# May Photo Challenge - Discussion



## Talysia

Ok, here we go.  All discussion for the Photo Challenge should go here.  Good luck!


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## alchemist

Congratulations on April, Talysia, and a good challenge.


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## Tiffany

Yes, a very topical subject. Good one Talysia.
(I do like your name.)


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## Talysia

Wow - nice photos to open the challenge with!  The dam is beautiful, and that seascape is lovely, too.

(And thanks for the compliment, Tiffany. )

Edit - just posted my first entry, taken after the rain.


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## Tiffany

That is a lovely photo, Talysia & the middle water drop is in complete focus as well.


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## Mouse

Excellent theme, Taly!

Lovely West Bay... not been for a while. I should take the dog. And the droplet is perfect!

I went to the reservoir just now and took loads of photos. Not sure any are good enough. I saw a couple of swans but they weren't cooperating.


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## hopewrites

that drop looks just like a diamond! when I read the theme I had a good idea for some dew shots, but I doubt they will come out as well as yours did. Still going to try though.  
Mouse where do you get your frames? they always set your picts off so nicely. do you do that with the one's you post on your walls at home too?


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## Mouse

They're on photobucket. Just edit your photo and there's an option to add a border. There only used to be one decent one, but now they've upgraded it and there's _tons_ on there!


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## Talysia

Thanks for the comments - they've cheered me up.  I must admit, it turned out much better than I was expecting, though.  When I took it, the light was terrible outside.

I'm wondering whether to start adding borders to my pics, too.

That reservoir pic is lovely, Mouse, really beautiful.  Dave's photo is great, too - the boat, and the sea, reminds me of a painting.  Something tells me it's going to be hard to pick a winner this month, and it's only just started!


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## Alex The G and T

I'm loving a great theme.  Many recent accounts have noted an excess of water in our neighborhoods.  

The tough part of this theme will be winnowing the water shots from the _W_ater shots.

Strong, early entries set the bar high.  Tiffany wafts from the peaceful to the dramatic.

Talysia's exquisite pearl of a dewdrop.

Mouse' "pull up a chair and a cuppa; it's going to be a beautiful day."

And. Any Landlubbers may not fully appreciate the sheer drama in Dave's Son's shot. 

As a  Mariner, I read the way the boat is rigged and the wavescape. This boat is not in immanent danger; but it is balls-out before a gale.  Sailors are experiencing a glorious exultation... mixed with a piquant tinge of fear.  

Aarrr.  That'll be a hard shot to beat, in my book, Matey.


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## Tiffany

There is certainly a diversity of interpretations for 'water'. 
It will be very hard to decide which I like best, out of the photo's posted already, let alone however many more will be posted before the end of May.


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## TheDustyZebra

With a river in my backyard, I'd better not fail to post something this month!


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## Mouse

Get on it, TDZ!

I went for a thumbnail with my lasted offering, as I hate how my photos come up so huge that you have to scroll to see them all. So please do click it as I actually played with shutter speed and all sorts for that photo.


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## alchemist

But Ms Mouse, you can edit the size on photobucket. I usually use a 1.8 MP photo and shrink it to about 70% before I post.


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## Mouse

Yeah I know that, but I'm rubbish with numbers and usually end up messing it up completely so it's then too small!


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## Tiffany

A very good new selection of photo's. I love the frog.
I do not like the new way of using PB, though I guess I'll get used to it, in time.


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## Abernovo

Thanks, Tiffany. There were other frogs there as well, but they all scarpered. Only that little green fella brazened it out.

All the other photos are excellent. It's a good topic, Talysia.


