# May Photo Challenge



## Culhwch (May 1, 2010)

As suggested by my wife (and because I couldn't think of anything better), the photo challenge theme for May is:


*LIGHT*​

A brilliant sunrise, a sombre sunset, the play of light on the surface of a trickling stream - so long as it showcases light in some form. Have at it!

*The usual rules and regs apply:

- Only two photos per person;
- No photos that have already been posted around the site;
- Voting will start around the 27th; and
- Anyone member of the Chrons can vote, even those that don't enter a photo.*


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## Talysia (May 1, 2010)

Great theme, Cul - this is going to be an interesting one.  Now that the weather's improved a bit, hopefully I can get some good shots this month.


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## Culhwch (May 1, 2010)

You know I never stipulated it had to be natural light....


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## Talysia (May 1, 2010)

I'm glad you said that, actually - as I took this a while ago, and was hoping to get the chance to use it, even though it isn't perfect (my camera doesn't take dark shots very well, but I loved the way the light spilled out through the sides of the candle holder). My first entry:







Edited to add: I think I was just looking for an reason to get out in the good weather and take some pictures...


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## Sephiroth (May 1, 2010)

That's very cool, Taly.  I wouldn't have known what it was, but it looks great. 


Love the theme, Cul.  Photography is all about light, after all.  I hope I can come up with something interesting for this one.  Oh, and congrats on your 'W'.


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## HoopyFrood (May 1, 2010)

OMMMGUH! I LOVE photographing light!

I asked for a great theme, and I received....

Nice, Cul.


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## Mouse (May 1, 2010)

This is also from Forde Abbey (same as my tree shot for last month's theme.) I thought the statue looked like he was shielding his eyes from the sun.


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## Erin99 (May 1, 2010)

Well done, Cul! A fabulous theme!

I didn't get to enter last month's challenge because my camera battery was on red and my other hadn't been charged and was dead - and I'd lost my battery charger at home before leaving for a long stay in Dundee. Anyway, I'm going home soon, and my dad's found my charger, so I can get snapping again later this month.


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## AE35Unit (May 2, 2010)

I'll have a go, after all photography wouldnt exist without it (the word means literally painting or drawing with light)

Here's one I just took of one of my houseplants, reaching for the light.
Dont ask what room its in....


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## UltraCulture (May 4, 2010)

Entry no.1


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## BookStop (May 4, 2010)

That's stunning, UC.


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## StormFeather (May 5, 2010)

Well done on the win Cul, and what a fabulous theme! I love it, and I expect that we'll see some amazing shots this month.

As sunsets are one of my most favourite things, I'm delighted to be able to post another one as my first entry:


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## AE35Unit (May 8, 2010)

The light at the end of the day...


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## StormFeather (May 8, 2010)

Wow! I love those colours AE, really striking.


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## StormFeather (May 14, 2010)

My second entry for this month 

Spring sunshine making my garden glow . . .


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## Foxbat (May 15, 2010)

My first entry


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## Foxbat (May 15, 2010)

And my second...


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## CyBeR (May 15, 2010)

My first entry, girl in light:


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## CyBeR (May 15, 2010)

Second entry:


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## Talysia (May 15, 2010)

There are some really good entries this month!

Here's my second pic: a little crocus that just opened up in the sunlight, and I fell in love with the colours.


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## Mouse (May 15, 2010)

Lovely colour, Talysia.

I have a (possibly) stupid question. Does the photo have to be taken this month?


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## HoopyFrood (May 16, 2010)

It generally er...nice(?) if people attempt to take brand new photos for the competition, but sometimes people enter photos that they have taken previously that fit the theme. As long as they've never been posted on the site elsewhere, it's all good. 

Mine, I took this very evening. We had a party and I took a picture of this...and then spent about another quarter of an hour taking many more, playing with shutter speeds. I do love me some shutter speeds.


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## Culhwch (May 16, 2010)

Nice work, Hoops. Very striking.


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## Mouse (May 16, 2010)

HoopyFrood said:


> It generally er...nice(?) if people attempt to take brand new photos for the competition.



That's what I thought. Thanks.


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## BookStop (May 18, 2010)

Finally caught the tricksy little orb!


