-=<{ Maria takes money at Riverfest! (Warning: Billion Picture Post)}>=-

Last night was Maria's birthday, and as an extra special present, Wichita Festivals Inc. presented her with a check for her entry into the

annual photo contest. Over 800 images were submitted onto 8 categories, with Maria taking honors in the musical entertainment

category. Usually they post the winners somewhere online, and I've seen one come up in Flickr. If I can find a link, I'll add it to this

thread.<p>

 

With out further adieu, here's the money shot (4th place for musical entertainment):<p>

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/12.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

This is the rest of Maria's entries:<p>

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/11.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/13.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/14.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/31.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/32.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/33.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/41.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/42.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/51.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/61.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/62.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/63.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/64.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/81.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/82.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mdm/83.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

<h1>These are my entries:</h1>

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/11.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/12.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/13.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/14.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/21.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/22.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/31.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/32.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/33.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/41.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/42.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/43.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/44.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/51.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/52.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/53.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/61.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/62.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/63.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/64.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/71.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/72.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/73.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/74.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/81.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/82.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

 

<img src="http://71.158.200.250/miscimages/mrm/83.jpg"><P><br><br><br>

 

Wow, you made it to the bottom! I think for next year I'll try for a Sigma 10-20 or the Pentax 12-24. I think one of the judges

submarined me for the fishy pix...

Oops, the title of the thread was supposed to be "Maria Takes Money at Riverfest Photo Contest." I guess I got a little to

crazy with the graphics around the text and commented out the title...

LOL! I clicked on your profile accidently twice because I clicked your name instead of the fancy little title...

 

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARIA! Secondly, CONGRATULATIONS on winning the contest! You go girl! You make your fellow Pentaxians proud!

 

Lisa

Great title Matt -==- !!

 

Wish I could have thought of that! ;-)

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Maria!

 

And great shots both of you!

Nice pics. Looks like everyone had a lot of fun too.

Wow, This thread put my cable to the test....Way to go girl...Love the fish eye shots, but the picture of the little girl in the stroller eating her corn is my fav...

Yeah, the mother of 'Corn Girl' (as we've come to call her) turned into a paying client! She saw us shooting her daughter and talked to us a

bit and we gave her a card. I think she bought at least one copy of every shot, including some 8x10's.

 

And thank you, I've learned not to include lessor and greater signs in thread titles anymore...

Waydago, Maria and Happy Birthday!

<center><b>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <u>HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIA</u> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</b></center><br>

<br>

Now you listen to me, you take all the money you got as a prize, and you buy yourself WHATEVER you want. I don't

know how much the money is, but you spend it ALL on YOURSELF. Don't let Matt get at it, don't buy him an icecream

even, if his pics sucked and yours rocked, it's not your fault. He's just gonna have to learn how to press that

little shutter release button like the rest of us, and maybe he'll have better luck next year. But this

year...IT'S ALL YOURS, BABY!!!! :-D

Hmm... Well, I have to say that I think there's certainly room for improvement in some of these shots, in terms of composition, timing, exposure control and PP, especially if they were intended to be entered in a photography competition. OK, some of the subject matter isn't to my personal taste either, TBH, so that's bound to affect my appreciation of the pics somewhat... Even so, I think a few of the shots could have been handled a bit better.

 

To be fair, I've found that big events like these aren't always the easiest subjects to photograph, because there's just so much going on around you all the time, catching your eye... In my experience, it can easily lead to a kind of hurried "tourist snapping" way of photographing, which doesn't often lead to great pics.

Well, that not withstanding... Congrats Maria and Happy Birthday!

 

Being a sax player by trade, let me just say you can take my picture any time you want... (any time you want to take a crusie on the ship I'm on... I've got bills to pay, too. :-)

 

Sean

@ Paul - I didn't label the categories that these pix go with, so the rationale behind some of these might be a bit of a

mystery. Things like Sponsorships and Shopping are shots that I wouldn't normally shoot for, except for the chance to

win money. The odd thing is that the judges seem to like the 'touristy' stuff. I actually adjusted my shooting style a bit

as the shots where people are hamming for the camera get picked more often than just grabbing shots of people as they

are. It is a bit of a challenge trying to second guess what the judges are looking for so I try to mix it up with shots of my

own style and shots similar in style to those that have won in the past.<p>

 

It isn't much different from a PJ gig where the editor wants crap that has no artistic value. Sell your soul to pay the bills,

just try to have fun doing it. I've quit entering some contests because it was obvious that the judges were morons.<p>

 

I was actually underwhelmed with the winners this year. I thought the photos were better in years past. Usually the

winners are posted online, but so far I can only find one in this flicker thread started by one of the contest

organizers:<p>

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/wichita/discuss/72157606380451964/" target="new">Click here</a>.

<a

href="http://www.douglasphoto.com/Departments/PhotoGalleries/WichitaRiverFestival2007AnnualPhotoContest/default.asp

x" target="new">2007 Winners</a><p>

Ah, cheers for explaining that, Matthew... It's far more clear where you guys were coming from with those pics now...

 

And yeah, looking at last year's winners, they do seem to like the "touristy" look. And having "Sponsorship" as a photo category is a bit odd, to say the least... I did wonder why some of the company signs were so prominent in some of those pics... :) I guess it's safe to assume that they're probably not looking for any arty farty stuff... :)

 

Anyway, good that you got some cash out of 'em. Take the money and run... :)

Happy birthday Maria, and congrats on the big win. :)

 

I really like the batman mask face painting pic (and, I say that when I normally don't like kid pics...) crazy, huh? :D

 

<kids are not furry.>