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C0ncreteBl0nde

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This weeks theme is a take-off of a previous theme @mollyc did several years ago:

Since it is the last day of the year; a time when we are reminiscing about the year that is now (ALREADY!) behind us, I’d like to see Your Favorite Photo of 2025.

This must be a photo you took this year (no archived photos) and any subject is acceptable .

As always I will be hoping for more than what I refer to as “snapshots.” When I’m judging I will be taking into consideration photographic techniques… angle, sharpness/bokeh, possible color-themed (although black and white photos are very welcome), and most of all: lighting. OTOH, if your favorite breaks all the “rules”, then that’s fine too. If that’s too contradictory and redundant, I apologize…perhaps I should just leave it at you pick your favorite photo of 2025 and hope that it’s my favorite too!

As always, the standard rules apply:

  • The photographs must be your own work. No AI generated images.
  • 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 will end January 7th, 2026 at approximately 12 noon PT.

I'm looking forward to see your favorites and Happy New Year, everyone!
 
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Reactions: arkitect
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Another Bellagio conservatory shot of a tiger on a swing in the summer 2025 display.
 
Fantastic topic. Had no trouble narrowing it to 12, then to six, then to 3. Picking a favourite was so difficult I almost made a collage. Anyways I picked this one via the eenie meenie minie moe selection routine.
Thank you @OldMacs4Me but you can give the credit to @mollyc who did this theme/topic back in 2022.

I am already wondering if I haven't shot myself in the foot by choosing this topic just from the entries that have already come in. Wow! What a great display of photography! I'm going to have my work cut out for me when it come time to judge/award THIS contest!
 
I want to begin by saying that this is some REALLY great photography! Several of you stated you had a hard time choosing one, which makes me curious to see the ones you DIDN’T choose. Thank you for making my job so difficult!

I don’t even feel qualified to judge these photos, but here goes:


@goldmac2006 : Wow! I’m anxious to hear more about this photo and where it was taken, etc. I love its uniqueness. Oh! I just noticed your note underneath! Someone has a very creative imagination. I envy the fact that where you live there must be an endless supply of these type of photos to shoot. I appreciate things that are unique and creative. Nice shot.


@stillcrazyman : Nice to see you here and what a great entry you have contributed to the contest. I’ve always been curious about where you must live to get all the great animal/nature photos that you do. Where I live, I have deer in my backyard often but I’m never in a position to get a good photo of them. Unfortunately, this is about to come to an end because they are putting in streets and some kind of buildings behind me. 🙁. I love the composition of this photo and having the bokeh in the front of the photo instead of behind as we usually see it. You captured it at the perfect time as you made eye contact with the deer and the greenery surrounding it makes for a really excellent shot. Beautiful photo.


@cjsuk: First of all, I see that your account has been suspended and I’m very sorry to read that. I hope it is a temporary thing and that you will be back soon.

I love your photo; there is so much and it’s so interesting. I’m not sure if I’m looking at a reflection to the right or if the beams show a separate part of the photo.The fact that you captured this with a prime lens is really impressive and I’m glad you chose black & white because I think colors would have made it too much. You were in the right spot to capture the ferris wheel and the clouds are great. (I have a thing for “good” clouds 🙂 ). I just noticed the clouds to the bottom right and now I’m really confused! I hope you return soon and tell us more about this excellent photograph.


@iPhone-Guy : Okay, I have a confession to make: for a reason I’m unable to answer, I’m just not at all into bird photography. My daughter wanted to know why today and I couldn’t give her a good answer. They are just not my thing. HOWEVER, I LOVE this picture. I’m drawn to it. It gives me Hitchcock vibes and I’m sure part of that is how many times as a child I terrified myself watching “The Birds” plus the black and white. I’m anxious to hear how you came about getting this shot. I can see why it’s your favorite of last year as it’s an outstanding photo.


@someoldguy : GREAT shot! I love the way it’s cropped; the square within a square and the rectangular bricks surrounding it…excellent. The focus of the shot being the field and the flowers…so different from the “alike” parts of the photo mentioned above and the colors of the flowers and the grass makes it that much more interesting. The fact that you did the outskirts of the photo in symmetry but DID use The Rule of Thirds in the focus of the picture REALLY make this a great photograph.


@arkitect : You and your talent with finding the perfect light! I was scrolling backwards in the POTD thread and came upon one of your photos and because of the lighting in the photo I said “That’s Arkitects” and sure enough, it was. This is a beautiful photograph of your beloved pet. It doesn’t need any fancy atmosphere or background, the fact that Calliope is lying on what appears to be your working desk makes the photo all that much more interesting. And obviously the play of the shadows and the light and being drawn into the cats beautiful yellow/green eyes really make this an outstanding shot. I love it.


@OldMacs4Me : I’m loving seeing all your chosen photos on POTD and I’m glad you chose this one for the contest. The sharpness of the flora is outstanding especially against the blurred background. The yellows are so bright and I love how sharp the stamen are; even the silky hairs on the stems (I don’t know the correct word for these, I had to look it up) stand out. It makes me long for spring, but these days the years go by so fast as it is, I’ll be satisfied to wait a few months. Beautiful work.


@kendallm : Wow..I can’t wait to hear how you got this great shot! The composition is great and I’m drawn to the different textures of the walls..the decaying exposing the brick with the dichotomy of the colored flowers in the window box, even more than I am to the focus of the subject being the Gondola. There is so much to see and it’s really done well. Excellent photography.


@oblomow : By now, I’ve noticed you have a theme going where you take these beautiful landscape photos with one person in the shot. I find myself wishing the human was a little more to the right instead of being “in the way of” the magnificent mountains behind them. I’d love to hear where this was taken and how far you had to hike to get to such a beautiful place. Nice work.