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## hopewrites

still deciding how much I want to tweak (crop and resize are as fancy as I get so far but its been such fun I lost 3 hrs doing it) the others I took before deciding on which of them to post.

ps why is Microsoft Photo Editor and Picture Viewer so limited on what it can do? I have to look at my picts in Paint because MS wont show them and my Paint doesnt have a zoom out, only a zoom in. *grr face*


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## Parson

hopewrites said:


> still deciding how much I want to tweak (crop and resize are as fancy as I get so far but its been such fun I lost 3 hrs doing it) the others I took before deciding on which of them to post.
> 
> ps why is Microsoft Photo Editor and Picture Viewer so limited on what it can do? I have to look at my picts in Paint because MS wont show them and my Paint doesnt have a zoom out, only a zoom in. *grr face*



Why? MS Photo Editor and Pic Viewer are so limited? Follow the money, my dear. They want you to buy software. When M$ makes a mistake it becomes a "feature."


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## David Evil Overlord

Don't make a *grr face*, Hope. I liked your blue flower.

One photo in. One to go.


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## anivid

Good photos All !!
I especially like ….. no, too soon to tell J
But Son of Dave’s pic is EXQUISITE.
Glad Dave didn’t read line 2 in the Standard Rules of Talysia – then we would never have seen it J
The captions do not explicitely mention with which camera the pics are taken – but I should really like to know, rookie photographer as I am.
Is that too much to ask ??


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## Mouse

anivid said:


> Glad Dave didn’t read line 2 in the Standard Rules of Talysia – then we would never have seen it J



Mmm... naughty.

 


> The captions do not explicitely mention with which camera the pics are taken – but I should really like to know, rookie photographer as I am.


Sony A390K.

I'm wishing I posted a different photo now. I've got one which is way more dramatic, but it's taken with my mobile phone so the quality's not as good. Pah.


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## hopewrites

Oh I'm not grr-face-ing the picts I took, just my stingyness in quality photoshoping programs.  Found some editing tools on my g+ photoalbum so now my only problem is picking only one more that I like.


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## anivid

Don’t change no. 5, Mouse – it’s sheer harmony J
That’s an odd thing here at the Chrons – impossible to delete  a post when first it’s, hmm . . posted.
The foreign language line, is that Mouse exploiding in her mailbox throughout the astrological year ??
- oh, no it’s windings – got it J 
Yeah, yeah – going back searching water pics from my files J


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## Talysia

Tiffany said:


> A very good new selection of photo's. I love the frog.
> I do not like the new way of using PB, though I guess I'll get used to it, in time.



I'm the same - it's taking me a while to get used to photobucket's new editing features, too.

We're only a week into the competition, and all of the entries so far are potential winners to me.  Every one has something that appeals to me in some way.  I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next!

Oh, and my camera is a Nikon Coolpix 4300.


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## Tiffany

Talysia said:


> I'm the same - it's taking me a while to get used to photobucket's new editing features, too.
> 
> We're only a week into the competition, and all of the entries so far are potential winners to me. Every one has something that appeals to me in some way. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next!
> 
> Oh, and my camera is a Nikon Coolpix 4300.


 
We'll get used to it, if it kills us, Talysia.


My camera is a Panasonic Lumix TZ9
After I bought it, they brought out an even better model. Typically!


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## The Procrastinator

Wonderful, lovely pics everyone. But I have to say - Stormfeather - that is a stunning, stunning shot.


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## Talysia

Wow, TP - your Wai-O-Tapu pic is beautiful!

Posted my second picture.  Rutland Water is one of my favourite places to visit (although I've never been inside the church - which is now a museum - in the picture).  The little white things in the background are sails - there was a race going on when we got there - although I'm not sure what type of boats they were!


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## Tiffany

Super new photo's from you all. It's going to be very difficult to chose the best this time.


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## StormFeather

The Procrastinator said:


> Wonderful, lovely pics everyone. But I have to say - Stormfeather - that is a stunning, stunning shot.



Thanks TP 

It was taken on the last day of our holiday in Menorca, and the dark cloud on the left was the edge of a storm that knocked out the electricity for our side of the island in the middle of the night.  Cue trying to find two frightened and screaming children in the pitch black, with only the light from hubbys phone to guide us.  Ah, happy holiday memories 

I have to say, there are some beautiful pictures this month.  A few really catch my breath away. voting will be tough!

