*** COMMENT THREAD for the June photo contest. Theme: Skies

[HappyCynic]

Comment on the photos being submitted here.

[CC]

1. Pictures are looking good

so far. I made you host. Should of done it sooner and sorry it took my this long. I also pinned both contest threads after having to search myself. You now have the powers to pin and unpin, lock in the group.

[HappyCynic]

2. Fantastic entries so far. 10 more slots open.

Thanks for making me host. To be honest, I had forgotten about the new host system so it didn't occur to me at all. (And thanks for pinning the threads.)

All the entries so far are fantastic and I'm glad I don't have to compete against them.

To all those who have not entered yet, there are 10 slots left - 2 replies are non-entries. I know there are other great photos (and photographers) out there so enter your photo before all the slots fill up.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Did you get my PM?

Hopefully you did...



On edit: I just checked, and you did! Thanks! I should have looked at the thread before posting!

[Celebration]

4. to show that it is possible to discuss photos without knowing the photographers

and, I actually love not knowing who submitted what.............

First of all, I love the theme, and from the very first submission I knew we were going to get wonderful variations of the theme, and we did. I try my best to get decent sky pictures all the time, but just as with birds, skies don't always cooperate! I love that great photos aren't always available for skies, that they capture the moment more than most types of photos.

I am going by memory here, but I love every single sun ray photo and might have submitted one myself, YOU will never know, LOL. Good chance I didn't as well, because, well, some of these look awfully wonderful, and I definitely was spooked against some of my possibilities by some entries. In fact, I am pretty intimidated by a lot of these entries.

Besides sun rays, I love the idea of a photo capturing not one, but two good elements, and to have one cumulous cloud and with it the
moon, well, I love cumulous clouds--they are awsome! Then there are the semi-abstract ones. I happen to love photos where you have to glance a second time to orient yourself, and there are a couple here that fit that category well, including one that I most likely will vote for no matter what the competition in the prelims...................did I give you a hint? Well that is all I am giving you. I am not predicting a winner because it is rare that my vote goes to the winner anyway.

There is a negative space photo in the group that I find extremely interesting and compelling, I won't name names and as you can see I am keeping the title anonymous as well as the photographer.

Kudos to Happy Cynic to picking a wonderful theme. I am very unsure about my own entry. Even though I love the category and am always looking for sky pictures, I didn't seem to have any that begged to be entered, particularly when compared to the ones presented here. Sky pictures uplift me. I feel better about the world after viewing all these sky photos. So thanks to everybody that has submitted a photo.

[Mira]

5. This was fun to read - thanks for taking the time to write it

As I know about you that you do not like personalized commentary and like to restrict yourself to the photography at hand, I smiled all the way through your note;
you all but walked a gauntlet in the anonymity, in a way, and did it really nicely.

[Celebration]

6. I like mystery and surprise

Anonymous entries are full of mystery. There is only one entry where I feel sure who the photographer is. I won't say what and why. I think we have outstanding entries here.

[Mira]

7. I like Mystery and Surprise too - but not if it remains so when it's over.

In the past when we had a contest of blind entries, we did it voluntarily for a test, and at the end, we ended up knowing the names of the top winners, and the rest went into oblivion never to be revealed.
We also, generally decided we did not like blind entries.
This is according to my memory.

I think having 27 entries we don't know whose they were is wrong because it diminishes our group work and personal fun interaction. The involvement with each other and our work has changed dramatically in this part of our contests; it is one more way we lose out. This comment thread used to have us popping and involved and excited, now, except for your nice personal musings about how much you like the sky in general and some photos you like but can't be specific about, it is dead.

We are now pretty much forced to do blind entries to offset the non-blind voting which is additional work for the host, I've hosted a goodly number of the contests, and don't WANT to do a blind entry one. So what do I do? Enter a photo I don't think will win, or don't enter, or of course I could shut up and disappear.
I see a lot of us, including some who were verbal about disliking the changes, simply bending over and adapting rather than asking for consideration. It could be easily achieved to make it the option of the host to have the votes secret; yet we don't get a hearing on it and are ignored.
Maybe it is because we have not gathered and made a formal request, maybe we don't really care enough to bother and making the best of what we get is easier.

