Photo Contest - Take Me Home, Country Road (6/22-6/28)

[ZapperZ]

Take Me Home, Country Road

Our theme this week involves scenes from out in the country, rural, and wilderness area.

Contest Rules:

1. Any digital photo or digitally-scanned photo relevant to the theme will be accepted within the contest period. In case there's a grey area, or you're not sure if the picture is suitable, check with me first.

2. Please resize your digital photo to no more than 650 x 490 pixels. You may also crop your picture if you wish. But other than that, any form of picture editing or modification is not allowed. This is a photo contest, not a picture editing/special effect contest. You may add a watermark or your name/nickname to the photo for identification purposes.

3. Upload your photos to any of the photo servers such as imageshack. Then post it the relevant contest thread and link your picture using the img command. PM me if you do not know how.

4. Only ONE picture per member per contest.

5. At the end of the contest period, I will open a poll and every PF member can vote for the picture they like best.

6. Note that in case we have a large number of entries, I will do the polling in more than one thread. If that's the case, you can vote in each of the polling threads. The photos will be assigned in the the polling threads in the order they were submitted.

7. These pictures must be something that you took, not something taken off someone else's photo albums or taken by someone else. I have no way of checking if you did this, so we'll go by the honor system.

8. You can use a picture only once. Once it is used in a contest, it cannot be reused in another contest.

9. Please post only pictures meant for submission in this thread.

Zz.

 

[chroot]

http://www.virtualcivilization.org/alc5/images/IMG_047_resized.jpg

- Warren

 

[larkspur]

Country Road Near Glen Jean,WVhttp://home.comcast.net/~larkspur2020/country_road.jpg

 

[Moonbear]

West Virginia, Mountain Momma...
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6483/countryroadsmall5qu.jpg

True to the theme, this is indeed a country road in West Virginia...the view from my front door (or at least the view as it was when I moved here in September).

 

[Danger]

That's quite the lawn you have there, Moonie. Queen Anne's lace?

 

[Moonbear]

That's quite the lawn you have there, Moonie. Queen Anne's lace?

Ragweed I think. The dirt patch is where a new road is coming into our townhouses...someday...maybe. They seem to re-grade it daily, and it always is looking like they're about to pave it, and then it rains and gets rutted again, and they don't. Beyond that, pretty much everything else on both sides of the road is cattle pasture for as far as you can see in the picture. There are really adorable little veals...I mean Angus calves...out there now. It's really odd how they build out here. It's all rural and pastures, and then suddenly this little cluster of townhouses springs out of nowhere. But, that's okay with me...far enough away from campus not to have noisy students as neighbors, and it's dark and quiet here at night.

Edit: Oh, wait, ragweed is the yellow stuff, right? That was out there too, but the picture has the white flowers. I don't know what they are. Not Queen Anne's Lace. They look like some sort of daisy when you see them closer up. They grow all over around here. If I could just keep the thistles and milkweed from growing between them, I'd let them grow wild in my backyard too. Is there any way to selectively grow wildflowers? I actually think ragweed is pretty too, just most people don't like the pollen. If I could let the clover, white daisy flower things, and ragweed grow, and keep away the milkweed and thistles (especially the thistles...made the mistake once of letting a thistle plant grow at my old house when I didn't know what it was until it was too late), I'd let the backyard just fill up with those.

 

[detta]

country, rural, and wilderness area is pretty broad... is this only vegetated wilderness? Country like "the old country" or country like "outdoors"? Since everyone's included a road so far, maybe it would be best to have a road theme also..?

 

[Moonbear]

country, rural, and wilderness area is pretty broad... is this only vegetated wilderness? Country like "the old country" or country like "outdoors"? Since everyone's included a road so far, maybe it would be best to have a road theme also..?

It all means remote, not city or suburbs.

 

[ZapperZ]

country, rural, and wilderness area is pretty broad... is this only vegetated wilderness? Country like "the old country" or country like "outdoors"? Since everyone's included a road so far, maybe it would be best to have a road theme also..?

Yes, it is pretty broad, AND, it doesn't have to have a road in it. As long as it is not in a city, or suburb, or housing development, etc... then it fits the theme. It doesn't have to include vegetated wilderness, so if you have a picture of antartica, or the middle of the sahara, it will fit in.