Taly, my sister-in-law got married near there - there's a hotel just a little further on from that church, with a wooded garden out onto the lake.  She got married in August, but it was a pretty cold day, and the water was a lot choppier!  It's a really lovely area.

And for Anivid, my camera is a Nikon D90


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## anivid

Thanks to *Talysia, Mouse, Tiffany* and *Stormfeather* for mentioning their camera type.
With a good electronic camera it should be (almost) impossible to take a bad shot, right ??
Are you using time for finding the correct settings, and your own position in relation to the subject before action?? 
Do you think electronic cameras have a certain life time, as in a couple of years/a certain number of pics - as some say ?? 

I’m usually taking pics betweeen two jumps and a heartbeat when out hiking /skiing – I take them as memorabilia, and have noticed that the landscapes I take often have some « false » light somewhere in the background – meaning if the light is good in the foreground it's sort of dimmy in the background, you can see the phenomenon I’m talking about on one of the pics posted – no names mentioned, it might be an impossible thing to handle, or a camera setting thing J
Do any of you have experience with how to solve such thing ?? 

*Procrastinator*, your pic « The Host », what exactly is that ??
The water is red – is « the host » down there having just killed a warm blood – or what ??


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## Mouse

anivid, you might be talking about white balance? Or uh... something else I can't actually remember the name of right now, but it's on the tip of my tongue. But yeah, should be fixable in the camera settings.

As for me... I'm mostly a point and shoot and let the camera sort it out type person, but like I said, with my second photo here I did play with shutter speed to make the water blurred and the background in focus. Shutter speed is actually one thing I can use ok!


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## Lilmizflashythang

I have posted my two entries. Took me almost half the month to get the shots. They're of the creek up the road.


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## anivid

Shutter Speed and White Balance – *thank you, Mouse* J
Don’t have such exotic things on my menu, but it might be equivalent to what they call ISO (that’s even more exotic J) on my little Nikon Coolpix S210.
Talysia has a Nikon Coolpix too, *what do you say Talysia*, are you concerned about setting the ISO when taking a pic ??


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## Talysia

To be honest, not really.  Like Mouse, I'm a point and shoot photographer, and I let the camera sort it out.  For all I've been taking pictures for years, I don't actually know much about the technical side of it - I leave the camera on the automatic setting whenever I take pictures outside, and I usually just use the macro setting for my close up shots.  It's probably why some of my shots don't look as good as some of the more professional members here, sometimes.

Stormfeather, I walked past that hotel on Sunday, and I think there was a wedding reception or something going on then, too.  It's a really nice place, but again, I've never actually visited there myself yet.


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## anivid

Thanks *Talysia* J
Whatever you do – or don’t do, your results are good. 
I especially like no. 17 where you’re using the Golden Section in your composition, - and an interesting Sky.


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## anivid

I like your no. 3, *Tiffany* J
There’s a special mood over such a misty, almost Nordic scenery 
*Dave* has with his no. 10 some of the play of light in the waves as we saw in the pic of Son of Dave – where were you saying it’s from, Dave ??
- and *Stormfeather* has with no. 14 caught a most remarkable sky, reflecting down the water - very fascinating J

 Thanks All


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## The Procrastinator

anivid said:


> *Procrastinator*, your pic « The Host », what exactly is that ??
> The water is red – is « the host » down there having just killed a warm blood – or what ??



It's algae on our duck pond. Don't ask me what kind of algae, but the most artistic algae you can imagine. The colour is quite true to life - the algae was light responsive, so it started a yellowish green, and where the sun hit it directly it soon deepened to orange then deep red. I took a gazillion shots of the pond while this was going on (it lasted some days) and have some beautiful images of the contrast in the morning between the shaded parts (green) and the sunlit areas (orange-red). Just to add interest some clouds came over, reflecting silver into the visible parts of the water. I posted another shot from this series ages ago. 

The Host in this case is of course the water itself. I must admit I didn't think of it being seen as blood...

