Chit Chat for the January 09 Photography Contest Entries

[fred]

Chit Chat for the January Photography Contest Entries

thanks "Geeks"

[kmarch]

Just a memory refresher: I noticed some of the December photo comp entries were entered in the species category but were not orchid species. A species orchid is one that is as it is found in the wild (though it may be line-bred). For example a Paph fairrieanum is a species (note small "F" in the species name which is also Latinised) while a Paph Ho Chi Minh is a hybrid and not a species (note grex is capitalized and in this case is a person's name but not Latinized).

If you have questions about whether your entry is a species or not or would like some advice on which category it could be entered in, let me know here in this thread.

Happy Picture Taking!!!

[tizzycat]

Hi Kevin, please can you advise whether the Paph. spicerianum var. giganteum would qualify as a species entry.

[kmarch]

Yes, tizzy, Paph spicerianum is definitely a species. Note it has a lower-case, Latinised species name (the second name).

[Anton]

Andrew, love that Disa Betty's Bay and well photographed, that royal blue accentuates the orange flower, top marks.

[Andrew]

Anton,
The Betty's Bay is a first flowering from a flask I purchased from Kevin Western in late 2007. 4 siblings have flowered, producing blooms similar to this one. I'm still waiting on another 10 of these to flower. Fortunately deflasked Disa don't make you wait several years to find out which ones are worth keeping.

[Anton]

Kevin is a personal friend of mine, I must "have a chat" to him.

[articuno75]

I just wanted to say that yellow Disa is just amazing!

[kmarch]

Andrew, Have you ever had any of your Disas judged? Please consider it. Your Disas (from the looks of the pictures) are some of the best I have ever seen and I believe they have award potential.

[patticake]

I see some winners already! Wow...

[kmarch]

onelady, Welcome to the forum! I'm happy to see your first post was a photo comp entry. You indicated in your post that you were not sure if you were a novice or intermediate photographer. Here are the criteria for both:

Novice: point-and-shoot experience only, has had camera less than 3 years, no photography classes

Intermediate: beyond basic point-n-shoot, has possibly had camera for 3-5 years, considers lighting, composition, has possibly had 1 or 2 classes on photography basics

Let me know which one more closely describes your experience and I'll edit your post to reflect that.

You've entered lovely pictures! Welcome!

Also as a new member, please consider introducing yourself in the new member section of the forum.

[kninum]

for the category 'Floral display' "floral art", i am trying to figure out what the definition of 'floral art' would be?

[kmarch]

The types of pics people post in "Floral Art Floral Display" include any kind of arrangement or staged presentation using orchids. Examples include groupings of orchids, flower arrangements (live or cut), or orchids photographed with props. One of our members once photographed their Neos with Japanese figurines, another member photographed a very pretty grouping of pink and purple orchids, and yet another member once entered a grouping of 3 or 4 paphs.

[Tarad]

Can a pic of a NOID be entered? Tara

[kninum]

i have seen many NOIDS entered....and even win!





i just put an entry in.....it is a digital banner i made from a photo i took of one of my phals.....i assumed it should go as a special effects, and hopefully it does qualify for entering.... i can chop it up if i have too....but it works great as my desktop background like it is.

[Tarad]

Cool Tara

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Tarad

Can a pic of a NOID be entered? Tara

Yes, certainly.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Andrew, Have you ever had any of your Disas judged? Please consider it. Your Disas (from the looks of the pictures) are some of the best I have ever seen and I believe they have award potential.

Thanks for the compliments. I haven't had any of my plants judged and I don't belong to a judging society. Joining a judging society has been on my to do list for a couple of years now, right under 'find some time' and 'stop taking on extra jobs within my current plant societies when I find time'. Maybe this year will be the year.

To be honest, I don't know what attributes are desirable in an awarded Disa. Have you ever judged them? I'm a little surprised at the apparent lack of awarded Disa in Australia. While the Disa Betty's Bay that I posted is a seedling, the Disa uniflora 'Xmas Gold' is a fairly well known clone so I'd be surprised if someone hasn't already presented it for judging. Although maybe the hiatus that most orchid societies take over the Christmas break prevents a lot of Disa from being benched.

