# July 2010 Photo Challenge



## Culhwch

CyBeR's chosen theme for this month is:


*GUARDIAN

*​ 
The usual rules apply:

- only two photographs per participant
- do not use photographs already posted around the site
- voting begins on, or around, the 27th of the month
- the winner must post a new challenge within a couple of days
*- all Chrons members may vote (including those who do not enter the competition)*
*
In fact, we would love it if more members from around the site would help us choose a winner each month!* *(We'd also like more of you to get your cameras out and take part, of course.)*

And just to clarify:

- the photograph _must _be one you have taken yourself (perferably one you have taken for the challenge, but posting old photos is fine as long as YOU took them)

*Best of luck!!*


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## Foxbat

Hmmm. Not sure what to make of this challenge. However, I took this photo at Le Mans and I think it has a monolithic quality to it (some might say sentinel.....or even guardian). A tenuous link perhaps but it'll do for me. Without further ado, here's my first entry for this month's challenge.


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## Talysia

I wondered what I could do for this month, until I remembered a photo that I took last year.  It's a statue in the Nene Park in Peterborough, carved out of a single tree that fell in one of the storms (I think- it's been a while since I was in the visitor centre there) and showing several aspects of the park, like its wildlife and its history.  I thought it looked about right for a Guardian.


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## J Riff

This guy was the guardian of a scrap metal yard somewhere in the valley.


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## Mouse

My fearsome guardian. He may look cute, but he'd have your face off! (ok, no he wouldn't really.)






(I promise my second entry won't be dog-related.)


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## Vertigo

OK I'll dip my toes in the water and open myself to ridicule  This is Horus from Edfu, Egypt taken a few years ago (I'm a newbie I get to cheat a little). I'll see if I can't come up with something new for a second entry. I should maybe mention (though aritistically irrelevant) that this was a monochrome image printed and toned in the darkroom and later scanned - none of this modern photoshop stuff!


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## TheDustyZebra

Ok, I'll try this one for starters:






He's a guardian just up the road from us.


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## HoopyFrood

So, I've lived here for all my life (somewhat more intermittently in the last four years) and if you had asked me if there were angel statues in the graveyard, I would've said a definite yes. Closer inspection today, with an intent of getting a particular picture, proved otherwise. There was only this small angel standing guard over an equally small grave...


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## The Procrastinator

"Looking Out For the Missus"


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## Culhwch

Damn you, Hoopy, you stole my idea!


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## HoopyFrood

Hah, you know, I actually thought to myself when I was planning it, "I know Cul's taken pictures of graveyard angels, I wonder if he's planning similar..."

Apologies!

Of course, you could go and take a stonking photo that just out-classes mine anyway (which I'm sure you could easily do!)


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## Culhwch

I don't know, that's a pretty striking shot you've got there!

That's cool, it'll make me be more creative. And I have _one_ other idea to have a tilt at...


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## Ursa major

Or you could think upon "_Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?_"


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## Culhwch

Okay, my first shot. This is actually the first idea I had, before I thought of the stone angels that Hoopy beat me to this month. I quite like how this one came out, actually...


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## AE35Unit

Well, playing around with one of my photos last night I produced this!


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## Sephiroth

My God, it's full of stars!


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## AE35Unit

Sephiroth said:


> My God, it's full of stars!


Indeed 
BTW this is the original photo I used to make the monolith:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs34/f/2008/237/f/b/Across_the_sky_by_Stumm47.jpg


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## Ursa major

So you weren't using a prop, then?


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## AE35Unit

Ursa major said:


> So you weren't using a prop, then?



ha,very punny


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## BookStop

Toured a lovely little battleship today, the Battleship Texas. My hubby's old highschool friend is kind of the guy in charge, so we got to tour the belly of the beast as well. It was a pretty sweet day!


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## Hilarious Joke

I really like Cul's and Bookstop's so far.


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## Culhwch

Why thank you, HJ! Glad you like it!


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## Triffids

Can you post pics you have done in past years or do you have to go out and photograph new stuff each month for these competitions?


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## Sephiroth

We do encourage people to take new shots specifically for the challenge if they _can_, but there's no problem with posting older shots -- as long as _you_ took them, and they haven't been posted anywhere else around the site.  