My camera is a Canon 1000D - entry level DSLR. I am slowly getting the hang of some of the settings but it'll be a million years before I really know what I'm doing with it.

I love taking shots of water and all the entries so far are beautiful - water has so many faces.


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## anivid

Algae Metamorphosis ?? - and here I thought crocodile (dundee J)
Whou-whou, thanks for explaining,* Procrastinator* - and for telling your camera type J


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## anivid

Well, as for both of my pics I’ve tried to find some where it really IS the water, which is the MAIN character so to speak it.
I have many other waterpics, were the water plays a more scenery or secondary role – which can be very impressive, but nevertheless not what I perceived the month’s challenge to be J


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## Tiffany

I'm a point & shoot too, my camera is small enough to fit in a pocket & fool proof for me, the idiot to use.  It does it all if the button is on the right setting. I love it.

Great new photo's from everyone, it really is going to be tough chosing the best one I like.


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## Mouse

Wowsers, Chrispy! Great photo. What is that?


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## chrispenycate

Mouse said:


> Wowsers, Chrispy! Great photo. What is that?


 It's called the Jet d'Eau (water fountain, yes, very imaginative) and it's just down at the bottom of my street. Only they don't turn it on when it's windy, so I've been waiting for the weather to stop so I could get a photo. Here, some people have been better at producing photos of our local phallic symbol…
http://www.virtualtourist.com/trave...866/Things_To_Do-Geneva-Le_Jet_dEau-BR-1.html

I could tell you of it's origins at the Forces Motrices, but that would be an 'histoire d'eau' and unsuitable for younger viewers


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## Mouse

Intriguing! 

I almost posted a pic of a water fountain myself. We have one here at a place called Forde Abbey, which is pretty impressive.


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## Dave

anivid said:


> *Dave* has with his no. 10 some of the play of light in the waves as we saw in the pic of Son of Dave – where were you saying it’s from, Dave ??


Both photos are taken within 30 minutes of each other. It was late afternoon so the sun was lower. It was very windy that day. They are taken in Malta on the SE coast. I forget the name of the place but you can take boat trips to some caves. We took several of that boat passing the island, but my son has more patience and waited until exactly the right moment.


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## Dave

chrispenycate said:


> It's called the Jet d'Eau...


It is the symbol of Geneva, isn't it? I thought everyone would recognise it. It was always shown in the title sequences of _The Champions_ (who were meant to work for an agency called Nemesis based in Geneva.)


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## anivid

Ahrr, Monsieur Chrispy - and here I thought we finally had the proof - *Aliens peeing on our World*


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## anivid

Just lo-o-ove old postcards in sepia colours


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## alchemist

Yes, I thought it was time to use some of those new photobucket features.


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## Talysia

Looks like we're going to need a mod to make the poll for the contest this month.  Quite a few entrants.  There are some really good pictures, too; the Jet D'Eau is lovely, and the colour of the water in Anivid's first pic is gorgeous.  I really like the reflections in Lilmiz and Alchemist's photos, too. 

Just under a week left, and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.


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## anivid

It’s been a jolly good challenge, Talysia, with lots of really fine pics – thank you J


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## anivid

Before - and After.
Very funny, Hope


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## hopewrites

your a very lucky sportsman Alex. there is little I wouldn't do to see a sunrise like that or go salmon fishing. 
but both!


as you can see, I'm green with envy.


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## Alex The G and T

Geez, Hope, I think you responded _before_ I actually uploaded the photo.  Some kinda Envy-dar ?

What I was going to say...

Spectacular array of tough-to-beat- photos this month.  I, too am a water baby.  The toughest job, for me has been paring down the possibilities.

Ocean sport fishing has been open since the beginning of the month.  I was hoping to get my camera out again, but I'm a fair weather sailor.  The few days when the ocean conditions have been friendly, I've had other commitments.  

Oh, well.  Short of a close encounter with giant marine mammals; I guess the sunrise shot would be hard to improve upon.

