Blackie

Here's my five: Weathermaster 2 Potsy 2 OON 3 Mammatus 2 Essan 3

Lovely sunset there Gav. Never been luck enough to see one like that myself, though. Is it in Australia or New Zealand by any chance?

Well done on choosing an excellent solution guys, and well volunteered Shuggee

I agree with flagpole, rixxx. It doesn't necessarily depend on the quality of the equipment, it's how you use it - as the saying goes... Seriously, I bet if you asked people what cameras they used for specific photos you would be surprised by the answers in many cases. And you shouldn't hold back from entering at all. You have taken some fantastic pictures. I remember voting for you in the past, and more than once I'm sure. A great shot is a great shot, whatever it was taken on.

P3 - I don't think there is any argument with the mods. I totally agree that pictures for a weather calendar should be weather-related. I was merely pointing out the difficulties in defining what is or isn't weather-related, as did others. And again several of us would not like to see people stop posting general pictures because they give so many people enjoyment. Hence the suggestions for a separate competition for them. I think that would keep everyone happy. I love photos, too, flaggie. And I love seeing how everyone has a different way of looking at the world and capturing it, whatever the subject.

...and that's just what I suggested a few days ago, more or less. Without some way for people to post non-weather photos and have them judged collectively, as opposed to putting up their own galleries, I think you would find a lot fewer members posting anything at all. They just wouldn't bother. And as I said before, that would be a great shame. PS - DS, as I see the March thread hasn't yet been reopened, may I offer my congratulations on a truly stunning shot of the owl. Weather-related or not, it is one of the best wildlife pictures I have seen for a long time - and the eagle one was only marginally behind. I think you should enter them both in the BBC Countryfile competition and any other wildlife photography competitions. They are both national contest-winning standard.

Andrea is going to make it very interesting for golfers taking part in The Players' Championship, which starts tomorrow and goes on until Sunday. It is at Ponta Vedra, near Jacksonville, which would appear to be right in the path of the storm. I just hope Tiger and co have packed their wet weather gear. And if the winds are strong, their big golf umbrellas might not be easy to keep up either. Will there be much lightning associated with it? That will play havoc with the golf. Any sign of CG strikes in the area and they stop play immediately. I have played several times in Florida and other states when the klaxon sounds - and you don't hang around! Annoying that Sky no longer have the PGA golf events. I don't mind missing most of the tour on TV, but The Players is a tournament I love watching - if only to see the pros made to look human when they hit their balls into the water on the 17th (I guess there will be more than ever this week thanks to the wind). And I don't want to sign up with Setanta on Virgin Media just to watch four days of golf.

Stunning cloud formations there, guys. And well done on capturing the wedge tornado. That must have been an incredible sight - and frightening too, given the destruction caused by the one that hit Greensburg on Friday. Looking forward to seeing lots more photos and reading your reports. Stay safe.

Sorry, couldn't resist Promise I will be more sensible in future. By the way, it's late - shouldn't you be a sleeping beauty by now?

Some day your prints will come, Wibs...

I can see the logic behind the decision, but I think it is going to cause a lot of confusion as to what might be relevant and what wouldn't be. For example, you include your moon shot, OON (and therefore all the others including mine would not qualify), yet what about all the sunset pictures which make up a fair percentage of entries each month? Both are celestial bodies, after all. It could be argued that you need clear weather to photograph them. Unless you take it a stage further and say that it is the cloud formations which would make a sunset relevant. In which case sunsets with clouds would be allowable, but those with clear skies wouldn't be. Tricky... I also think it would be a great shame not to be able to see, and judge, some of the wonderful non-weather photos members produce. So might I suggest that you continue with the plan to have the monthly competition for weather-related shots (although I think you may need to have an appeals procedure as I am sure there will be protests about some ruled inadmissable), but alongside that there is a general fun competition for all other pitures. Maybe keep as a running competition through the year with a pinned thread, and perhaps even have different categories like many photo competitions do, ie wildlife, people, cityscapes, machines (ie cars, aircraft), night shots etc. The categories could be decided at year-end when you see what entries there are, and then you would ask people to vote for maybe two or three pictures in each category. I know that would add some extra work for the mods, although I think it would be minimal until the year-end. But without doing something like that I feel the site would be very much poorer because we might never get to see or compare some of the fantastic images produced by NW members. That would truly be a loss.

Amazing photos, guys, and I echo that sentiment. It's hard to imagine the death and destruction that can be wrought by such beautiful creations of Mother Nature. To see the supercells even without seeing the twisters must be truly awe-inspiring. According to the BBC report the Greensburg tornado yesterday was "at least a mile wide"! Hope you manage to capture a tornado or two on camera, but do take care. Those are monsters out there. Awesome indeed.

Thanks Louby I waited - that's what I do! Mind you, I didn't see any white horses in the surf.

Bloody hell! I will make sure I wear rubber-soled shoes next time I fly. I should have been gone yesterday to Tenerife for a few days but got taken ill at the airport and spent the afternoon at Luton hospital instead. Thankfully nothing serious so I will ertainly be airborn again soon. I may ask the pilot to avoid any nasty-looking cg clouds though. :blink:

My three for this month, all from overseas. First one is lenticular (I think!) clouds over Pignans village in Provence, France. Second and third ones are of surfers at Del Mar, Southern California.

DS for me too. In two words - simply stunning. Still, nice to make the final vote. And well done everyone else on excellent photos.

The voting from Anaheim (current location) is, in no particular order: DS 2 DS 3 rixxxgolf 2 Wibs 3 Mondy 2

Not all of them, Mark, but a high percentage of them. I wrote the foreword, too.

Thanks Rich. Fingers crossed others agree with you... Had a lot used in this one last year: http://inbro.net/brochure-download/5586459...hina_2007-8.pdf

Well done, John. A great shot, beautifully propotioned and extremely atmospheric. The wide-angle lens you used really makes you feel as though you can almost dip your toes in the water...

Thanks Paul, but I was thinking more of a single gallery which pulled together all the finalist pictures. Something like a photographic Hall of Fame for each year. That way then you would have the cream of the crop in a single gallery. Obviously it would be more work for someone like Shuggee, but I'm sure it would be appreciated by everyone.

I agree A-M. It's a terrific photo - and good to see you put your money where your mouth is and obviouly gave him a vote. But I think it is just indicative of the high overall quality of the entries in these competitions now. What might have won a year or even a few months ago now faces a much tougher time getting past the line. Can't wait to see the calendars when they come out. But it seems a shame that so many other good pictures may not see the light of day again. Perhaps the mods could set up a gallery for each year combining all the finalists from the monthly competitions. It would be nice to look back on some of those that nearly made it as well as the ones that got the accolade. Also, when the calendars are produced, it might be worth featuring the runners-up for each month, too. That's what happened with a calendar produced by an association I belong to, and it worked well. They used the best of the "also-rans" as a collage on the back cover. Just a thought or two...

Good job you refrained from posting a full frontal view then, Diane!

Looks like you have the A-Team there! *cue theme tune* Good luck Paul, Nick and the rest of the team. Let's hope you get some great storms and can capture an elusive tornado, or two, on camera. Will be watching out for your reports with great interest.

OK, three moon shots from the eclipse of March 3/4. All taken slightly later than OON's, hence the different orientation of the moon and stars. These were between midnight and midnight +8, just at the end of the eclipse. Shot with a tripod-mounted Canon EOS D20 and 100-400L lens using remote shutter release and image stabiliser switched off, ISO 1600 and about 0.5 second exposure. The last one has been cropped in slightly to show the detail, otherwise all as shot.