Christian Photographers Community

What a challenge this has been!  We had 98 entries!   And what entries they were!

So, rather than try to wade through 98 entries to come up with a winner, we asked you all to vote for your top 25 entries during this past week.

Now, we've compiled a new list with all of the entries that received NINE (9) votes or more and now we're going to vote again so that we can come up with a winner.

This was a very difficult procedure to see so many entries not included on this second round of voting but with a challenge like this, I'm sure that everyone will agree that there will be some who win and some who don't.

We would like to congratulate all of you who entered.  Thank you so very, very much and now we're going to ask you to please vote one more time and let's come up with the best bird photo!

The winner of this vote will choose the topic for our next challenge.

'b' Bird

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5d

Bald Eagle at Point Retreat

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May 15, 2006. One of the rare days around here when the sun was out in full, and this guy was taking in the warmth. I think he was enjoying the heat radiating from the rock as he couldn't be moved from his perch.

Point Retreat is the northern most point of Admiralty Island in southeast Alaska.

Arctic Tern

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June 27, 2008. These guys are a fairly easy capture if you've got the lens horsepower because they hover for a moment before diving for a fish. Early every summer hundreds of these terns come to nest in front of the Mendenhall Glacier after a long flight from the antarctic.

One Day Old Cardinal

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20D

"Not far from Mama"

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Nikon Coolpix 8700

Going Home

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This one was down in the Trinity River basin.    I was just about to pack up and go home when one last straggler flew in for the night.   

Pepper

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Pepper is a great blue heron, who drops in at the lake a lot.   He's gradually gotten used to me hanging around, and one morning, he refused to leave a good spot just because I was clicking away at him.

Waiting for me to refill the bird feeder.

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Good Morning Class!


Kodak Z612

Watching Out For Little Brother

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Nikon D80 on Shutter Priority Setting

"Sharp-shinned Hawk"

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A mouthful

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~ shot with a Nikon P-90

Hitchin' a ride

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~ Olympus SP570UZ

New-Holland Honeyeater

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Kodak Z740

White-Cheeked Honeyeater

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Kodak Z740

OUTRAGE

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Dusky Thrush

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Canon EOS 40D w/EF 400 F5.6L

Aussie Birds: Rainbow Lorikeet

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Aussie Birds: Forest Bird

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Soaring

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Pintail

(https://www.christianphotographers.com/community/gallery2/d/2647-2/IMG_4238.jpg)

---

Make - Canon
Model - Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
DateTime - 2009:01:18 03:45:55
ExposureProgram - Normal program
ISOSpeedRatings - 100
ShutterSpeedValue - 1/200 seconds
ApertureValue - F 5.00
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
FocalLength - 250 mm

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Taken at Al Jazeer Wildlife Park, Bahrain (middle east)
Album Image (http://www.christianphotographers.com/community/v/users/LizMarr/IMG_4238.jpg.html)

Posting for Mrs. Barbarian:

Get your ducks in a row

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"Hello in there! I see you!"

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Nikon D80

Junco

Cardinal in the Snow:

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Nikon D40

Saying Grace


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Becky
Canon Rebel XT

Bad Hair Day


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Becky

Canon Rebel XT

Dinner in Hand, Uhhh, Claw!

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Canon EOS 40D w/EF 400 F5.6L

Mr. White Eye

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Canon EOS 40D w/EF 400 F5.6L

"Osprey in Flight"

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"Robin on Fence"

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"Gull"

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Feeding Baby

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This was the 1st time for them nesting in this box in 2007. They were a joy to watch :)

Olympus SP550 UZ

Oh, my.  This is almost impossible.  Maybe you should have had another vote before the final one. :)  To vote for only 5, I have to leave out some favorites. :(  I'll do my best...

You're right, Nita. It's almost like a slap in the face to only vote for 5. All 25 are great entries. :yes: :yes: :yes: I am very proud of this group. I consider myself a Fairly good Bird Photographer. :anon: :anon: Since we started this contest, I've started shooting  a lot more scenics. But it really makes me proud to be among the very good Bird Photographers on this Web site. To see all the personality and color mixes among the shots. I said at the beginning that one photo stood out to me as very exceptional. I'll tell you which one when the contest is over. Well, I said that before some entries had been made. There were really three. I don't want to sway the voting. So, I'll wait  til it's over. Thanks to everyone for a great contest and a lot of fun also.

