RuthC

I DQ'd 65 entries out of 174, for a variety of reasons, the majority because they were spheres, in my opinion.
I could have continued to DQ the entries (including one of yours, a spiral,) but I think the voters would prefer to have a few photos to view, and I'll let them decide.
Frankly, I became tired of continually DQ'ing shots from people who just didn't read the rules.
Ruth

This is a wonderful capture! I believe your entry would have placed much higher in the challenge if the Sandbaggers hadn't pulled your score down. Ruth :-)

I really liked your little native bee, on the flower. It looks to me like a weed we call 'cobbler's pegs'. Beautiful capture! Ruth

Congratulations, Jason, on placing in the top five in this demanding challenge. This is a really interesting capture of a gnat. Ruth :-)

Congratulations, pen araneae, on your beautiful photo in this challenge. The leafhopper reminds me of the Biblical story of Joseph and his multi-coloured coat! Ruth :-)

Congratulations, regia, on achieving one of the top places in this challenge. This is a great capture of the little ant, and we are left wondering if he was successful in holding on! Ruth :-)

Congratulations, Benbrother, on coming in second in this demanding challenge. This is a beautiful capture, with wonderful colours, texture, and movement in the picture. Ruth :-)

Congratulations, NaniCro, on your well-deserved win in this interesting challenge. This is a very striking capture. Ruth :-)

I've looked carefully at this dandelion with its red centre. I believe that the central seeds have already blown away, or been removed to show the red centre effect. Hence, it is no longer a spherical dandelion puffball.... If those seeds were still there, we wouldn't be able to see the centre, and it would look spherical. This is why this dandelion entry has been allowed to remain in the challenge while nine other spherical puffballs have been DQ'd.

Even though in the theme of this challenge, I had said, "No shots of the moon, as it is a sphere", I believe that this entry can qualify, because it shows flat circles within the moon surface. Also, I acknowledge it is in B&W, but that is the way it is, apparently, on the moon.
Anyone else who wishes to enter photos like this need only to find their Box Brownie and point it towards the moon.....
Ruth :-)

These are grape hyacinths, not bluebonnets, with forget-me-nots in the background.

LOL!

This is a beautiful picture with a lot of depth, and contrasting features. Congratulations on your achievement.

I think this is New Zealand-speak for 'windy'..... Australian/ New Zealand joke. :-)

Hi Charles,
To date, there are 58 entries in the challenge, and I've DQ'd 34 so far, 15 of these were what I considered to be spheres, or balls rather than flat circles.
Yes, there are some entries still in the challenge which may or may not be nearly spherical, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt, and leaving their entries in the challenge. Hit the complaint button if you feel very strongly about any entry, and I'll reconsider it.
I want to allow some lenience for artistic creativity and individual interpretation of the theme.
And spheres and spirals will get their own challenges in the next few weeks, if I'm still a Host and haven't been kicked out....
Incidentally, most of the DQ's are from entrants in countries where English is the spoken language. Yet again I'm led to believe that people just don't read the rules, or the theme, and rely on the title of the challenge!
Ruth

Please note: the bumblebee is NOT the subject of the entry, but the small mite on its left shoulder. Of course, the bumblebee is too big to meet the 1cm required size. Best viewed in full screen mode. Ruth

An entrant in this challenge has chosen to lodge complaints about 22 of the entries, stating that they were more than 1cm in size.
Before the close of entries, I had already DQ'd 41 entries, and there have been 26 withdrawals.
Most of the complaints by this entrant concern hover flies, small flies or gnats, all of which I consider to be within the 1cm size limit. Because I don't have any way of measuring EXACTLY the size of the little creatures, I have had to allow some leeway in the entries. The main aim of this challenge was to show how tiny these creatures can be, and not be too rigid about measurements.
Ruth

This photo deserved to be in the top places. Congratulations, duncanthomson, on this very detailed, intricate picture, which would be DREADFUL to do if it was a real puzzle. (I wonder where this piece of grey roof goes.....) Ruth :-)

Congratulations, Scouminou1, on placing in the top four in this challenge. This picture was one of my favourites, with its lovely colour contrasts between the roofs and chimney pots, and wonderful textures and details throughout the photo. Ruth :-)

Congratulations, mythyk, on achieving one of the top places in this challenge. I like the colours, and intricate details in this picture. Ruth :-)