmom]

40. I found them all quite interesting

but the crypt really caught my attention

[RetroLounge]

41. kickin' it...

:kick:

RL

[ralps]

42. You all took great photos. May the best man/woman win.

:toast: :hi: :thumbsup:

[alittlelark]

45. OOPS... I voted for 'Grief', but meant to vote 'Mc Bains'....

Sorry, Please fix the vote if possible.


The 'McBains' looked like grief to me....

[intheflow]

46. Your voting inaccuracy will be duly noted and recorded.

:hi:












Unlike some recent elections I could name.... :grr:

[Longgrain]

48. Last kick

[intheflow]

49. G'night, Longgrain!

:boring:

[intheflow]

52. One last kick before bed.

:kick: :boring:

[Duncan Grant]

53. Thanks to all the photographers and the Photography Group!

:toast: :bounce: :toast:

This monthly contest is becoming one of my favorite things here at DU.
(Great idea, Longgrain. :thumbsup: :hi: )

[intheflow]

70. I love this contest, too.

And I've become absolutely addicted to the photography group. :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

54. WOW! These are really amazing! Depressing and sad, but amazing!

This is even tougher than before. They are all very good. I had to think about it and come back. Can I vote for more than one? LOL! Thanks for sharing these with us. I love these posts!:-)

[Freebird12004]

56. ~

:kick:

[KarenS]

57. All are wonderful thoughtful pictures. n/t

[necso]

58. I like Mt Zion.

It might have been nice to see more of that tree (so your "eye" can project its crown more easily, at least), and I think that shooting a little further back would have emphasized the "weeds" around the base of the monuments as being the "bounds" on the frame (left-right-bottom), and not the monuments themselves. (But, of course, it is all in the actual geometry, so I can't really tell.) The "weeds" around the front foreground monument have a nice "softening" effect on the front bound and it seems a more "natural" boundary than just the tombstone itself.

I like the juxtaposition of the relatively sparsely-foliated tree in the far middle ground with the fuller trees in the background. It conveys an image of death (or dying, really -- in BW) versus (flourishing) life -- just like the foreground tombstones do with the church in the (near) background. Nice composition.

[intheflow]

72. I like that picture, too.

Something about the graininess and that spooky de-leafed tree... looks quite haunted (as any self-respecting cemetery should be).

[necso]

83. I think that it is a very good photograph.

It would be nice to see the original and to be able to separate out any scanning effects (or whatever -- like what might be an artifact in the upper right).

There are so many nice little things in the picture, like the structure in the background right and the various states of ruin in the monuments (broken?, weathered, leaning -- all of which goes so well with the weeds growing around their bases). The sky conveys a real gloom but there is a hint of some lineations (ray-like thingies) in top left which suggest the sun (but I suppose that these could be induced by scanning or something). And there is a nice double framing using a triangle of monuments for the photo itself and the front two monuments for the church. Neither is constrained by the need to have a mirror-image, centered effect and it really works. Overall in the photograph there is a balance, a depth of field, and a nice mix of complexity and simplicity, and it conveys a real "vision" and a "feel". -- One can almost see and hear the burial ceremony taking place off frame.

I am a lousy photographer myself, but I can appreciate the quality of the composition and I can understand the tremendous difference that lighting and weather can make (both are well used here). Someone is a very good photographer... or at least has the makings of one. -- Of course, all of this is just my opinion.

And I will stop now.

[brook]

59. Nice work!

The contest is a great addition to DU - thanks to all the entrants.

[Amaya]

61. Great idea...

:)

[Longgrain]

63. Thanks on behalf of all of us in the DU photography Group.

It was a good idea...;-)

[skids]

62. Doh, voted wrong.

Meant to vote for "At McBain's" but the titles screwed me up and voted for "Grief".

All of them are very nice.

[intheflow]

67. That makes you the 2nd person to do that.

When it comes time to rule the final tally, your vote will be corrected. :hi:

[electricmonk]

64. Kick

n/t

[dog_lovin_dem]

65. These photos are all OUTSTANDING...

but my vote goes to "the crypt". The vines, the patterns on the crypt, and the colors incorporated by the photographer make this a winner IMO!

[Longgrain]

66. Kickity-kick-kick-kick...

So this thread doesn't get buried...

[intheflow]

69. Thanks for the kick.

I took some antihistamine last night that kicked me on my ash. Just waking up now! :wow:

[RetroLounge]

68. Sunday Afternoon Kick

Great pics everyone!

:kick:

RL

[intheflow]

73. Just hitting Sunday afternoon on the West Coast

so a kick for the western DUers! :kick:

[intheflow]

74. Only 2 more hours left to vote!

Do it while you can, People. :kick:

[Renew Deal]

75. kick

:kick:

[RagingInMiami]

76. Kick as we head into the final stretch.

[intheflow]

77. An hour to go.

The suspense is killing me! :P

[intheflow]

78. Kick-etty-kick-kick-kick!

:kick:

[Skittles]

79. Needless Loss was the only one that brought tears to my eyes

yes indeed

[Longgrain]

80. Yes it really is moving...

You can read the story behind it here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=280x1365#1425

[intheflow]

81. **** CONTEST CLOSED *****

Thanks for playing, Everyone!

Here's the post announcing the official winners: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=2717225#

See you next time. :hi:

[Patiod]

82. wow great work, kids. well worth the dial-up wait

Had trouble deciding - Crypt, Babyland, 2 Graveyards, Kneeling Angel

Voted for Grief, but liked them all

Nice work.