[kmarch]

Hi Andrew,

Originally Posted by Andrew

To be honest, I don't know what attributes are desirable in an awarded Disa. Have you ever judged them?

Yeah I have judged them a couple of times. Because they have not been as commonly grown over time as other orchids like Paphs or Phals the criteria won't be spelled out specifically like they might for other orchids so we would use general criteria for judging which would include (in no particular order or importance):
1) colour/markings - Is the colour good and clean, not muddy or with any colour breaks? Are the markings (if there are any) distinct and clean, not muddy or distorted?

2) form - Does the flower have good "confirmation" (is it cleanly and evenly bilaterally symmetrical)? Is the dorsal straight? Are the lateral sepals balanced and symetrical? Are the segments (petals, sepals, and lip) proportionate and balanced?

3) other considerations - How are the flowers presented? Is the plant floriferious, does it have at least as many flowers as you'd expect? Are they presented well, "looking you in the eye" so to speak? Are they fresh and in good condition? How does the size of the flower measure up?

One can only tell so much form a picture but based on the limited evaluatin I am able to make form your pics I'd be of the opinion that your flowers would be worth taking a look at (judging).

Originally Posted by Andrew

I'm a little surprised at the apparent lack of awarded Disa in Australia. While the Disa Betty's Bay that I posted is a seedling, the Disa uniflora 'Xmas Gold' is a fairly well known clone so I'd be surprised if someone hasn't already presented it for judging.

Generally Disas have only recently come into vogue so I'm not surprised to see relatively few awards. As people become more interested in them and better at growing them we'll see more awards. The season could also have something to do with it. In Victoria, and I'd imaging other states too, judging can happen anytime, anywhere, not just at shows and club meetings. If someone thinks they have an awardable flower and want to have it looked up they can give a judge a call and have it looked at.

Regarding the Disa uniflora 'Xmas Gold' there are several things to sort out so I need some clarification. Is your plant a clone or is it seed raised?

If it is a clone then it would carry the cultivar name. If it was seed raised, even if it were a selfing, it is considered a different cultivar and does not take the parent's cultivar name.

If the cultivar name 'Xmas Gold' was given as the result of an award then it could only be re-judged if it was a candidate for an upgrade in the award (e.g. from an FCC to an AM). If it was not given as the result of an award then its not an authoritative and your plant could be judged and given a cultivar name of your choice if awarded.

The AOC is currently in the process or collating all award records so hopefully it won't be long before we'll be able to look these awards up.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Cheers!

[Andrew]

Thanks for clarifying, Kevin. I'm intrigued by the judging process and have the utmost respect for those who can pull apart a plant's attributes to assess its merits as a whole. In saying that, I predominantly grow what would be considered botanicals so I haven't had any opportunity to become disgruntled from not getting plants awarded.

[fred]

I just wanted to let you all know that the pics posted in the January Comp are amazing

the quality of the photos just keeps getting better and better

well done with the pics and good growing "geeks"

its wonderful seeing all the different Species and Hybrids

[Tarad]

Couple of things...glad I am not a judge All are absolutely gorgeous, but there are standouts that I would love to have 16x20's of...Disa Betty's Bay, Jim Blandfords two and Kninums phal on dark pinkish background, very nice. Tara

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Tarad

Couple of things...glad I am not a judge

Well it is a bit of work, but IMHO very worth every minute spent. On a couple of occasions people have commented to me that it must be difficult being a judge because every flower you see you judge or because it spoils your for any flower that's not perfect. Nothing could be further from the truth. It peaks my curiosity about orchids I don't know, it has given me an appreciation of all orchids to an extent I would not have known otherwise.

Maybe it's a bit like daycare. Would volunteering at a daycare put you off kids? Would it make you only want ot be around perfect kids? Ok, so maybe that's not a good analogy but I think you get the point.