The Yachting on SF bay, last year was a lucky thrill.  A friend of a friend of a friend.

They let me drive!


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## hopewrites

you could drive me, I hate driving anything.

except that one time my friends friend let me drive her Shetland.


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## anivid

Allo - calling Alchemist,

May I be so bold as to ask which camera you've been using e.g. for the pic "Bridge over (un)troubled Water" ??

Best from Anivid


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## alchemist

anivid said:


> Allo - calling Alchemist,
> 
> May I be so bold as to ask which camera you've been using e.g. for the pic "Bridge over (un)troubled Water" ??
> 
> Best from Anivid



No camera at all but my Samsung Galaxy Mini mobile phone.


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## anivid

alchemist said:


> No camera at all but my Samsung Galaxy Mini mobile phone.


A talented phone ? - lucky you


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## hopewrites

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!! how many megapixels does your phone have? and how would I ask mine how many it has? 
Used my mom's camera this month (Sorry Anivid all i know is its pink and slim and fits in my lil hand. and takes better pictures than my phone which I normally use) in addition to my phone, and the two that I picked out of the many that I took both came from cuts of camera shots rather than phone shots.


*Edit* oh found it. mine has 3.2


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## TheDustyZebra

Ok, I managed to get some pictures of my river before the deadline! I suppose I have a lot of pictures I could have dredged up from the past, but they weren't specifically aiming for a water theme.


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## anivid

Nice scenerys Alex 
Especially the sunrise is -as are they all - awesome


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## alchemist

hopewrites said:


> Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!! how many megapixels does your phone have? and how would I ask mine how many it has?
> Used my mom's camera this month (Sorry Anivid all i know is its pink and slim and fits in my lil hand. and takes better pictures than my phone which I normally use) in addition to my phone, and the two that I picked out of the many that I took both came from cuts of camera shots rather than phone shots.
> 
> 
> *Edit* oh found it. mine has 3.2



Mine is about the same, I think, although I can reduce the number of pixies I use to save memory. It's the first one I've had which can take decent pics.

Today's the deadline. I'm away from home for the next 36 hours, so could one of the other volunteers (or anybody) put a poll up after the deadline? This is one job I don't trust to my Samsung.


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## anivid

Seen "how to create a poll" - but
how to create the link from the Photo Challenge to the poll thread ??
(the last message in the photo challenge usually tells to vote, and carries a link to the poll site - how to create that link ??)


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## alchemist

Create the new thread with the poll. Then copy its address and paste into a post ending the contest. 
But not until midnight GMT of course


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## anivid

O.K. - have a nice vacation - don't do foolish things


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## hopewrites

And if you do do foolish things get pictures so we can enjoy them with you (subtle implication that you are not to die or become seriously hurt while being foolish, if you chose to be so.)


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## Talysia

It's been so hard to pick a winner.  I really like all of the photos - there's been such a variety of different forms of water, and I've really enjoyed seeing each new pic come in.  My three runners up would have to be Dave's second shot (the difference in the colours of the water, and the light playing on the waves is lovely), Alex's salmon fishing pic, and Anivid's picture of Lac Negre (I really love all the different blues in the shot).  My vote, though, goes to Stormfeather's gorgeous seascape.

Well done everyone! (and many thanks for the vote, Abernovo!)


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## alchemist

hopewrites said:


> And if you do do foolish things get pictures so we can enjoy them with you (subtle implication that you are not to die or become seriously hurt while being foolish, if you chose to be so.)



Still alive! But photos of me driving to Dublin wouldn't have been very interesting.

Thanks for the poll, Anivid. Very tough decision this month. Anivid, Stormfeather and Tiffany were close, but I plumped for Alex's fishing shot; so evocative.


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## The Procrastinator

My vote has gone to Stormfeather and her stunning ocean shot, but special mentions go to Tiffany, Alex, Dave and The Dusty Zebra - most of these were also ocean shots! Clearly I go for drama.

Very hard pick though, every shot in the comp was lovely, well done all.


