David Malin Awards - Finalists

[Andy01]

http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/astrofest/DMA/2015_shortlist/

Some amazing images here - I'm feeling humbled (and very exited) to be included!

I'm going to make the trek to Astrofest this weekend with a felllow buddy from the ASV, anyone else coming along from the IIS community? Looking forward to meeting some of you :)

Cheers

Andy

[rustigsmed]

Congrats Andy, I would be stoked with that!

cheers

Rusty

[Slawomir]

Great images, and congratulations Andy :thumbsup:

Maybe I will submit one of my images next year :)

[Retrograde]

Congratulations Andy - very fine images indeed!



Yep I'll be there - looking forward to meeting you and some other IISers.

I somehow managed to qualify as a finalist in the open section so feeling extremely chuffed to be included. :)

[Paul Haese]

Well done Andy and all the short listed imagers. My money is on you taking out the Deep Sky section. Your star colour is excellent and that is what David really likes in images. Any tinge of magenta in stars or even cyan in star colours puts him off.

Congratulations on getting a couple of images up for a gong each, it's a tough competition now and getting tougher all the time.

My speculation is that the night scapes image by James Garlick has taken out the Overall Winner. It's a beautiful image and one that many of us would be proud to have produced.

We cannot make it this year as the trip is a big one for us and the cost is significant. I hope those that go have a great time.

Andy try to get there for the presentations on Saturday morning onwards. There are some great speakers there usually but this year there are some exceptional ones.

[Andy01]

Thanks Rusty, yes I'm delighted :D



Thanks Slawomir, yes you should enter- you've been really kicking some goals with your images :)



Congratulations mate, yes looking forward to meeting up with everyone!



Thanks Paul for your kind comments. As a newbie to this process, I defer to your prior experience & judgement when it comes to predictions!

I'm just thrilled to be included in such fine company.

Yes, we're arriving friday evening so will be there for the presentations, dinner, opening etc. Should be great :thumbsup:

[h0ughy]

congratulations to all that made the grade.

[Paul Haese]

Hey time will tell and most likely Dr Malin's selections will prove most interesting and perhaps baffle a few again. Even knowing his judging criteria is no guarantee of guessing which images will be his picks. Again, all the best and I look forward to the results next week.

[RickS]

Good luck, Andy, and any other IIS denizens who are on the shortlist.

Cheers,
Rick.

[traveller]

Congrats to all finalist. Certainly gives me some inspiration.

[algwat]

Congrats to all, If only i could get that good;

Can i vote???

Mr Rob K's spectra image is excellent and different to the others

regards, Alan

[Phil Hart]

Looking forward to seeing IIS folks at Parkes on the weekend and hearing a bunch of great speakers - what a programme!

Does anybody know of anyone from the Canberra region heading to Parkes? I could use a favour :D

Phil

[Visionary]

Andy, a stunning image and power to your arm aka: lens!

[zardos123]

Hey,i,m already here :thumbsup:, thought i,d do a bit of sight seeing, but it is pretty sad weather here at the moment, they are saying a chance of snow on Friday and some locals are predicting the Bathurst to orange road may be closed friday arvo so take care. I didn,t make the list this year, but i have a good time when here. The speakers this year look awesome, so time well spent. Looking forward to catching up with the rest of you guys
regards brad

[iceman]

Have a great time guys.
I'm not heading out this weekend, family commitments. I didn't enter any images this year either - low motivation at the moment. Need to get outside again - but it's too damn cold ;)

Enjoy the weekend and I look forward to seeing the images! Great collection of finalists.

[zardos123]

You just don,t have any insulation left mike :lol:, must admit i have dropped a little bit of weight as well and now feel the cold a little more, i have been following your progress mike , well done, but leave some time for astro and the malins

[Andy01]

I er- um, won the Deep Sky section - with "the Fighting Dragons of Ara".
Congratulations to all the other winners including Phil Hart, Alex Cherney, Peter Ward, James Garlick and the overall winner Troy Casswell :)
Well done to all :)

[inertia8]

Congratulations Andy!

[Kunama]

Congratulations Andy, Phil, Alex et al. Good to meet up yesterday.

[Slawomir]

Congratulations Andy and also congratulations to others who submitted winning entries, wonderful news.

[gregbradley]

Congrats Andy and the other winners as well. I did admire Troys Milky Way image. Its sensational so I understand his image taking out the overall win.

Greg.

[jase]

Welcome to the Malin club Troy! Your milky way shot is nothing short of inspirational. Congratulations to the other winners and honorable mentions awarded. Just to be recognized amongst the hundreds of other entrants is remarkable and hearing the wise words of Dr Malin's citation is gold. The quality of Australian astro imaging continues to rise year on year and is without doubt up there with the worlds best.

