I had hoped to have a winner picked for the Keck Photo Contest by now—I had promised the donor of the Hawaiian condo I'd have a name for him by yesterday. And I'm almost there, I really am...
...But people have made it really hard for me. First of all, there were lots of entries. And never have I been involved with any sort of a contest with such high quality entries. The initial sort was a broad "No/Maybe" pass, and the "maybe" pile was higher than the "no" pile! That's never remotely happened before. With every contest I've ever run or judged, and there have been a number, I would say the typical proportion that make it through the initial pass is 1/7 or 1/8. Not this time.
Some people sent three carefully selected pictures that work beautifully together; some sent very well-made prints; L.R. Jasper should teach all of us how prints should be presented; and most of all there are just some wonderful pictures. I could pick three that "go together" beautifully in each of several different genres. I even have to eat some very recent words (written to Moose) because David Boyce sent a print that is almost purely a rectangle of brilliant blue, with just a bit of variation, and I have to admit it really works as a print.
And some of the prints in the "no" pile are very successful, even outstanding photographs...the only problem with them being they're not particularly suitable for a print sale. They're certainly not "rejects" in the conventional sense.
So...I'm trying, I really am. But this is hard.
I'll have a decision soon.
Mike
Original contents copyright 2015 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
No featured comments yet—please check back soon!
The fun part for you is: that only your eyes get to see the total submissions for the contest. It would make for an interesting display somewhere. Enjoy the lonely work :-)
Posted by: Mathew Hargreaves | Tuesday, 24 February 2015 at 09:42 PM
Mike, given the high quality of photo contest entries, you will inevitably discard some worthy photos. Would you consider displaying the top photos from your "reject" pile?
Posted by: Alexander Tsao | Wednesday, 25 February 2015 at 10:33 AM
Mike, given that you will inevitably discard many worthy photos, would you consider displaying the top photos from the reject pile?
Posted by: Alexander Tsao | Wednesday, 25 February 2015 at 02:37 PM
Pleased you liked the image. :-)
As an aside, that particular photograph can never be made again. The wall it is taken from has gone, in that I mean someone has repaired and repainted it ... I had been meaning to go back and take some more photographs of it. I have three from the time I found it. Let this be a lesson, procrastination etc.
Posted by: David Boyce | Thursday, 26 February 2015 at 01:07 AM