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## Wybren (May 19, 2010)

fishys swiming in the afternoon light






and a rainbow


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## Interference (May 19, 2010)

Stunning, Wy


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## StormFeather (May 19, 2010)

There are some really stunning entries this month, I'm already finding it really hard to pick just one favourite

Loving Hoopy's light, Cybers girl, AE's sunset, Taly's crocus, Wy's rainbow . . . . in fact, pretty much all of them

And there's still time for plenty more entries . . .


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## Erin99 (May 25, 2010)

Wow, I love some of these entries! I have several favourites already, but I can't pick just one. 






And this one's using a filter, which I though gave a nice effect:


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## Sephiroth (May 25, 2010)




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## Culhwch (May 25, 2010)

Gorgeous shots, both of you guys. 

I must get into gear and post mine...


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## Culhwch (May 25, 2010)

Okay, my first entrant:


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## Lioness (May 26, 2010)

I have the perfect setting for this...sun on one of the trees in my backyard. Except my camera's out of batteries. I'll have to get my act together than charge it.


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## Starbeast (May 26, 2010)




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## UltraCulture (May 26, 2010)

That's quite an interesting photo  Starbeast, what caused that?


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## Starbeast (May 26, 2010)

UltraCulture said:


> That's quite an interesting photo Starbeast, what caused that?


 

Excellent question UltraCulture. Something big, circular and very hot could only have caused this to happen according to meteorologists. It wasn't caused by any modern aircraft, explosion or a volcano, nor the wind becuase it is near impossible for gusting air to create this. And this hole in the clouds is more common than you think...most believe it was made by a UFO. I am not joking.


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## HoopyFrood (May 26, 2010)

Oh, hello. 3,500.


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## Aoratos (May 27, 2010)

Here are some photos I took for my art class.  They haven't been posted here, but I've put them up on other sites, so if that disqualifies them then no worries.


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## AE35Unit (May 27, 2010)

Starbeast said:


> Excellent question UltraCulture. Something big, circular and very hot could only have caused this to happen according to meteorologists. It wasn't caused by any modern aircraft, explosion or a volcano, nor the wind becuase it is near impossible for gusting air to create this. And this hole in the clouds is more common than you think...most believe it was made by a UFO. I am not joking.


Well if noone knows what the object is and its airborne then it IS a UFO! Theres nothing mystical about UFOs-the word doesnt not mean alien spaceship. As Clarke ofen said, if you havent seen a UFO then youre not opening your eyes!


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## Wybren (May 28, 2010)

Starbeast said:


>



That is a pretty strange cloud formation. Where was it taken?


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## Culhwch (May 28, 2010)

I've been a litle slack this month, but I'll set up the voting when I get home from work tonight - so there are about nine hours remaining for last minute entries!!


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## Culhwch (May 28, 2010)

Okay, entries are now closed.

The rules for the voting are as follows:


****Any member of the Chrons may cast a vote, even if they did not enter a photo for the challenge***

*Please do not vote for yourself*
*You may only cast your vote once*
*The poll will end at 11:59 pm on Monday, May 31st (GMT)*

The winner will decide the challenge theme for June! *

Good Luck Everyone!!! 

Vote!​


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## Talysia (May 28, 2010)

Lots of impressive entries this month, and again, it was difficult to make up my mind.  I loved Ultraculture's spotlight, Foxbat's blossoms, Hoopy's lightsphere, Leisha and Seph's sky pics and Wy's fish, but my vote went to Stormfeather for the lovely sunset.

Well done all!


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## UltraCulture (May 28, 2010)

Sephiroths 2nd photo got my vote.

Difficult to choose as per usual, well done to all.


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## Foxbat (May 28, 2010)

Hmmm.......Tough choice to make this month but eventually decided on Sephiroth's second shot as my particular favourite.


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## Wybren (May 28, 2010)

This month was a toss up between Leisha's rainbow and Seph's volumetric clouds, but in the end I went with Leisha's rainbow.


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## Mouse (May 28, 2010)

Bugger it, I'm too slow. Was going to enter another one.

Anyway, I voted for Hoopy.


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## StormFeather (May 28, 2010)

Thank you for the vote Taly - very appreciated

Well done to everyone who entered - stunning pics from all.

My son has been looking at this months entries, and his final four came down to Starbeast, Sephiroth, Leisha and Aoratos - a choice I broadly agree with, although I also love Taly's crocus and AE's sunset.

Loving sunlight through clouds and on water as I do, this month is especially hard - I'd have all of these pictures up on my wall if I could!