Zz.

 

[matthyaouw]

Faraid head, Northern Scotland.

Edit- Won't post as an image. I'll host it elsewhere once my photobucket account is working.

 

[hypnagogue]

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6652/utah2ws.jpg

 

[Evo]

Yes, it is pretty broad, AND, it doesn't have to have a road in it. As long as it is not in a city, or suburb, or housing development, etc... then it fits the theme. It doesn't have to include vegetated wilderness, so if you have a picture of antartica, or the middle of the sahara, it will fit in.

Zz.

That's not fair to me, I have horses, cows, llamas, peacocks & Longhorn steer in my housing development. It's houses sprinkled between farms. I have a picture taken from my front door of the horse across the street.

 

[Evo]

http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/6652/utah2ws.jpg

OOOOH,[/URL] well, I'm not entering now.

 

[Moonbear]

That's not fair to me, I have horses, cows, llamas, peacocks & Longhorn steer in my housing development. It's houses sprinkled between farms. I have a picture taken from my front door of the horse across the street.

If cows live there, I'm pretty sure that qualifies as rural. You don't usually find them hanging around the backyards in suburbs.

 

[Moonbear]

Hyp's picture is just gorgeous! No fair! I don't get to go to such pretty places.

 

[ZapperZ]

That's not fair to me, I have horses, cows, llamas, peacocks & Longhorn steer in my housing development. It's houses sprinkled between farms. I have a picture taken from my front door of the horse across the street.

Take a picture of the farm but not the houses in the development. That would work.

As long as the picture convey a rural, country setting, then it qualifies. But if you have a picture of a farm house, and next to it includes a shot of a modern house with a satelite dish and outdoor jacuzzi, then that doesn't quite fit in, does it?

Zz.

 

[Evo]

Take a picture of the farm but not the houses in the development. That would work.

As long as the picture convey a rural, country setting, then it qualifies. But if you have a picture of a farm house, and next to it includes a shot of a modern house with a satelite dish and outdoor jacuzzi, then that doesn't quite fit in, does it?

Zz.

My horse in the snow picture can't compete with hyp's picture.

I'll save my horse for another time.

 

[George Jones]

West Virginia, Mountain Momma...
True to the theme, this is indeed a country road in West Virginia...the view from my front door (or at least the view as it was when I moved here in September).

Morgantown?

Have you been to Cooper's Rock State Forest? Biked the rail trails outside of Morgantown?

The scenery might not quite as beautiful as hypnagogue's, but it's not too bad.

 

[Moonbear]

My horse in the snow picture can't compete with hyp's picture.

I'll save my horse for another time.

Ooh...we need an animal's in the snow theme! Then I could use my sheep in snow picture too. I keep hanging onto it, but everytime there's a theme it would fit with, I find I have another, better photo to show off. It's a bit grainy because it's a scan of a photo that I think was taken with a disposable camera (if my recollection serves me right, I was trying to use up some film before getting it developed, and decided I needed some sheep pictures since the pasture looked so pretty all covered in snow).

 

[ZapperZ]

Ooh...we need an animal's in the snow theme! Then I could use my sheep in snow picture too. I keep hanging onto it, but everytime there's a theme it would fit with, I find I have another, better photo to show off. It's a bit grainy because it's a scan of a photo that I think was taken with a disposable camera (if my recollection serves me right, I was trying to use up some film before getting it developed, and decided I needed some sheep pictures since the pasture looked so pretty all covered in snow).

Wait a second. What about the theme "You Animal!" from a couple of weeks ago?

I'm afraid that if I make it too specific, there won't be that many pictures. I might as well make it "Animal in the snow on a full moon" theme. :)

Looking at my list, I think there may be one almost that specific coming up soon.

Zz.

 

[Moonbear]

Morgantown?

Have you been to Cooper's Rock State Forest? Biked the rail trails outside of Morgantown?

The scenery might not quite as beautiful as hypnagogue's, but it's not too bad.

I was there just this weekend. Yes, there's very pretty scenery there, but I didn't have my camera with me. The wild rhododendrons were blooming too. I don't think I'll have time to go back this weekend, otherwise I might have replaced my entry with something from there. I don't recall how long rhododendrons bloom for. A lot of the plants still had plenty of buds on them, so maybe they'll still be blooming next week (too late for this photo contest, but not too late for me to get some pictures to send to the relatives and make them jealous).

