I haven't been through them all yet but there are more beautiful pictures in this challenge than in any challenge I can remember. I had to take a rest. The variety of pictures and excellence in photographic skills is almost overwhelming! I think that having a monthly contest is a great idea. Many times I feel rushed in getting a picture in on time for the weekly deadline and do not get to perfect a picture I am working on in order to beat the deadline. A monthly contest gives one the opportunity to not only take his/her time in selection but also time to work on the end product. I can't tell you how many times I have said to myself that I wished I had more time to work on a picture for a given challenge. The "Open Challenge" idea is also a good one because it allows you to let your imagination run free. Anyone else have the same feeling?
I was thinking of posting a similar thread last night, as I started to look through the challenge entries. I like voting for this challenge a bit more as well, because I don't have to think "does this really fit the challenge, or are they just forcing this in here?" - this let's me score things a bit truer to how I feel about the photograph and its subject.
I spent late last night voting,and I agree, there are a bunch of wonderful shots in this challenge. Oviously, I chose the wrong one to submit tho, it's tanking :p
I would love having a free study challenge like this either every month or every second month.
I find that it gives us a better chance to really go over a photograph before submitting it and also gives us the opportunity to share nice pictures that are not constrained by a specific topic.
This, combined to the extra edit rules during December, was a pleasant experience that I would love doing again.
I used this challenge to submit a photo I took for an earlier challenge in December. I was torn between several photos at the time, and wanted to see what the reaction to this one was. Needless to say, the photo I did submit for the earlier challenge didn't do very well and I had wished I had entered this one.
Mine isn't doing well either. Well, maybe I'll get a surprise but we'll see. I get a bad feeling when more than one (ok, more like 4 or 5) people make the same comment about your entry. Gah. But I'm glad I entered the image I chose. I think my other image would have fared worse.
I feel the 'December Free Study' challenge produced an overall higher number of quality photos than usual. While I believe the higher quality was more the result of having an 'open challenge subject' verses a relaxed rule set, I would personally love to see the 'December Editing Rules' adopted for all member challenges (even with my fledgling photo editing skills).