Have a blessed day
Steve

It has been extremely difficult deciding on 25 let alone 5 so my vote goes to everyone who entered.  I love birds in the wild so I have enjoyed this challenge immensely.

My greatest surprise is that I actually got votes on my photos and it has given me confidence to do more in the future.  So thanks to everyone who liked the professor.
Abby :nanadance:

Some of my favorites didn't make the cut.   There wasn't one that wasn't a keeper, in my opinion. 

I think we can all take some pride in the overall quality of submissions, and in there being so many good ones.

Incredible photos of a very large cross section of Birds. It was like having them all in the backyard. Everyone wins by sharing everyones talents! Thanks for the contests and those participating in them.

I thought the second vote would be so much easier than the first round.  Boy, was I wrong!   ;D

Yep, ya'll did a great job with these photo's!! Some really cool shots in this challenge!

And thanks to whoever it was that put my cardinal picture on the side over there, I was thrilled when I saw that!!  ;D

Awww...  I'm so glad you're ok with your cardinal over on the Left Sidebar.  We've just recently started making use of the sidebar more and I thought that the colours of it and the beauty of that photo would look good there.

That photo of the cardinal is great for display in the sidebar!  It really catches the attention - which is good!   :thumbsup:

still pretty tough-but I have to say everyone did a great job...not an easy choice!!! :) ;)

What a job voting.  They are all so well done.  I love them all.  This is the toughest vote I have ever had to do. 

Is there any way we can change that May 3rd date. It seems like all who voted the first time have already voted. It's hard to sit and wait before we declare a winner and go on to the next Challenge. Of course, this is just my opinion.

May everyone have a blessed day.

Steve

I know it is tough...the waiting that is.  John has yet to vote and he won't be home till the weekend. So he won't be voting till the 2nd.  But the wait is difficult!

Also, re the voting, when I'm in Winchester, VA, I have no internet access and I'm sort of guaranteed to have it on the weekend down there as we're usually in Falls Church.

So, I usually plan the closing and opening on weekends when I have internet.

I agree, this has been harder than the first 25.  So many great bird shots in here!  It's been a pleasure to see them all in one place on CP. 

Congratulations to all the entries and to all who win top five!

But it did accomplish one thing. The votes are coming in faster. My Bad! I should have more patience. And give everyone a chance to vote. Everyone have a blessed day.

Steve

Well, ditto.  It was difficult the first round, this one was not any better.  Since birds are one of my favorite things to photograph I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge.  I was amazed at how many pictures were posted.  Apparently, a lot of people like birds as much as I do.

I also have to say thanks to anyone who voted on the pictures I posted.  I can't say how pleased I felt to get to the "second" round, especially when the competition was so wonderful.  

I know this was difficult, because there were so many pictures and all of them good.  I think though that the participation was great.

Becky

This is similar to the challenge  "The Holy Scripture Says."It looked like it might be a 3 way tie until the last 2 or 3 votes came in. Regardless of what I've said in the past, this is the most exciting kind of Challenges. May all of them be like this.

May the Lord bless & keep you
Steve

Well, this sure is a close vote!

Isn't that great?

Yes it is a great challenge.

I finally got a chance to vote yesterday so I am ready for the next one..

Congratulations to the first 25 winners, hard to vote because they were all great entries.

Sorry about the errors i made in the poll. I will try to do better next time.

Don

Don you have done an awesome job, and this was a BIG vote.    It has been tough choosing a favourite..

Anyone still left to vote?

Now, we wait for Barbarian to tell us what the next challenge topic is!  (Please send me a Private Message with the next topic and with a description as to how you want the topic interpreted too.  Thanks!!!)

Congrats Barbarian!!! Great job.

Congrats to everyone.

Way to go Barbarian!  Well done.


This was a difficult challenge when it came to judging.  Everyone did well in photographing the birds and then in posting them.  Well done EVERYONE!

Thank you, everyone.   I was sure someone else would win; there were so many great shots!    Talking things over with Mrs. Barbarian, I'd like the next challenge to be:

"They don't make them like that, anymore."