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## anivid

alchemist said:


> Still alive! But photos of me driving to Dublin wouldn't have been very interesting.
> 
> Thanks for the poll, Anivid. Very tough decision this month. Anivid, Stormfeather and Tiffany were close, but I plumped for Alex's fishing shot; so evocative.


 
You’re welcome, alch – Dublin ??
Last time I visited, they served me some thick, dark liquid to take with the whiskey, which diet gave me a sort of Arabic gait (think _Gummi Arabicum_)
I managed to get to Cork the next day, though J
Lovely city - both.


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## Mouse

I voted for Tiffany's pic of West Bay. Makes me want to go there and take photos myself.


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## crystal haven

I have really enjoyed looking at all the photos – they are all really good, but there was one I particularly liked.

  But first my shortlist.

  DEO – Mosaic floor.
  I really liked the sense of depth and mystery about this photo.  

  Alchemist – Bridge.
  Made me think of a moment in time captured forever. 

  Anivid – Lac Negre 
  Tranquillity. This photo made me want to pack my suitcase and go there on holiday.

  Talysia – Drop of water. 
  Very magical – such fine detail in this.

  Hopewrites – Blue flower.
  A beautiful flower about to lose a drop of water. The photo shows this so well.  

  But my vote goes to Moonbat for the ‘Washing machine.’
  Movement, power, and beauty are all captured in this photo – I can almost hear the water. Brilliant!


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## Parson

For what it's worth, I voted.

I think Talysia's was pure magic. A close second was HopeWrites, both flower and water pictures were excellent to my untrained eye.


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## Talysia

Many, many thanks for the votes, Moonbat and Parson, and for the mention, Crystal - you've made my evening!


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## Jo Zebedee

I never enter this - I do take photos, mostly on my blackberry, but when I try to post them they're always too big for the chrons, at which point I become a techno wimp and give up. (which is fortunate for the Mary, Mary thread....)

Anyway, I picked up the links and hope it's ok that I voted and I went for DEO's; i liked the ancient pool still having life. Good luck, all.

PS which means someone more techno savvy is responsible for photographing the first irish sci fi chrons convention and emailing around the Hex-men.


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## anivid

There’ve been many real GOOD pics J

Tiffany’s _West Bay Dorset,_ 
Alex’s _Sunrise,_ and
Dave Esquire’s _Seacoast from Malta._
(- those pics I adore, even I live at the Sea J)

Especially attractive I find the pics of
Talysia with her _Rutland Water,_
Mouse’s _At the Rezzie,_
(- good compositions both)
and Chrispenycate’s surreal _Jet d’Eau_
(-just tickle my phantasy J)

But ALAS only one to pick.
Alchemist, you have in both your pics a certain calmness, which are talking to me – hence you’ll be the ONE.
(- hoping you don’t mind J)

Thanks to All who participated with pics and/or votes – and especially to Alysia for her choice of WATER J


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## Alex The G and T

Hokey Smokes! Time is running short.  It's too hard to make a choice.

A bit hasty then:  I love how DEO's pond doesn't actually appear to have any water in it, the fish appear to be floating in air.  

Talysia's bead of water.  The various striking seascapes.

Anavid's entries elicit personal memories.  In days of yore I often spent weeks at a time hiking deep into the high, granite country of the Sierra Nevada.  Also, I spent a memorable couple of weeks hiking in the Pyrenees way back in (egad!) 1978.

My shamelessly subjective vote, thus, goes to Anavid, for the memories.

Thanks for the mentions and votes, all.  

(gotta run.  More later, perhaps)


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## alchemist

Thanks for the vote, anivid!

24 votes so far; must be a recent record. The poll appears to be programmed to automatically close tonight after 11 o'clock, so if anyone's thinking about doing so, do it quick.


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## Alex The G and T

Congrats, MoonBat and Stormfeather!

Looks like we're going to have to run a tie-breaker. 

 Arrrgh.  

As if voting the first round wasn't painful enough....


