sfischer

Placed 36^th in the challenge. An American Kestrel as perched in a falconers glove. These birds have a historic tradition as used as a bird-of-prey for sporting purposes, going back thousands of years.

Placed 3^rd in the challenge. Sunrise on a foggy winter morning along the American River. Silhouetted by some trees in the foreground. The fog helped to soften the light of the sun.

Placed 3^rd in the challenge. Winter in Yosemite with a cold mist on the valley floor.

Placed 105^th in the challenge. A small boy sitting at the base of a monument in a Druze village of the Golan Heights (of now Israel) near the border with Syria. The landmark appears to commemorate a previous struggle of the people against an older regime or tyrant.

Placed 38^th in the challenge. Misty winter morning of the American River Parkway looking toward the town of Fair Oaks

Placed 14^th in the challenge. Old victorian style house constructed in 1899. Located in Fair Oaks, California

Placed 20^th in the challenge. A Bald Eagle feasting on a Gadwall duck from the top of a tree. It snagged it from the water out at the Sacramento National Wildlife refuge

Placed 9^th in the challenge. Wind swept desert dune. Photographed out at the Eureka Dunes at the north end of Death Valley

I share your view.  I just recently upgraded my 5dmk2 to a mk3, and wow! what a camera! I was generally happy with the mk2 and the quality images I have been able to capture with it.  But...

Placed 6^th in the challenge. Alligator and it baby as photographed at Shark Bay in the Everglades of Southern Florida

Placed 13^th in the challenge. Long exposure at night under cloudy skies of an old victorian style house.

Placed 2^nd in the challenge. Self portait while camped out on the Carrizo plain

Placed 1^st in the challenge. Moon rise behind a ridge with an Oak tree on the top

Placed 31^st in the challenge. In the coastal foothills of Central California.

Placed 14^th in the challenge. The root ball of a Bristlecone Pine on its side up on a ridge of the White Mountains, with the Eastern Sierras in the distance. Photographed at dawn when the alpen glow tends to be strongest.

Placed 6^th in the challenge. Fisherman rowing along the American River parkway on a winter morning

Placed 2^nd in the challenge. To me, this looks like something that could come from creating a temporary hole in the universe for transporting to a different time or location.

Placed 1^st in the challenge. Willet at sunset in a lagoon near Ft. Meyers, Florida.

Placed 18^th in the challenge. Old barbed wire fence in a pasture on the outskirts of Sacramento, California at sunset

Placed 12^th in the challenge. Old harvester as found on the Carrizo Plain in South-Central California.