November 2008 votes

[Gruditch]

This thread is here to allow you to cast your votes for the November 08 competition. See entries at gallery's, photo competition, November 2008. Voting closes on the 20TH.

You need to be registered and logged into the forums, where you'll be able to cast your votes for your three favourites. Once you've voted, that's it!

Please note : Any self votes will be removed !.

Gruditch

[Gruditch]

Congratulations to winners Fishiee 1st, Kipper 2nd, and Paul 3rd.

Some very high quality images, well done guys.



Gruditch

[Denise]

Congratulations to the very worthy winners. All excellent photo's.

This time around I voted for 1st Sussex Kipper. Not only a superb photo, but your passion for P.E's really shows Neil. I am looking forward to spending some time in your area with you next year. 2nd, Paul. That capture of a Brown Hairstreak was amazing. How on earth did you find it? 3rd was Antonym, likewise, the capture of a WLH (and second instar at that) was brilliant. I was surprised that you didn't get more votes. I also really liked Charles Nicol and Fishiee amongst others, but I only have 3 votes.

I love the winter competitions. Last year was my first, and I was totally unprepared, but this year I have looked harder for better photo opportunities, which in turn has led me to learn more about butterflies, and give me even more enjoyment. The standard of the competitions has become very high, which leads me to believe that we all get a lot out of them.

I would like to thank the 4 people that voted for me. Cheers guys, and well done to all that took part.

Denise

[Neil Hulme]

Thanks Denise, Gary and anyone that voted for my Purple Emperor chrysalis - well worth the several hours searching! Congratulations to the other 'winners'. Giving someone of John's calibre a close run is very satisfying! Some other great shots in there. It says something about the quality of entries when people can make photographs of butterfly eggs look interesting!
Neil

[Paul]

First & second worthy winners, got my votes! Well done everyone who entered, echo the above regarding these comps... some super studies indeed & some things I've never seen!

[eccles]

Congrats from me also. My preferences differed slightly, with Fishiee, Paul and Geniculata taking my three votes. I couldn't resist the exuberant colours of the sycamore moth larva.

[Denise]

So, who's doing the critique this month?

Denise

[Pete Eeles]

Anyone who wants to. I'll provide something when I've gotten over my "man flu"

Cheers,

- Pete

[FISHiEE]

Thanks guys for all the votes. It was a close run thing this time round. I popped in from time to time to check on the voting and Neil did pull level at one point but some kind souls game me another couple of clicks to put me at the top.

My votes went to Neil, geniculata and Pete - someone had to

I will try to do a critique, also once my man flu has passed.... and all that present wrapping is over and done with!

[Pete Eeles]

Some thoughts ...

Antonym
I've never seen one of these and am, therefore, as jealous as anything! I think it would have been good to have included all of the elm flowers without the crop, if possible, to see the subject in context of its environment and, at the same time, probably have offset the larva from being dead centre in the image. I also assume the photo was taken pointing toward a rather grey sky and it may have been better, if possible, to have take it with a darker background (foliage, bark etc.).

Charles Nicol
A classic Peacock larva shot - and well done for getting a group together like this. Whenever I see final instar larvae like this they're normally spread out! A few comments - first off, I think the photo looks a little pale. Also, while the composition is OK, the annoying leaf at the bottom is ... annoying ... since it slices one of the larvae in half! Also, I personally find the larvae being cropped at the photo edged a little distracting.

Dave McCormick
Nice shot Dave and this is probably one of the few occasions where a black background actually helps! The only thing I'm not sure about is what the larva is feeding on! It doesn't look like Garlic Mustard or Cuckooflower to me! Also - I think a little more depth of field would have helped (there are large areas of the photo that are out of focus).

Deano
Nice shot in a classic pose! The only niggle I have with this shot is the colours. In general the whole photo looks a little on the dark side and under-saturated.

Denise
Lovely shot - and nicely executed. You must have enjoying watching that Swallowtail lay! The ova are a little soft, but I think the composition is good. Portrait mode may have worked a little better - showing more of the plant stem.

FISHiEE
Brilliant - as ever - and great colours and composition. Nothing else to say

Keith Woonton
Very nice shot, and nicely composed along the diagonal. The crop is a little tight for my liking - I like to see more of the environment typically. Must be old age.

