CWAS "David Malin Awards", 2011 submissions now open

[iceman]

I know there was a previous thread about this, just providing a bit more info, attachments and links.



Good luck to everyone!

The official announcement and rules are attached as PDF's below.

Cheers

[anthony.tony]

Hello I attended the Monthly Meeting last night. John Sarkissian said he had more then 140 entries so far which is good effort.That will make it on par with last year or better.rreguard's Tony

[iceman]

Great news, Anthony.

I bet John and David are going to be overwhelmed with conjunction entries this year.

Like Comet McNaught entries in 2007 :)

[anthony.tony]

The lunar Eclipse should add more enties too. Reguard's Tony

[anthony.tony]

John Sarkissian Has promised to Have The 2011 CWAS Astrofest Guide posted By This Friday with Guest speakers Names and talks-Contact Details for Tickets.and Bookings-Etc.

[iceman]

For those that registered, how long did it take to receive the username/password via email?

It's been 2+ hours and I haven't received it yet.

(yes, I'm leaving it very late but have been too damn busy! :))

[Paul Haese]

Mine took nearly a day Mike. John is sorting this I think and it might pay to ring him. Yes you are leaving it a bit late.:)

[h0ughy]

i got mine within 20min - but i did register when they became available - John must have still been on line

[Octane]

I'm in the same boat as you, Mike.

If you do happen to call John, can you mention my account, too, please? :)

H

[iceman]

He was in meetings all mornings, and has to manually approve registrations, so mine has now come through. He emailed me.

Hopefully yours has as well by now :)

[h0ughy]

man i pity that server today

[Octane]

Yep, got my email, too. :)

Cheers!

H

[leon]

Actually I had a few emails with John about one of the submissions and hes reply's were with in minutes, very on the ball I reckon.

The user account didn't take long either.

Leon

[iceman]

Phew, all submitted. Money paid.

Sit back and wait :)

[anthony.tony]

Hello there I got mine back in 15 minutes.Entered Images, sent money for Entries By Electronic Transfer.

[anthony.tony]

Hello I spoke to John Tonight - He said They Had over 180 Entries in The Malin Award's -Tony

[Adelastro1]

Looks like a few of left it to the last minute... me literally! I pressed the submit button on my last image at 11.58pm Fri! Haha. I did submit a few the day before though so I was partially organised!

[anthony.tony]

Well Not much Time to Wait Know THe DMA Awards Are Being Judged now it won't be long before the Winners Are Notified-Tony-Good Luck To All Entrants.

[leon]

Thanks for that Tony, yes good luck to all indeed, very exciting

Leon

[anthony.tony]

Think Of it This way if you Entered images and Don't win Any prizes -It's The fun of The event -Sitting back at Home and Grinding your teeth a few sleepless Nights -You have entered 3- 5 images at $15.00 dollars each.could total up to $75.00 or More.That equal to a Carton and a Haif of Beer.Plus your Entry fees Help Pay for The Winners The Photo Frames and Printing . Tony

[anthony.tony]

Is The Tension mounting Waiting for that Elusive Email..You have spent $12,000.00 to $45,000.00 on Imaging gear and someone with a 550D and a tripod walks off with The Grand prize The Galileo Bust a camera and A Plague.--Keep Grinding your Teeth and Your Dental Surgeon Will do Quite nicely Too.--Tony

[Paul Haese]

Where have I heard that before? ;)

[h0ughy]

this is just teasing like Sidonio doing the veil dance...... also a scary thought:lol:

[Octane]

Got the "judging is complete" email. :eyepop:

H

[iceman]

I don't expect to receive the magic email in any year, but this year I'm really not expecting one :)

Would be a real bonus this time around, given how little time I've spent on photography in the last 18 months, combined with the rapid rise of so many other great photographers in that same time.

Good luck to all!

[Octane]

omg... you have to be kidding me... FOUR awards?!?!?! This has to be a joke, for sure!?!?!?

H

[iceman]

Congrats H, after the drought comes the flood!

