So something whimsical for the end of the year.
I love bears. I have a giant teddy and a bunch of its friends as permanent guests on my sofa. I have bear figurines scattered everywhere in my apartment. I have way too many teddies than what should be considered sane for a middle-aged man with no kids. I love bears so much that all other species of plushies are bears as well, as long as they say they self-identify as bears—which is why I have a dogbear, a cowbear, a snakebear, and a carrotbear on my bed. When I first went to the Berlin Zoo more than a decade ago, I made a bee line (should be a bear line lol) directly to the polar bear den—unfortunately, Knut the polar bear had just passed not too long ago. These past two years, when me and my SO went to Germany, we always made it a point to go to the local Steiff shop for more bears—heck, last year we made an otherwise unnecessary detour to Berlin specifically for bears, and we ended up buying an additional suitcase just to give Ben a plane ride home (as in one of the pictures below).
Enough preamble, here's the contest this week: anything bear related. Teddies are fair game, as are real live bears. A real live bear playing with a teddy? Yes please. Other plushie species that self-identify as bears? If you/they have a good storyline and my teddies approve, I don't see why not. Some Scandinavian guy named Björn/Bjørn? If he's called a bear he's a bear. The Chicago Cubs playing at Wrigley Field, or the Chicago Bears playing at Soldier Field? (How come Chicago just so happens to have two bear-themed pro sports teams?) If bear-related stuff takes prominence in the frame and it's compelling enough for my teddies, then by all means yes. A picture shot in Kumamoto, Japan ("kuma" means "bear")? If the character 熊 "kuma" appears in the frame then it's fair game—but the local mascot Kumamon appears at your risk, since my teddies are afraid of that weird black bear with the menacing smile. For submissions that are more tenuous, though, please add a story behind the photo—we can all enjoy a good story for year's end.
As always, standard rules apply:
(Nikon F601, Ilford HP5+ pushed three stops)
(Nikon F5, Kodak Ultramax 400; off the first roll of color film I processed at home by myself)
(iPhone photo of Ben and friends filling up our new suitcase)
(Nikon F4, Kodak GC800 cannibalized from a disposable camera)
(Nikon FM, Ilford Delta 3200 Pro; a neglected teddy stuck in a corner of a cat café)
I love bears. I have a giant teddy and a bunch of its friends as permanent guests on my sofa. I have bear figurines scattered everywhere in my apartment. I have way too many teddies than what should be considered sane for a middle-aged man with no kids. I love bears so much that all other species of plushies are bears as well, as long as they say they self-identify as bears—which is why I have a dogbear, a cowbear, a snakebear, and a carrotbear on my bed. When I first went to the Berlin Zoo more than a decade ago, I made a bee line (should be a bear line lol) directly to the polar bear den—unfortunately, Knut the polar bear had just passed not too long ago. These past two years, when me and my SO went to Germany, we always made it a point to go to the local Steiff shop for more bears—heck, last year we made an otherwise unnecessary detour to Berlin specifically for bears, and we ended up buying an additional suitcase just to give Ben a plane ride home (as in one of the pictures below).
Enough preamble, here's the contest this week: anything bear related. Teddies are fair game, as are real live bears. A real live bear playing with a teddy? Yes please. Other plushie species that self-identify as bears? If you/they have a good storyline and my teddies approve, I don't see why not. Some Scandinavian guy named Björn/Bjørn? If he's called a bear he's a bear. The Chicago Cubs playing at Wrigley Field, or the Chicago Bears playing at Soldier Field? (How come Chicago just so happens to have two bear-themed pro sports teams?) If bear-related stuff takes prominence in the frame and it's compelling enough for my teddies, then by all means yes. A picture shot in Kumamoto, Japan ("kuma" means "bear")? If the character 熊 "kuma" appears in the frame then it's fair game—but the local mascot Kumamon appears at your risk, since my teddies are afraid of that weird black bear with the menacing smile. For submissions that are more tenuous, though, please add a story behind the photo—we can all enjoy a good story for year's end.
As always, standard rules apply:
- The photographs must be your own work
- You may only submit one photo per contest.
- No commenting or liking photos until after the judging has taken place.
- This contest runs for about a week, starting now.
- At the end of the competition, the judge (last week's winner) will choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible.
- The 1st place winner will start a new thread here with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme, after that it defers to 2nd place).
- Be sure to update the Contest Master List as soon as you post a new theme.
- Contest ends December 30, 7:00 AM Taipei time (that's December 29, 6:00 PM EST)
(Nikon F601, Ilford HP5+ pushed three stops)
(Nikon F5, Kodak Ultramax 400; off the first roll of color film I processed at home by myself)
(iPhone photo of Ben and friends filling up our new suitcase)
(Nikon F4, Kodak GC800 cannibalized from a disposable camera)
(Nikon FM, Ilford Delta 3200 Pro; a neglected teddy stuck in a corner of a cat café)
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