So if you have something you feel fits the theme, let's see it!


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## Vertigo

Woah - that one makes you sit back in your chair Bookstop!

Triffids - I believe we are encouraged to go out and take new stuff, but older stuff is OK so long as you were the shooter.

Edit: Seph beat me to it whilst I was typing!


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## Sephiroth

Snooze you lose, dude.  

Heh.  


I haven't had a chance to execute my idea yet.  Hoping to get there in the next week or so.  I do have _something_ to fall back on if I don't get the photo I want.


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## Ursa major

Sephiroth said:


> I haven't had a chance to execute my idea yet.


Let us all hope that it gets a chance to appeal....


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## Triffids

Just wanted to check as I have a load of work I done while at uni just sitting on my external HD collecting digital dust.
I sold my camera after i finished uni so i won't be able to take any new snaps.


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## The Judge

> Let us all hope that it gets a chance to appeal....



Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps une idee pour encourager les autres.

(With apologies to Voltaire)


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## Vertigo

Nice one Triffids - must admit I thought about the Angel of the North (that's right isn't it) - awesome statue - but a bit too far away from me to get to easily.


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## mosaix

Here goes, hope this works:


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## Sephiroth

The Judge said:


> Dans ce pays-ci il est bon de tuer de temps en temps une idee pour encourager les autres.
> 
> (With apologies to Voltaire)


 


I promise to make it quick and painless. And then, _bing!_ (Or should that be, _Byng?_) A whole raft of new ideas spring to mind.





Nice shot, Mosaix. And welcome to the challenge. 

Some very cool entries so far.


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## TheDustyZebra

Mosaix, that guy is positively _grinning_! He seems to take great pleasure in his job. 


I have my other idea all set, but have to wait till I buy new camera batteries to do it. Grrr...


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## Mouse

I went to Hampton Court flower show on Sunday and had my camera stolen.  So my second entry will be an old photo if I can find one that fits the theme.


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## The Judge

Sorry to hear that, Mouse.  Was it insured?  It might be worth having a quick look at your household insurance to see if it's covered even if you didn't have separate cover.


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## Mouse

Yeah I need to look into it. I thought I had some sort of cover with the camera (not had it long!) but I can't find any of my info I had with it.


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## Culhwch

Bad news, Mouse! I'd be devastated if I lost my camera!


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## Doctor Crankenstein

Ugh I'm having a lot of trouble thinking of something for this one....

hrrrmmmm


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## Mouse

Culhwch said:


> Bad news, Mouse! I'd be devastated if I lost my camera!



Yeah I cried my eyes out.  Mum said at least it wasn't my wallet but I think I would've preferred that. Only had one card and £20 in there. Or if they'd taken my other wallet all I had in there was Czech money!


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## AE35Unit

oh sorry to hear that Mouse, I'd be beside myself!!


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## mosaix

Second entry.

PS: Mouse sorry to hear about the camera. 

How did it happen? We can all learn from experiences like this.


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## Ursa major

Sorry to hear about your camera being stolen**, Mouse.



A Stella picture there, mosaix.... 




_** - Expects CCTV footage of everyone who was in the vicinity in the hours around the time of the theft will be pored over by the police. Or possibly not.  _


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## Mouse

Ursa major said:


> Sorry to hear about your camera being stolen, Mouse.





AE35Unit said:


> oh sorry to hear that Mouse, I'd be beside myself!!





mosaix said:


> How did it happen? We can all learn from experiences like this.



Cheers, guys. Happened really quick. I'm really paranoid about losing my camera so always keep it wrapped around my wrist when I'm using it. We went into a tent full of plants (only a small tent) and I moved everything from one hand to the other to get a drink out of my bag. I think I must've dropped the camera then - I remember looking at my camera while in the tent so I know I had it before that point. I came out of the tent and put my drink into a carrier bag, I thought to do the same with the camera and that's when I realised it'd gone. 

So from inside the tent to just outside the tent it went missing. I went back inside and it wasn't anywhere, asked if it'd been handed in, looked all around. If somebody picked it up they would've seen me looking for it! I went to lost property and they had lots of cameras but not mine. Just seems strange that it just vanished like that. 