[h0ughy]

well if you have that type of email then i have nothing - congrats on the eligible awards listing H

[anthony.tony]

The Emails Are Coming in Short time .Judging is Finished Good Luck To Those who Entered- Reguard's Tony

[Octane]

I can't believe it... I never thought any of my images were up to scratch, haha. Finally! :D

Sorry to hear you guys didn't get the email. :(

H

[Peter Ward]

Well Done H! I got four as well :D

Looking forward to a catch up with you, and no doubt othe other main suspects in Parkes (pending work and the ash-cloud gods)

[Paul Haese]

Got three this year. Two in solar system section and one in the DSO section. I actually entered nearly every section, but happy to pick up some more awards. The talent pool is now getting very large and even getting a HM is pretty good really. I reckon I must be getting close to holding the record for honourable mentions in each consecutive year.;)

[Octane]

Congrats, Peter and Paul. :)

H

[Peter Ward]

Well done, and too right! HM's particularly in Deep Sky, which always has the most entries, shows a good measure of excellence in anyone's book.

[Omaroo]

Congratulations Humayun and Paul. Well done. :thumbsup: Are these a first for you Paul, as they are for Humayun?

Brilliant fellas - and congrats to all who picked up a gong.

[Paul Haese]

Hey Pete, there are so many better imagers entering the DSO section than me, I would only expect to get a HM. I would say it really is up to you, Mikey, Greg, Marcus or several other great imagers that will win this section. However, one can never decide what David likes. I entered the image below and it did not get a win. To me that was a stand out winner; you just cannot tell with David.

[Peter Ward]

Won't be me. I didn't rate in Deep Sky this year...and frankly didn't enter anything I'd rate as worthy, but... Hoping this one will do OK (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery104.html)

[iceman]

I got nothing. Congrats guys!

[Octane]

These are my four:

http://users.tpg.com.au/octane2/sb.html
http://users.tpg.com.au/octane2/cc.html
http://scratch.hqphotography.com.au/ngc3372_.html
http://members.optusnet.com.au/mrozycka/Manar/Manar_20100817_Snake_Nebula.html

H

[Peter Ward]

Humm...Doughnuts...Drool... (H. Simpson) :D

[Paul Haese]

Not my first Rodeo Chris. This is my fourth lot of "wins". However, have never won three before.

[Rob_K]

Close Tony - 400D & tripod. :P One entry, one award, of some type for SS wide. :D Still batting 100, LOL, only two entries ever for two awards!

Congrats to all the other award winners, can't wait to see all your great winning shots. Won't be able to make it to the awards for the second year in a row as I'm on a ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Hope you all enjoy the event. Take lots of shots for me. :thumbsup:

Cheers -

[anthony.tony]

-Nice work with just a camera and tripod.

[marc4darkskies]

Congrats H, Paul and Peter - getting that many emails among you is a big honour - you must be very happy!! Makes me feel like an under achiever though - only scored one email! :shrug: ;)

Cheers, Marcus

[Peter Ward]

Yes...but probably a winning... dark...I forget....something.... :)

Well done!

[marc4darkskies]

Nope, that one didn't rate a mention :shrug: Surprised me actually. I'll be chuffed with an HM though ... but I'm not saying which one it is :D

[Adelastro1]

I got one as well and I'm happy! Really fluked 3 last year! And all I use is a camera and tripod..
I wonder how many Phil Hart scored... :D

[Phil Hart]

nice work guys. i'm also lucky enough to be in for three images and two animations. would have liked to have made the cut in the themed section (with something like this (http://philhart.smugmug.com/Astronomy/Night-Sky-Photography/16620589_jiE2V#1252606800_eMHie)) but sounds like H with his very pro twilight landscapes has captured David's eye for that one.. nice work! (and Paul hinted awhile back that Wayne had some nice stuff coming too :-) i did get an image selected in deep sky which is great given how tough that category is.

i'll eat my hat if Alex doesn't win animations category this year (although if Colin Legg entered he would be a serious contender too.. check out this project (http://www.outsideinthemovie.com/outside-in-dark-sky-time-lapse-shoot/1529/) he's working on.. wow). my selected timelapses this year are only gum trees, although i did have a slightly rough one of the eclipse that didn't make the cut. i'll show it at AAIC instead..

