Four images will be published when the book goes to print next July/August, and the dedication ceremony will be next September… (the Canon shots garnered two 3rd places). This is the FIRST time (to my knowledge) that the images from a Pentax system has ever placed in the VLF Wildlife Photo Competition, let alone placing 1st and 2nd in two classes!!! Over 1400 images were submitted for this competition. I came in 13th overall (there was a tie for 10th/11th), which is the top third in the event, yet I only submitted in 2/3 of the classes (I still submitted 50 images, but sometimes 2 in a class). Positions 9th à 13th were all within 81 points of each other. Those ranged from 805 à 886 points (9th à 13th place). The overall winner garnered 1221 points. Everyone who finished ahead of me has been doing the competition since 1990, so they have 18+ years experience, 9 competitions, and local knowledge under their belt. In contrast, I took a 7 month layoff from photography for various reasons, and had less than 1.5 years of serious shooting under my belt. To put further perspective on my results: 36 days in a 70 day period were allocated for the competition (it lasted 90 days) 8 days lost due to travel = 28 days left. 10 days lost due to no tripod/binoculars (*) = 18 days left. 3-4 days lost due to poor weather (45mph winds, etc.) = 14 days left. Therefore I had ~14 days of really good photographic opportunities within the 90 day competition period.
(*)The box I shipped the tripod in arrived damaged, and the binoculars were missing. Therefore I had to send it to the shipper for a manifest inspection to file the claim. It eventually ended up with 5 tracking numbers, and was out of my hands for 33 days...
Images, starting with the 3rd places, and moving up... again, no cropping. 3rd place, Wading Birds - Great White Egret: 
EXIF Info:
Date Taken 2008-04-25 00:00:00
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure Time 0.0002s (1/4000)
Aperture f/6.3
ISO 640
Focal Length 500mm (800mm in 35mm)
Photo Dimensions 3888 x 2592
3rd place, Mustelids and Raccoons - Raccoon: 
EXIF Info:
Date Taken 2008-05-13 18:45:49
Camera Canon EOS 40D
Exposure Time 0.0015s (1/640)
Aperture f/5.6
ISO 1000
Focal Length 500mm (800mm in 35mm)
Photo Dimensions 3888 x 2592
2nd place, Spiders and Arachnids – Orb Weaver (cleaning itself after a meal):
EXIF Info:
Date Taken 2008-06-07 22:00:57
Camera PENTAX Corporation PENTAX K20D
Exposure Time 0.0055s (1/180)
Aperture f/22.0
ISO 100
Focal Length 200mm (300mm 35mm)
Photo Dimensions 4672 x 3104
1st place, Butterflies I (aka Skippers): 
EXIF Info:
Date Taken 2008-06-07 13:15:06
Camera PENTAX Corporation PENTAX K10D
Exposure Time 0.0008s (1/1250)
Aperture f/7.1
ISO 320
Focal Length 200mm (300mm 35mm)
Photo Dimensions 3872 x 2592
More good news! I just got a letter confirming the ranch owner wants to decorate his new cabin (just recently built or about to be built) with 10-15 of my images (8x10). That means I've pulled in ~$1000 between prize money and this order. It's not covered my costs, but my portfolio has certainly improved! All considering I am a rookie - especially in wildlife photography...
I have certainly come back from the experience with a much better understanding (by no means complete) of how to photograph and when to photograph. April through May were very overcast and very windy - less than ideal conditions. Even June was windy, so macro was difficult (what little I could shoot).
The moral of the story is that you should never give up - and with the tripod fiasco I certainly considered quitting on a couple of times. My two top places (with Pentax) were taken in the last week of my final trip...
Regards,
Marc
NB: If you are interested in looking at any of the other images submitted, but did not place, you can look at the threads I've started. The competition was very tough this year! If there is interest, I'll post an edit to this thread.
Originally posted by timbo13 
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