I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and the entries. It is very difficult to pick a winner, can I pick them all?
This judging is a bit late, wouldn't you know due to Texas weather it decided to rain for three days straight and evidently it made us lose internet service. LOL was unaware that water got as high as the towers. ( lol, it didn't but we still lost service for 2 days)



SpecialK, I liked the use of the fish eye lens and so did hubby. I found the assortment of gardening implements interesting and the fact that the person is cutting the edge of the grass with the hand shears. The image made me look up the Cloisters and learn about a museum I didn't know about.

atupdate, Living in Texas I see all sorts of farming equipment everyday. Even in town there are horses, cows, and chickens within two blocks of my house. I had an elderly homehealth care client who told me her childhood stories of how they plowed their gardens with horses and mules.

Vaskebjorn, I like that the photo was taken from behind the person, a reminder that we often don't know who takes away all the refuse we throw away. All of us would definitely notice if they did not as we would be living in stack of our own trash. Then we would all be begging them to please take the trash and thank them personally.

aaacb, Oh my, Coffee shop internet, I like that it is in black and white and noisy. The photo being in black and white makes me notice all the people. I have yet to be in a coffee house with that many people.

mingdie, Coffee is an absolute necessity, I want that machine!

eva, Mounted police, the horses are so shiny and the one officer is giving eye contact. Our mounted police wear cowboy boots and western hats and the horses look like they rode out of a rodeo with western saddles and bridles. The officers could probably rope and tie ya too. lol.

jacamar, A great shot, I like the composition and the man looks very confident in his job. I did volunteer work once and the most fun job I ever did was tie beams that the crane took to the construction workers to make the frame work for an assembly hall/ relief supply center.

charliezap, Downed trees and power lines, The florescent yellows and reds stand out in the mist and the green of the foliage of the downed tree. The size of the tree and the power cables in the foreground and the lines in the back show the immensity of the job at hand.

Bruce Clark, Everyone can imagine the many fragrant scents from the variety of spices. I have hyperosmia which means I could smell those spices on the outside even before I walked into a store like that. I like that all the spices are shades of red, orange, yellow, and amber.

jchorst, Your image amused me the most. The expression of determination on the person attempting to open that bottle. The colors are pleasing with the shades of greens and blues reflected also in rows of glasses. I like the one red flower in the middle of it all.

noelcmn, Definitely the strongest image entered. The artist painting red writing over a portrait. I notice he has not written over her eyes, nose, or mouth as he wants the portrait to stand out through the writing. I like the colors of this image.

Hattifnatt, There is a lot going on in your image. What are the three ladies looking at towards the wall? Is the road worker looking at the group of them or just resting a second? One worker is working hard on whatever is in that hole in the street, there is a jackhammer in the foreground. Two young guys walking by don't even notice them, lol, one is carrying a can of paint? I would have to drive to Austin to see that many people on the street at one time.

This was much fun, and picking winners was very difficult.
1st place goes to noelcmn, I could not forget this image after I seen it, the image of the artist and his work was strong and not easily forgotten.
2nd place goes to jchorst , The image I started calling "Bottle Opener", This captured moment is very entertaining and made me laugh. I really like the colors in the photo too.
3rd place goes to Charliezap, What I notice in your image is that the workers are probably out working before the storm is totally over. It is still misty and dim. It is reminds me of during Hurricane Harvey, so many electric trucks, hundreds of them, going to repair all the damage everywhere.
Honorable mention to jacamar, eva, and aaacb

[Hattifnatt]

Hattifnatt, There is a lot going on in your image. What are the three ladies looking at towards the wall? Is the road worker looking at the group of them or just resting a second? One worker is working hard on whatever is in that hole in the street, there is a jackhammer in the foreground. Two young guys walking by don't even notice them, lol, one is carrying a can of paint? I would have to drive to Austin to see that many people on the street at one time.

Well that's Havana for you, there are quite a lot of things going on there I would encourage everybody to visit.

Thank you Sherrvonne for the comments and judging and congratulations to Noel and the others.. that photo had winner written all over it. Looking for the next challenge!

[atupdate]

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to Sherrvonne for judging.

Tim

[eva]

Congrats to the winners,thanks to Sherrvonne for commenting on each photo .

[aaacb]

This was a fun challenge, congrats to the winners and thanks for the hm!

[jchorst]

Thanks sherrvonne for your thoughtful comments on every entry and for handing me second, congrats to Noelcomm, Charliezap and the HMs! A great challenge with a worthy winner. A happy new year to everybody! Cheers, Christoph

[mingdie]

Congrats to the winners and thanks for the great comments on the entries.

[noelcmn]

Oh dear! Sherrvonne goes onto the "I'm-not-speaking-to her" list, my enemy list . Seriously, this is surprising, there are so many others that I thought had it in the bag, Hattifnatt's, for instance, if only because Havana is on my bucket list. I am honored, so a thank you to Sherrvonne, appreciate that. Congrats to Jchorst and CharlieZap, and the HM's Jacamar, eva, and aaacb. Thanks to our host for the wonderful challenge & CC's.As usual high quality entries. What a time to be hosting the next and first challenge of 2019. Start an additional job on Monday, and its is gonna be a busy week. I'll think of a new challenge in the next 24 hours. And maybe I should stick to my "enemy" list and not spek to Sherrvonne .

HAPPY AND BLESSED 2019 TO YOU ALL- HAVE A SPLENDID YEAR, FULL OF CLICKING SOUNDS.

[sherrvonne]

Thanks for the encouraging comments, I really enjoyed all the photos, It was tough to pick one as everyone here is such fantastic photographers. So much to learn from viewing the photography styles of others.