Phil

[Octane]

Congratulations Marcus, Wayne and Phil. :)

Look forward to catching up/meeting with you all at AAIC/Malin awards night.

H

[Omaroo]

In the interest of updating the "Presenters" page on the AAIC2011 website, could all those presenting please let me know how many gongs they earned at the Malins?

Thanks!

[Paul Haese]

Not going to either H. Malins is a 2000km round trip and costs a bit too. AAIC is further still and out of my price range for a weekend too. Maybe next year.

[jase]

Congratulations guys. Well done. Mr Ward predicted a shake up and I concur. There are many imagers out there now producing excellent work.

I didn't enter the DMA's this year as I've not produced much with my own gear. Seem to be spending more time processing data for other people these days (hydrogen alpha fine art projects).

Will try keeping across the forums as time/workload permits. Hope to catch up with some of you at AAIC.

Once again, congrats!

Cheers

[gregbradley]

I picked up 2.

Greg.

[Adelastro1]

I'll collect yours Paul! ;)
(I may drive over, so let me know if you do want me to collect them...)

My HM is in the themed section. I might have a chance now with Phil not in it! :P Nah, will be tough to win again. I'm looking forward to seeing Alex's animations as well as Phil's. They were great last year. I was going to try one but didn't get around to it - next year. And I'm in awe of you guys in the DS category. They are always stunning.

[Octane]

Congratulations, Greg. :D

H

[jjjnettie]

Congratulations to all of you! Well done guys. :D

[spacezebra]

Congrats to all.

Cheers Petra d.

[gregbradley]

Congrats to you! 4! Wow, you are the new Phil Hart!

Looking at your submissions I can see why they were chosen. I would have chosen as well. Stunning night shots that look like day with stars in the background. Very clever Humi. The shots are almost like an anachronism (something that does not belong in the same time). In your case a "daytime" image with blurred water and stars in the sky.

Greg.

[strongmanmike]

Yes, congratulations from me too everyone! It is a nice feeling when someone of Davids standing in the astroimaging world publically rates your work :thumbsup:

So... I don't feel so good :sadeyes:

:lol:

Mike

[Paul Haese]

Yep bring them back Wayne. With no work coming in at present I have to conserve my funds for later in the year (heading to Exmouth for Jupiter). I will send a email to John letting him know you are going to pick them up for me. Thanks for doing that for me.:thumbsup: We can arrange exchange when you get back.

Never know I may have only got three by the way mentions. Those were introduced last year or the year before, so you might not have to carry anything back.:)

Congrats to all the other winners, there are no doubt worthy winners. The competition gets harder and harder each year. I wonder who the overal winner is this year??

[Garyh]

Sorry for not being to active here on the forum lately, soo busy!

But like to say Congrads to Peter, Marcus, Wayne, Mr H !!!, Phill, Paul, Rob and others
Some of you have done fantastic :thumbsup:
Managed to bag one myself :) which I am pretty stoked about considering that I havn`t managed to get out and about much lately. Really wanted to do some animations but still havn1t got to it.
Be great to catch up with previous winners and see new faces.
Cangrads again everyone :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Adelastro1]

No problem. I did say I MAY go.. yet to be confirmed but I will try...

There will be stuff to bring back because you get a framed certificate for HMs and maybe a few little prizes.. :)

And also well done to everyone too! I forgot to say that before!

[EddieT]

Hi guys, long time no see :)

I see the thread has been very active today! Congrats to all of you winners.

I managed something this year, naturally with what I considered the least likely candidate :) Who can ever tell...

Won't be making it down to Parkes this year. John S, will be accepting for me. I hope you all have a great time down there, wish I could make it. But I'll see whoever's going to AAIC in a few days!

All the best

Eddie T.

[Peter Ward]

Well done Eddie!! ...and about time :) .... it would have been good to catch up at AAIC but unfortunately my work roster has me elsewhere.

[EddieT]

Thanks Peter! I feel the same. Ha. Amazingly I've taken so few images this year...I mean zero! I wasn't even sure I'd enter anything. The eventual winner (or whatever it ends up being) was virtually an afterthought...

Pity you can't make it to AAIC, would have been good to catch up. It's been a couple of years! Maybe next year...

