Mar 2025 POTM voting thread

[Mschmidt]

That's an amazing impressionist painting!

Thanks! I worked hard on it, not so hard as to turn off the flow for 30 seconds, but that'd be asking a little too much for me.

 

[Bob Weigant]

I was torn between a few of them but I had to give my vote to 7

 

[JoJosReef]

Shouldn't you be writing grants?

I did! I'm on vacation now. Wait, AI is telling me this this might not be sincere interest in my grant writing process. But what does AI know!?

 

[JoJosReef]

Thanks! I worked hard on it, not so hard as to turn off the flow for 30 seconds, but that'd be asking a little too much for me.

I respect and relate to your process!

 

[Mschmidt]

I respect and relate to your process!

It's the work of genius

 

[Matt L]

The last thing I wanted to do was take up a spot of someone else who wants to win. I’ll refrain in the future. Looks like this one is trending towards a winner! Congrats!

 

[tbrown]

It's ok. Mine want chosen either.

It also wasn't submitted, so that could have been one barrier...

That's an amazing impressionist painting!

It makes me dizzy...

 

[tbrown]

I did! I'm on vacation now. Wait, AI is telling me this this might not be sincere interest in my grant writing process. But what does AI know!?

 

[exnisstech]

The last thing I wanted to do was take up a spot of someone else who wants to win. I’ll refrain in the future. Looks like this one is trending towards a winner! Congrats!

And as you mentioned earlier its the coral getting the votes not the image. We should call it coolest coral pic contest because it's rarely the best image that wins JMO

 

[Mschmidt]

And as you mentioned earlier its the coral getting the votes not the image. We should call it coolest coral pic contest because it's rarely the best image that wins JMO

I try to vote for the best picture, the issue there is, even though I'm working through what makes a good picture, I still have trouble gauging what is better or best. With the slim margin that @maroun.c talks about in the final 15, I vote based on which one I want on my wall.

 

[Mschmidt]

It makes me dizzy...

Now I'm going to spend way too much time trying to get it to spin.

 

[exnisstech]

I try to vote for the best picture, the issue there is, even though I'm working through what makes a good picture, I still have trouble gauging what is better or best. With the slim margin that @maroun.c talks about in the final 15, I vote based on which one I want on my wall.

The first thing I look for in an image are distractions in the background that draw my attention away from the subject.

 

[Mschmidt]

The first thing I look for in an image are distractions in the background that draw my attention away from the subject.

Is that what noise means?

 

[maroun.c]

And as you mentioned earlier its the coral getting the votes not the image. We should call it coolest coral pic contest because it's rarely the best image that wins JMO

Most of the shots here are off a very good photography standard, not sure where ur seing bad technique in these ???
Happy to hear your technical description that makes any of these pics non deserving technique wise ?

 

[maroun.c]

I try to vote for the best picture, the issue there is, even though I'm working through what makes a good picture, I still have trouble gauging what is better or best. With the slim margin that @maroun.c talks about in the final 15, I vote based on which one I want on my wall.

That's one good approach!
As I mentioned before it's not an exact science and it's healthy to have different people gauge pictures differently or give more emphasis on one aspect over another when choosing.
No harm looking at choice of topic as after all it's a choice the photographer made and is part of the judging. In many photography aspects having a good eye for a scene or a subject is one of the most difficult parts of photography, technique can be taught , a good eye is a an art !
Then
Composition, focus choice and what it tells , exposure, colors , white balance, sharpness or maybe how soft a picture is depending on what the photographer is trying to achieve, depth of field or shallow depth of field, postprocessing ....
These are all parts of how to judge a picture.
Another similar area in reefing sometimes is comparing two tanks ? Do u look at the tanks or take into consideration equipment, neatness of the setup, how the tank sits in its surroundings, choice of flow and lighting and husbandry? Choice of corals and fish ....

Last and most important it's a fun competion and it has grown exponentially lately be it in level of submissions , number of photos participation and discussion. Yet I feel we are stuck on a few repetitive topics and question lately that are taking away from the fun of POTM.

 

[exnisstech]

Is that what noise means?

Noise is a type of digital artifact created that is not really in the actual subject being photographed usually in dark areas. Probably not the best explanation but I didn't want to copy and paste.
I'll use #7 as an example with no disrespect meant toward the photographer. The background is just busy with all the highlights competing with the actually subject. The wide light green band directly behind the coral and the larger bright area in the lower left are especially distracting. These are things that could have been cleaned up in post processing. I have little background in photography so I tend to look at the technical aspects more than someone else might. But this is a Reefing community and #7 is a very nice looking piece.

Most of the shots here are off a very good photography standard, not sure where ur seing bad technique in these ???
Happy to hear your technical description that makes any of these pics non deserving technique wise ?

I'm not saying any of these are bad shots and not deserving. I just think some are technically better than others explained above. Its the nicest coolest coral that is going to win not the best image. JMO Its normally how it goes but this is a reefing community not a photography board so.....

 

[maroun.c]

Is that what noise means?

No noise is a photographic artefact from :
Shooting at high iso with a camera that doesn't have good high iso noise performance.
Pushing exposure in post processing a dark picture over certain limits.
Lower quality lense or camera ...

I describe it in the photography articles stickied here with some good examples

 

[KrisReef]

The subject for Mar 2025 POTM contest was Macro of an SPS frag.
It is now Time to choose the winner!

The poll allows multiple choices so choose the ones you like from the numbered entries below. The voting thread will close on Apr 20th at 11:59 pm EST.

As always, we thank Avast Marine for sponsoring our POTM contest. Visit their website HERE and be sure to take a look at the great products they have to offer.

Winner will be determined by this R2R Member voting by poll. In order to be eligible to have votes counted in the poll, voting members must have at least 25 meaningful posts and have been a member of R2R for at least 1 month by the time the poll ends (votes that do not meet this criteria may show in the poll but will be disregarded in the final count). In case of a tie, Team R2R will assist in picking a winner. Rules, deadlines and terms are subject to change at staff discretion at anytime.

PLEASE REMEMBER, YOU HAVE TO ENTER YOUR VOTES IN THE POLL, NOT VIA COMMENT IN THIS THREAD. IT'S GREAT TO COMMENT, BUT PLEASE USE THE POLL TO VOTE. YOU'LL NEED TO BE ON THE WEB VERSION OF THE SITE IN ORDER TO SEE THE POLL.

So let's vote for the winner of Mar 2025 POTM
#MODS #POTM #POTMWinners

1↓

2↓

3↓

4↓

5↓

6↓

7↓

8↓

9↓

10↓

11↓

12↓

13↓

14↓

15↓

So, the prompt for voting for A PHOTOGraph is
“

The subject for Mar 2025 POTM contest was Macro of an SPS frag.

My FELLoW Idiots. The most beautiful coral frag is not what were are supposed to be voting for (7!) - is the most color frag but the image composition is not that good.

If I had to pick most beautiful frag 7 is it.

Try looking at the image, composition, focus, and image captured is how these things would ideally be judged.

I’m not voting, I only have an eye phone.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

reading all this i realize that this is way over my head and for the pros! i think ill keep my silly little pics to myself!

 

[KrisReef]

reading all this i realize that this is way over my head and for the pros! i think ill keep my silly little pics to myself!

Not so. Even an idiot like myself can capture a great image. How to evaluate the results is my only concern.