Here are the finalists of the 2015 photography contest. We received 16 photographs from 7 photographers, somewhat fewer than in previous years. This year we decided to choose 1 picture from each entrant and enlisted our wife to help with the choices. The text was written by the photographers and lightly edited for consistency.
The finalists are given below the proverbial fold, in alphabetical order of last name. Please look through their photographs 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, we will cancel the contest.
Polling will close Friday, July 17, at approximately 12:00 CST.
Reed Cartwright contributed to this post.
Luna moth by Tom Gillespie.
Actias luna -- Luna moth, Duluth, Georgia. Shot from underneath, as it was resting upside-down in my azalea bush.
Heavens Peak by Jim Kocher.
Heavens Peak, Glacier Wall, and waning 3rd quarter Moon, north shore of Avalanche Lake, Sept., 1984. Oceanus Procellarum, Mare Humorum, and high-albedo Byrgius-A ray system are detectable on the Moon. Kodachrome 64.
Emerald ash borer traces by Richard Meiss.
Larval feeding galleries of Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire -- emerald ash borer. They are an invasive species in the American Upper Midwest (arriving here from Asia some fifteen years ago) that poses a serious threat to the native population of ash trees (genus Fraxinus). Some of their opportunistic enemies (e.g., woodpeckers and squirrels) inflict their own damage on the trees as they search for the larvae. Their spread is aided by human transport of infected wood, especially as firewood.
Feral cat by Andrey Pavlov.
Felis catus -- domesticated cat. Mr. Pavlov tells us, "The photo of the cat is my cat Rosie, short for Rosen of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (her sister is named Electron, not pictured). She is a daughter of a feral cat, rescued from a swamp in central Louisiana."
Partial eclipse of the sun by Marilyn Susek.
Partial eclipse of the Sun, Ravenfield, Rotherham, S. Yorks., UK.
4 Comments
John Harshman · 6 July 2015
Looks as if I agree with the majority (though the sample is so far tiny) in preferring Dan Moore's polar ice. Doubtless the subtext of global warming is at work here.
As runner up I would go with Richard Meiss's emerald ash borer traces, as they make both an interesting abstract composition and a good story. I do wonder what's special about them; they look pretty much the same as any American buprestid.
surprisesaplenty · 7 July 2015
I do understand the editorial 'we' but it sure looks weird in this usage: "we decided to choose 1 picture from each entrant and enlisted our wife to help with the choices."
Matt Young · 7 July 2015
I do understand the editorial âweâ but it sure looks weird in this usage: âwe decided to choose 1 picture from each entrant and enlisted our wife to help with the choices.â
We thought it was funny. So did our wife.
GvlGeologist, FCD · 5 August 2015
I gotta go with the Emerald Ash Borer. The melting ice could be any sea ice melting during the springtime in lots of places and (in this particular case) not related to global warming.
4 Comments
John Harshman · 6 July 2015
Looks as if I agree with the majority (though the sample is so far tiny) in preferring Dan Moore's polar ice. Doubtless the subtext of global warming is at work here.
As runner up I would go with Richard Meiss's emerald ash borer traces, as they make both an interesting abstract composition and a good story. I do wonder what's special about them; they look pretty much the same as any American buprestid.
surprisesaplenty · 7 July 2015
I do understand the editorial 'we' but it sure looks weird in this usage:
"we decided to choose 1 picture from each entrant and enlisted our wife to help with the choices."
Matt Young · 7 July 2015
GvlGeologist, FCD · 5 August 2015
I gotta go with the Emerald Ash Borer. The melting ice could be any sea ice melting during the springtime in lots of places and (in this particular case) not related to global warming.