August 2011 competition

[Gruditch]

To enter the competition, please post a single image, taken within the month of August 2011 (1 post per member) as follows:

- Click on the "Gallery" link and then open the " August 2011" album
- Click the "NEWIMAGE" button
- Follow the instructions to upload a single image

To view the entries:

- Click on the "Gallery" link and then open the "August 2011" album

You'll be able to edit or delete your entry until 5th September. To do this:

- Select the "Moderate" link at the bottom of the image details
- Take the appropriate action

You will be unable to rate or comment on the image until the competition has been voted on. Comments and constructive critique are very welcome thereafter.

Look forward to seeing the entries roll in , good luck !

Gruditch

[Gruditch]

VOTING IS NOW OPEN.

You have on till the 10.59pm on the 20th September to vote.

To vote, click on Comments: No comments yet under an image, then at the bottom of the page you will see Your rating: rate the image then submit.

In the interests of fair play, please try to vote.

Regards Gruditch

[Gruditch]

Congratulations to Nigel Kiteley 1st, nigpd 2nd, Bill S 3rd, ( way to go Bill ). And well done to all that entered.

Regards Gruditch

[Bill S]

Congratulations to Nigel Kiteley 1st, nigpd 2nd, Bill S 3rd, ( way to go Bill ). And well done to all that entered.

Regards Gruditch

Hi all

Thanks to all who voted for my Clouded Yellow image, it's the first time in a lot of tries that I've got on the podium so I'm well chuffed .

If anyone is interested there was a bit of a funny story behind the Clouded Yellow. Last year on holiday in France some may remember that I wrecked my 150 macro after a bit of a tumble whilst out on a walk. So later in the holiday I only had a 70-200 when I spotted a couple of species which I'd really enjoyed seeing for the first time, Queen of Spain and Sooty Copper. This year I'd hoped to get some nice shots of these but we had to book late and didn't get a lot of choice over where to stay. It turned out to be an area less good for butterflies, much more intensive farming (maize, sunflowers and tobacco) and the local diversity wasn't all that impressive. Or maybe the funny year we had was mimicked in Lot/Garrone so certain species had been and gone, I dunno.

Anyway, I was out trying to get a Fritillary which I'd spotted in a local flower meadow but all around where we were staying there were hand written signs on the land next to the road. My French is not brilliant so I thought they must be some sort of trespasser warning. That made me a bit reluctant to stray too far onto the meadow in case I got into trouble. So at about 6 o clock in the evening I was just going to give up waiting for the temperature to dissipate (still probably 20-23 C) when a handful of clouded yellows started settling for a little longer. Just then a local came by on a bike and said something to me about photographers. I thought he was warning me to stay off the land. But the butterfly in the picture landed on a species of knapweed and it was positioned just right to get a nice shot, but a fair way from the road. So I got the camera ready to go, tripod legs splayed out with the camera set to right height etc, dashed into the meadow after checking no-one was around hoping that I wouldn't disturb the nectaring yellow, plonked the tripod down and started snapping. It was a really quick effort and I was back in the road in about 2 mins.

So when I able to check the roadsigns I found out that they were warnings that the land is used to hunt pigeons. So I think the chap on the bike had been saying that it's ok to go onto the land, that they don't hunt photographers...

Some great photos this month, Nigel's Sooty Copper was my personal favourite.

Cheers

Bill

[The Annoying Czech]

As usual, I'm highly disappointed

But no worry, I'll try to finish on the podium in September. That would be as epic as Ayrton Senna finished on the podium in Monaco 1985 Grand Prix with similarly cheap technology

[Nigel Kiteley]

A big thankyou to everyone who voted for my Sooty Copper, i'm really chuffed to have won.

I actually thought Bill's Clouded Yellow or nigpd's Chalkhill Blues would have grabbed top spot. These were my two favourites along with Philib's Brown Hairstreak and FISHEE'S Chalkhill Blue, although i must say that the standard in general was very high as has been the case over the psat few months.

Thankyou again.

Nigel.

[David M]

A big thankyou to everyone who voted for my Sooty Copper, i'm really chuffed to have won.

I actually thought Bill's Clouded Yellow or nigpd's Chalkhill Blues would have grabbed top spot. These were my two favourites along with Philib's Brown Hairstreak and FISHEE'S Chalkhill Blue, although i must say that the standard in general was very high as has been the case over the psat few months.

I kind of agree, though that doesn't diminish the 'sunset Sooty Copper' in any way.

I reckoned the Clouded Yellow would win the prize, due simply to its breathtaking level of detail. 2nd place was a toss up between Nigel's Copper and the two Chalkhill Blues.

How do you all get photographs of such clarity and intensity of detail?

[nigpd]

Thanks to everyone that voted for me in August's comp. I was pipped at the post by a very worthy winner, so well done Nigel (must be something to do with the name this month!)

I was even more pleased with a podium finish after planning the shot meticulously ahead of time. I was on holiday for a couple of days on the IOW and knew that it would be a very good opportunity to my first shot of a chalkhill blue. I was up before dawn and on Culver Down just as the sun rose and spilled its morning light on the east facing slope I was on. I spotted this pair roosting and set up my tripod and 7D with 100mm macro L IS with the light just coming over my shoulder as I crouched down.

It was then just a waiting game for the chaps to warm up. Plenty of time to check and recheck camera settings, focus, composition and stuff. It seemed like ages but then the magic
happened and I snapped away as wings were opened in response to the warming sun. In just a few minutes they were off and away.

The early bird really does catch the worm

Thanks once again

Nigel

[Ian Pratt]

Great winning photos as always- well done to the top three photographers.
My favourite butterfly is the small tortoiseshell because of the lovely colours especially the blue edging to the wings. So I was a bit disappointed with my low score as I was trying to do something different by emphasizing the blue colour around the wings. Obviously people don't like half a butterfly in the photograph!
I did submit some photos to the Nature group of the Royal Photographic Society for last year's annual exhibition and had the attached chalkhill blue selected.
Has anyone else had experience of the RPS, either good or bad?

[Charles Nicol]

Well done to all the entrants.
I enjoyed reading Bill's account of the Clouded Yellow.
If you see a sign saying Piège on no account enter the field/orchard/vineyard... the owner has set traps for trespassers

[Goldie M]

Well done to the winners,1st 2nd and 3ard I think I'm finally getting the idea, it does seem better pic's are taken with a tripod according to the the winners. That puts me and my happy snapper Nikon p90 out of it ' still ' press on regardless Goldie M