photo challenge 12 - Levitation winner by Popular Votes Pick

First Prize Winner by Popular Votes Pick
photo challenge 12 for the month of November 2012
theme: Levitation
photographer: Jaime Tan Ventura Jr.
title: "I Believe I Can Fly"
camera: Nikon D3000
total no. of votes: 43

dp+ pick winner - photo challenge 10 with theme "ethnic dance"

dp+ Winning Entry - photo challenge 10 - dp+ Pick
theme: Ethnic Dance
photographer: Raphy M. Arcaina
title: "Kagay-an Cultural Street Dance"
camera: Nikon D5100
summary of picks: total of 5 judges picks
(1 - 1st Pick and 4 - 2nd Picks)
total judges score: 441/500

 Here are the remarks of the judges who included this entry to their top 3 picks: 

Judge 1 - 2nd Pick
Beautifully captured! Shot timed just as the girl smiled. Should have been my 1st pick if not for the added points due to technical difficulty of the "Moriones" entry.

Judge 2 - 1st Pick
 The photographer has the best seat in the house. If there was eye connection, the emotion would have been really great. One thing I personally think was off is the tilt – If it was the other way around, the arms’ orientation would have been the ones diagonal – not the street – and hence would have been more natural and dynamic. Also, in design, an upward tilt is considered positive while downwards is negative. Technically the bokeh was great, lighting was good and the tones were even.

Judge 3 - 2nd Pick
This photo is all about lines in good measures. The tilted shot, again showed relationship of what festivities is all about - life in between, grounded, the horizontal and the vertical, the spirit. Colors also are in good measure. Finally, the one dancer in the middle represents the totality.

Judge 4 - 2nd Pick
The color is very nice, the contrasts with yellow/red versus the black/white, although the photo does seem a bit washed out. The expression of the dancer is it's strongest feature. The extreme angle of the shot does impart a certain sense of the motion of the dance and I feel a less extreme angle would have served that purpose better.

Judge 5 - 2nd Pick
 I like the pleasant ethnic feel to it. Though some might be tempted to boost its color, I like the way it was pleasantly temperated. Showing nice sychronized movement reinforced by the tilt, the bokeh and the captured expression to create an altogether beautiful piece.


This entry also placed 1st  with 44 votes in the Popular Votes Pick where dp+ members voted entries through likes.

This entry got picked by all 5 judges in the dp+ Pick.1 judge voted for it as 1st Pick and 4 judges as 2nd Pick. Total score is 441/500 compared with 2nd Place entry by Victor Gamosa Ursabia with a score of 398/500 picked by only 3 judges and Bobby Eric with a score of 247/500, also got picked by 3 judges. The rest of the entries that made it to the dp+ Pick only got picked by 1 judge each. dp+ Pick winner is based on the entry getting the highest score. This entry being selected by all judges got the highest score making it the winning entry.

dp+ Special Award - (Most number of 1st Picks)
photographer: Victor Gamosa Ursabia
title: "Moriones"
camera: Canon 50D
summary of picks: total of 3 judges picks
(3 - 1st Picks)
total judges score: 398/500

dp+ administration deemed this entry by Victor Gamosa Ursabia to be given the dp+ Special Award. It is the first time that an entry that didn't get the top score, gets the most number of 1st Picks. For that, it deserves to be acknowledged and given recognition also. To view comments to this entry, please check out this link: http://dpplus.blogspot.com/2012/10/judges-top-3-choices-for-photo.html.

photographer: Bobby Eric
title: "Arakbuyan"
camera: Sony A77
summary of picks: total of 3 judges picks
(3 - 3rd Picks)
total judges score: 247/500

This entry by Bobby Eric got picked 3 times also like the entry of Victor Gamosa Ursabia but all 3 judges chose it as their 3rd Pick. Remarks to this entry can be viewed also through this link: http://dpplus.blogspot.com/2012/10/judges-top-3-choices-for-photo.html.

Congratulations to Victor Gamosa Ursabia for winning our first ever dp+ Special Award for the most number of judges' 1st Pick

Cheers and Congratulations to Raphy M. Arcaina, our biggest winner for winning both Popular Votes Pick and the dp+ Pick in the "Ethnic Dance" theme, photo challenge 10. A generally liked entry from the Popular Votes Pick to the dp+ Pick, all in good measure, a really ethnic and festive dance piece, kudos to you!