I missed participating in any of the categories of the Rain Mela and would have never come to know of my misfortune had Debs (Kweldebs) not asked me to take on the role of the judge of the "Click- click" category. Well, on second thoughts, did it remain a misfortune anymore? Well, it was an honor which I wished to honor.
So here I am, going to announce the winners and why their entries won them the prizes (must have reached by now).
Before declaring the results, I would certainly like to explain my criteria of selecting the pictures for the prizes. It is always tough to single out 3-4 from amongst many.
1. The subject captured should be complete. Be it a person, an animal or an inanimate object. No corners should be out of the frame, else the meaning goes away.
2. The scene or portrait should be visually appealing. This covers colors, angle of light, contrast etc. Since eyes are the agents of appreciation, they should be treated well first!
3. The clarity of the shot does make it stand above equals on the above points.
4. There is certailny a bonus if the picture captures something not so commonly seen with that clarity.
5. There is additional bonus if the picture communicates a message - without the need of title or tags.
I had sorted out about 20 pictures from the albums of all the participants of the Rain Mela - Click Click category for further analysis, (from amongst those that were connected to rains). I did not select any picture that seemed copied from some other source (I do not encourage copyright infringement).
Lets talk business now.....
The 1st prize goes to pramod_2685 for his picture "Rain Drops 2". This one captures a worm's eye view of clear rain drops on leaves. The clarity is great and the sight is visually appealing. The picture spoke for itself.
The 2nd prize goes to anakhronous for her picture "Dripping Hearts". This was a close second. This picture spoke for itself as well and so was its visual appeal. The focus on the subject is great.The picture has a romantic value as well, and Barnali being one, has captured it well.
The 3rd prize goes to bhupeshrai for his picture "Beautiful Landscapes of Andhra Pradesh". Bhupesh had half a dozen in his gallery that could have taken this prize, but I had to settle for my personal favorite here. It appears that this picture has been taken from a train - either the train halted for a while in this lush landscape or the camera shutter speed was too quick, as ther is no "drag" that we see in pictures taken from a moving object. I had to guess so after seeing a picture of a railway track nearby in the same album. The visual appeal of the cloud cover over the greenery is just great.
4. Well, I would give a 4th prize too. This goes to swan for her picture titled "Cloudy Day". The wet sea beach and clouds hovering overhead gave me some psychological relief, hence I could not avoid adding a prize for this picture as well. The shot is too good.
There is a consolation prize too. It goes to derebail2008 for his picture "Waves". It did not necessarily cover rains, hence I could not take it into the top 4, but the picture is of Mary's island which has lots of rains throughout the year. As Umesh himself says "Ja kar mehsoos karo".
And finally, I thank Debs for giving me an opportunity to participate in this competetion, albeit in a different role. I apologize to everyone for the delay in the results as I was caught up in some corporate email rains recently :-). I have stolen some Sunshine to write this post and thus declare the results.
The prizes will reach the winners by the end of my day today ( i.e. about 4 hours after the Sun sets for today!!!).
PS: I wish that there are rains in the Gulf too so that Paul can add a few pictures to his gallery too!
