>>>Challenge 95: The Verdict is in<<<

[Fremiet161702]

CHALLENGE 95 IS OVER, BUT WE'VE GOT SOME CHEERING TO DO.....

What can I say? You are such a great bunch out there. Awesome, awesome work. You all showed particular courage in daring to be creative and putting it out on the line. Applause!!

You showed extraordinary talent, down to the last entry....really, you did. It's a privilege to count myself among you, I was humbled by the work on display. Take this creativity and nurture it, grow it. Take creative chances, some will backfire, some will hit the jackpot but never stop!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Melanie Lynn for her transcendent "Fly or Fall" What a beautiful dream! (I'll let you into a secret if you promise to keep it to yourself. When I first glanced at that image, I thought, "Holy Moley MFC is back (multiple past challenge winner MFC)" but then I looked closer and saw the unique twist.... the fairy like figure and the feathers falling away "Nope, not quite, then who? MELANIE!! This is awesome". So I typed my comment right away... I was so psyched)
http://www.pbase.com/stfchallenge/image/45290494
in the ELIGIBLE category and to

Thomas Rotkiewicz for his mind-blowing "Event Horizon"....an almost scary dream! That is an image which is also hard to get out of the mind and has that wild incongruity one only finds in dreams!! Well deserved, thank you Thomas!!
http://www.pbase.com/stfchallenge/image/45132720

Thanks to Nancy (odigi) and guru Mike Fitzgerald, who did al the grunt work for this challenge, leaving me to have fun acting like I was in charge. Appearances can be deceiving. So, Fremiet is taking a bow and gracefully exiting backstage left after introducing your next host, the talented and generous MELANIE LYNN. Take my word for it, she will do you proud!!

----------
Eligible
----------
1st ---- Fly or Fall? by mlynn [29]
2nd --- In My Nightmares ... by johnebones [23]
3rd ---- Seagull Dreamin' by Jerry Curtis [21]
3rd ---- The Pregnant Tree !! by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [21]
4th ---- Free as a bird by Tajinder [16]
5th ---- I get 3 wishes by Katherine Kenison [15]
6th ---- Dreaming the dream by Danny. (nzmacro) [12]
7th ---- Daydreaming by Nikolai Sklobovsky [8]
7th ---- Dreamscape by Gaurav Khanna [8]
8th ---- Dream of Death chamber by awais yaqub [7]
8th ---- Haunted Dreams by Chris [7]
8th ---- Released From The Depths by Jerry Curtis [7]
8th ---- Subway to Heaven by Colin Guard [7]
8th ---- The Watching by Oceans 2 [7]
8th ---- Under the sea by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [7]
9th ---- Raven Steals the Sun for the People by mlynn [5]
10th -- The Secret Dream by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [4]

--------------
Exhibition
--------------
1st ---- Event Horizon by Thomas Rotkiewicz [17]
2nd --- inside every mind a person lives by Awais Yaqub [16]
2nd --- The green pepper cave by Danny (nzmacro) [16]
3rd ---- Forbidden Planet by johnebones [15]
4th ---- Arched Eyeball for Eso by odigi [14]
4th ---- Night of the Comet III by Thomas Rotkiewicz [14]
5th ---- The Blue Moon by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [13]
6th ---- Deep Water by mlynn [11]
6th ---- Midnight Winter Dream by Moti [11]
7th ---- Eye Spy by odigi [9]
8th ---- The Strange Fluidity of Dreams by mlynn [8]
9th ---- Peering into the Dream by Chris [6]
9th ---- Vase, dreaming of real treasures to hold... by Mike Fitzgerald [6]
9th ---- When the world is reversed. by Danny, (nzmacro) [6]
10th -- Red Planet by Norbert [5]
--------------------------------
Challenge 95 Statistics
==============

• 49 images were entered in all, 22 in the Eligible gallery and 27 in Exhibition.
• 24 photographers were represented, 14 in Eligible and 16 in Exhibition.
• 15 people voted, 15 casting votes for Eligible entries and 14 for Exhibition.