[Octane]

Congrats Gary and Eddie. :)

H

[EddieT]

Thanbks H. Congrats to you as well! You've done very well :)

[Paul Haese]

Just wondering if someone can report on the night via phone internet? I will not be able to make it, but would love to know the results as soon as possible.

I think I know who has won the Hi Res solar system section, just by hunting down who entered and whom didn't. I have informed the person of my prediction and he does not think it is the case, but I am quite confident he has won.

I do wish I could go and catch up with everyone again, it would be great. Have a great time.

[Adelastro1]

I can probably put updates on here throughout the evening of the winners via my iphone... :)

[Adelastro1]

Not long now! The dinner was excellent, and so is the wine! The awards will be starting soon... Will try to keep updates coming. :-)

[EddieT]

Great work Wayne! Keep it up please :)

[Omaroo]

Nnnnggggggg....... The suspense!

[Adelastro1]

Wide field winner. Garry Hill

[EddieT]

I'm trying to keep myself occupied by coding :)

[EddieT]

Well done Gary!

[Adelastro1]

Solar system winner chris Thomas

[Adelastro1]

Solar system high res winner. Peter Ward (sun)

[EddieT]

Excellent going both!

[Adelastro1]

Deep sky winner. Phil Hart

[Adelastro1]

Aus under stars winner. Geoffrey Wyatt

[Adelastro1]

Overall winner. Geoffrey Wyatt. Same image as Aus under the stars

[Adelastro1]

Animations. 3 honorable mentions. No overall winner. These were Phil Hart and Alex Cherney

[Paul Haese]

Congrats to all the winners of each category. I predicted that Peter would win the solar system section. That image was far too superb to not win.

Wayne what about honourable mentions? I am keen to find out myself.

[EddieT]

My congrats to all as well! Well done. I can't wait to see the images. I'll have a troll around the galleries...

[h0ughy]

well done guys

[EddieT]

And thanks for the updates Wayne!

[jase]

Congratulations winners and honourable mentions. Well deserved no doubt. Looking forward to seeing photos of the event along with the remarkable images awarded.

[Adelastro1]

I'm sorry but there just too many to keep track of! Me taking photos, getting an award and trying to admire the photos as well it got all too hard! Haha. Plus David went thru them pretty quick

[Adelastro1]

Yes congrats to all!

[h0ughy]

so any chance of a list?

[Paul Haese]

Did you pick up my awards?:)

[anthony.tony]

Here are some pics of the award's ---Tony

[anthony.tony]

A few more pics-tony

[Adelastro1]

Nah I donated em to charity! Haha. Yes got your three framed certs and your Canon ixus 220. :-)

[Adelastro1]

Might have to get the list off John unless a few of us can piece them all together. There were up to six honorable mentions in each adult category. No innovation award this year.

[Octane]

Picked up four honourable mentions myself.

Congratulations to all the other honourable mentions and category winners.

It was a splendid, splendid night.

The last two weeks have been a ball and a blast for me.

Off to see the Dish in the morning with John Sarkissian. :)

H

[EddieT]

Well done H. Well deserved I reckon.
John's a great guy, give him my best when you see him. I wish I could have been there!

[Octane]

Will do, mate, will do.

You submitted some corkers that David showed on screen, too. :)

H

[EddieT]

Really? Cool. I was there in spirit !

[anthony.tony]

A few more pics-Tony

[anthony.tony]

Some shots of our Guest Speakers --Tony

[Omaroo]

Congratulations - each and every one of you. You all did a superb job, and well-deserve the accolades that came your way. You inspire me. :thumbsup:

Time to get out and do something for next year... I want "in".

[DavidTrap]

Well done to all!
DT

[Paul Haese]

Looks like Phil and I are in the running for the most honourable mentions. :PHow many you got Phil now? Must be near 8 by my reckoning. I have six now. :) Can anyone beat that?

I don't know the chap who won the overall and what was image that did win. I saw a bit of it in Tony's shot. It looked like a shot with the eclipsed moon.

[dugnsuz]

Well done to all - can't wait to check them all out soon
Doug

[marc4darkskies]

The winning image.