I told mum that I felt someone bump into me and I backed off and she thinks it might've gone then but it was wrapped around my wrist so I don't think so. 

*sigh*

Anyway, my second entry was taken last month. This is on Charles Bridge in Prague.


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## AE35Unit

A true guardian of the rights of the people here!


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## Ursa major

Shouldn't that be _Whitehall_ 1212? 


(Although perhaps not, given the badge on your guardian's hat.)


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## Culhwch

Clever, AE! And I was just waiting for someone to post a pick of the _Guardian_...


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## BookStop

and second from my Texas trip


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## Culhwch

When the theme went up I was initially flummoxed, but I'm glad we've had such a good (and varied) response! It's going to be a hard month to choose a winner!


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## CyBeR

My first intro for the month. It's an older photo, but I think it captures the theme quite nicely.
Cullwch beat me to my original idea, so I'm going for something else for the second photo *mumbles that his bookshelf dragons would turn the tiny soldier to putty but anyways*.


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## Culhwch

CyBeR said:


> Cullwch beat me to my original idea, so I'm going for something else for the second photo *mumbles that his bookshelf dragons would turn the tiny soldier to putty but anyways*.



My stars and garters, I actually beat someone to an idea!


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## philoSCIFI

LOL! I'm loving a lot of these entries. Hopefully I can get out and take some pics this weekend.


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## Talysia

I'm a bit late, but sorry to hear about your camera, Mouse.

There are some really good entries here!  I was a little uncertain about how to interpret "Guardian", but I'm really impressed by the pics here.  It'll make choosing a winner really difficult again!

Here's my second entry.  I know it's not technically a Guardian, but when I saw what was written I thought it might fit.  It was on the front of a locomotive at a local preserved railway.


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## AE35Unit

Tal, that reminds me a little of Wall-e!


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## CyBeR

Or rather the crazy robot from Futurama.


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## philoSCIFI

Son of a sandwich... I have to utilize how this following threads goes. I'm a bit rusty. It takes me forever to get back here. lol.

Am I too late?

This is my "piggy bank"... a tried and true... "guardian":


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## Sephiroth




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## Erin99




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## Culhwch

Ah, some excellent last minute entries!

Just a warning - if you've got 'em, post 'em. The poll will be going up at the close of business on the 27th (23:59pm GMT), so there's only a smidge over twenty-four hours left.


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## TheDustyZebra

This is the Sleeping Ute Mountain, which in Ute Indian folklore is the Great Warrior God, guardian of their people, slumbering until he rises again to defend them from their enemies. On the right side is his head and war bonnet, the big mound is his arms crossed on his chest, and you can see his knees and then his feet sticking up on the far left side.


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## The Procrastinator

Guardian of the Valley


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## StormFeather

My last minute entries! 

The first is of the castle that watches over my mothers village in Germany - Vetzberg (taken from the top of the tower at it's sibling - Gleiberg)











and, the guardian of Catford, trying to catch those pesky pigeons!


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## Culhwch

I had a great idea for a shot this morning, and no time left to take it! always the way...

So in lieu of that one, here's a second shot of my little bookshelf guardian...


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## Culhwch

Okay, entries are now closed (a little later than I said, I know...). 

*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 Saturday, July 31st (GMT)

The winner will decide the challenge theme for August! 

Good Luck Everyone!!! 

TO VOTE, FOLLOW THE LINK:

July Photo Challenge - GUARDIAN - Poll | Polldaddy.com (poll 3533503)​*​


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## Culhwch

Though Hoopy's angel was a close second (being a subject I myself am fond of...) I voted for mosaix this month. I thought the shot of the chess set was well conceived as far as the theme went, and well executed to boot. Also liked the cheekiness of the second shot, which helped decide matters.


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## mosaix

Thanks for the vote, Cul. Mine goes to Bookstop.


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## Vertigo

I went for Tiffid's Angel of the North - I love contrasty shots and I particularly liked the way the wings almost seemed to be holding back the darker clouds from the light.


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## Mouse

I voted for Mosaix. Somebody voted for me?! Yay! Thanks! I hope it wasn't a sympathy vote cos of my stolen camera!


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## Talysia

Great entries everyone!  I voted for Mosaix, too, but it was a close run thing between Hoopy and BookStop.