I don't bike, but I've got the map of the rail trails and plan to do some hiking this summer. It's my first summer here, so I'm still discovering all the places to go this time of year. I drove down to Fairmont a couple weeks ago and took the scenic back roads back home (not entirely on purpose...anyone who's ever been to WV would understand that it's very easy to get turned around and miss the roads you mean to take...thankfully I have enough of a sense of direction to still make it back home and not wind up lost in the wilderness)...there are just some absolutely gorgeous spots along the road there, but it was hard to appreciate them when the speed limits on those roads are about 40 mph as they twist and wind with a lot of blind curves and there was someone riding my bumper the whole way (I kept wishing they'd just get tired of following me and pass so I could slow down and look at scenery instead of focusing on navigating winding roads at full speed...there was no place to just pull to the side and let them around though).

 

[Gokul43201]

This is a floating cottage in the rural backwaters of Kerala, India, where I spent a few days last winter.

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/1055/img17858va.jpg

 

[Moonbear]

Wait a second. What about the theme "You Animal!" from a couple of weeks ago?

I liked my frog picture better. In retrospect, my frog didn't have a chance against all the furry critters.

I'm afraid that if I make it too specific, there won't be that many pictures. I might as well make it "Animal in the snow on a full moon" theme. :)

No, no, no, not on a full moon. It was daylight (well...as much daylight as you ever get in Ann Arbor in the winter).

The photo has actually fit with several themes already, I just keep finding something else I like better for those. I'll find a reason to use it eventually.

 

[JamesU]

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/9995/aphoto8dn.jpg

 

[ZapperZ]

I can already tell that this is going to be an impossible contest to vote on.

Zz.

 

[neutrino]

Terrific pictures from everyone!

 

[detta]

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7605/redwoods5kw.jpg
redwoods

 

[Moonbear]

I'll never be able to choose just one!

 

[larkspur]

I don't know if I can pick just one!

 

[Evo]

Ok, this contest is over. Too many great pictures. So, it looks like Evo's yet unposted "horse in snow" is the undisputed winner.

Sorry, the rest of you guys can try again later.

 

[Mk]

Hypnagouge wins.

I don't have my computer and can't post any tropical-looking pictures.

 

[Danger]

I hate to say it, but I think that I'm going to abstain from voting in this one. It's either that or pick a number out of a hat, and I don't make decisions based upon random factors.

 

[Ouabache]

Oh, wait, ragweed is the yellow stuff, right? That was out there too, but the picture has the white flowers. I don't know what they are. Not Queen Anne's Lace. They look like some sort of daisy when you see them closer up.

Are you sure? Those white flowers look like they have umbels below them (similar to these http://modwaka0.tripod.com/images/Queen%20Anne's%20lace%20and%20clouds.jpg](ref01)[/PLAIN] and these ref02)

If I could just keep the thistles and milkweed from growing between them, I'd let them grow wild in my backyard too.

Thistles are pretty.. Don't you like their flowers? (http://www.dereila.ca/dereilaimages/canthistle.jpg )

hypnagogue, your photo reminds of a place in Utah, I've seen a couple of times. I also had a camera with me, but the images are on 35mm slides. I've been meaning to digitize them one of these days.

 

[Moonbear]

Are you sure? Those white flowers look like they have umbels below them (similar to these http://modwaka0.tripod.com/images/Queen%20Anne's%20lace%20and%20clouds.jpg](ref01)[/PLAIN] and these ref02)

I'm sure. They have distinct petals. There's a new batch growing now.

Thistles are pretty.. Don't you like their flowers? (http://www.dereila.ca/dereilaimages/canthistle.jpg )

The flowers are pretty, but the thistles are awful! They get stuck on everything!

 

[Ouabache]

I'm sure. They have distinct petals. There's a new batch growing now.

Maybe you can take a closeup for us, when they blossom again. You've piqued my curiosity now..

The flowers are pretty, but the thistles are awful! They get stuck on everything!

Stuck on everything hmmmmm... perhaps you mean http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/arctiumminu.html (nature's velcro). I've had thistle stick me (nasty thorns), but not stick to me.