Contest 39: Discussion & related photos

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:19 am

I must agree! Each photo is as breath-taking as the last. Is it any wonder that Mammillaria is one of the most popular of genera?

peterb

Post by **daiv** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 6:40 pm

Yes Darryl,
Great choice for a contest! Thanks for your efforts on this feature. It has proven to be a lot of fun.

And now that we know what the subject is for December, I can just imagine what folks will come up with between now and then!

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:23 pm

I just went and checked out the more particular guidelines for this January contest and wish I had submitted a more cropped photo! I did find this other picture of Mammillaria sphaerica:

peterb

Arjen · Post by **Arjen** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:49 pm

this is going to be a tough one indeed

vlani · Post by **vlani** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 8:03 pm

This one is much more of a picture Peter!

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:00 pm

ha, yes, but I forgot about it! It's trapped on Photobucket.

peterb

Post by **CoronaCactus** » Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:40 pm

Ah man a day too late

Awesome pic though!

Shmuel · Post by **Shmuel** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 8:29 am

Peter,

The backlit petals are great. And is that an Adromischus in the background? Looks like a very nice cropping.

Shmuel

Andy_CT · Post by **Andy_CT** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 4:19 pm

This was a tough vote but I was able to find one I liked best.

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 4:20 pm

Yes, a non-cactus succulent ran into into the frame.

The sun is sometimes so blazingly intense here in Tempe that the above effect can be achieved just holding the plant against a shaded background, like a distant part of the yard that is in shadow, then cropping aggressively.

peterb

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 4:21 pm

I notice it's currently a three way tie for first in the contest. Unprecedented!

peterb

Post by **daiv** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:59 pm

I still haven't voted. I used Brad's scoring method and narrowed it down to two entries. Both have 39/40 points.

I'm trying to think of a tie breaker now.

This is tough!

John C · Post by **John C** » Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:50 pm

All of the photos are beauitful!

I want to vote for all of them!

Paracelsus · Post by **Paracelsus** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 7:58 pm

Mamms are not my thing, or rather, they don't like me, or my climate, so I had nothing to enter this time. I am amazed at the quality of the submissions, so many very good photographs of impressive subjects.

I am also pleasantly surprised with the voting. It seems that fewer people are voting for themselves. There are a lot of zeros (big badges of honor) in the list! I'm glad my scoring system helped some be more objective, but so many scored so high that, in the end, I was forced to make a somewhat subjective decision. Congratulations to all!

The recent rains have given me plenty of 'wet plants' to photograph, so I'm ready for next months competition already. Bring it on!

Brad

Post by **daiv** » Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:04 pm

Paracelsus wrote: but so many scored so high that, in the end, I was forced to make a somewhat subjective decision.

I had the exact same problem! I actually enlisted the help of my daughter because I simply couldn't decide and didn't want to just "flip a coin".