February 2009, votes

[Gruditch]

This thread is here to allow you to cast your votes for the February 2009 competition. See entries at gallery's, photo competition, February 2009. 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 the winners, Mikhail 1ST, Geniculata 2ND, and Pete Eeles & Fishiee = third.

Well done to all that entered.

Gruditch

[Charles Nicol]

Well done everybody !!
Any idea how many were in Pete's picture ??

Charles

[Denise]

Congratulations Mikhail. Fantastic photo and got my first place vote.
Geniculata, superb shot well taken.
Fishiee and Pete as always, brilliant photos. Well deserved third places.
Well done to every one who took part.
Thanks to the 4 people who voted for me.
Denise

[Mikhail]

Thanks Denise. I was one of the 4!
Geniculata, I was particularly taken by your shot. It's quite something to get three in the plane of focus. I have been to Becton Bunny quite often. There used to be Glanville Frits there when the the Hordle Cliff colony was strong. The Wall and Grayling were also there. Do you ever see them now?


Misha

[geniculata]

Thank you denise for your kind remarks. I voted for runners up charles punchy painted lady shot which had good depth and lovely structures in the teasel with a pleasing composition, susies collection of chalkhills which i found fascinating and for first slot the wonderfully composed and detailed shot of mikhails.
Misha in reply to you in my own shot the lower copper is alittle soft but thanks for your remarks on my image. As far as butterflies in the bunny are concerned sadly the days of finding glanvilles are long gone and the last wall I found in the area was a couple of years ago between the bunny and taddiford gap, they seem to be retracting down the coast to milford. The saddest story to date is the apparent loss finally last year of the colony of grayling on barton common, members from which could be found down to the bunny and the out laying areas, it would seem the cause of which at least in good part being the persistance of the local town council to blancket mow the common every year in the last week of july or earlier, decimating all in its path just as the grayling hatch, I am currently at issue with the said body through the hampshire heathlands project and hope to finally get this regime changed this year, but i think sadly too late for the grayling, i live in hope! sorry to everyone else for turning the thread into a bit of a rant.
gary. oh I must also add a big thank you to all who voted for my pic.

[eccles]

Whoops! I forgot to vote.
Congrats to the winners nevertheless. Well deserved.
I also liked Pete's superb monarch cluster, and Shirley's pair of small whites were nicely presented too.

[Susie]

Well done to the winners. Another collection of amazing shots.

My first choice was Pete's picture. I found that just stunning. If I ever make it to heaven (which I severely doubt ) then the trees will be hanging with butterflies just like that.

[Dave McCormick]

Great pics this month, a few I did not like but a few I did. I voted first for Mikhail, coppers looked very good I also voted for geniculata Small heath and Small Copper, I liked it when I first saw it, so I had to vote for it and I finally voted for FISHiee as the pic was very clear and a good shot. As for rest (bear in mind, I am no expert on photography)

Roundwood123: Different shot than the rest with the moths, the moths are clear and I liked this shot.

Denise: Clear sharp photo of common blues, well done, another good shot.

Charles Nicol: The image was clear, but it was the way the painted ladies were sitting with their wings half closed I did not like 100%, also I felt it was a little close. Slightly further back and wings of the painted ladies more open slightly, and I might have liked it more.

eccles: Rich warm tones, nice colours on the mating gatekeepers which I liked a lot. With the background nicely blurred out and the subject in focus, it draws your attention to them, not the background.

Paul: I liked the way the small copper on the left was looking up at the other one, this is a nice shot, it lacked a little something for me, but I have no idea what it is (maybe its nothing)

sunsetoneuk: Not a great shot for me, to be honest. The blurred out grass stem through the image is a distraction and the image looks like it was shot with a digital zoom a bit, or flash. The gatekeeper does not show well, but you can tell what it is.

twitcher: This is another good image, the contrast looks a little strong IMO, the hairstreak would be nice if they looked slightly brighter, but the image is fine as it is.

geniculata: I like this one. The small heath came out well. I have yet to see two smaller species of butterflies side my side like that, usually I have only seen Nymphalids (Small Torts or Peackcoks etc...) Very nice

Keith Woonton: Was this taken with a flash? You can sort of see a slight glow of the butterflies which I did not like so much and it was a little close up, if the shot was a little further back it might have been a little better, not bad overall.

Markulous: When I first saw this, reminded me of my buddleih in my garden. It even looks like it could have been taken last year in my garden. Nice shot overall but you can only have 3 votes, one more and I would have voted for this.

Shirley Roulston: Nothing wrong with this shot, looks fine, but to me its a bit average and does not stand out much to get my vote.

m_galathea: Not sure if this works for me. The blue in the front does not look 100% sharp and I am not sure if I'd like to see another butterfly blurred out like that, but its not so bad, the meadow brown could have been somewhere else in the image and it would have been a distraction, but because its below the blue, its not so bad.

nick patel: Looked a little soft for me, and the image is not as bright as I would like it, its alright.

birdy43: I like this one too, bit grainy in background, but its a good shot.

Pete Eeles: Great shot. Not one your going to see everyday on the forums, but I like it. Hoping I see some monarchs like that in future.

NickB: I'd like this to be a little sharper and slightly brighter, other than that, its not that bad.

Susie: I like this one a lot, wish I had a voted for it. Clear, and well done. I don't think I have seen that many butterflies like that before, but betting its a nice sight to see.