But, because we both really love it, the final vote has gone to Leisha's rainbow.


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## Aoratos (May 28, 2010)

I'm a sucker for all these sky shots, but it all came down to a decision between StormFeather, Sephiroth, and CyBer - I loved the lighting in each of these.  

So I'll have to go with *Sephiroth*


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## Erin99 (May 28, 2010)

Wow! thanks to the two who've voted for me. Blimey... 


So many good entries to choose from this month... My shortlist included StormFeather (the landscape reminds me of Cumbria! Beautiful), Hoopy (excellent use of slow shutter speed and colour), Sephiroth (jaw-dropping beauty in the last shot), and Aoratos (imaginitive idea perfectly executed).

I also kept going back to look at Cyber's, Wybren's (those cute fish!), Cul's, Starbeast's (I've seen pictures like that before; I find them fascinating), and Foxbat's...

For my overall winner I will pick............. argh, this is tough... I'm still debating.... Argh!!! Okay, Seph as my overall winner, because I am an absolute sucker for lightrays if done well, and the scene shows the beauty around us that most people are too busy/tired/stressed too see. I wish _I'd_ been there to take that picture!!!


Aoratos is my close second, because I absolutely LOVE everything about those shots. 

Speaking of... I do believe Aoratos hasn't realised that you have to cast your vote in the poll Cul posted up when he announced the voting: May Photo Challenge - LIGHT - Poll You vote there, and announce your winner here as well if you want to (but not everyone does state it here). Seph should be two votes ahead of me, but he's not because you didn't cast your vote. 

Anyway, well done to everyone. I've really enjoyed looking at people's entries.


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## Culhwch (May 29, 2010)

Leish got my vote this time round. Some impressive entries (I did like Cyber and Hoopy's shots particularly) but I thought Leish delivered a pair of pictures that not only captured the theme, but were also very aesthetically and artistically pleasing.


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## Starbeast (May 29, 2010)

Wybren said:


> That is a pretty strange cloud formation Starbeast. Where was it taken?


 

I'm not sure where it was photographed, but here's a few more good ones, including one picture showing a volcano's heated ash-plume causing one.


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## Aoratos (May 29, 2010)

Leisha said:


> Aoratos is my close second, because I absolutely LOVE everything about those shots.
> 
> Speaking of... I do believe Aoratos hasn't realised that you have to cast your vote in the poll Cul posted up when he announced the voting: May Photo Challenge - LIGHT - Poll You vote there, and announce your winner here as well if you want to (but not everyone does state it here). Seph should be two votes ahead of me, but he's not because you didn't cast your vote.



Doh!  Thanks for pointing that out.    and for the kind words!  

I love your rainbow shot.  It looks like such a wonderful day, and with the cows it reminds me of those Happy California Cows from the commercials.


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## Culhwch (May 29, 2010)

Starbeast said:


> I'm not sure where it was photographed, but here's a few more good ones, including one picture showing a volcano's heated ash-plume causing one.



So I'm assuming one of two things here. One, you didn't take the shot. Two, you were so drunk you forgot where you took the shot (but kudos for keeping the camera steady). But if it's the first, then I think you've somewhat missed the point of this thread, it being a challenge for member's photographs - being photographs that members have taken themselves, not just happened across on the Internet. Please let me know, because I'll have to remove your name from the ballot if this isn't your photo.


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## Sephiroth (May 29, 2010)

I'm finding it _very _difficult to choose, this month.  There are several entries I really like.  I think I have narrowed it down to three, now -- those being Hoopy's spinning globe of colour, and the two entries by both Leisha, and Aoratos (cool name, btw -- but _I _can see you ). 

I also _particularly _liked Cul's moody sun-through-clouds, and Cyber's girl.  


I'll think about it some more, and make sure I get my vote in before the poll closes.


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## Starbeast (May 29, 2010)

Culhwch said:


> *The usual rules and regs apply:*
> 
> *- Only two photos per person;*
> *- No photos that have already been posted around the site;*
> ...