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## David Evil Overlord

Thanks for the votes, Springs and Dave. And thanks for the shortlistings, Alex and Crystalhaven.

I do have something to add, but I'll wait until the poll closes. No influencing the voting...


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## Lilmizflashythang

Thanks for the vote Tiffany. My vote went to Anivid. The stairstep waterfall was just cool.


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## anivid

Sorry Alchemist,

The poll seems to have closed itself - anything you can do ??


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## Teresa Edgerton

alchemist can't do anything, but I can ... and did.

(Note to anyone setting up a poll:  if you say it will close in three days, it means three days from the exact minute you post the poll.  So if you give a deadline in the first message, it should match _that_.)

Since you've posted a particular time for the poll to close, then, in all fairness to any voter who is counting on that particular deadline, it has to close then.  And right now the only way to make that happen was for me to change the poll to stay open indefinitely, and come online to close the poll myself by locking the thread at the given time (May 31, 11:59).

I will try my best to be here to do it.


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## anivid

Thanks Madame,

For both your elaborate instructions - and your GOOD DEED.
Very grateful Anivid



​


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## Teresa Edgerton

Thank you for the roses.  It's unfortunate that the software makes it so that it even requires elaborate instructions.  It would be nice it it allowed us to set the exact time that the poll closes.


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## anivid

Couldn't agree more 
I remember wondering what it meant in exact time, and tried to count on my fingers there after midnight, where I'm not exactly at my best


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## alchemist

Thanks Teresa. The one time I set a poll here, I left it open because I didn't know what day, at midnight, it would close. Turns out it wouldnt have been midnight after all.
Btw, if it's a tie, the winners share the plaudits, and the one who won a challenge longest ago (or never) gets to choose the next theme.

Edit: that means Stormfeather goes next if it remains the same.


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## David Evil Overlord

What, no cliffhanger tie-breaker poll?


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## alchemist

Afraid not. It would probably take too long.


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## anivid

Yeah Alch, good idea : don’t pick some blurry date proposals from a robot.
A human will collect the votes at the right DTG anyway.
To me it said : 3 ADDITIONAL days, which in my cookbook is today + 3 more days, finishing when the day is finished. But it ain't that way 
Good to learn the art of socializing with the system.
While we’re at it, why not start the polls at 9 o’clock in the morning instead of in the middle of the night ??
After all there normally are several days for voting J


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## hopewrites

More days for votting would mean fewer for entering. I think starting and ending them at midnight is so we can use the autoclosing feature on the poll.


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## anivid

No, not more days for voting - just another starting time.
And if not specifying any time length - as did Mr. Alchemist - one just collect when the poll is over (midnight something).
Or one can choose the length of time to after the voting is over and do the same (collect when the poll is over).
I cannot enter the poll setting up system now, so this is as far as I remember - did you/others make a poll and remember more ??


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## StormFeather

Crikey!  

Have been off the grid so to speak for a few days, and come back to find that I'm in a tie with Moonbat!!!  Thank you to Perp Man, Taly, TP & Wybren for the votes and Alex for the shortlisting!  Am a happy bunny!!

How exciting (and slightly scary!)  Mind you, it'd be lovely to get more Chronites involved with this competition . . . . although that would only make the voting harder, but I love the variety that each theme brings.

Anyway, am falling asleep at the computer again, so need to get some shut eye!


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## alchemist

We just trust that people won't vote after the allotted time.

And somebody puts up a congratulations message as soon as it's over!


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## Teresa Edgerton

You can automatically set the amount of time the poll remains open in terms of days, but it will close exactly that many days_ to the hour and minute _after you post the poll.

So if you want it to close at a certain hour and minute, you either have to post the thread at that exact hour and minute (x days earlier).

Or you can leave the actual poll open indefinitely, tell people when it officially closes, and one of you be there at the exact time to announce the winner.

Or you leave the poll open indefinitely, and talk a moderator into locking the thread at the specified time.  I don't think you will have a lot of luck with that.  I've stepped in this time, but I'm not going to make a habit of it.

