Category Archives: Contests

Nader Parsaei


2010 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
Ain’t Distributed Right

Nader made this selection over Mongolian one night before we saw The Expendables. This picture had my favorite judge’s comment on it.

“Nice try.”

Hilarious!

Nader also consider this picture over a bowl of noodles.


2010 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

5 of 6 selectors have been selected for next year’s Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. Still room for 1 more, but it has to be a dude. If you are interested in trying you hand at it, let me know.

William McAlpine

Willy picked his picture over a hunk of salmon at The Colorado Grill during FNSC.


2010 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
Trouble

Willy also thoughtfully considered this photo of Derrick.


2010 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

The reason I enter photo contests is that enjoy watching other people look at my pictures. I know that is slightly voyeuristic, but I can deal with it. Another reason I enjoy entering the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest is that I like reading the judges comments on the back. I like to see what pictures they “got” and what pictures they didn’t get. I might review their commentary in an entry at a later date, but it is sufficient to say that like the frog picture Jill selected last year, the judges didn’t “get” this picture.

Jay Janson

Jay had a million questions about the process before he picked (which was a little strange since he had picked in the past), but once he was on the clock he said it was a tough decision because there were “so many good pictures”. But he arrived at his decision fairly quickly and chose the picture below:


2010 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
Blues

It is only a theory, but I think he liked the power lines in the background. He loves it when I have power lines in my pictures.

Jesse Howard

I think most of you know that I have strange ways of picking pictures for photo contests. I think the most interesting way is how I “pick” the pictures for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. In fact, I don’t pick the pictures at all. I have 6 individuals each pick 1 picture from a list of pictures I nominate.

Last year I had all Dolls pick the pictures. This year I had all Guys.

I considered this to be a small social experiment on my part. At least it did allow me to collect data that I find intriguing, even though I know it is mostly meaningless.

Last year I was excited when Jill picked a frog picture. I wrote at that time that I was impressed that a Doll would pick a picture of a frog. I also wrote that I hoped that next year a Guy would pick a flower picture this year.

No guy picked a flower picture.

This is the data that I collected. You can draw your own conclusion about the differences between Guys and Dolls.

  1. Dolls sent me long explanations of the reasons they selected the picture that they selected.  They also sent a list of the other pictures that they considered. Guys sent me back the number of the picture that they had selected. They didn’t elaborate. They didn’t send out a list of the other pictures that they considered.  Only Andree sent an email that consisted of more than just a number.  I only know what other pictures Nader and Willy considered besides their selection because they aren’t very computer savvy and I had to be there to hold their hand through the process.  It is important to note that I gave the Guys and the Dolls identical instructions.
  2. The breakdown of the subject matter of pictures selected by Dolls was as follows: 3 flower pictures, 1 frog picture, 1 people picture and 1 religious picture.  The breakdown of the subject matter of pictures selected by Guys is as follows 0 flower pictures, 0 frog pictures, 0 religious pictures, 1 people picture, 1 animal picture, 1 sculpture picture and 3 landscape pictures.  I’m not surprised that flower pictures got bageled by the Guys, but I thought a frog picture would get some love.
  3. Dolls picked 4 black and white pictures and 2 color pictures. Guys picked 5 color pictures and 1 black and white picture.  I did end up converting 1 color entry to black and white. I know that runs contrary to the spirit of this endeavor, but I did want at least a semblance of balance and I couldn’t stand to only have 1 black and white entry.  Black and white is my first love, after all.
  4. Most Dolls took a fair portion of the 24 hours.  Only Jesse took nearly the full 24 hours to decide.

Without further adieu, here is the selection of Jesse Howard:


2010 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
Mingled Souls

I don’t think that there is going to be a “gimmick” again next year. I think I’m going to ask 6 people who have never selected before. I already have 4 people in mind, but if you have never selected before, you should leave a comment on why you would make an excellent selector. I will take it under advisement.

Becky Perkovich

Becky made the final selection.


2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
Misplaced Plant

Becky also had other pictures that she liked. They are below with the reason she liked them.


2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
“Fire Pit – Everyone can relate to this photo.”

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
“Fireworks Fallout – This photo is original”

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
“Color Daisies – This photo feels hopeful.”

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
“Story St Fire – There may be lots of these photos there (like trains) but it’s relatable.”


The weirdest thing is that I don’t even think that there was a single train photo there this year.

“Interesting.”

“Yes. Provocative.”

Charlotte Bennett (Mom)

My mom doesn’t own a computer or even know how to use one, so I had to bring her over to the Honest Abe office to have her look over the pictures for her to pick one.


2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
“Pardon and Sanctify Me”

I actually thought that she would pick this one. It is a picture of the cross on the top of our church. It actually looks much nicer than that now as it has been recently painted during the tuckpointing process. It is prettier now, but perhaps not as photogenic.

There were a couple of other images that she also considered.


2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

The truth is that she doesn’t like the picture of Logan’s eye at all, but she thought it was artistic. I don’t think any of my weirder images got much love, but at least this one got mentioned.

Jill Gorshe

I was pleasantly surprised by Jill’s choice. Since I had decided to have all people of the female persuasion pick the photos this year, I thought a frog picture would get very little love.

But Jill came through for the frog.


2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee
“It’ll Do Fine”

I actually struggled with the naming of this picture. Even now, I think that I’m going to rename it to “So Many Other Ordinary Things”. I’ll have to meditate upon it further.

There was a point when I wanted to name this picture after the prince from The Frog King or Iron Heinrich, but as I looked into the story a little bit deeper, I found that the Frog King doesn’t have a name. But perhaps even more importantly is that I don’t think that the princess really deserves the Frog-King. At least not as the story was originally written.

In the original story, the princess doesn’t break the spell with a kiss. She throws the frog against the wall in disgust.

“Now, thou wilt be quiet, odious frog.” The princess says and throws the frog against the wall. This turns the frog back into a prince. For some reason he still wanted her?!?!?!?

He should have stood up and told her to bugger off. There are other fish in the sea. Some of those fish probably aren’t spoiled little brats that try to go back on their deal. He did get her stupid golden ball for her out of the well. He should have known how small and petty she was then. It is just a stupid golden ball. No need to offer up your clothes, pearls or jewels, princess.

But I digress…

Jill of course had other pictures she liked, before deciding on the frog.


2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

2009 - Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Nominee

If Jill can pick a frog, I have hopes that one of the guys will pick a flower picture in 2010.