We received approximately 40 photographs from 20 photographers. Most of the pictures were excellent. We divided the entries into 3 categories, Land, Sea, and Sky, though we had to fudge a little bit to populate all 3 categories.
Choosing finalists was difficult. We considered what we thought were the scientific and pictorial qualities of the photographs, and also attempted to represent as many photographers and present as much variety as possible. The text was written by the photographers and lightly edited for style.
Here are the finalists in the
Land category. Please look through them before voting for your favorite. You will have to be logged in to vote on the poll. We know it is possible to game these polls. Please be responsible and vote only once. If we think that the results are invalid, the contest will be canceled. The photos and poll are below the fold.
The winner in each category will receive a copy of
The Way of the Panda, by Henry Nicholls; we thank the publisher, Pegasus Books, for their generosity in providing the books.
Note: Matt Young directed the selection of the finalists and wrote most of this text.
Cooling pahoehoe lava from
Kilauea, Hawaii, by Andrew Cooper — basaltic lava.
Diaphania hyalinata,
melonworm moth, by Richard Hughes — Brandon, Florida. The moth waves its feathery tail structure back and forth to disperse
pheromones for attracting a mate.
Callisaurus draconoides,
zebra-tailed lizard, by Pete Moulton — this male is basking on a rock near the confluence of the Rio Verde and Rio Salado north of Mesa, Arizona. Mr. Moulton adds, "He's got me sussed, and there's no getting any closer."
Magicicada sp.,
periodical cicada, by Nicholas Plummer — newly emerged adult with its larval exoskeleton. It is a member of Brood XIX, one of the 13-year populations.
Equus ferus caballus, feral
mustangs, by James Rice — arid basin in Eastern Nevada. Controversy surrounds the presence of feral mustang herds. Supporters argue that mustangs are part of the natural heritage of the American West, whose history predates modern land use practices, and thus the animals have an inherent right of inhabitation. Others remain vehemently opposed to their presence, arguing that the animals degrade rangeland and compete with livestock and wild species for forage. The controversy is further complicated by the claim that horses are a reintroduced native species due to the prehistoric presence of horses in North America
Orchelimum vulgare, common meadow
katydid, resting on a
canna lily,
Canna x, unknown cultivar, by Lynn Wilhelm — Ms. Wilhelm adds, "I'm sure it's the
Tettigoniidae family, quite sure it's the
Orchelimum genus--not completely sure about species."
26 Comments
Reed A. Cartwright · 22 August 2011
Let me know if anyone is having a problem voting. I changed the system a bit for this round.
Note, you may have to refresh the page after signing in to see the voting options.
GvlGeologist, FCD · 22 August 2011
I was the second vote. No problems.
eric · 22 August 2011
You may want to tag this to stay at the top of PT. Otherwise it might get lost.
Reed A. Cartwright · 22 August 2011
I'll tag it tomorrow, or do something similar.
fnxtr · 22 August 2011
Just refreshing in IE8 didn't work, I had to sign in, leave the page, and come back. Works now.
Matt Young · 23 August 2011
Reed A. Cartwright · 23 August 2011
I got a noticed planned for tomorrow, so I am unstickying.
Anonymosity · 24 August 2011
Hmm... I'm signed in, but I don't see a vote button. Am I missing something obvious?
Anonymosity · 24 August 2011
Never mind :) Once I made the comment, the poll appeared. It must have been me.
https://me.yahoo.com/a/XRnHyQl8usUn8ykD1Rji0ZXHNe.9lqmg3Dm7ul96NW4vxpbU3c_GLu.k#d404b · 24 August 2011
lava
apokryltaros · 24 August 2011
It's a hard choice, but I think I'll have to go with the Magicicada.
Karen S. · 24 August 2011
Mustangs!
cmb · 24 August 2011
Lava
Reed A. Cartwright · 24 August 2011
Right now you have to be logged in to vote. I'd like feedback from the community about whether this should be changed for next week's voting?
bhooker.jr · 24 August 2011
Same here as with Anonymosity; signed in, but no vote button.
Paul Burnett · 24 August 2011
The green katydid on the orange canna lily.
https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmCS1gobZtIkjRwTvdVuDd6OuxTTN7nHQ8 · 24 August 2011
Magicicada all the way.
https://me.yahoo.com/a/w0tdZONn0dj5M1SAsJ0Cvfjm1SfgNLT6Flo-#45ac9 · 24 August 2011
All of the rest are just sort of.. well, sitting there... But the Mustangs are running pretty fast!
I'm kind of bised - I was driving like mad to set up that shot while my brother was shooting the photos.
-AR
wildcat48 · 25 August 2011
Doesn't work
Reed A. Cartwright · 25 August 2011
If you can comment, you can vote. Refresh the page after you login to comment, and you should see the poll options.
Henry J · 25 August 2011
Somebody needs to vote, cause the one I voted for is getting clobbered by lava and another bug...
gaythia · 25 August 2011
FYI, the normal refreshing didn't work for me. I had to leave to "Main" and come back. For a while there, I thought that there must be some secret evolutionary testing going on here. I signed in (See! I can comment!) I refreshed, (several times, just in case) No luck until I got almost exasperated enough to leave entirely.
Reed A. Cartwright · 25 August 2011
Some browsers must work different than others.
I'm working on how to update the poll on login.
Reed A. Cartwright · 25 August 2011
Okay, I think I got it working.
lynnwilhelm · 26 August 2011
C'mon Katydid. Don't you just love that color?
The lava pic is great though.
cmb · 26 August 2011
Hi Reed, It works with Firefox 6 now.