The software being what it is, I don't think you have any other options.


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## hopewrites

We really appreciate you stepping in this time TE 
However we solve this for future, we should keep it so mods don't have to be involved. Not in their official capacity anyway.


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## David Evil Overlord

Okay, voting has closed, so I can comment.

A couple of people commented on the photo I posted of a pond with fish in it. It's not meant to be a pond. It's actually part of the church. Those mosaic floors felt the tread of Christian feet way back in the fourth century.

Sometime between then and now, the lowest floor of the church flooded. It's remained like that ever since. Seems water preserves those ancient mosaics better than air and feet do.

Or maybe it just protected the mosaics from the Renaissance, when mosaics were seen as pathetic, primitive art that should be torn down to make way for newer art. Maybe the "modern art" movement of the fourteenth-seventeenth century didn't want to get it's collective feet wet. To say nothing of the difficulties involved in painting underwater...


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## alchemist

Looks like you got the most out of your Italian holiday, DEO.

So, congrats to Moonbat and Stormfeather! You two shake hands or clasp wrists or something. By my calculations, with Moonbat having won recently, Stormfeather has the honour/trauma of posting the next challenge.


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## anivid

Congrats to the two winners – *Moonbat and StormFeather* J
You now entered « The Hall of Fame » for this thread J

Whou – I got three votes, exorbitant - I’ll savour them over and over again J
Alex, Lilmiz and the Zebra – you all have a VERY good taste J
Thank you !
It seems the peers are very diversified in valuing pics.
That's interesting.


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## Mouse

Congrats to SF and Moonbat!


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## Talysia

Indeed, congratulations Stormfeather and Moonbat - looking forward to seeing what the new theme is!


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## anivid

To those who didn’t get any votes THIS time, I’ll say : don’t get disappointed or embarrassed – there’re things just as bad as beeing forgotten. 

I once won a national sharpshooter obstacle course competition with a VERY mediocre number of points – to say it mildly J
The sun shimmered, the hills exuded heat, and the sand flew into every little muzzle – on the humans too.  
So I decided to take it easy J
And then it happened.
All the good marksmen were disqualified /had functional problems one way or another.
Me and my relaxed points was announced winner !!  
Needless to say my inner child had red ears when walking up the aisle for receiving the silver plate.
But the worst was yet to come : my name and points were engraved in the silver thingy (challenge cup) for all the future to see !
*Exercise in non-attachement **J*


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## Moonbat

Thank you guys n gals, for the votes and the congratulations.

I get the best of both worlds, I am officially a winner and yet I don't have to choose next month's theme, easy livin.


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## StormFeather

alchemist said:


> So, congrats to Moonbat and Stormfeather! You two shake hands or clasp wrists or something. By my calculations, with Moonbat having won recently, Stormfeather has the honour/trauma of posting the next challenge.





Moonbat said:


> I get the best of both worlds, I am officially a winner and yet I don't have to choose next month's theme, easy livin.




Wow!  Cheers Peeps!!!!!  Happy, happy me 

*dances round room in celebration*

Delighted, and slightly dazed about picking a theme (thanks MB!)

Am afraid I've been stupendously busy today at the school, where I've spent the majority of my hours helping out with one thing or another, from 8:15 to 4:30, culminating with the Jubilee Party for 400 kids, which included jelly and cake.  Tremendous fun, but absolutely shattering, and I now need an early night, as I'm too tired to think straight.

I have an idea or two for a theme, but will need to do a bit of research as to a) whether either has been done on here before, and b) whether either  actually make a good idea at all.

I promise to post a theme by end of tomorrow, however, I suggest that you all get out and about with your camera's over the the weekend and take pictures of whatever takes your fancy . . . .


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## alchemist

(imagines theme of "Red, white and blue")


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## Tiffany

Congratulations to the two winners. Stormfeather & Moonbat.


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## The Procrastinator

Congratulations indeed, a well deserved victory for you both!


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