2018 Calendar Contest – WINNERS!

[bearfacedkiller]

A runner up calendar sounds good. I bet they would sell 12 of them! Ha!

Thanks Doug, I truly do not envy whoever had to judge these photos. It could not have been easy.

[Surfingringo]

^ Disappointment is a part of life and now I am disappointed that you aren't disappointed that my pic didn't make it. What a downward spiral of disappointment. :D

Seriously though, art is subjective and picking the winners this year could not have been easy. On top of that is the almost certainty that some folks are gonna be let down. Three years in a row I genuinely thought I had a chance. Was I bummed? Sure, for a minute, then I got over it and appreciated the fact that Spyderco does this for us. It was fun, exciting and I get a really cool calendar for free. You cannot have the highs without the lows. Fact. :cool:

The only thing lingering for me is how much better the pics have gotten each year. On one hand I am grateful that the competition has allowed me to elevate my picture taking but on the other hand if next years batch of pics are even better I am slowly going to get left behind. I will begin the quest for the perfect pic now and for that I am grateful. I do enjoy taking pics of knives.

I'm definitely glad I wasn't judging! I have a feeling I know at least a couple of the pics that toto was trying to link to. There were a few that I was SURE would be in there that didn't make the cut. That said, I would be hard pressed to decide to remove any of the pics that DID make it to make room for them. A very strong competition this year.

I have no idea how they do the judging, but if it were me I would probably eliminate photos from the running, culling it down to a smaller and smaller group. It would be slightly easier at first but would get progressively more difficult each time the group got smaller. Darby, I liked your shot a lot and I would wager your made it past a number of "culls".

[PayneTrain]

Oh absolutely. I'm not just being gracious when I estimate there are about 20 pictures that I would have picked over my own. I'm glad I got in this one, because as this gains popularity and attracts more artistic talent than my own (not a high bar), I will not have a chance. Though I'll still participate for the free inevitably amazing calendar! :)

[demoncase]

For someone to win, someone has to lose.

That said four things spring to mind:
1. You can't win em all. I think life would get boring fast if I did.

2. I look at the choices and see winners that deserve the accolade. No ifs or buts. Heartily deserved. Can't wait to see them on my kitchen wall every morning!

3. Not winning here isn't even loss because I've not lost anything but did get to show off a picture I was proud of. So I missed the boat this time? Ah well: I'll polish my lens for next year

4.Judging photographs is not something I'd ever want to do, other than casually for fun in the Photo Of The Week thread. None is measurably 'better' than another: is a Constable landscape better than a Pollock abstract? And that's where we are here. :)

[gbelleh]

Just looked at the winning entries. Nice work everyone. Congrats to all the winners!

[Mr Blonde]

Impressive collection of winning entries! They get better every year!

[tap78]

Did someone already got his prize ????

[Liquid Cobra]

Did someone already got his prize ????

I haven't, and haven't heard anything yet. I just figured they were waiting until the shaman was ready so everything could go out at once.

[TazKristi]

Hi, everyone:
One person has received his prize because he was visiting us in Golden. I'm actually on the road for the next two weeks for military conferences so all other prizes (with the possible exception of the Shaman) will start shipping out once I'm back in the office at the end of the month. I try to process all of them as a batch so we can be as efficient as possible here. Thanks much for your patience!

Kristi

Edited to add - When prizes are shipped each person will receive an e-mail with tracking information.

[DougC-3]

Thanks for the heads up, Kristi, and take care on the road :)

[Surfingringo]

I was the lucky one who was in Golden this week. :o Thank you kristi for arranging for me to pick mine up while I was visiting. I had a great time and bought plenty more while I was there! Any of the winners who don't have a pm3 yet are in for quite a treat. This is a great little knife and hasn't left my pocket since I picked it up. I'm liking it much more than I thought I would just looking at pictures.

[GoldenSpydie]

Hi, everyone:
One person has received his prize because he was visiting us in Golden. I'm actually on the road for the next two weeks for military conferences so all other prizes (with the possible exception of the Shaman) will start shipping out once I'm back in the office at the end of the month. I try to process all of them as a batch so we can be as efficient as possible here. Thanks much for your patience!

Kristi

Edited to add - When prizes are shipped each person will receive an e-mail with tracking information.

Awesome, I love Cruwear, and I'm looking forward to trying the PM3! Thanks again for holding the contest every year, and I am so honored to be featured!

[Enigma]

Image uploaded. Thanks again for hosting this awesome competition!
Looking forward to seeing the final printed calendar, gonna be a good one!

[Surfingringo]

Image uploaded. Thanks again for hosting this awesome competition!
Looking forward to seeing the final printed calendar, gonna be a good one!

Enigma, your photo was awesome. My favorite entry in the entire competition.

[DougC-3]

One of my faves that didn't ...er... make the cut was Deacon's. I'll bet it was close. There were many great shots, and I'm surprised that my humble entry made it. Even so, I think I'll have to put out a lot more effort next year to be in the running.

[Enigma]

Image uploaded. Thanks again for hosting this awesome competition!
Looking forward to seeing the final printed calendar, gonna be a good one!

Enigma, your photo was awesome. My favorite entry in the entire competition.

Thank you Surfingringo! I had a lot of fun creating that image, learnt so much more about photography in the process.
Well done on being selected for next years calendar!

[Carlito86]

Is it possible to have a list/comfirmation of the user that submitted the images before the 24th? So we all know if we missed somehow... Not a problem but just to be Sure

[SjoerdS_]

Are there maybe any updates on the confirmation or the prices? Dont want to rush anything, just wondering :)

Sjoerd

[TazKristi]

Hi, everyone:
I just finished pulling all of the images and information. We'll start sending out prizes within the next week or so. Calendars will, of course, be sent out once they are done. I can confirm that I received information and images for all 12 winners.

I have also received images and information for the following entries (each will receive a calendar once published). If your name is not on the list below (and you were not one of the 12 winners) then I did not receive your high-res file and contact information. If you feel this is a mistake, please send me a private message.

alekseyshakaley
Amika
bearfacedkiller
Bradley
cgjones
demoncase
Detdaddy
drahkis
Dutch Blades
Enigma
Filoso-
Freudscher Verbrecher
Hopweaver
IR192
Johnnie1801
Kev-Man
KnOeFz
Lumpy620
MadmanR1
mb1
murphjd25
NHKnives
Peter1960
pR13S7
remnar
rodloos
Sharpguitarist
SpyderNut
SpyderOfficer
SpyderWill
swissspyder
The Deacon
Uke
Wralle
ZesT
ZrowsN1s

A big thank you again, to everyone who participated!

[SjoerdS_]

Thanks for the update! Cant wait to see the PM3! I held it at the Amsterdan Spydercomeet. Sweet knife!

Sjoerd