Let's hope I got these numbers right!

--
After all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

 

[gk08]

Very cool work!

gk

 

[johnebones.]

And congratulations, Thomas ! Great job, both of you.

Melanie, I agree with John (Fremiet). Your series of images was just awesome.

John

--
http://www.pbase.com/johnebones

 

[odigi]

You are one terrific host!

Congratulations to both Melanie and Thomas-- your images were so cool.

Can't wait to see what Melanie comes up with for the next go-round.

Nancy

 

[Rajesh Gupta]

hey you deserved it ....looking forward to an another great challenge ...
--
Rajesh
'Karma'
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.

 

[JerryCurtis]

well-deserved wins!

I had Melanie's picked as a favourite and possibly a winner from the getgo. It sure was a fave of mine.

As others have said, the variety and quality of the images were awesome and very inspiring. It was great to be a part and also to have my own images rated so highly.

Looking forward to the next challenge, Melanie.

--
-Jerry
Sony V1 - Still learning...

Whether you think that you can or that you can't, you are usually right.

• Henry Ford

http://www.pbase.com/icicle50/root

 

[Tajinder]

....great pictures and very well executed ideas. Looking forward to the next challenge...Thanks John for this great challenge idea and being such a wonderful host.

Thank you all who voted and posted comments for my picture. I had a couple of other pictures that I could not post because of some work at home....
Tajinder

 

[Mike Fitzgerald]

What can I say?
...
Thanks to Nancy (odigi) and guru Mike Fitzgerald, who did al the
grunt work for this challenge, leaving me to have fun acting like I
was in charge. Appearances can be deceiving.

John, what can I say?? My own involvement this time has really been minimal, to say the least (the gallery shells for the last 5 Challenges were set up months ago), and it's actually been bugging the hell out of me that other pressures have precluded me from being able to pitch in in a more hands-on rôle, particularly with the tally.

I -- and a lot of others -- had been waiting a long, long time for you to get your own Challenge which you've thoroughly deserved many times over by now.

It's a real shame that it finally came just at a time when the STF general enthusiasm -- for anything and everything -- is arguably at an all time low, the product almost entirely of the DSLR-versus-Sony rancour that ended up turning so absurdly and destructively personal a few weeks ago.

I'm so glad to have seen that hand-wringing over the relatively small entry field never became an issue for anybody at all this time around, as it so easily could have done. (There was a distinct flavour of sour grapes that appeared briefly in a certain other, generic, photo forum a few weeks back in respect of an earlier Challenge that somebody perceived (curiously) as undersubscribed.) To me, that says something very positive about the outlook of those of us who are left here! ;-)

That said, you still deserved far better, and I've no doubt that in more settled times you would have been inundated with entries.

What I particularly want to say, though, is to thank and congratulate you for getting your Challenge under way so promptly and mercurially:

• Preliminary announcement of the new theme only 21 minutes after the C94 results were posted;

• Full Challenge 95 info thread posted only an hour and a quarter after that!

Obviously not all incoming hosts will be in a position -- chiefly because of time zone differences -- to emulate that stellar performance, but you surely set a shining example for all to regard! Thank you on everyone's behalf.

Cheers, John ... now enjoy the break!

--
Mike
Melbourne

 

[mlynn]

Thank you all, and thanks John for what I consider a HUGE compliment (thinking my image might be MFC's) . This was a fun challenge to play in.

And congratulations to Thomas, I loved both of your images...beautiful stuff.

There were a host of amazing images in both galleries, you guys are all so creative!