[kninum]

Originally Posted by Tarad

Couple of things...glad I am not a judge All are absolutely gorgeous, but there are standouts that I would love to have 16x20's of...Disa Betty's Bay, Jim Blandfords two and Kninums phal on dark pinkish background, very nice. Tara

thank-you for liking my Phal. shot it's such a cute little phal that's it's hard not to get a nice shot. the original picture is 50x38 so it could be re-sized easily...i just don't know where to 'share' it at that size

[Tarad]

LOL I know what you mean. I use to have to rate the level of play of USTA tennis players. Lots of folks said the same thing ..glad I don't have to make those decisions It is very rewarding to know your stuff and them apply it toward a contest or judging.

Kninum... you have a big 50 by 38 pic of your phal????? That is wall sized! Tara

[kninum]

with my new camera all my shots are taken at poster size (10mb)-- tee hee.......you never know when a phenomenal shot worthy of printing 8x10 for display on my wall or PC desktop will turn-up......
plus it certainly makes great potential for cropping and working with them Photoshop- i have a ton of storage space on my PC so i might as well put it towards my creative pursuits- i'm no Picasso, but it never stops me from pretending i am an artist

i've just remembered that you can get iron on transfers that can be used with your home printer.........i could have a whole lotta fun with some of my latest images

[BillC]

Jim, Paph. fairrieanum, I think that is high quality work and I would not be surprized if the judges also think so. Well done.

Bill

[jim blanford]

Anybody know what happened to the January photo contest 09. just curious. Jim.

[lmartiny]

I was wonder that myself. Maybe just got tied up with other things.

[Stelios]

i am sure fred will post the results under photo contest hall of fame soon.

[patticake]

Fred and Kevin haven't been on in a while...Prayers that they're safe over there in Oz. I'm sure that they'll announce the Jan winners when they can.

[tizzycat]

Yeah, I hope they're Okay too.

The results will show up eventually.

[patticake]

I've started a new thread for Feb. Postings

[brookn]

Hi everyone, I moved your comments from the Photo contest thread to this one, as Fred prefers just the entrants on that thread. Thanks . I am going to see if I can get in contact with Fred or Kevin for you.

[Stelios]

i hope both are well, and also everyone in Australia is safe. I just watched the news and i remembered how we had 40m tall flames just 150m away from our house last summer. In a time like this i think we should pray, send good energy or whatever everyone believes in so that everyone down under will overcome the dificulties.

[Orchidementia]

I very much hope they are just testing to see how we do when we are 'unsupervised'! If not that, then hoping something very, very wonderful is distracting them from this forum.

[Wendy]

I just hope they are all safe with the fires over there. The contest can wait for awhile.

We're thinking about you guys.....

[brookn]

Hi everyone, I spoke to Anton, and Fred is away to take care of some personal business. Kevin does not live in the area where the fires are, he is probably working or on a business trip. As for unsupervised lol you still have me, Jenny, Jerry and Patti. If anyone wants to put me to the test I will try very hard to "nomenclature police" you hee hee. I have had a lot going on lately, and college is back in session for me, but I am still here checking things out even if I don't have time to post. Any problems, please feel free to PM one of us. Thanks!

[tizzycat]

Thanks Brooke, I think the majority of us were just understandably concerned that we hadn't heard from Fred and Kevin. It's good to know that we have you to keep us in line

[brookn]

Thanks Tizzy, I wasn't concerned until all the members started talking lol. I figured if there were something bad going on Anton, Ron, or Andrew would have mentioned it. I was just glad that Anton got back to me quickly to let me know what was up. Thanks Anton!!

[Stelios]

Thank you fred, thank you secret judge.
I am very excited to hav won a honorable mention. All entries were awesome and the winers really outperformed. Congratulations to all!

This eastern glasswall window above the stairs was ment to host my phal, i wish i was better with the camera to fully capture the beuty of the thing. It's like a painting hanging from the wall. I'll try harder for February.

[Wendy]

Thank you and hearty congratulations to everyone! Beautiful photos all!

[fred]

don't forget this thread
Orchidgeeks "Hall of Fame"

all the winners are here in the Hall Of Fame