Things that work really well, but are no longer being made, maybe something you have had for a long time, or something that you miss seeing in daily life.

Suitable?

Yea,  It is suitable.   But boy you may have us scratching our heads on this one!

I like the idea.

Well, then, it won't be a surprise as it usually is since Barbarian has already announced the topic.  Oh well.

I'll go and set it up.

Congratulations Barbarian on the win. Congratulations to the others also.

Sounds like a good topic that should produce a nice variety of different photos.

I'm thinking already.

Don

Congratulations to all the winners. Barbarians Photo Going Home was the Special Picture I was talking about. Goes to show that the Bird doesn't have to take up a lot of the Composition. Pepper was also a great picture but I hadn't seen Pat's Picture when I was making these projections. I really thought she had a great chance of winning. The Cardinal in the Snow was great and also the Dusky Thrush with those beautiful Flowers. I don't want to forget Good Morning Class and one of my Personal favorite that wasn't a winner Sharp-shinned Hawk. The blend of colors in that photo was very good. I left out names so I wouldn't embarrass myself. Congratulations to the winners. But all the pictures were winners in my view.

Steve
Fotobirder

Congratulations Barbarian and to the rest of the winners!!
The same thing goes to everyone who entered the contest.
All the shots are interesting photos of the theme.

I would like to add that Hitchin' A Ride from gjtoth is my personal favorite.
I rated it as my top choice based on creativity and uniqueness
of its photographic interpretation of the theme. Well done gjtoth.

I welcome the new theme for the next challenge.
This is going to be tough, but I will certainly enter this one.

Regards to all,
Laughing Peppers

That looks like a Grey Jay Pat, I just picked up a book in a charity shop on the Canadian Rockies, and there's one in there, beautiful bird, and its sharp bang on the eyes.

Barbarian, don't know what kind of heron that is but youve caught it in some very wonderful light, like molten metal that water, the bird stands out in all its rich detail against the background, even the pool of water it takes its stance in, echoes the shape of the heron right up to its beak, bet you must have been watching this for some time with a good long lens.

mybcjazz, your thrush is well positioned on its colourfully blossomed perch, good upward turn of the head, looks alert, and attentive.

Pat's Bird is actually a Dark-eyed Junco. The Grey jay has white colors around the head area. But the Composition is what is great about the picture. Have a blessed day.

Steve
Forobirder

My congratulations, also, to the winners.  And each and every picture posted was a winner, in my uneducated opinion. 

Now on we go to the next challenge.  And what a challenge it will be to find a subject to photograph for this one!   :-\

What a *fun* challenge that was! Barbarian--your pictures were great! I 'specially liked the heron (i think that's what it was :) ) in the water!
I'm still trying to figure out this next challenge  ???  :)

CowGirl

Excellent photo Barbarian, and a well deserved win. The pose and colour of the heron is brilliant, and the reflection just adds to the overall picture! :)

Thankyou so much everyone, for sending in this many bird photos, I really enjoyed looking at all the beautiful types of birds! There were so many great entries posted in! 8)

Congratulations again Barbarian, on a well deserved win. ;)
Tim (Sarge)

This was such a great challenge.  Great pictures and so many participants.

I too like the Heron.  Of course, they are one of my favorite birds.

Becky

Great photo-Barbarian-Congrats!!! 

Really was a fun contest...The next one sounds challenging! Looking forward to it... :)

Congratulations to Barbarian and all the winners of the Bird contest!

I guess you could say we definitely had a crowded nest, all the birds had come home to roost?...okay, so much for my sad humor.  The tons of entries made for a fun and exciting challenge!

One of my favorites that didn't win was the Bald Eagle at Point Retreat.  I have spent some time trying to capture bald eagles and it's quite a challenge to get them in just the right light and situation.  It's a very nice environmental shot of that eagle.

Steve, thanks for the kudos on my Sharp Shinned Hawk.  I personally love that shot, too. 

Thanks, Summicron, for mentioning my Dusky Thrush photo.  The plum blossoms do give it a boost!

I, too, really like the Sharp-shinned Hawk image.  The eye is perfectly focused and the head and beak razor sharp!

In His Grip,
Kevin