 
*1. I don't drink*
*2. You didn't mention that I had to be the one taking the photogragh*
*3. You didn't mention I couldn't find a photograph*

*But that's ok, it's your game, you can obviously alter the rules any way you wish. *

*I am a good sport and gentleman so I will walk away from this..........*


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## Culhwch (May 30, 2010)

Starbeast said:


> *But that's ok, it's your game, you can obviously alter the rules any way you wish. *



There's been no altering of the rules, Starbeast. The Photo Challenge is a long-established competition amongst the photographers here at Chrons. I'll make sure that the rules are altered for next month's challenge to make it painfully clear, but, honestly, we never ran into this problem before. I'd have thought such comments as:



			
				Talysia said:
			
		

> ...hopefully I can get some good shots this month.





			
				Talysia said:
			
		

> I took this a while ago...





			
				Sephiroth said:
			
		

> Photography is all about light, after all. I hope I can come up with something interesting...





			
				Hoopy said:
			
		

> OMMMGUH! I LOVE photographing light!



...from the first handful of posts this month would have given some indication. And, in fact, there was a query at the end of last month's challenge from the Judge about entering someone else's photos (in that case, her husband's) which was answered in the negative.


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## BookStop (May 30, 2010)

I liked Wy's fishies; pretty little guys when the light hits them right


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## The Judge (May 30, 2010)

Culhwch said:


> And, in fact, there was a query at the end of last month's challenge from the Judge about entering someone else's photos (in that case, her husband's) which was answered in the negative.


But very sweetly answered.

I'm annoyed with myself as I actually wrested control of the Canon from the other half last weekend but I never got around to tidying the pictures so as to enter them, dammit.  (Not that I know how to get them from the camera onto here, now I think about it...)

Anyway, I can't make up my mind in the 75 word story writing contest, so I've come here instead.  We ended with a shortlist of 4, with UltraCulture and Wybren close runners up to the short list.  The Aoratos first shot was very clever so got marks for the wit; Sephiroth's cloudscape for drama; Leisha's rainbow for the good composition and 'cos it was so pretty (guess which is the other half's comment and which is mine...) but HoopyFrood's beach wins it for us for the composition, texture and colour.


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## AE35Unit (May 30, 2010)

I voted for Cyber's Cloud shot, the light just looks fantastic!


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## HoopyFrood (May 30, 2010)

No need to be formal, Judge, Hoopy's fine! (HoopyFrood also makes me sound like I'm in trouble, and I'm pretty sure I've been a good Hoopy for a while now). 

Thanks for votes from peoples!


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## Sephiroth (May 31, 2010)

After much deliberation, I voted for Aoratos.  

The idea is very creative, and the photo is well-executed.  I like the balance of light and dark, which is hard to achieve in a picture with such extremes of brightness (without completely blowing the highlights or losing the shadows).

The overall effect is most striking.


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## Culhwch (Jun 1, 2010)

The winner of the May photo challenge (and everything else, it would seem!) is...

*Sephiroth!*

Congratulations, Seph! I look forward to your theme for June.


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## Wybren (Jun 1, 2010)

Congratulations Seph!! Woah if were not careful we will have Seph picking in both the photo and writing challenge for next month!


*edit*

Just read the writing challenge and it seems a double congratulations are in order!!!


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## Karn Maeshalanadae (Jun 1, 2010)

Wybren said:


> Congratulations Seph!! Woah if were not careful we will have Seph picking in both the photo and writing challenge for next month!



Too late, Wy. It already happened.


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## Wybren (Jun 1, 2010)

They are well deserved!


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## Aoratos (Jun 1, 2010)

Thanks Seph, and congratulations!  I look forward to next month's challenge.


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## Talysia (Jun 1, 2010)

Congratulations, Seph, and well done to everyone!  Looking forward to finding out what the next challenge is.


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## Sephiroth (Jun 1, 2010)

Thanks, folks!  

What a month it's been.  First, my football team wins the Cup for the first time in sixteen years... and then I win _both _challenges here at Chrons.  

Thanks to everyone who voted for me, or expressed a liking for my pictures -- and thanks to my co-contestants for making it so difficult to choose.  There are several entries that would have made worthy winners, instead.


I have already decided upon the theme for next month.  Well, _this _month, as it is, now.  I shall go ahead and post it.  I'm sure it will inspire another great batch of pictures from you all.


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## HoopyFrood (Jun 1, 2010)

Blimey, you are on a roll, mister.

Well done on both accounts, dude!


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## Sephiroth (Jun 1, 2010)

Thanks, Hoops!  I'm well chuffed.  


Looking forward to seeing yet more clever enties from your good self, this month.  

No pressure, though.


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