Duke Contest - Take 2

[Turbine777 13]

Hello again guys, and sorry for the late update.*Please look at the full size images before voting. The thumbs don't do any of them justice. I have actually had the hardest time picking the 3rd photo, you have no idea. I had my sister and brother in law up here helping me pick the 3rd entrant from 7 other potential canidates. Seven in my opinion were tied to getting a place for the final phase so that should tell people how tight the competition was/is.Again I am sorry to those that didn't make it. If you have not yet heard from me, you will. It's just there's so many to respond to and so many things I want to say about each screenshot that was entered (I also don't want to just copy and paste the same "Sorry you didn't make the cut" to each, since, well, that's just wrong).Here are the final 3. They also each give lots to be talked about I think. Some great use of imagination, colors, artistic approach etc. You have a hard decision to make, that's for sure. I'm glad my decisions are finally finished, although some will probably haunt me for some time to come.Again great shots to those that entered, truly spectacular!Note to Finalists: Please do not mention who you are if yours has made the cut until the end of the poll this Sunday at 7:00PM EST. Thanks!*Finalists Not in any specific order*Spotting at Kai Tak(Click image to see it in its original state and size)Wheels Up(Click image to see it in its original state and size)Just Beachy(Click image to see it in its original state and size)There are a couple Honorable Mentions I have to post as well, that toward the end were incredibly hard not to place for their own individual reasons. Very artistic shot by Loan that I have been calling "Snowblind" and this 2 year old photo that I have nik named "Stormy Approach" from Aleksi.They all deserve mention and will hopefully post links to all involved for a short time at the end of this poll.I urge people to take a moment to list what they like about each picture. Personally if there is something you don't like about one, feel free not to mention it, but please do give credit where it's obviously due.Thanks again guys and Best of luck!

[Guest wims]

24th of september was almost a month ago :(

[morganbrenNWA 0]

Defintely had to change the answer after looking at the great Picture!!

[Turbine777 13]

24th of september was almost a month ago :(

... just when you think you've proof read something enough :Straight Face:Too bad we can edit titles, perhaps a mod can? It would be appreciated but of course, not a huge deal

[dazz 69]

They're all great, but my vote goes to "Spotting at Kai Tak". Love the scenery & the light bloom

[Turbine777 13]

Defintely had to change the answer after looking at the great Picture!!

Yes, I hope everyone looks at the full size images before voting. The thumbs don't do any of them justice.Edit: I thought it was hard narrowing it down to 3... I have still not been able to vote on this yet, haha. Edited October 23, 2010 by Turbine777

[MauB 74]

All beautifull but the "Spotting at Kai-Tak" atmosphere is awesome!

[TMoney10583 1]

#1

[yos233 1]

I wish I had gotten my entry in. I, no offence to anyone, think I would have made it to the top three at least (but who doesn't). But alas, I had company over and completely forgot about submitting it :(

[MistyBlue 8]

All excellent shots, but I personally liked the presentation on the Kai Tak shot. Brings back a lot of good memories of when I used to live there as a kid. My dad used to take me up the mountain side behind the Cathay 747 in the pic (back then, it was the old green and white striped tail), and we would watch the heavies making their tight approach turns down below. Always a lot of fun seeing these giant machines maneuvering like they did to get lined up, especially on those windy days.

[Turbine777 13]

I found it very hard to cast a vote since there are so many incredible things about each picture. Beachy is just incredible. I love the perspective in this shot more than any. A truly magnificant imagination for this screen, a real work of art in my honest opinion. Most entries were from the normal spot plane view, which is fine and 4 of those were very close to getting on this page. For me this one had the most original perspective from them all and color that didn't quit, just awesome.Wheels up was the 1st screenshot I knew had a place in the top three. The second I saw it, no questions asked. It also has many great aspects. The color also is just perfect in every way. The HDR plugin is shown working magic in this skyline (which by the way is the best skyline I think in all of the screenshots I've seen), the elongated JS41 fuse dropped my jaw lower than a nude Jessica Alba (ok, maybe not but very close), but the main thing I love about this one was the overall appearance of the aircraft being level but the background banked. Just awesome.The Kai-Tak just worked. Not saying that at all lightly either. Cathy Pacific flying into VHHX. Great livery with probably one of the most well known airports in aviation history, not to mention its approach. I really liked the distance from the aircraft in this shot from the "Camera". Not just the distance but the level of detail of the 747 that you can still see at that distance. The same can be said about the city detail. The light bloom is of course gorgeous but I also loved the smog/fog. It also shows off one of my fav sceneries teamed with my fav PMDG aircraft ;) But it made it in based on overall appearance.I will give more detail in the choices I made and who I voted for after the end of the competition.

[NGXfanatic 85]

Having just watched the History Channels "most extreme airports", I gravitated towards the Kai Tek shot immediately. Beautiful shot, and seen from the perspective of someone with a camera on the hill, simply breathtaking. I see tons of photos or videos of the famous approach, and l have a fetish for ground to air shots. In cruise when I'm flying I make it a point to go to tower view to see myself in the air, I love spotting in RL and in FSX.

[thefsxflyer 1]

My favorite is the "Just Beachy" I love nose shots. The "Wheels up" shot is probably not my favorite but the colors are amazing. The KaiTak image is great too; it reminds me of this guy on youtube that posts old videos from that airport.

[Tabs 2,790]

Aesthetically, "Just Beachy" is my fav shot, but I think I'll actually vote for the Kai Tak shot on the basis of featuring a PMDG product well in the shot.

[Turbine777 13]

Just now finally finished emailing the last contestant (whoops, I haven't done the finalists yet). There were a lot, nearly 30 in all. It was brought down to 19 unfortunately for small rule violations (photoshop editing) but still gave them time to resubmit another since at that time anyway it wasn't there fault and I had not yet made that clear. There was one individual that sent a different shot from 4 different email addresses haha. I caught it in the wording first but when I then asked his forum name, I never got a responce and it was the first night I announced the contest. I was born at night, but not last night.Hey Ryan, you can always post your own image now if you'd like :) I would love to see a small competition (friendly of course) amongst only developers haha. I think with all the prograns they probably have at their disposal there would be some really sweet shots. Of course if say one was to post an external shot of the NGX, I'm sure that would win regardless of its surroundings :(