I could go on about all the ways how all of this reaches into our group with big changes, not a single one with consideration of us in mind or positive for the photo group, and every one makes coming to the group at contest time and contributing less attractive to me and some others. And contest time is a big part of what we do.

I may rear my head again about it, but I quit now and stop this. It's unfair as a response to your being happy about the beauty of the entries and their mystery.
They ARE beautiful and they ARE mysterious.

[Celebration]

8. your reply is fine with me, REALLY

You do not have to run a blind contest if you win. Last month we didn't have one and everyone came through it unscathed. It is host's choice! So continue to submit your best photos, please. None of the rest of us want to win all that much either, I assure you.

I'm not sure why people aren't commenting not knowing the photographers. As you know, I rarely commented on the photos anyway. But people are welcome to comment on the photos here, and in detail, as far as I know. I didn't do it in detail because I didn't choose to, but I didn't feel that it was necessary because of the format of the contest. I was trying to be a bit mysterious.

I just think people here are busy and don't have time to make a lot of comments. We had some of the chattier members of the group kind of drop out.

And for the record, I wish the polls were blinded too. I am with you on that!

I think I'll start a "what didn't you submit" thread and see where that goes. Either people will put a photo in it or they won't......it won't bother me either way.

[Mira]

9. I am not being contentious with YOU

I'm contentious to the max about not liking the changes and how they are affecting something I have really enjoyed: our contests.

I've won a few contests over the years just with my photos. I also volunteered, and helped out with running contests, I became pretty seasoned at it. I did not mind, I had fun doing it. That was then. This is now.
Yes, I would absolutely mind running a contest now, no matter how it came about. Even if I chose non-blind submissions which is what prompted my comments about not knowing what to do exactly.

What I was pointing out, or attempting to, is that it's all different now, like ripples of a rock in the water.

Do you have any feelings about that we don't know 27 of the entrants, ever?
Just curious.

[Celebration]

10. Might be fun to unblind everyone at the end

a bit of extra work for the host, but I think it's a good idea.

[Mira]

11. Thanks for your opinion.

The unblinding will help a little, but it does not undo the loss on the front end of where we do our discussions, our "help me chose" threads, and experience our basic anticipation of the contest. Yes the host has additional burdens with that, but necessary for a full rounded contest IMO.

[Celebration]

12. well, we need to adjust to the new normal

And for better or worse, the polls are what they are.

My husband keeps quoting Satchel Paige--"Don't look back, someone might be gaining on you."

[Mira]

13. My temperament and my lack of maturity do not allow

such an unquestioning acceptance of things that I think I can try to change.
But one can give up, and I'm close.
About the "gaining on you quote". Yeah, of course they are. Especially if you stop striving.

I'll go with this quote, I ran across it recently and it spoke to me immediately
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
― Wayne W. Dyer

Here's hoping.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. I may be in the minority,

but personally I love the blind entries. We can identify our pictures afterwards and talk about them if we want to, but I really like the anonymity (even if I'm pretty sure Celebration knows which pictures belongs to me).

[Solly Mack]

14. Wonderful, wonderful photos! Truly inspired photos!!

Love, love the negative space shot!!! Kudos to the mystery photographer!!!


Thank you for all your hard work, HappyCynic!!

[alfredo]

15. I like that one too.

[Solly Mack]

16. I keep going back to it.

It's just awesome.

[alfredo]

18. It's a photo I wish I had taken.

[Mira]

19. I honestly thought it might be yours n/t

[alfredo]

20. Thanks. I haven't been near an airport for over a decade.

[Richard D]

25. Me too.

Awesome shot.

[Saphire]

17. WOW...I think each and every one of these are amazing!

What a talented group we are

[Mira]

21. Just before turning in tonight I came to

carefully look the entries over again. I'm awed by them, one stunner after the other. This will be a contest to rival some of our finest. In my mind's eye I can read the comments already of folks who simply can't decide.
I'm one of them.
I can't wait for the excitement

[Richard D]

24. +1

[tabatha]

23. Out of this world photos.

Amazing.

[Mira]

26. Tomorrow we start the contest, and as usual

I made my list of my ten possible finalists ahead of time in my private poll.

Except this time, I came up with 12.
It will be a wild ride.
Can't wait.