[Paul Haese]

Boy I got that completely wrong. :lol:

I hunted up some of the stats. I did not include this years wins.

Phil is the most prolific winner in the comp with 5 category wins and a massive 13 honourable mentions. Phil has won nearly every category now.

Next is Peter Ward with 5 category wins (including 1 overall) and 10 honourable mentions. Peter has won the innovation prize also and his works are always an inspiration.

Then comes Gary Hill with 4 category wins (including 1 overall) and 7 honourable mentions.

There are a few other people who have similar honourable mentions to me, but these three guys have cleaned up the competition since 2006. Each producing great images.

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Marcus. :thumbsup:

[strongmanmike]

Congratulations everyone, especially Geoffrey :thumbsup:

How bout you though Humvi, all quiet for a while... and then the heavens open :eyepop:



Like to see his study wall :eyepop:

Phil is like Ivan Lendl - won everything except the coveted prize of Wimbledon. :lol:...inching closer, you'll do it Phil, I have faith :thumbsup:

[anthony.tony]

A few images of Trevor Barry.--Tony

[Paul Haese]

Thanks Tony,

What was the medal that Trevor won? Was that to do with his image of Saturn?

Mike I reckon it is walls not wall in his study. :) So many good images to hang on those walls too.
My wife keeps insisting I put mine up in the observatory at Clayton. Maybe I will one day.

[strongmanmike]

My wife likes minimilist pictures so most of my work is barred from the living areas (too much colour) its Ha and globs only it would seem, as far as being allowed on display in the house...bah! women and interior tastes :screwy: :lol:

MIke

[anthony.tony]

Hello Paul Every Guest speaker Received A Medallion in a case -Dave Malin Scored one too- He should have a nice Collection of them now.-Reguard's Tony

[Paul Haese]

You get to put yours up? The photographs I am allowed at home are my terrestrial stuff. Things like art deco building. For astro images I had to buy another house at Clayton so that I could put them up in there.;)

[Paul Haese]

Thanks for that Tony. A nice gift for guest speakers.:thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

I won 2 honorable mentions surprisingly in the widefield category.

As I suggestion I would recommend that the Deep Space Category be expanded to:

Galaxies
Nebulas
Star clusters
Narrowband.

This is how most astroimagers separate their images and each have their own approach and difficulty levels. Otherwise the astronomy theme is a bit watered down and this would strengthen it without weakening the wide appeal of the broad categories currently being used. I don't think a galaxy image has ever won for example, nor a narrowband.

Greg.

[anthony.tony]

Some more images from Last night-Tony

[Paul Haese]

An interesting proposition Greg. It might well make it easier for David to select the image he likes in that category. Perhaps the solar system hi res could be similarly expanded so that

Solar
planets
Plutoids and asteroids

However, I think it unlikely your suggestion or mine could be implemented. What about something like:

Galactic
Intergalactic?

That is only a small sub category but could mean quite a bit to guys submitting DSO images at hi res.

The bottom line though is that you have to attract the attention of David and what he likes. It does not mean your image is not great if you don't win anything. It just means that you may or may not have David's attention.:)

[gregbradley]

What would you classify as intergalactic?

By the way your M42 got either honorable mention or highly commended I forget which.

So did Mike Sidonios NGC6188 (highly commended).

One thing narrowband needs to be compared with narrowband as it is not everyone's taste yet it is definitely a large part of the art.

Star clusters may not need to be a category but I doubt a nice glob image would win.

Galaxies need to be a category though as anyone who has imaged galaxies knows they are a different type of approach than nebulas
with their acquistion strategy, different processing techniques yet almost any scope can capture the brighter galaxies.

Greg.

[iceman]

Congrats to the award winners! Well done.

Wish I could've joined you there.

Hopefully I can take some more images for a better show next year.

[Martin Pugh]

Well done and congrats to all those that got placed.

hope to see you in the competition next year.

Martin

[Paul Haese]

Intergalatic would include Galaxies either singular or in clusters and for the reason you point out great. Although how do you deal with the LMC and SMC? They are both wide field and intergalactic.

Yes narrow band is a tough one, however narrow band has once before taken out the overall winner.

