The 2023 Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach, California

I shot over 256 gb of images the other day. Here are a few good ones.

Bill Maher is back, worse than ever.

How did I ever think this guy was any good?

SpaceX from Vandenberg AFB tonight.

Birding at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve

Reddish Egret on the hunt.

The Super Moon over the Vincent Thomas Bridge

The clouds were not cooperating tonight, but I did manage to get a few decent shots.



Here is a cropped version.

For CaliforniaPeggy!

For Peggy, here is the super moon over Bolsa Chica Wetlands.

About the contest size limits

Hi there,

As someone noticed, two of the winners this month violated the size limits.

Here is what happened. I was busy travelling this month, and didn't check the image sizes while the entries were coming in. I finally checked them when I was preparing the preliminaries, and at least half of the images were oversized. Contacting every contestant would have added another week and a lot more work for me in the process. I chose to use my prerogative as the contest runner and ignore the rule this month.

Quite frankly, I'm not in favor of the size limits. I think they discourage a lot of people from entering the contest because they don't know how to resize an image. Absolutely no one noticed the difference while the contest was in progress. I know the rules were in place before I got here, so I'm hoping that someone can enlighten me as to how they came about.

Thanks for your understanding. Let's have a discussion.

Ross
aka Grumpy Old Guy

***WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT UP IN GENERAL DISCUSSION!***

***AUGUST PHOTO CONTEST: THE WINNERS!***

Congratulations to the winners of the August 2023 Democratic Underground Photography Contest. The topic, chosen by LakeArenal, was as follows:

Trains, Planes and Automobiles…etc.

Any battery or fueled passenger vehicles. Parts or whole, inside or out, above or below, with or without passengers. (Though passengers might make things more fun)

Hot air balloons, motor bicycles, go carts, etc. (I have a friend who professionally races go carts). All run on fuel to name a few.


First place goes to AndyS with “Good Mornin’ America How Are Ya,” a perfectly framed shot of a Santa Fe Chief locomotive with the popular “war bonnet” paint scheme.



Second place goe to Dyedinthewoolliberal with “Crabber, Public Boat Launch,Everett, Wa.,” an image of a picturesque boat warmed by the glow of a sun that is low on the horizon.



Third place goes to Mousetoescamper with “Car Toon (1941 Ford Super Deluxe Woody Station Wagon).” Let’s face it, who doesn’t love a classic woody station wagon, right? The framing of this shot is impeccable, with the leading lines of the highway and the vehicle in the lower right foreground.



I have two honorable mentions. The first honorable mention goes to ME, for my shot of the Mighty WWII Veteran. I came in fourth, which is better than I thought I would do this month.



The other honorable mention goes to Edhopper for “Back to a warm ship and a hot cup of tea.” Holy cow, shooting a semi-rigid inflatable in the middle of an ice strewn sea? Who does that? Ed deserved to win just for the moxie it took to take this shot.



Finally, thanks to LakeArenal for choosing a terrific subject matter. We had some great entries this month, and once again it was a pleasure running the contest.

Grumpy Old Guy




T

***AUGUST FINALS ARE UP IN GENERAL DISCUSSION***