@Janichsan : Another gorgeous yellow flower shot making me long for spring. I love how you used the Rule of Thirds here and also how sharp the focal point is compared to the rest of the photo. The light is really excellent too, brightening just parts of the focal point instead of blowing up the entire flower. I’ve never been in a sea of Sunflowers like this, so I’d love to hear more about how/where you got this shot. Really well done.

Now the really difficult part. I wish I could put you all on the podium because you are all worthy, but that’s not how a contest works.

Gosh, this is hard.
---------------------------------------------------

Third place: @someoldguy

Second place: @arkitect

First place: @iPhone-Guy
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Thank you all; I have seriously enjoyed all your entries very much and you are all winners.

@iPhone-Guy - You’re up! 🙂
 
Oh wow, thank you so much for first place! I’ll try and get the next contest up tomorrow asap (im open to suggestions 😅). As to how I got the shot… I was biking around one day and went past my local grocery store. It was closed because it was Sunday and for some reason there were a lot of crows around. They didn’t seem scared so I tried my luck using the 5x telephoto on the 16 Pro and after some editing, BOOM, there’s my favorite photo this year 😁
 
@oblomow : By now, I’ve noticed you have a theme going where you take these beautiful landscape photos with one person in the shot. I find myself wishing the human was a little more to the right instead of being “in the way of” the magnificent mountains behind them. I’d love to hear where this was taken and how far you had to hike to get to such a beautiful place. Nice work.
thank you for judging and this weeks contest.
The photo was taken in Padjelanta National Park in north Sweden. I think we were 2 or 3 days in. The entire route to cross this park takes 8-10 days.
I totally agree that this is not a perfect, well composed shot. However it is the one I would frame and put on the wall. We ( wife&I) had a great walk, beautiful vistas and nice memories.
 
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Thank you @C0ncreteBl0nde for such extensive and thoughtful judging — and the 2nd place. Glad you liked it! 🙂

Oh wow, thank you so much for first place! I’ll try and get the next contest up tomorrow asap (im open to suggestions 😅). As to how I got the shot… I was biking around one day and went past my local grocery store. It was closed because it was Sunday and for some reason there were a lot of crows around. They didn’t seem scared so I tried my luck using the 5x telephoto on the 16 Pro and after some editing, BOOM, there’s my favorite photo this year 😁

Well done and congrats @iPhone-Guy Be ready for the unexpected and good things happen! 👍

@arkitect : You and your talent with finding the perfect light! I was scrolling backwards in the POTD thread and came upon one of your photos and because of the lighting in the photo I said “That’s Arkitects” and sure enough, it was. This is a beautiful photograph of your beloved pet. It doesn’t need any fancy atmosphere or background, the fact that Calliope is lying on what appears to be your working desk makes the photo all that much more interesting. And obviously the play of the shadows and the light and being drawn into the cats beautiful yellow/green eyes really make this an outstanding shot. I love it.

Haha! Yes, I really did think quite a bit about this — I chose this photo because, IMHO a decent photograph; Quality of light, rendering of the lens and of course subject! 😁
More than anything it is a moment of very personal happiness.
That little cat has been a huge change to our lives.
After our last moggy died in 2021 we decided to not adopt another until we felt it right. So 2025 rolls on… not a great year for me. And when we saw this little kitten — shy and not very affectionate with anyone, I knew we had found our little companion. All she needed was care and attention. Space to grow and thrive. And wow! What a wonderful confident cat she has become.
Oh, I could go on and on! 😀


PS:
I want to begin by saying that this is some REALLY great photography! Several of you stated you had a hard time choosing one, which makes me curious to see the ones you DIDN’T choose.

This was my runner up choice. I think it is actually the better photograph. It more or less sums up what I am always looking for. And rarely find.

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@kendallm : Wow..I can’t wait to hear how you got this great shot! The composition is great and I’m drawn to the different textures of the walls..the decaying exposing the brick with the dichotomy of the colored flowers in the window box, even more than I am to the focus of the subject being the Gondola. There is so much to see and it’s really done well. Excellent photography.

Thank you! This was on a Trip to Venice this past October. Honestly every street we walked down had views similar to this with boats and gondolas on canals. It's easy to take decent pictures in a beautiful place!

Great judging on this, I'm glad it was you and not me! So many good entries.
 
@Janichsan : Another gorgeous yellow flower shot making me long for spring. I love how you used the Rule of Thirds here and also how sharp the focal point is compared to the rest of the photo. The light is really excellent too, brightening just parts of the focal point instead of blowing up the entire flower. I’ve never been in a sea of Sunflowers like this, so I’d love to hear more about how/where you got this shot. Really well done.
Well, thanks for the praise. It's not really a "sea" of sunflowers, just a long strip along the boundary of a field. I don't know very much about agriculture, but apparently it helps to regenerate the soil to plant sunflowers and thistles in late summer/early autumn (the picture is from early October) and then plough them in later. The farmers here in the area do this every couple of years.
 
@goldmac2006 : Wow! I’m anxious to hear more about this photo and where it was taken, etc. I love its uniqueness. Oh! I just noticed your note underneath! Someone has a very creative imagination. I envy the fact that where you live there must be an endless supply of these type of photos to shoot. I appreciate things that are unique and creative. Nice shot.
Thanks for the positive feedback. I usually go to vegas a few times a year. It was also a runners up pic for a past contest that I used a pic of a bird turned into a human wearing fancy clothes and dress instead, I really liked this unique Bellagio conservatory summer theme mixing human counterparts with animals.
 
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