Globs on the other hand are a little like planetary. Planetary is probably never going to win the overall winner category. Not unless Anthony, Steffan or myself can produce an image the same size as Damian does. Even then I doubt it will attract an overall winner.

I think my M42 (accordig to Wayne) won a HM.

[Octane]

Mike, your waves/conjunction image got a commendation. It was a beautiful image and one that stuck in my mind.

I have just got home.

This morning was fantastic; Alex Cherney + family, myself and two others got a tour of the dish with John Sarkissian. Was great!

The last two weeks have been awesome. It's going to be such a let down having to go back to work tomorrow!

H

[Phil Hart]

as H. said, it's been a great couple of weekends and will be hard to get back to the grind tomorrow. the awards dinner goes so quick and there's never enough time to catch up with people who couldn't be there during the day. kaz and i were sorry not to make it to the dish this morning but i have seen inside during the big event a couple of years ago and we were keen to get the drive to Melb underway (still on the road now)..

well done to all there. for me, i was stoked to get the deep sky award. i was happy just to get an image selected in that category given the very high standard from all. lucky for me you only submit at 2000 pixels as the coma in the top corner was a bit ugly otherwise ;).

mike sid's dragons got a HC and iceman also had several HC images mentioned and shown on the night. some fellow ASV imagers also got HC mentions (well done Bratislav). narrowband does have a wall to climb to catch david's eye but martin pugh showed it can be done!

close to home now.. i just asked kaz if she had anything to add and she said 'you're not a bad bunch.. very friendly' :P:thumbsup:

thanks all
phil

[anthony.tony]

A couple more shots--Tony

[Phil Hart]

John has sent this email out with full results:

Hello all,

Last night, during the 2011 CWAS AstroFest dinner, the recipients of this year's "David Malin Awards" were announced. In the next few days, pictures of the event will be posted on the web along with the winning astrophotographs.

Congratulations to all the award recipients. The following are the results for the 2011 CWAS "David Malin Awards".


OVERALL WINNER: Geoffrey Wyatt - "Curves" (Themed Section).


Winners by category:

Animated Sequences:
------------------------------
No Winner awarded this year:
HM: Alex Cherney - "Outback reflections"
HM: Phil Hart - "Spinning Tree"
HM: Phil Hart - "Lake Eppalock Timelapse"


Junior:
---------
Lara O'Brien - "Lunar Eclipse 16/6/11"


Wide-Field:
---------------
WINNER: Gary Hill - "The Southern Milky Way"
HM: Phil Hart - "The Hockey Stick"
HM: Alex Cherney - "The Parkes Telescope and the Milky Way"
HM: Greg Bradley - "Inside Barnard's Loop"
HM: Greg Bradley - "The Small Magellanic Cloud"


Solar System- Wide-Field:
-----------------------------------
WINNER: Christopher Thomas - "Time is of the Essence"
HM: Humayun Qureshi - "Capillary Conjunction"
HM: Geoff Sims - "Partial Eclipse Moonrise"
HM: Phil Hart - "Twilight Earthshine at Lake Eppalock"
HM: Robert Kaufman - "Total Solar Eclipse, 11 July 2010"


Solar System - Hires:
-----------------------------
WINNER: Peter Ward - "May Seventh Sun"
HM: Peter Ward - "ISS Transit"
HM: Eddie Trimarchi - "Colourful Moon"
HM: Paul Haese - "The return of Jupiter's Southern Equatorial Belt"
HM: Paul Haese - "Dragon Storm"


Deep Sky:
--------------
WINNER: Phil Hart - "The Horse Head and Flame Nebula"
HM: Humayun Qureshi - "The Eta Carinae Nebula"
HM: Humayun Qureshi - "The Snake Nebula in Ophiuchus"
HM: Steve Crouch - "The Circinus Galaxy ESO 97-G13"
HM: Marcus Davies - "Shield of the Centaur"
HM: Max Kilmister - "Abstract Art? IC 4603/4604"
HM: Paul Haese - "M42"


Theme - "Australia Beneath the Stars":
----------------------------------------------------
WINNER: Geoffrey Wyatt - "Curves"
HM: Wayne England - "Moonlit Red Gums at Poocher Swamp"
HM: Humayun Qureshi - "Scorpion Beach"
HM: Peter Ward - "Dreamtime eclipse"
HM: Alex Cherney - "Galactic Dish"
HM: Peter Ward - "Moonlit Uluru under the stars"



