They were on show at Hidden Earth for all to see and and to vote on for other competitions. I have to say it was of a very high standard

I have asked the winner for a copy which i will put on mywebsite if it arrives

Mike

Tony,

it will almost certainly be up T'north next year I understand. For the record I asked 2 others to Judge and I adjudicated worked a lot better that way.

As its my sponsored competition and I set the rules its my judgement that counts. I wanted to see a quality record shot that that demonstrates skill and effort. I agree scale is important but there are many ways of achieving that.

Mike

Well, it is a pity if it is "T North". Bit to cold for me, plus I will need a translater, even if I can speak 8 European languages. I had hoped to offer a prize for "Best in Show". A bit like Crufts. Will think about this nearer the day.

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Youc an take over the mining photo competition my sponsorship of it ends this year

I will let David Gibson know

Mike

Good old Mike, managed to do the judging himself. I hope the winning photo had scale. Better to have a professional instead of a banker.

Hi Tony

I'm stopping short of moderating these sorts of comments; but would you mind drawing a line under this please.

I don't know whether they're meant as genuine digs, or humour. But they're tiresome to read. I get complaints about them.

Over the past 12 months or so it's noticeable that so many regular users of this site have drifted away and I can't help but wonder if this sort of comment is a reason a number of people have got the hump and disappeared.

For the record... the photograph that won Mike's prize at HE was stunning.

I spent an evening printing out and captioning a few of my own efforts and when I put them up I did a quick lap of the photo area and I knew straight off I needed have bothered 😉 and which entry was going to win. Composition was spot-on, lighting was spot on, it had people in it for scale and, because I've been there, I know that taking that photo requires a half hour walk through chest and neck deep freezing water into an environment where my own camera fogged to the point of being unusable.

The guy who won deserved his prize.

Mike's sponsorship of the HE prize over the past few years has been extremely generous and it's been a fun competition.

We've got the AditNow photo competition coming up in December, and I hope we get lots more entries.

But I also hope every entry isn't greeted by never ending comments about scale. The photo competition is intended as a bit of fun, and a chance to put something back in to thank all the people who contribute to this site in adding mines, photographs and documents.

From my point of view I'm sticking my hand in my pocket for prize sponsorship rather deeply this year; as is Mr Mike, as is Mike Moore. So it's depressing to see the photo competition reduced to a level of whether there is person for scale or not.

From the people who take the time to enter I rather imagine it's a bit of a kick in the teeth to see their entries, of which they're rightly proud, to be hauled over the coals because of one man's opinion of what makes a great photo.

So, can we get back please to exploring mines, photographing mines, sharing stuff and banter on the forum and arraning trips please. It's what the site is about.

You're as welcome as anybody to use the site, and I have no objection whatsoever to you posting your book lists on here. I hope you continue to do so because they're of a lot of interest to a lot of people. But please, enough of the scale argument and comments about the photo competition!

:flowers:

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Amen! :thumbsup:

it will almost certainly be up T'north next year I understand.

Assuming you are referring to Hidden Earth then it will almost certainly be in South Wales next year and hopefully up Norf the year after. :thumbup:

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Sorry I couldn't get there this year, Les. Domestics, and all that, you know. 😞

it will almost certainly be up T'north next year I understand.

Assuming you are referring to Hidden Earth then it will almost certainly be in South Wales next year and hopefully up Norf the year after. :thumbup:

drat that means I will have to renew the passport

Mike

Here's the photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54400681@N03/5118143219/ 

Mike, many thanks for sponsoring the competition. Feel free to use this photo on your web site.

- Mark Shinwell

WOW..... that, is amazing! Well done mate, you so deserve to win it! I could never take anything like that! It is so cool. How did you get the water so blue? It looks like it shoould be outside, but its underground - It is just so cool, I love it! Hope its in the calenders! put it in... ask Vanoord to, hes good at that.

Well done mate 🙂

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Excellent pic 🙂

In excellent pic indeed, so can we have the technical details on taking it?

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Well shot, lighting is bang on.

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Here's the photo...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54400681@N03/5118143219/ 

Mike, many thanks for sponsoring the competition. Feel free to use this photo on your web site.

- Mark Shinwell

Mark

thanks for fowarding the link a lot of people were interested in the eventual winning photo and I have sent out the link on a couple of other forums your fame is spreading

Quite a few are interested in the technical details of how you took this photo .

Mike

Wow! :thumbsup:

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top pic...i wish i could take pics like that

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Brrilliant - well done!

Grahami

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Thanks for the compliments!

The photo was done at 1/60 sec (so it isn't "open flash") with four second-hand Metz 45 units synchronized using Gibson and Firefly II slave units (the trigger being the on-camera flash set at much-reduced power). 14mm focal length, f/11, ISO 500, and no tripod.

One flash is very carefully balanced on the cage pointing into the water, another is just to the left of the camera again pointing into the water, one is around the corner and another was held on the upper level. There was some amount of exposure and colour adjustment in Photoshop -- the left-hand part of the water was originally a bit underexposed, and the lighting on the cage a bit uneven.

I've got another couple of pictures of the mine which I'll upload in due course.

One note for prospective explorers: there did appear to be some bad air when we visited (September) I think mainly in the areas where the passage looked to pass through shale beds. It wasn't that noticeable on the way in, and I think it was ok in the chambers at the end, but I'm pretty sure there were bad patches on the way out. Take care!

Stonking photo - a worthy winner. Would'nt it look nice in the 2011 calender.