Thanks to all participants for showing us such excellent images and explaining how you achieved them.
I appreciate the candor of those who wrote about their mistakes.

J8B: You beautifully smoothed out the water by setting your Pentax K10D’s multi-exposure mode to 6 shots, and turning the Auto EV Adjust on.

StephenHampshire: Even if I didn’t love trains, I’d applaud your black and white image. The processing enhanced the sky’s texture and the sun’s rays.

Arjay Bee: Wing detail is a treat in the image of a butterfly. Fortunately, the reversed Takumar lens — which had been pressed against the lens of a Canon Powershot 70 —survived the drop into the garden. The image tempts me to “free mount,” and I’ll be careful — thanks to the courteous explanation of the accidental drop.

Nyllet: You effectively presented yellow and green plants (dandelions, I think) in the otherwise black and white image from Treblinka.

Sealonsf: Thanks for posting the result of your successful departure from your usual practice of capturing images of travel, wildlife and landscapes. The project: Pick cherry blossoms, put them in water in a clear Pyrex dish, agitate the water and create shadows on a sunny day. The water drops atop petals are a plus, and the shadows create depth.

Kobie: You braved the hissing parent geese and got very low to capture the photo of a gosling pulling on a blade of grass. Very effectively, you presented in color the gosling’s feathers and its targeted blade of grass while the remainder of the image is black, white and gray.

Dlneubec: You succeeded by changing the distance and the white balance to achieve the deep woods image captured in the backyard. Thanks for showing both the final image and an earlier capture. And thanks for demonstrating that long-distance travel isn’t essential for experimentation and successful photography.

Noelcmn: Your abstract of mushroom gills demonstrates how much a color shift can change an image. Thanks for showing us both before and after.

Hattifnatt: You presented two other neat images after showing us an out-of-focus crane vessel with lights also out of focus. The mixture of bold and subdued colors of individual lights is a strong point of the top image.

Slowpez: You overcame obstacles presented by birds and people through your use of conversion to black and white plus composite work. The position of the birds’ heads and of the right bird’s legs are two of the features contributing to the image’s success. If the image — which I admire as presented — was mine, I’d try darkening the light area at lower right or perhaps cropping slightly to eliminate that bright area.

Pjaynz: You candidly wrote that the entry was an accidental exposure. A very happy accident, I say.

Aaacb: You told us the monochrome cityscape image turned out very differently than expected. The highlights and steam are among the plusses. Another plus is the spire emerging from the clouds at left.

SunValley: The skaters were captured at only 1/6 second instead of the intended higher shutter speed. The female skater’s face any eyeglasses have more detail than might be expected — and that makes the image succeed for me.

Tamia: Your first composite — an image of a red moon, deep blue and black sky, frosted trees and stars — is strikingly beautiful.

Charliezap: Thanks for treating us to a close-up of a chickadee on your hand, in which you had birdseed.

Atupdate: Your skillfully executed and well-explained entry is the product of both reshooting with a different background and of processing, including masking and adjustment of hue. Because of the lighter foreground of each of the six small images, each has depth.

Special K: After 24 years, you returned in 2010 to Crater Lake in Oregon. The second time, you captured a snowy scene with footprints — not the blue sky and lake. Including your feet and legs provides scale.

Vaskebejorn: Thanks for showing us how to get a different view of reclining cats by putting the camera on their level.

Ramseybuckeye: Thanks for explaining how you achieved your favorite image from a long session at what is probably Ohio’s most photographed waterfall. You wrote that you sat in about an inch of flowing water with your HD DA 15 and K-30 on a tripod about 10 inches off the rocks and were positioned to see the bottom of the falls between the rocks. The silky falling water is delightful.

I won’t punt by awarding multiple first places and many very honorable mentions — although I am tempted by so many excellent entries.

First place: Tamia’s “A Composite of the Moon and Frost From Winter Trees“ — which is stellar in more ways than one.
(Please see the image at the bottom of this post.)

Second: StephenHampshire’s black and white image of the train and sunset.

Third: Kobie’s image of a gosling pulling on a blade of grass.

[SpecialK]

Good one.

[SunValley]

Congratulations everyone! Good choices smf.

[Hattifnatt]

Congratulations to the winners, gorgeous image Tamia!

[atupdate]

Congratulations to Tamia and the other place holders. Wonderful images and a great challenge topic. Thanks for hosting Stu.

Tim

[Tamia]

This is a surprise. Thanks everyone for great entries, to my co-winners, and especially to Stu for taking time to comment on everyone's shots before passing the baton. I'll put up a new contest sometime later today. Now where did I put my thinking cap...?

[slowpez]

Well done group. This one must have been quite a challenge with so many fantastic images. Tamia, that is a stellar shot and worthy of first place. Congrats also to Stephen and Kobie. Well done.

[noelcmn]

Wonderful winner here, as noted, stellar image in more ways than one. Congrats Tamia, and extended to the 2nd and 3rd placed Stephenhampshire and Kobie respectively. Excellent challenge smf, thanks for the judging exercise and comments,-always appreciated. Stunning images here, great stuff Pentaxians.

[Tamia]

The new, hopefully mouth-watering or thirst-provoking contest is now live here.

[ramseybuckeye]

Congrats Tamia, Stephen, and Kobie! Fantastic Images! Excellent job Stu!