--Melanie

 

[Mike Fitzgerald]

----------
Eligible
----------
1st ---- Fly or Fall? by mlynn [29]
2nd --- In My Nightmares ... by johnebones [23]
3rd ---- Seagull Dreamin' by Jerry Curtis [21]
3rd ---- The Pregnant Tree !! by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [21]
4th ---- Free as a bird by Tajinder [16]
5th ---- I get 3 wishes by Katherine Kenison [15]
6th ---- Dreaming the dream by Danny. (nzmacro) [12]
7th ---- Daydreaming by Nikolai Sklobovsky [8]
7th ---- Dreamscape by Gaurav Khanna [8]
8th ---- Dream of Death chamber by awais yaqub [7]
8th ---- Haunted Dreams by Chris [7]
8th ---- Released From The Depths by Jerry Curtis [7]
8th ---- Subway to Heaven by Colin Guard [7]
8th ---- The Watching by Oceans 2 [7]
8th ---- Under the sea by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [7]
9th ---- Raven Steals the Sun for the People by mlynn [5]
10th -- The Secret Dream by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [4]
11th -- Dreaming of Maxfield Parrish Skies by mlynn [2]
11th -- The Sign by Oceans 2 [2]

--------------
Exhibition
--------------
1st ---- Event Horizon by Thomas Rotkiewicz [17]
2nd --- inside every mind a person lives by Awais Yaqub [16]
2nd --- The green pepper cave by Danny (nzmacro) [16]
3rd ---- Forbidden Planet by johnebones [15]
4th ---- Arched Eyeball for Eso by odigi [14]
4th ---- Night of the Comet III by Thomas Rotkiewicz [14]
5th ---- The Blue Moon by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [13]
6th ---- Deep Water by mlynn [11]
6th ---- Midnight Winter Dream by Moti [11]
7th ---- Eye Spy by odigi [9]
8th ---- The Strange Fluidity of Dreams by mlynn [8]
9th ---- Peering into the Dream by Chris [6]
9th ---- Vase, dreaming of real treasures to hold... by Mike Fitzgerald [6]
9th ---- When the world is reversed. by Danny, (nzmacro) [6]
10th -- Red Planet by Norbert [5]
11th -- Celestial Dream by kudbegud [4]
11th -- dreaming by simon bennett [4]
11th -- stairway to the heaven by Rajesh Gupta (Karma_raj ) [4]
11th -- Truck Heaven by bottles [4]
12th -- Dream Of Money Down The Drain by markjay [3]
12th -- Floating In The Cosmic Foam by kudbegud [3]
12th -- I Saw It In A Dream by markjay [3]
13th -- That's what I call a bad dream by Norbert [2]
13th -- The dark side by Norbert [2]

--------------------------------
Challenge 95 Statistics
==============

• 49 images were entered in all, 22 in the Eligible gallery and 27 in Exhibition.
• 24 photographers were represented, 14 in Eligible and 16 in Exhibition.
• 15 people voted, 15 casting votes for Eligible entries and 14 for Exhibition.

 

[JerryCurtis]

Three cheers (and more) for John. His encouragement and, especially his comments and analysis of the images were so very inspiring. I'm sure many of us would have been reluctant to submit images of this genre had we not been able to count on positive and constructive feedback from the challenge host. John, you sure changed my view of "constructed" and surreal kinds of images. It's fun and creative to do these.

John, you have left very big shoes for future challenge hosts to fill.

Thank you!
--
-Jerry
Sony V1 - Still learning...

Whether you think that you can or that you can't, you are usually right.

• Henry Ford

http://www.pbase.com/icicle50/root

 

[nzmacro]

Congrats Melanie, totally incredible that work. The effect and imagination is superb !!!. Very clever and so well deserved. :--))

All the best and congrats to all, inspiration revisited )

Danny.
--
...........................

http://www.macrophotos.com

http://www.photomacrography.net
...........................
Worry about the image that comes out of the box, rather than the box itself.

 

[Higgmeister]

Congrats on your wins. Also congrats to all entrants for some very outstanding, creative works. Some may not think this kind of work is photography, but it definately is ART. Thanks to all for sharing some wonderful images.