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## Foxbat

Some really nice shots...and a sobering one (Sephiroth's - which almost got my vote). 

In the end I went with Mosaix's Chess pieces. Thought it was a good shot that met the criteria (guarding the king). 

Also, I really like Chess


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## CyBeR

Voted for Sephiroth this month. Fantastic entries from him, and from a lot of other people too, but this one really got my attention by the ears.


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## Wybren

Everyone did a fantastic job interpreting the challenge this month and in the end, for me, it came down to Seph, Leish and Cul. I went for Seph in the end.


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## StormFeather

I really enjoyed the various interpretations of the theme.  As always the quality of the entries is excellent - making it hard to choose, again.  

After a lot of deliberation, I eventually went with the photos that just stuck in my mind - which was still a close call between Seph and Mosaix.

In the end it had to be Mosaix - especially for the cheekiness of the second entry!


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## Doctor Crankenstein

I really liked mosaix guardian picture. It was definitely an unexpected interpretation of the theme.


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## AE35Unit

Has to be Cul's book statue!


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## Erin99

Hmmm.... another difficult challenge for which to pick a winner...........

Shortlist: AE, for the police van (very sharp, colourful, humorous, and unusual); Cul, for the colour guardian (great DOF, subject placement, and title); and Mosaix (brilliant idea, great execution in B&W, and good DOF).

My winner is.........

Cul! It's such a fantastic shot, very professional-looking.


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## Sephiroth

Contenders for me this month were:  Hoopy, Cul, Triffids & Mosaix.  And the theme, although more abstract than many we've had, generated an interesting and varied response, so well done to CyBeR for that.  


I voted for Cul.  I love the bookshelf guardian (for the same reasons Leisha mentioned, as it happens).  




And on a side note -- great effort on the voting, folks!  It's really heartening to see 22 votes already cast.  

To those non-participants who voted -- a special thank you for taking the time to view our photos and choose a favourite!  


(Oh, and if anyone who reads this hasn't cast a vote in the Writing Challenge, there are still two-and-a-half hours before voting closes in that one.)


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## Culhwch

And just when I thought I wasn't going to pull any votes! Thanks, guys, the kind words are much appreciated. I fear no one has a shot at pulling in the runaway leader, though. Though No One might have, had he submitted a photo...



Sephiroth said:


> And on a side note -- great effort on the voting, folks! It's really heartening to see 22 votes already cast.
> 
> To those non-participants who voted -- a special thank you for taking the time to view our photos and choose a favourite!


 
Well said. It's fantastic to see the interest in our little comp on the rise!



> (Oh, and if anyone who reads this hasn't cast a vote in the Writing Challenge, there are still two-and-a-half hours before voting closes in that one.)


 
Under one and a half now - get cracking!!


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## Triffids

I was going to cast my vote a few days ago but i found it hard choosing. 
After much thought I've decided to go for Culhwich's bookshelf guardian.


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## Culhwch

Why thank you, Triffids!

Didn't help me much, though - the voting is now closed, and the winner (in a landslide, no less)is...

MOSAIX!

Congrats, mosaix. I look forward to your theme!


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## The Procrastinator

Ooo, thanks to whoever voted for me!!!

I voted for Hoopy. Hoops I loved the texture and composition of your guardian angel picture - very personal, very appropriate, very touching.

And congrats Mosaix, I almost voted for your chess pic, so cleverly done and well composed! If it wasn't for Hoopy's I would've...


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## Talysia

Congratulations, Mosaix!

Looking forward to seeing the next theme, too.


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## mosaix

Thanks to everyone that voted for me and thanks for all the 'mentions'.

I've got a couple of ideas for August, is tomorrow soon enough?

A query on the voting. Are we voting for a single photo or for how the pair work together?


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## Culhwch

Tomorrow is fine!

As for voting - it's entirely a personal preference. Someone who has submitted two great photos will always get my vote over someone who has submitted only one great one, and I have also had instances where a bad second photo has detracted from a good first one. (I actually had second thoughts after posting my second image this month - I decided it was both weak and too similar to the first, and fervently wished I could have deleted the post...).


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## Vertigo

Congrats Mosaix on a well deserved win!


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