Marc Benton dot Com

Help me choose a winner

The deadline has passed for participants of Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk to make their submissions for the contest.  Its now in the various walk leader’s hands to choose a photo from their walk’s pool to be entered into the grand contest.  The winner of each walk receives a copy of Scott’s new book, The Digital Photography Book Volume III.  The grand prize winner will receive a package of around 18 items which includes  Nikon D700, a full version of Photoshop Create Suite, Lightroom 2, and much much more.  There are also going to be 10 honorable mentions with prizes for them as well.

That’s a lot of pressure to put on a walk leader. Being the wimp that I am I’m looking to you, my photography friends, to help me out.

Before I talk about the entries let me say thanks to everyone that submitted.  It was a real chore just to choose 8.   I’ve spent most of this evening trying to narrow down my list.  You can find all the entries I’ve been choosing from here.

Below you will find my 8 favorite from our walk’s pool in no particular order.  Click on each to see the full size image.  Once you’ve chosen your favorite remember the entry number then let me know by filling out this survey.

Rules – This is a photography contest, not a popularity contest.  Please feel free to repost and share this link but please do not request people vote for yours or any one photo.  I would like the winner to be chosen on the merits of the photograph, not by how many Twitter friends they have.   Sorry if that sounds harsh.

The survey will only accept one vote per computer so choose your submission wisely.

Voting closes at noon EST on Friday, July 31st.  I’ll post the winner next weekend.

Thanks for helping me out!

Now on to the submissions:

Photo #1

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Photo #2

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Photo #3

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Photo #4

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Photo #5

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Photo #6

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Photo #7

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Photo #8

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Click Here to take survey

Tags: #SKphoto, contest, Nikon D700, Scott Kelby, scott kelby's worldwide photowalk, survey

Great Walk at Great Falls

Over 25 photographers from Gainesville to Baltimore gathered in the early morning hours for a photowalk at the Cheasapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (aka Great Falls on the Maryland side) Saturday morning. I believe we even had a couple show up on the Virginia side as well (sorry George, next time I’ll do better at getting the proper directions out).

Along with many of the normal cast of characters from the Photowalk DC Facebook group we had a number of new faces  (we even had our first canine photowalker).  Though I’m glad to see everyone at these events I was especially happy to see Rob Jones and Mike Palmer.  Mike probably only showed up to get me off his back, I’ve been hounding him for the past two weeks to come out .

Unfortunately for me I decided to try my hand at the Billy Goat trail to try and catch up with some of our group.  The name is extremely applicable for this trail.  I spent over an hour climbing over and around rocks of all sizes with not a lot of photography to show for it.  I almost had my own great fall off a 40 foot cliff.  Not only that but I never caught up with the group so I spent too much time not being a good walk leader.

Here’s a sampling of some of the shots I took.  Be sure and check out our Photowalk DC Flickr group to see everyone else’s shots.

Tags: good company, good conversation, Great Falls, Maryland, Nature, outdoors, photowalk, photowalk dc, Potomac River

Reminder – Great Falls Photowalk July 25th

We’re three days away from our Photowalk at Great Falls.  We’re expecting a nice sized group of around 25 which means there’s plenty of room for more.

It has been pointed out to me that we are actually walking the Cheasapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.  I never noticed that there was a difference in the parks.  Great Falls National Park is on the Virginia side with COC being on the Maryland side.  We’re going on the MARYLAND side.  Please ensure that when you get your directions they are the ones that use MacArther Blvd into the park.

As a reminder, the park opens at 7:00 am and we’ll spend about 15 minutes near the entrance gathering.  Once we start we’ll ramble down to the falls overlook (see map below).  There’s plenty to shoot along the way such as the tavern visitor center, the canal itself and the canal boat.  Once we regroup at the overlook we can get some group shots.  I expect from there we can then split up into smaller groups and explore the park at our leisure.

I’ve been told that to bribe a certain Reston photographer to attend that I will be providing donuts and coffee at the start.  Don’t forget to bring water and maybe a trash bag.  There are no trash cans in the park past the parking lot so you have to carry your trash out.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Cheasapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, event, Great Falls, Great Falls National Park, nature photography, photoblogging dc, photowalk, Photowalk DC Facebook Group

Swatara Creek

I spotted this scene while driving over a bridge during out trip home from Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Of course I had to pull over to capture it while leaving my family to wait in the car on the side of the road.  They forgave me though.

Tags: abandoned, Pennsylvania, Swatara Creek, water

Jefferson in Profile

Another shot from the Jefferson Memorial.  Look close at the statue’s head.  At first I thought it was an aberration on the lens but closer shots revealed it to be spider webs.  Instead of cloning them out in Photoshop I decided to leave them in for the interest factor.  Not very flattering for the park service though.

Tags: Jefferson Memorial, memorial, monument, night photography, presidential, regal