More contest entries on Viewbug. Help please?

Shallow Depth Photo Contest by Sigma

These two photos, I believe are best suited to this contest where a shallow depth of field is used. The photo contest winners receive Sigma lenses, so I would appreciate your support getting them some votes. Just click on the photo you like, which will take you to it’s place on Viewbug.com, then just click on “vote now” located on the right hand side of the screen.

The Green Color Photo Contest

 

This photo contest is for photographs that incorporate green in some way. Again, just click on the photo you like the best, then vote by clicking the “vote now” button.

And finally, the:

Dynamic Lines Photo Contest

This contest is for photos that show lines as a main feature of the photo. My photo is of the spiral staircase at the exit to the Vatican Museum. If you like it, click on the photo then click on the “vote now” button.

Thank you in advance for the help 🙂

The Impossible

I recently entered a photo contest where I could possibly win a safari trip to Zambia. The contest is being held on Safarious.com, and is broken down into 6 Heats over 6 months. The Top 30 pictures are picked out be the judges to be voted on. The 2 best photos, as voted by the public and one chosen by the judges, go through to the final in January. So that will be 18 finalists.

The majority of my ‘Good’ photos are best suited for Heat 2, but I thought I may increase my chances of getting a place on the final by submitting photos to as many of the Heats as possible. So I submitted just one to the 1st Heat, and to my surprise my photo, “The Impossible” was picked to be in the Top 30 (out of approximately 900 entrants).

At first, my photo was doing quite well (with a lot of help from friends and family), with it managing 1st place quite early on in the voting. However, it has started to lag behind; with one photo going from 10 votes to 70 over night, and another with only 6 votes more than I. This means my photo is no longer in the top 2 for the automatic place in the final.

With your help, we can turn this around. So, can I have your help?

Just click on the photo, and it will take you to Safarious.com

Voting involves you signing in with your email on Safarious.com, you don’t have to verify your account. When logged on, just click on “Market Place” (located near the top right corner), then clicking on “contests” (located underneath “Market Place” and to the left). Then click on the “Place your vote” button under the Heat 1 photo. My photo is called “The Impossible”

Your help with this will be much appreciated, as this is a dream of mine that I have held since I was a very small child.

Greg

Thirsty Work

(Click on the picture for a direct link to my 500px.com profile)

Invasive Species: Parakeets in and around London

In and around London, over the past few years, I have noticed the sudden population increase of the Rose-Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri). Needless to say, this is an invasive species of bird. This parakeet species is indigenous to Sub-Saharan African Rain forests, but it is the sub species P. krameri manillensis from the Indian Subcontinent that has managed to populate the city of London.

The rapid deforestation and urbanization of the forests was devastating for most of the parot species found in this area, whom have been pushed into the small pockets of remaining forests. In contrast, P. krameri manillensis has remained and populated the new urban habitat, demonstrating their ability to adapt.

 These colourful birds were very popular as pets in the UK and other “Western” countries. With their popularity came the inevitable escape of a number of individuals has occurred.

 They seem to only occur in places where there are large trees. Here, they nest in small holes in the side of the tree’s trunk and large branches.

Usually, invasive species are regarded as detrimental to the habitats they are introduced to, as well as the biggest cause of lose of biodiversity. In most cases this is true (Grey Squirrel, Signal Crayfish and Harlequin Ladybird), as most replace native species of a similar niche. The parakeets do not seem to have significant overlaps in the niche they have taken up in London.

So it would appear that these colourful, yet noisy, new residents of London are welcome as they appear not to be a problematic invasive species.

Bottoms Up

Despite the weather

Breeding season, still?

Down at the bottom of the garden.

Our little ladybird adventure

Yesterday, I went out with my daughters for a little walk, which turned into a little Ladybird adventure!

It’s understandable that my youngest showed no fear towards these little insects, however, my eldest is a different story. Due to being in full time education, and working part time on top of that, I have had little time to introduce her to the natural world.

Usually she screams at the first site of anything that isn’t human. But with a little bit of encouragement, and the fact that her baby sister was doing it, she let a ladybird crawl on her.

Maybe there’s hope for her after all?!

At this point of the year, it is the breeding season for our, newly found little, red friends. My eldest found this very amusing, asking: “is he having a ride?” and giggling at the males bottom wiggling about in the air.

What I found interesting is that I found them all on surfaces facing the sun!

All in all, we had a very good day. Both my children found some courage with facing the unknown, making me a very happy daddy.

(Sorry about the poor quality of the photos. Next time I shall take a camera, instead of a phone)

Greg

My mini library

This gallery contains 1 photos.

A few books missing, but the majority of my textbooks at university.