Chris
--
A picture is but words to the eyes.
Comments are always welcome.

http://www.pbase.com/higgmeister/

 

[bottles]

What creative minds and artistic talent you both have! And thanks again to John for being the perfect host of a really fun challenge.

bottles

 

[Fremiet161702]

John, what can I say?? My own involvement this time has really
been minimal, to say the least (the gallery shells for the last 5
Challenges were set up months ago), and it's actually been bugging
the hell out of me that other pressures have precluded me from
being able to pitch in in a more hands-on rôle, particularly with
the tally.

Yet what you see as very little, remains enormous in its reverberations.......

I -- and a lot of others -- had been waiting a long, long time for
you to get your own Challenge which you've thoroughly deserved many
times over by now.

A bow and a thank you!!

It's a real shame that it finally came just at a time when the STF
general enthusiasm -- for anything and everything -- is arguably at
an all time low, the product almost entirely of the
DSLR-versus-Sony rancour that ended up turning so absurdly and
destructively personal a few weeks ago.

....of which the naive Fremiet had no knowledge. Fools rush in!!

An odd topic for discord. I have my 828, a Canon 1D Mark 1 and Mark 2, a Mamiya large format etc etc. I use the sony for panos.....because that and my Kirk head are a perfect match for rotation around the optical center......challenges AND a handy reference point for pics I shoot with others as wel as the times I just want to pick it up and go shooting with it. We use stuff, make choices and do the best we can. I think the Sony challenges are the most fun. I've played with others, but this is the best for me. Interestingly it keeps me from only using my 1D's and that keeps me honest in an odd sort of way.

I'm so glad to have seen that hand-wringing over the relatively
small entry field never became an issue for anybody at all this
time around, as it so easily could have done. (There was a distinct
flavour of sour grapes that appeared briefly in a certain other,
generic, photo forum a few weeks back in respect of an earlier
Challenge that somebody perceived (curiously) as undersubscribed.)
To me, that says something very positive about the outlook of those
of us who are left here! ;-)

What a great and wonderfully diverse group....this is an explosively creative nucleus of photographers

That said, you still deserved far better, and I've no doubt that in
more settled times you would have been inundated with entries.

Maybe....by this time I've learned that not everyone shares my artistic judgment. I like to think that I've helped open people's minds to using multiple images in conveying a message, funny or serious.

What I particularly want to say, though, is to thank and
congratulate you for getting your Challenge under way so promptly
and mercurially:

• Preliminary announcement of the new theme only 21 minutes after
the C94 results were posted;

• Full Challenge 95 info thread posted only an hour and a quarter
after that!

Obviously not all incoming hosts will be in a position -- chiefly
because of time zone differences -- to emulate that stellar
performance, but you surely set a shining example for all to
regard! Thank you on everyone's behalf.

Cheers, John ... now enjoy the break!

Praise from you is praise indeed!!

--
Mike
Melbourne

John

--
After all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

 

[Fremiet161702]

Thanks Bottles....I just noticed that I did not leave a comment on your heavenly car! I love it and will leave a comment post challenge.
--
After all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

 

[Katherine Kenison]

ny

 

[Fremiet161702]

Three cheers (and more) for John.

As many as you want....I love it!!

His encouragement and, especially

his comments and analysis of the images were so very inspiring. I'm
sure many of us would have been reluctant to submit images of this
genre had we not been able to count on positive and constructive
feedback from the challenge host. John, you sure changed my view of
"constructed" and surreal kinds of images. It's fun and creative to
do these.

....and THAT Jerry make the whole effort worthwhile. Thank you my friend!!

John, you have left very big shoes for future challenge hosts to fill.

Awwwww.....

Thank you!
--
-Jerry

John

After all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

 

[odigi]

It sure didn't take you long to figure out this Dreaming-stuff. Heh.... you did good. REAL good. I had a wonderful time working with you-- thanks so much for the opportunity!!

Nancy