[RickS]

Congrats, guys!

[Paul Haese]

A big congrats Andy and the other winners. I thought you might pick up the win on the DSO section. Your star colours on that shot are essentially perfect and David likes that yellow and blue colour scheme as he has awarded Martin Pugh the win for a similar colour palette.

A special congratulations to Troy for the overall win. As an overall winner myself I know what that feeling is like. I found it hard to believe and I am sure you feel the same.

[Rob_K]

Congratulations everyone! Sorry I couldn't make it to the Awards this year, would have been nice catching up.

Cheers -

[dylan_odonnell]

Woohoo I slipped in with a "Highly Commended" :)

If I'd known I would have come down!

Congratulations all !


HM = Honorable Mention, HC=Highly Commended.



Overall Winner = Troy Casswell - "Stellar Riches" - (from Wide-Field)
------------------

The Photo Editor's Choice overall winner = James Garlick - "Aurora Treescape" (from Nightscapes)


Junior
--------
Winner = Matthew Cherubino - "Stairway to Heaven"

HM = Scott Carnie-Bronca - "Tarantula Nebula"

HC = Scott Carnie-Bronca - "Around the Southern Cross"
HC = Erin Carnie-Bronca - "Emu in the Sky"

Photo Editor's Pick = Scott Carnie-Bronca - "Around the Southern Cross"


Deep Sky
------------
Winner = Andrew Campbell - "The Fighting Dragons of Ara"

HM = Andrew Campbell - "A Cosmic Bubble"
HM = Marcus Davies - "Oasis"
HM = Paul Haese - "The Halo"
HM = Steven Mohr - "The Mighty Cosmic Web"

HC = Steven Mohr - "The Southern Seagul Nebula in the LMC"
HC = David Fitz-Henry - "The Helix Nebula"
HC = Paul Haese - "Fox in the Mist, IC 2944 and district"
HC = Greg Bradley - "Southern Nebula, NGC 6188"

Photo Editor's Pick = Peter Ward - "Knight's Colours"


Wide-Field
--------------
Winner = Troy Casswell - "Stellar Riches"

HM = Phil Hart - "Dusty Surrounds of the Lagoon and Trifid Nebulae"
HM = Robert Kaufman - "Starlight – spectral changes of N Sgr 2015 No. 2 through maximum"
HM = Kevin Diletti - "Star Storm Around the Teapot"

HC = Greg Bradley - "The Milky Way"
HC = Greg Priestley - "Hunstman Dark Nebula"
HC = Steven Saffi - "Airglow over Kangaroo Island"

Photo Editor's Pick = Arwen Dyer - "Luna Eclipse"


Solar System
-----------------
Winner = Peter Ward - "Solar Crown"

HM = Steven Saffi - "Earth Umbra"
HM = Phil Hart - "Tainted Eclipse, 8 October 2014"
HM = Phil Hart - "Comet Lovejoy's Photogenic Tail, 29 December 2014"

HC = Paul Haese - "Comet Lovejoy"
HC = Ross Giakoumatos - "Comet C/2014 Q2 from ANSW Wiruna"
HC = Craig Semple - "Comet Lovejoy, 11 january 2015"
HC = Phil Hart - "Colourful Comet Lovejoy, 27 December 2014"
HC = Dylan O'Donnell - "Earthshine / Sunshine"

Photo Editor's Pick = Phil Hart - "Entering Earth's Shadow"


Nightscapes
----------------
Winner = James Garlick - "Aurora Treescape"

HM = Judith Conning - "Bridge to Glory"
HM = James Garlick - "Milky Bioluminescence"
HM = Steven Saffi - "Milky Way over the Bungle Bungles"
HM = Stefan Buda - "Southbank Eclipse"

HC = Greg Gibbs - "Bad Moon on the Rise"
HC = Paul Litchen - "Blood Moon over Melbourne Docklands"
HC = Matt Palmer - "Aurora and Moon, Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland"
HC = Wes Schulstad - "Watching Stars at Dawn"

Photo Editor's Pick = James Garlick - "Aurora Treescape"


Theme - "The Southern Cross"
---------------------------------------
Winner = Phil Hart - "South along Bucklands Lane"

HM = Troy Casswell - "Jewels of the Southern Cross"
HM = Peter Patonai - "Vivid Festival Southern Cross"
HM = Saeed Salimpour - "By the Lake"
HM = Mark Slater - "Southern Cross Burning"

HC = Peter Ward - "Crossing the Storm"

Photo Editor's Pick = Peter Patonai - "Vivid Festival Southern Cross"


