There were over 180 high-quality entries in the Grand Opening contest. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a pleasure going through the entries even though it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down to just three who would take home the prizes. The judges were looking for technical excellence, adherence to the theme, and visual impact (the ones that really caught their eye). But these three winners stood out with unanimous appeal. So, without any further delay:
3rd place and winner of a 1-year Flickr subscription (or extension to an existing account) goes to Jared May for So It Turns Out I Like Dandelions. The idea is brilliant and expresses the theme beautifully, using the sun to highlight the warm glow of potential life:
2nd place and winner of a 1 GB memory card goes to Nancy for In Flight. This one is a real stunner. Catching a bee in flight covered in pollen with such vibrant colors and perfect focus seems impossible. I was looking for the wires holding the bee in place! But there it is:
And 1st place and winner of a Canon 5MP Digital Elph goes to Elizabeth West for Boxborough Sunrise. What signifies “Beginnings” better than a beautiful sunrise, the beginning of the day, the hope for new life from the cold. And the light in this scene is exquisite:
The winners will be contacted shortly to claim their prizes.
Finally, some honorable mentions. This contest had many, many wonderful entries. Every single one showed some merit in concept or execution and it was truly a feast for the eyes to look at them. Ladybugs, flowers, sunrises, landscapes, and babies/children were common themes.
- The numerical singularity by snowdeal
- Happy Easter, folks by coffee break
- It’s Spring by My Style My Attitude
- It’s Just Me and the Open Sea by monsieurgrand02
- Lighthouse by bill canada
- About to Start Mt. Belford by ajaxjv
- Begin With the First Step! by Sandra Mora
- Golden Wheat 1 by North Idaho Dad
- sturm und drang by Linda’s Manymuses
- Head Start by Big-E-Mr-G
- The First Glimpse of Day by ccgd
Congratulations!
Congratulations to all the winners! Awesome photos..
Great choices. And all the pics in the contest transformed a competition into a fantastic and delicious bank of great images!
Congrats! Well done indeed.
Wonderful choices for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! Especially 1st place! I love how the sunlight stabs through the trees.
I can’t believe I even made honorable mention. They were all great entries though!
yes, fantastic choices for the winners!
and it was an honor to get an honorable mention.
keep up the great work with the site.
Absolutely Awesome Competition 🙂 🙂 Congrats to the winners and EVRYONE else who entered. 🙂 That must have been a had decision!! 🙂 🙂
Wow, every single photo was a nature/landscape photo. I can only conclude that John hates babies. 🙂
All Fabulous shots and certainly worthy of such recognition! Congratulations!
Enjoy your prises!
they are all deserving! congrats to the winners and honorable mentions! 🙂
Not fair at all, since the rules changed in the middle of the contest and hundred of photos were desqualified because a tag was required – and this was not acnnounced. Shame on you.
Hi, danicast. The rules change was announced on May 2 both on this site and here (where the entries were actually being submitted) and again on May 4.
Big cheers to the winners, especially to Jared May, who beat me to it with the very same motive and backlighting, only you picked the sunset; Tricky You! 😉
Also a thumbs up for FD for his initiative and the great site, he put together! Even as a fairly experienced user (well, i just pressed a shutter button very often for 30 years), i keep coming back for more.