Countryfile Photographic Competition 2015 Finalists

I sort of expect more, am I being unrealistic?
 
dinorock said:
don't forget these are all taken by amateur photographers ........no pro's allowed its in the rules;)
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Yeah I get that ... still somewhat underwhelmed :thinking:
 
gramps said:
Yeah I get that ... still somewhat underwhelmed :thinking:
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been watching countryfile and they said the last lot would be voted for by the public something about 1000 photos to pick from ...i hav'nt seen the pics anywhere:(
 
dinorock said:
been watching countryfile and they said the last lot would be voted for by the public something about 1000 photos to pick from ...i hav'nt seen the pics anywhere:(
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The public only get to vote for the best of the final 12 images...:)
 
4,7 and 9 are good, rest are ok`ish. Lot better stuff gets posted on here,agree with Peter on that.
 
Seen better photos on here. I don't think the judges have a clue as the theme was a colourful countryside, yet some were all one colour
 
This is the thing with photography competitions, they are very subjective. This is a direct quote from the countryfile website, "the theme for the 2015 Countryfile Photographic Competition:‘Colours of the Countryside’. It’s the perfect opportunity to get out into the landscape with your camera to capture the beauty and majesty of the passing seasons". I think a few of the images capture the changing colours of the seasons well, do the images have to have more than one colour if they capture the colour of the countryside as the seasons change? When I think of the colours of the countryside I always think of the golden browns of the autumn, the hedgehog and sunrise image captures those colours well. The mist trees captures late winter/early spring well, the hare captures spring/summer well too. The sheep in the heather captured the colour of moorlands in late summer.

Cheffievrs said:
Shame the hedgehog is a rescued animal...!
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As long as it's declared captive it's within the rules. BWPA also allow captive british wildlife to be entered. I would guess it would be quite hard to get a wild hedgehog image like that without disturbing it which not allowed.It is also good coverage for the wildlife rescue centre and highlights the work they do.
 
rob-nikon said:
As long as it's declared captive it's within the rules. BWPA also allow captive british wildlife to be entered. I would guess it would be quite hard to get a wild hedgehog image like that without disturbing it which not allowed.It is also good coverage for the wildlife rescue centre and highlights the work they do.
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Agree on that point... however, I didn't actually know that picture was captive/rescued. I saw it last on the show last night and thought what a cracking and amazingly opportunistic shot.
I still love that picture, but I'm now left thinking that the skill/field craft has been lost. As my wife has just said to me "it's still a picture of a smiling hedgehog", so I guess that's all that matters in the end!
Completely agree about the coverage and exposure for rescue centres, always a plus point.
 
RacingSnake said:
Agree on that point... however, I didn't actually know that picture was captive/rescued. I saw it last on the show last night and thought what a cracking and amazingly opportunistic shot.
I still love that picture, but I'm now left thinking that the skill/field craft has been lost. As my wife has just said to me "it's still a picture of a smiling hedgehog", so I guess that's all that matters in the end!
Completely agree about the coverage and exposure for rescue centres, always a plus point.
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I agree with you too that countryfile don't make it known whether it is captive or not. I think it's important that if the photographer makes it known to them it's captive that countryfile should share that information with the audience. It's a shame countryfile doesn't do a feature about how the images are taken as it would be egg coverage for placed like the rescue centre.

That said how is a captive image different to a 'pay and display' image that could be passed as wild? The photographer shows no field craft in capturing those images. We see plenty of field craft shown by photographers on TP, there are plenty of great images on here.
 
Not my thing at all but i have to say i'm underwhelmed.

rob-nikon said:
We see plenty of field craft shown by photographers on TP, there are plenty of great images on here.
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Can't say i venture into those areas on here, but if that's the case maybe they should have entered.
 
As long as it's declared captive it's within the rules. BWPA also allow captive british wildlife to be entered. I would guess it would be quite hard to get a wild hedgehog image like that without disturbing it which not allowed.It is also good coverage for the wildlife rescue centre and highlights the work they do.[/QUOTE]

I beg to differ..!

Farm animals are allowed, but photos of domestic animals (ie pets) and zoo animals are not eligible. Images of British wildlife in captivity must be declared as such. The BBC’s decision as to the eligibility of individual photographs will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.


He used a local rescue centre for the hog, and set up some different photographs..
 
Must admit I'm a bit underwhelmed too, moreso than ever this year - i don't quite get the point of giving a theme if the judges aren't going to follow it when shortlisting images
 
Cheffievrs said:
I beg to differ..!

Farm animals are allowed, but photos of domestic animals (ie pets) and zoo animals are not eligible. Images of British wildlife in captivity must be declared as such. The BBC’s decision as to the eligibility of individual photographs will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.


