Saturday, January 29, 2011

WINNERS OF LOST


First Place
Despair by Patti Wheeler
"This appears to be Patti Wheeler’s first win which surprised me. Always good to have new winners to give the rest of us hope," Brian Crossland, Admin
 
Equal Second Place

Lost and found in Oregon by Shekinah Rae


Silent Lucidity by G Michael Le Roy
 

Third Place
Taps by Terry Atkin Rowe


Best of Theme picked by David Blose

Lost Books and Lost Travelers found here by Lea Miche
 
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From David Blose:

First off, I want to let you all know how much I loved seeing your interpretations of "Lost". From the literal, the social statements, the out-of-the-box ideas! For a person new to the group, I was happy to see so much creativity.

I chose Lea's picture for best of theme. Firstly, it's beautifully photographed. The colors give the feeling of old and maybe forgotten as well. I really liked the focus being on the pictures on the wall, but still letting me have a peek around the corner and seeing what else is there lost, waiting to be discovered.

Secondly, this pic works on a Lost interpretation on several levels, and Lea alluded to such in the title. The photos on the wall, the old books, the building all bring to mind a time gone by. And then there's those who might find themselves in such a place. Would they be folks who are traveling, who got lost, or are they treasure hunters looking for that one item that they are missing.

Overall, this pic just worked for me. Congrats to everyone for a great experience!!!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Winners of It's All New

First Place
Spooning by Eagle Finegan

Second Place
Bottle by Brian Crossland

Third Place
Cold Night by Anthony Greco

Best of Theme picked by Terry Atkin Rowe:
"Busting down to one it has to be Eagle Finegan's Spooning. Her execution is clean and focused. She met the theme spot on by taking risks: a new photo and a new technique."

Spooning by Eagle Finegan

There is a lot of work in being an admin of Picture Picks on Facebook, and a lot of it thankless and invisible.  I was reminded by Brian Crossland and Catherine SweetPotatoe, my two hardworking and inspiring partners in this venture, that Picture Picks is not about how many times you win or how many votes your pictures receive, but about the journey and trying to learn from what we see and expand our skills a little. And I want to quote Brian because he speaks for me too: "This weeks results have both surprised and heartened me. I thought the group was conservative in nature preferring what they know but the votes show an appreciation by the group for people who are trying to push their abilities given the opportunity."

Brian won a second this week by pushing his abilities. And Eagle won another first, but by playing outside her safe space. This is Eagle’s fifth win and she should provide an inspiration for us all. She is constantly taking photos and looking for new ways to improve her technical and artistic skills. PicturePicks is about getting out there with your camera but also about looking critically at your photos and your skills, as well as the photos of others in the group. BTW I totally missed the point of this theme and learned a lot from my mates.

J. Binford-Bell, Picture Picks co-founder and admin

Saturday, January 15, 2011

WINNERS OF MUSIC


First Place
Piano Lesson by David Blose
Second Place
Rockin street band in Rome, Italy by G Michael Le Roy
Third Place
The Harpist by Fran Barekis Pulli

Best of Theme

Lea Miche chose Best of Theme and shared this about her selection:
"This photograph nicely expresses 'music', and is simultaneously a surprisingly unexpected interpretation of the theme: the idea of portraying the action/hammers/strings, as well as the angle chosen, the focus, the colour, the lighting, make for a superb photograph. And also reminds me of sitting at a particular grand piano many years ago - I can almost hear it whilst viewing. I think that this photograph would look great as a framed print - it's a really beautiful image, imaginative and clever in its composition as well as its choice of subject."

"Hammered" by Melissa Painter Lincoln.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

WINNERS OF ORDINARY THINGS

 Picture Picks opened 2011 with the event Ordinary Things. The 27 photos posted to this event were definitely more than ordinary. Congrats to all participants to a great first event of the year.

 FIRST PLACE
Sink by Terry Atkin Rowe


SECOND PLACE
Crayons by Monica Griffey

THIRD PLACE TIE
Creation by Patti Wheeler
 
  
Keys to the Kingdom by Brian Crossland

Lawn Ornament by Jacqui Binford-Bell

BEST OF THEME
Kitchen Stuff by Fran Bareikis Pulli

Best of Theme was chosen this week by Terry Atkin Rowe:

This picture of ordinary kitchen utensils speaks to me, makes me wonder about the hands that have used them, the meals they were used to prepare, and the conversations that were held over those meals. Ordinary becomes extraordinary because of the photographer's vision. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

WINNER OF THE PICK OF 2010

Picture Picks ended the year with an opportunity for our members to choose the best photograph of all the first place winners of events for 2010. The photos were posted without the photographer's name and comments were suspended except for votes. And the winner is "Whakarewarewa Thermal Area" by Jacqui Brown.

"Whakarewarewa Thermal Area" by Jacqui Brown
 The wonderful thing about this extraordinary event was the collection of great photographs taken by our members that made choosing one among them all very difficult. And so begins a new year. The event Ordinary Things is still in the photo posting part of the contest. Look for the results of that first 2011 event here this weekend.