Markulous
This photo certainly has nice colours, with the larvae shown in a classic pose. Conventional wisdom would say that the heads of the larvae should be visible and in focus - unfortunately, your shot doesn't have that. It's therefore difficult to know what the eye is supposed to focus on and, as such, comes across as "several larvae" on "several ragwort flowerheads". I wonder if the show would have been better taken in portrait mode, since this allows you to capture both the larvae and their environment (the top of a ragwort plant).

NickB
Very nice shot without any distracting background clutter (I think I like the other seedpod in the background!). The only minor niggle is that the larva isn't completely in focus (its rear end is a little soft). Other than that, nice composition and nice colours.

Paul
One of the best camouflage shots I've seen in ages - well done! I also like the backlighting on the leaf on the right since this accentuates the camouflage on the larva. A only comment on a photographic note is that the leaf that is obscuring the larva's head is really distracting. I'm neutral regarding the black background, the fact that the larva is smack in the centre of the photo, and the symmetry of the two leaves - since I think they all tend to work together (for a change!).

Shirley Roulston
Certainly an unusual shot - so well done for trying something different. I think your entries would look better if you entered larger images since it's hard to make out any real detail in a shot this small (you can go up to 800 x 800). I also think that taking the shot a little lower down would have allowed us to see more of the subject.

Susie
Well done for entering a shot of an egg and for getting it in focus! I think this is a pretty good shot. My only recommendation, given that you've tried to show the egg in its environment (in the fork of a blackthorn branch) is to have taken the shot "side on" so that you see the fork more clearly.

Sussex Kipper
Nice shot of a very rare subject! The only comment is that the subject fills the frame and it might have looked better showing more of its surroundings, which would provide a better appreciation of just how well camouflaged these pupae are!

Sylvia Godfrey
A nice colourful subject that also has some behaviour about it! I would have like the head a little more in focus and the hairs at the top of the shot that get cropped are a little distracting.

eccles
I bet you had fun trying to get this in focus since you can see the movement of the grass step on some of the hairs! All in all - a pretty good photo and I like the sky being used as a background. The only niggle is that the subject is bang in the middle of the shot, and it may have looked better with more of the grass stem in the shot.

geniculata
I'm wondering if it's possible to take a poor shot of a Sycamore Moth larva Beautiful subject and a beautiful photo. It's even smiling for the camera

johnb
Nice composition, colours and lighting. The only distractions are the fact that some of the hairs are cropped at the photo edges, and the white area to the left of the photo spoils the contrast.

m_galathea
Nice composition and true colours. Unforunately, the head looks a little out of focus to me. I think this could be corrected with either a greater depth of field or by taking a shot at right angles to the subject.

Cheers,

- Pete

[Charles Nicol]

Well done to everyone who entered; especially the winners Fishiee, Kipper & Paul.

Thanks for the constructive comments on my peacock caterpillars Pete !!

I am delighted to have tied with the gorgeous Denise

Merry Christmas to you all


Charles

[Denise]

I am delighted to have tied with the gorgeous Denise


Charles

I don't know if your referring to photo's or myself, but I'll except either.
Thank you Charles, you can be my new best friend.

Denise

[Deano]

Hi Pete
Thank you for your constructive comments on my Privet Hawk larva photo!
Best regards
Deano

[Susie]

Thanks for your critique, Pete, again you are too kind. I was just glad to upload a photo.

Did everyone know that I had brown hairstreak eggs?

[Dave McCormick]

Dave McCormick
Nice shot Dave and this is probably one of the few occasions where a black background actually helps! The only thing I'm not sure about is what the larva is feeding on! It doesn't look like Garlic Mustard or Cuckooflower to me! Also - I think a little more depth of field would have helped (there are large areas of the photo that are out of focus).

Thanks for comment Pete! This one was feeding on some sort of wild brassicae I found, possibly some type of wild mustard or a form or wild cabbage. The area the orange tips were in was being destroyed so I saved the caterpillars. I am trying to work out how to get great closeups and I think the depth of field should be a little bigger, I'll keep practising.

As for winners Fishiee, Kipper & Paul, nice shots. Always good to see what comes up in these themed competitions.

[NickB]

As usual Pete, nothing much gets past your eagle eye! (Indeed a touch soft - dof as Dave says is very shallow and unless you are at just the right angle the whole image may not be sharp enough...)
(And it just goes to show that this comp has some of the toughest judges around! My fiancee says it doesn't matter if all of the subject is not in focus; but we know different, for the comps, at least!)
Fantastic shots from the winners!
(And, really Susie, you've got Brown Hairstreak eggs have you?! Why didn't you let us all know before )
Have a good New Year!
N