Animated Sequences – Scientific
------------------------------------------
Winner = Phil Hart - "Four Nights of Comet Lovejoy's Tail"

HM = Alex Cherney - "Dynamic Tail of Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy"
HM = Andrew Cool - "Airglow Waves at Solar Maximum"


Animated Sequences – Aesthetic
------------------------------------------
Winner = Alex Cherney - "Turn"

HM = Greg Priestley - "Point Perpendicular"
HM = Greg Priestley - "Riverina Skies"
HM = Judith Conning - "Aurora Borealis"

HC = Colin Legg - "Crazy Airglow"
HC = Glenn Martin - "The Cottage Time-lapse"

[cazza132]

Still buzzing and coming to terms with "Stellar Riches" being the overall winner.

A special thanks to the organizers at CWAS, the legendary David Malin and Canon Australia for putting up some outstanding prizes. Congrats to all the other award winners. All the finalists had great images. James Garlick and Andrew Campbell had really strong images that I think could have won it.

It was a long drive down to Parkes but a drive well worth it! Thank u Bubski (my partner in crime) for being there with me and sharing the driving.

It was very good to meet some of the IIS crew at Parkes. Would have liked to have spent more time there and have a few beers and yarns you guys. Hopefully that will happen next year.

Here is a larger and colour corrected version:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130830021@N02/19855973151/in/dateposted-public/

[iceman]

Very beautiful, Troy!
Congrats and well done to all the Winners, HM's and finalists too!

[rat156]

Well done to all. They are all great shots.

Cheers
Stuart

[Peter Ward]

I'm very happy to echo my congrats to Troy for his overall win.

While I've had my fair share of success and failures since the very first "Malin" it's been very gratifying to see this contest bloom into a showcase of excellence in Astro-imaging over the last 12 years.

I've talked with David many times over the years and am continually amazed by his quantitative knowledge of a multitude of celestial objects and their intrinsic structure & colours....e.g. getting a little colour bias here or there is not fatal to an entry, but processing an object to look blue, when it is really red, or making it look dark when it's bright or bright neon when it should be a pastel will see an entry culled fairly quickly.

I suspect mother nature's vistas, when skillfully captured, are both beautiful and surprising enough without any need to tart-up an image like the covergirl of some glossy magazine.

Some don't like this pragmatic approach.

All I can say is if you don't like it, don't make snide remarks afterwards and don't enter next time.

In 2015 there were nearly 4x more entries than its inaugural year. Around 200,000 people will see the travelling exhibition. Wow.

Given the stratospheric level of so many entries, I suspect now is the time to start working (well, for me at least) on the 2016 comp :thumbsup:

[jase]

Rather insightful (and subjective) Peter. Are you on the judging panel? A post (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=745380&postcount=146) back in 2011, you mention that in future David will be calling for input from others. You would make a prime candidate.

[Paul Haese]

Pretty much how David has expressed things with me. When I took the time to ask him a few pointed questions, I found his answers quite enlightening.

[Andy01]

I was lucky enough to have a quiet chat with Dr. Malin last weekend about what he looks for in an award winning image.

In the interests of fair play and giving back some of what I've learned from everyone here, I'll share his remarks.

He said first and foremost it has to have aesthetic appeal.
After that then the technical details come into play, star colours, natural look etc.
Above all the author must respect the light, ie: it must be seen to emanate from the light source.

Takes him a full week to judge the awards.
By his own admission, it's highly subjective!

I found him to be insightful, pleasant and very generous with his time and knowledge. Was a priviledge to have met him :)

Better start planning next years' entries!

Cheers
Andy

[rbronca]

This was my first time at CWAS Astrofest, so can provide an outsiders opinion here.

I can concur that it is no secret what David is looking for. My son and daughters images were critiqued in detail along with many others on the night during his presentation. That was worth the long trip in itself.

Many mental notes were taken by a lot of people.

We also spoke with David the next morning and were a little taken aback that others were critical of his feedback. Our thoughts were that this critique was exactly what entrants needed to improve.

I believe the whole presentation was videoed and would provide a wonderful resource for future entrants if it could be made public.

Troy's image was a worthy winner when you looked up close at it. The online copy doesn't do it justice.

On a final note, I wish to thank Paul, John and the rest of their society for a creating a well run weekend. The excellent lectures were also a highlight.

[Peter Ward]

I was in fact a judge with Steve Quirk for the very first CWAS comp...hence neither of us could enter that year. Steve and I vetted the entries, but in the end David went through the whole lot again making our efforts somewhat redundant....

David has taken the reigns ever since but, given the time and effort it now requires, I would not be surprised if more than one set of eyes were asked for an opinion in the future.