Best of 2009 - "The top three, so dear to me" photo challenge year in review!

[SSTdefiantED]

It's always tough to just pick just a few good ones.
Snow shots, dusk and dawn shots are always my top favorites because they're not always easy plus there's a little extra effort or work to get those type of shots and so that's how i picked my top 5.


~ ed

[spyglass]

Results of the 2009 The Top Three, So Dear To Me Photo Challenge

Top pick goes to photo #10 by Tcom (Dominique). His photo received 12 votes (8% of the total votes).






The contest was fortunate to have 15 participants, each submitting 3 photos, for a total of 45 photos. In regards to voting, we had 35 members cast their votes (each member was allowed 5 votes).


Participants Prediction & results:

Top pick goes to Prieni for knowing "his" stuff. He scored 10.

Every member was given 21 points to start.
If they guess the correct placement their photo would sit in the overall voting results they would be awarded 3 points.
If their photo placed one less (better) than their prediction, they would be awarded 1 point. If their photo placed one more (worse) than their prediction then they would not suffer/loose any points.
Any placement variance outside these boundaries would be directly deducted from the participants points.

#     Member            Predict     #Votes         Placement       Difference       Points

 

1     Daacon            8                  2                 26                    -18               -32

2     Daacon            4                  6                  6                      -2          

3     Daacon            10                0                 43                    -33        

 

4     Pablogerardo      4               1                 30                    -26                -55

5     Pablogerardo      5               1                 31                   -26        

6     Pablogerardo      3               2                 27                   -24        

 

7     Bramela           24                 1                 32                   -8                    0

8     Bramela           15                 6                  7                    -8          

9     Bramela           8                   8                  3                    -5          

 

10    Tcom              33                 12               1                     -32                  -30
          
11    Tcom              18                  5                9                       -9          

12    Tcom              8                    3               18                    -10        

 

13    Marko             20                  6                8                   -12                  -17

14    Marko             7                    3               19                  -12        

15    Marko             30                  0               44                  -14        

 

16    Jimbo             3                     5               10                   -7                  -6

17    Jimbo             2                     3               20                  -18        

18    Jimbo             6                     8                 4                    -2          

 

19    Sammy Sung    10                3                21                  -11              -25

20    Sammy Sung    18                0                45                  -27        

21    Sammy Sung    25                1                33                   -8          

 

22    Michael           3                    1                34                 -31              -69

23    Michael           5                    1                35                 -30        

24    Michael           7                    1                36                 -29        

 

25    Remnant       14                   4                 13                   1                1

26    Remnant         5                   3                 22                 -17        

27    Remnant       33                   1                 37                  -4          

 

28    Nparsons13    37                  1                38                  0               -6

29    Nparsons13   23                   1                39                -16        

30    Nparsons13   29                   1                40                -11        

 

31    Prieni            13                     4                14                  0              10

32    Prieni            9                       4                15                 -6          

33    Prieni            7                     11                  2                 -5          

 

34    HypnoCin67     39                  1                41                 -2              -22

35    HypnoCin67     30                  8                  5                -25        

36    HypnoCin67     44                  2                28                -16        

 

37    RintelnGirl       10                   5                 11                  0                6

38    RintelnGirl       21                   2                 29                 -8          

39    RintelnGirl       35                   1                 42                 -7          

 

40    Blackcloudbrew    6               3                  23                -17             -7

41    Blackcloudbrew    10             4                  16                 -6          

42    Blackcloudbrew    17             5                  12                 -5          

 

43    Craig             36                    3                  24                 -12            -17

44    Craig             34                    4                  17                 -17        

45    Craig             34                    3                  25                   -9    



At the end of the day we all had fun, shared some wonderful images, and wrapped up 2009.

[Prieni]

  Wohooo! 
I won!
Better be careful what you say and do as now you know that I know you lot!

Thanks for voting close to my predictions and for giving one of my shots second place!

Prieni

[blackcloudbrew]

Well, congratulations to Tcom for having the best of the best photos of 2009 and to Prieni for the best application of the SWAG method. This was a fun contest for me because we really received a lot of very good images and the prediction of placement was also quite interesting. It's a long way off but I suggest that we do this again next year. Well done all. As has been said these were all winners but to Tcom and Prieni extra special well done!

Tim

[Mike Pearson]

Well done to all especially Prieni and Dominique - great result to an excellent contest. 

Mike

[tcom]

Wow, thank you all for the votes, and congratulations to all participant, the level was really high.

[Prieni]

I would like to add that there were a lot of brilliant entries in this competition.

The table with the results is very interesting, but I have seen that the placing is not only by votes but also by number (i.e. 3rd rank has same number of votes as 5th rank but 3rd ranked shot had been submitted earlier).  So there is some scope for legal proceedings

It also seems that the shots that were closest to our hearts weren't necessarily with the popular vote.  Most of us were too optimistic in the guess of placement. (I think that is how it should be; our shots have more meaning to ourselves than to others. We are amateurs, so the only ones we need to please with our photos is us.)  There are exceptions to this rule, though.

I don't want to put too much meaning in these numbers, we should take them lightly. I know that on another day I may have voted for some other shots and from the comments I guess that many here had some trouble in finding the right homes for the measly 5 votes. So it could have been a very different outcome.
Also I could have chosen three different shots altogether that would have been as dear to me as the submitted ones.

I liked this contest and I agree that we should do the same next year. This way it wasn't about the best shot only and we got to see three shots from every contestant meaning that we ended up with lots of excellent shots.

It was good fun!

Prieni

[spyglass]

The photo contest portion ran like a conventional (our monthly) contest. The only difference was that we provided each member with 5 votes to cast, and we held the voting results until the conclusion of the voting. I have to admit that I was a little dissapointed with the low voter turn out (35). For a year end contest that ran for almost 2 months, I would have hoped that we would have had more members take the time to vote. The low number of voters, spread over 45 images, does not yield totals that we are used to seeing (with contests that may have 20 images and 25 or more voters).

Another tough factor is that the year end contest did not have to follow or cater to a theme. It was wide open and really played to the strength of the photographer (hence the number of wonderful top notch photos). And voters do not have to consider compatibity with the theme as a means to narrow down the selection. I also find that a collection of photos in this type of contest tend to create their own subconscious theme and can have a huge influence on the voters. We tend to judge more by comparison than anything else.

As for the Predictions and the resulting totals.....   They are nothing more than an interesting opportunity to try and guage, based on the collective images that you see in this type of contest, how you feel your images may be recieved to a voting population in comparison to the other images in the field. Normally a contest never gives this opportunity before a voting process. It was for the sole benefit of self marketing for each participant.

I hope everyone will see the opportunity presented and not the process. I would hate to think anyone would be put off by any contest we run here at PentaxWorld. In the big picture they are meaningless. In the small picture they are an interesting step in our individual learning curves.

Two thumbs up PentaxWorld! Well done eveyone !

Spyglass