Guess who won all the ribbons, again...

[Pea-n-Me]

Some of you might remember the story about the last time I entered a local photography contest. I had a picture I'd been wanting to enter - for years - and finally did. I was sure it would win given that it's what I consider my best picture ever. For fun, my DH, DS11 and DD11 entered pictures, too. You know the rest - my son's won and mine didn't.


This year, we tried again. I entered a bunch, my DS entered three, and my DD entered two (some of which you've seen posted here and there).

The day came to find out the winners. I took my time looking at everyone's beautiful work. Slowly, I saw every one of mine - ribbonless, LOL.

I came across my DS's. Yup, first one's got a ribbon. There's the second one, with a nice blue ribbon, first place. Oh yeh, there's his third, with another ribbon. All of em. Little bugger...


I found DD's first picture up on the wall, no ribbon. (Uh oh. This has the potential to not be pretty.) Looking around for her second picture, it's nowhere to be found. I search for several minutes, still nothing. Until I spot a box of broken framed pictures labeled "unhangable". Oh no, there it is, broken. I'm imagining the tears. So I reach down and pull it out, and it has a nice red ribbon on it, second place. (I suspect it would have won first if I didn't amputate her bird's feet when I developed and framed it, kind of kicking myself there as I meant to fix it but ran out of time.) DH fixes the frame and we hang it on the wall just in time for her to see it. Good for her, her first win!

I'm still waiting. Good thing I've won a few here or I'd be completely downtrodden.

So there you have it. My kids' pictures are officially better than mine.

[Amy]

Ah Linda, we still love you! But look at it this way: where did your kids learn their photography skills? From you, of course! I don't think anything is more complimentary to a teacher than to have her students excel and be better than the teacher!

[waytoomanywebkinz]

if it makes you feel any better, I bet you have more competition than the kids do - there are probably lots more adults entering than children....... LOL! We'd love to see the pics!

[NateNLogansDad]

Originally Posted by waytoomanywebkinz

if it makes you feel any better, I bet you have more competition than the kids do - there are probably lots more adults entering than children....... LOL! We'd love to see the pics!

Can we see a comparison?

[wenrob]

Originally Posted by Amy

Ah Linda, we still love you! But look at it this way: where did your kids learn their photography skills? From you, of course! I don't think anything is more complimentary to a teacher than to have her students excel and be better than the teacher!

Agreed! And I want to see their pics!

[Pea-n-Me]

Originally Posted by Amy

look at it this way: where did your kids learn their photography skills? From you, of course! I don't think anything is more complimentary to a teacher than to have her students excel and be better than the teacher!

A lady I got talking to there mentioned the same thing. Could be true.

Originally Posted by waytoomanywebkinz

I bet you have more competition than the kids do - there are probably lots more adults entering than children....... LOL

Also true. And some of the adult entries were amazing, absolutely.

I find it interesting to see what judges look for. Of course, it's all very subjective. Last time, we met (that year's) judge and got talking to him about how he chooses. Pictures are judged against like pictures in both adult and junior categories. And things like framing count. In looking at this year's winners, a lot seemed to be spontaneous, not posed. That seemed to be more important (to this year's judge) than things that I strive for when I'm taking pictures, like clarity and color, composition, etc. (Some of the winners were blurry... ) So who knows. (I wonder if there's a lesson in there somewhere? )

But anyway, it's all in good fun and it's something we all enjoy doing as a family. The biggest problem for me is that now I have to put up with their razzing for a whole year.

[Pea-n-Me]

We'd love to see the pics!

Can we see a comparison?

I want to see their pics!

Sure!

DS's

First Place, taken in our yard with my Olympus dSLR, framed in a mauve colored wainscot frame.



Honorable Mention, taken at CBR with Olympus, framed in a plain oak wooden frame.



Honorable Mention, taken at AK with my broken S3 IS (which spontaneously takes B&W pictures ), framed in a black frame.



(These ones have my watermark because I posted them in my TR.)


DD's

Second Place, taken in our yard last winter with my old HP 3.1MP camera and cropped, framed in a three dimensional wood and glass frame (which broke, and some of the bird's legs were cut off when finished).

I really like this picture. There were about 30 pictures in the series, and this was the only one where the bird was looking at her - I think it must have been getting annoyed.

[Pea-n-Me]

Originally Posted by waytoomanywebkinz

if it makes you feel any better, I bet you have more competition than the kids do - there are probably lots more adults entering than children....... LOL! We'd love to see the pics!

Originally Posted by NateNLogansDad

Can we see a comparison?

I think you meant you wanted to see some of mine in comparison? Sure. You may have seen some of these posted here this year. The first three were taken with my new favorite lens, the Sigma 25mm f/1.8 - wide open. (I still crack up over Jeff/Gdad's analysis of the french fry shot on the Sigma thread. )







This is of my dog, taken with my 18-180 f/3.5. My DH picked out the frame for this - beige speckled mat with black frame. Really beautiful. It's going up on my wall at home with some of my other favorite dog pictures. It really captures the essence of who she is. The funny part was that that day, I'd taken some "official" pictures of her for her 5th bday. When I was done, I put her in the car to leave, and found her waiting for me like this, as usual, so I unpacked the camera and fired off a few shots. It's one of the best ones I have of her as an adult.



These were taken earlier this year and last fall with my kit lenses

From AK



Frigid New Year's Dip



Koi Pond - this was framed in a gold filigreed frame. I have to find a good spot for it in my house.

[hjd0411]

Linda - they are all fabulous! You are a very talented family!
I love the shot of your dog - but I'm not in any way biased, of course!!!
She is a beautiful shepherd!
Thanks for sharing.
Oh, and by the way - photos of hot chips are not good for me sticking to my diet...!!!!!

[Amy]

Well, I think they're ALL awesome photos! Quite a talented family you've got.

[kaffinito]

Very nice shots! I think it's great that your kids are doing so well in photography.

Your koi pond shot is really lovely - I always have a hard time getting the fish in clumps.

[NateNLogansDad]

Very nice pictures! The contest must have been fixed! I'm calling it a conspiracy! Really though, that's great how the kids are into pictures almost as much as you. My wife and I are thinking about getting some cheap cameras for the kids for Christmas. Granted they are still young (3&5) but they love using my P&S to take pictures of each other. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to swap lenses with one of them!

[Pea-n-Me]

Thank you!

Yes, we all enjoy it. Sometimes we're all off in different directions taking pictures. Myself and DS probably like it the most. I take the most pictures by far, though.

It's really a fun hobby for kids to get into, in general.