View Full Version : Aquatic POTM August Discussion Thread!
paradise
08-16-2005, 2:02 AM
Hugh Bui, AquaGhost, is the newest receipient Winner of our monthly POTM.
His amazing photo, Silver Cync, was clearly the frontrunner in this competition, and made me go "AH!" the second I saw it when I was preparing the POTM contest. Congratulations, Hugh.
Bjarne's "Yawn" was a close second, even after it was cropped. It was really my error for not seeing it earlier (I found it the last day as I was preparing the contest). The photo had a border around it, and that is something we try to avoid, maybe the rules on that are not clear, but it has to be a basic capture, not a bordered portrait. Because I had cut out the border, it made the image a tad smaller. Still it was a close second and a great capture.
Here is the winner, let's discuss the competition. One note: This month we had more votes per photo than ever before, over 50 per entry, comparing to just about 30-35 for the May entries. Great job, everyone, and please remember to follow the voting guidelines.
http://aquatic-photography.com/forum/contests/0805a/06.jpg
phishphorphun
08-16-2005, 11:36 AM
Congratulations on a great capture Hugh. I thought you would run away with this one. As it turns out, Bjarne and I got a few votes too. :lol:
Lots of great photos in this contest. Good work by everyone. :-D
AquaGhost
08-16-2005, 2:06 PM
Congratulations on a great capture Hugh. I thought you would run away with this one. As it turns out, Bjarne and I got a few votes too. :lol:
Lots of great photos in this contest. Good work by everyone. :-D
Thank you Bobby! I'm very thrilled at being selected for this month. There are some really gorgeous photos that although I was hoping to "win", I did not think I would this month. I'd like to congratulate other members as well on those wonderful entries.
Now I don't seem to "hate" my pair of Silver Dollars any more. I purchased them at least 6 years ago and they have been the only reason that I could not convert my tank to a real planted tank (a 55-gal community). They would mow any kind of plants I put in there to the root, and seems to live forever...
Now their long live would mean I have more oppotunities to photograph them :-D
Cheers,
skwelch
08-16-2005, 8:36 PM
interesting result
i assume most people voted on the technical side of this photo, its very sharp and shows great detail, but to me these fish dont captivate me
i voted for the clown/anemone photo, even though it isnt completely sharp focus, the subjects and the action in the photo is much more interesting
maybe thats just my personal taste though
to me this photo was the only outstanding entry because all the other were just fish posing, side on shots
paradise
08-16-2005, 8:55 PM
This is a debate that always happens, skwelch. The reason it rates high, is because APF is a photography forum first, and a fish forum second. Technicality and clarity, focus and composition are very important to a photo here. It's not the type of fish involved, what the fish is doing, or how rare/unique that fish is. There are plenty of sites with "fish" contests, we try to promote fish Photography, so the ratings are obviously skewed that way.
There is nothing wrong with how you voted, just keep in mind that most will look at the Photograph first, then at the fish involved.
I think Hugh's photo was SPECTACULAR, honestly. It was not an easy shot to have them line up like that, It's all in focus, crisp and clear, and really shows the motion. Silver dollars are very erratic fish, hard to predict and move in weird patterns. Just because they are so "generic LFS" fish it does not take away from a Great photo.
paradise
08-16-2005, 8:58 PM
Oh, and btw, I HATE silver dollars. I used to have a few a couple of years back, and it's impossible to feed any other fish in the tank w/them. They just go nuts and eat WAY more food than the can fit, and they are so fast, that other fish dont have a chance. Oh, and the rest of the fish in the tank always act confused, because these things just keep swimming in front of them and confusing 'em. Mine grew to the size of tea plates, and I got rid of them, and was glad to see 'em go. So I know why you "hate" them, Hugh, it's quite easy to do.
Willy wombat
08-16-2005, 11:24 PM
Great shot - a deserving winner!
AquaGhost
08-17-2005, 9:13 AM
Great shot - a deserving winner!
Thanks Willy. It was really a lucky shot. As paradise said, the fishes are really erratic that you have no way of knowing where it would move in the next seconds...
hey congrats on your win. Bjarne, i liked your image as well.
Was between this one and Bjarne's image of the Nanochromis (transvestitus?). Either one would have deserved the win for this month. Both excellent captures.
squidfish
08-18-2005, 3:26 AM
Congratulations Hugh...and well deserved. A fine shot showing great exposure, composition and clarity.
cheers
Rich
jusophine
08-18-2005, 4:48 AM
I'm afraid I have to fall in with Swelch on this one, I thought the clown/anemone shot was oustanding. Sometimes technical brilliance is um......well dare I say a little boring. I am interested in the 'art' of photography and subject and composition are what makes a great shot for me. Perhaps I just assume a great shot will also be technically good though.
For me the winner was outstanding, but the most appealing shot was the clown/anemone. It has a magical quality to it and amazing colours.
Just my opinion, and a big congratulations to the winners.
AquaGhost
08-18-2005, 9:20 AM
I agree with this too, although I really thought that Bjarne's or Bobby's picture would win from the superior pose and image clarity of those beautiful species.
The clown/anemone pic has a beautiful composition or combination of the 2 subjects. The blue/purple from the tips of the anemone just give amazing effect to the image... IMHO, the picture would have been perfect if the face of the clown can be shown just a tiny, wee bit more. Cheers.
phishphorphun
08-18-2005, 1:00 PM
IMO Hugh's capture was the clear winner here. I was surprised he didn't have a bigger margin of victory. After all, this is a photography site. Technical skills and difficulty of making the capture have to score higher than artistic poses or sharp profiles. Bjarne's shot was an excellent capture as well, but I don't think it could outscore Hugh's...maybe in another contest that didn't include the silver dollar shot. As for mine, totally surprised it scored ahead of the clown/anemone shot here. Even though the same photo came in first place on the CF site this month, I would never have dreamed it would score higher than fifth here.
The best photo entry won here.
JerseyJay
08-18-2005, 1:14 PM
The best photo entry won here.
Bobby,
Really ???
Are you saying best photo ever since Contest #1 or only this contest ?
I guess we will resolve this "issue" at the end of the year when we have Picture Of The Year.
In my humble opinion, it is a great photograph but not #1 in this contest.
phishphorphun
08-18-2005, 1:16 PM
Bobby,
Really ???
Are you saying best photo ever since Contest #1 or only this contest ?
I guess we will resolve this "issue" at the end of the year when we have Picture Of The Year.
In my humble opinion, it is a great photograph but not #1 in this contest.
I'm saying that Hugh's entry was the best photo in this contest (August ) and deserved the win.
AquaGhost
08-18-2005, 2:34 PM
Bobby,
Congratulation on your winning of the CF POTM!
It's another really tough contest with excellent entries from everybody. I once entered it and not even made it to the "finalist to be competed" list!
I think my winning here this month was very lucky. Yes, the picture is good and I like it enough to enter it here, but there are so many other beautiful entries, and from the group of hobbyists that create consistently high quality pictures too.
I got a lot of works to do on my "consistency". Cheers,
Hugh
paradise
08-18-2005, 3:10 PM
Hugh, that "other" contest you are talking about is known for inconsistency in the way the photos are accepted. I guess you have not heard the recent story. Dont worry, if you want a Photo contest, it's here every month :)
alanhill
08-18-2005, 8:09 PM
Well done Hugh. Good double portraits are very difficult - you deserved to win.
Alan
Congrats Hugh, the photo is well deserved the POTM. This run is indeed a high quality one, I was amazed by many great photos in this contest. As for the photo of clown fish, I've seen many such kind photos, I know there are still rooms for this photo to improve.