He used a local rescue centre for the hog, and set up some different photographs..
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Sorry I wasn't clear before as I didn't mention domestic pets or zoo animals are not allowed. As it was a rescue centre it's neither a zoo or a pet animal. I seem to remember the BWC foxes have featured a few time too as it seems they are not classed as a zoo but are a wildlife centre. The BBC have decided it's eligible so it doesn't matter what others think. I still think it's a good image even if it is a rescue animal.
 
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Delta Skies said:
I'm with @gramps in being pretty disappointed. The quality of many of the images on this forum far outshines what the judges have shortlisted
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then maybe more people from this forum should have entered .....or perhaps they did and were not picked ;)
 
dinorock said:
i thought about it this year and thought the standard would be way above my level,i might have been wrong :ROFLMAO:
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Exactly my thinking ... in truth previous years have been far better IMO :)
 
tbh who really cares.each picture is good in its own right .and im sure each person that buys or purchases the calendar wiil be happy with it!
 
A friend of mine is one of the finalist, his shot is the sheep head and purple stuff around it
 
bazphoon said:
tbh who really cares.each picture is good in its own right .and im sure each person that buys or purchases the calendar wiil be happy with it!
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if the pictures are for a calendar and there are only 12 left what are we voting for DOH!!!! lol
 
bazphoon said:
tbh who really cares.each picture is good in its own right .and im sure each person that buys or purchases the calendar wiil be happy with it!
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No it is not thats the point being made on here, some of the finalists shots are not that good in our honest opinion.
 
npinks said:
A friend of mine is one of the finalist, his shot is the sheep head and purple stuff around it
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And a good photo it is too. I think about 3 were a bit week, but its all about the judges opinion and not ours really, which is why winning a competition is so difficult.
Matt
 
MatBin said:
And a good photo it is too. I think about 3 were a bit week, but its all about the judges opinion and not ours really, which is why winning a competition is so difficult.
Matt
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That's very true. With the way it's judged it's quite random. Several thousand images are judged in or out to reduce the numbers by a number of past winners, then the last hundred or so are judged by the judging board to get the final 12, all very subjective depending on which views them. There doesn't seem to be any second chance viewing of the rejects in the first round.

It's very subjective, in competitions I've entered previously the only image I've ever had placed (category runners up) was one I thought was my weakest and only entered to make up the entry numbers.

My idea of my favourite image I've taken is very different to my friends choices. Photography is very subjective, as photographers we worry too much about the technical bits like noise, sharpness, bokeh, composition, whereas non photographers just look at an image and think emotionally how it makes them feel.
 
If the hedgehog was captive you could spend all day taking photoes to get the one you like
 
dinorock said:
then maybe more people from this forum should have entered .....or perhaps they did and were not picked ;)
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I was thinking the same to be honest, I have been as guilty as others in the past when looking at these competitions then stood back and thought its hard to judge if I have not entered and same in other competitions where people were really not happy with final entries but had not entered themselves (apologies to anyone in this thread that had entered) so how many here did ? I know I didn't
 
they are a bit "tame" this year and a little disappointing

Hedgehog is attractive - I quite like the "sheep" ........ but presumably that is a "domesticated" animal, so maybe will be "marked down" because of that

1, 6, 7, 9 and 10 are "pretty" images
 
There is always a motive about the choice, it was the same with the Badger shot that eventually won the front cover,very themed especialy as the Gloucestershire cull was only weeks away at the time ,I know for a fact that at least one of the judges didn't want that shot to be the winner , there's every chancre it will go the same way again especially with the current situation of the hedgehog......my money would be on the hedgehog shot,i didn't enter and I wont based on the terms and conditions of the shot you enter
 
den said:
There is always a motive about the choice, it was the same with the Badger shot that eventually won the front cover,very themed especialy as the Gloucestershire cull was only weeks away at the time ,I know for a fact that at least one of the judges didn't want that shot to be the winner , there's every chancre it will go the same way again especially with the current situation of the hedgehog......my money would be on the hedgehog shot,i didn't enter and I wont based on the terms and conditions of the shot you enter
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One of your "owl" shots would have certainly been up there with the best Den ........... but what do you think, shouldn't all such competition shots really be wild and out there in nature - as I said to me they are look "tame" ..... not much "action"
 
BillN_33 said:
One of your "owl" shots would have certainly been up there with the best Den ........... but what do you think, shouldn't all such competition shots really be wild and out there in nature - as I said to me they are look "tame" ..... not much "action"
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Totally agree Bill ,fully wild(non baited) if I was to enter any of my shots it would be from one of my un-baited sites ,even though I do now get a bird coming in natural without bait, but yes fully wild and not set up,i also know of another shot that got on the calendar a few years ago that was a workshop image
 
Just to add one of my favourite images that did win the overhaul theme a number of years ago was taken with a compact camera
 
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