The Highly Commended entries (no prizes) were:

Wide-Field:
---------------
Wayne England - "Moonrise Reflections"
Tony Surma-Hawes - "Technology Reflecting Nature"
Bratislav Curcic - "Corona Australis Nebula"
Rolando De Michiel - "Full Moon among the gums"
Alex Cherney - "The Milky Way Above Loch Ard Gorge"


Solar System - Wide-Field:
------------------------------------
Michael Grimshaw - "Lunar Eclipse, 21 December 2010"
Denis Crute - "Moon Glow"
Mike Salway - "Conjunction Water Rush"
Grahame Kelaher - "Starry Eclipsed Moon"
Phil Hart - "Venus and the Zodiacal Light"


Solar System - Hires:
-----------------------------
Mike Salway - "Saturated Colour Full Moon"
Paul Haese - "Dragon storm on Saturn"
Troy Tranter - "Saturn Seeliger Effect"
Troy Tranter - "Faded Feature: Jupiter and Europa"


Deep Sky:
--------------
Eddie Trimarchi - "The Lagoon Nebula"
Eddie Trimarchi - "NGC 6357"
Phil Hart - "NGC 6188"
Steve Crouch - "The NGC 6872 galaxy group in Pavo"
Marcus Davies - "Tower of Treasures"
Michael Sidonio - "Fighting Dragons of Ara"
Stefan Buda - "Webcam Homunculus"


Theme - "Australia Beneath the Stars":
---------------------------------------------------
Mike Salway - "Planets over the Opera House"
Tony Surma-Hawes - "Moon Spinner"
Phil Hart - "Moonlit Milky Way"
Rolando De Michiel - "Conjunction over an Icon"
Alex Cherney - "Meteor Above Country Road"


Well done and congratulations to all the award recipients.

Start preparing your astrophotos for the 2012 CWAS "David Malin Awards", and share with the wider public your enthusiasm for the grandeur and beauty of astronomy.


Regards, John Sarkissian
2011 CWAS "David Malin Awards"

[anthony.tony]

A few more pics -- Tony

[Adelastro1]

After 2400km I'm back.. phew! Well worth it though. I look forward to seeing them all again on the CWAS website soon, and the exhibition!

[alexch]

We have just arrived home in Melbourne. What a fantastic event it was. It was great to catch up with everyone and hear David's comments about the finest astro-images in Australia - congrats to all winners, honourable mentions and highly commended. I am very happy to receive three HM this year!

Thanks to John Sarkissian for his superb work in running it so smoothly.

Cheers,
Alex

[cookie8]

Many congratulations to all the award winners. Wish I could've joined you guys there but there is always another year.:thumbsup:

[anthony.tony]

Just a planned Simple Camera shot took The lot.

[iceman]

Nice to see my name in the Highly Commended at least :)

Can't wait to see all the winning images.

[Garyh]

Congrads to Geoffrey Wyatt for his lovely shot over the Opera house.:thumbsup:
Fantastic dinner and so great to catch up with everyone and put new faces to names!. Like always dinner goes so quick and never get to have a real good natter to everyone! :)
Wish I could of gone to the day advents but the funds for staying another night was just out of budget.
Conrads again to all the HM and Cat winners and also the Highly Commended entries, so many nice images!
cheers

[Peter Ward]

For the record, my "priors" to this year are 14 Hm's, 4 Section wins, 2 Innovation-Prize wins (total 6 inc. the overall prize).....that said, young Phil Hart...who is all-together far too clean shaven...:) (just kidding Phil) I strongly suspect now surpasses that score.

It was great catching up with some old faces and meeting quite a few new ones at Parkes.

Paul's prognistication proved very cheeful for yours truly. :)

Well done to all, particularly Geoff who came out-of-left-field and wowed everyone.

P.S.
Forgot to mention, again a fantastic effor by David Malin, John Sarkissian & CWAS and Canon Australia!

[Paul Haese]

Was the comp going before 2006. Maybe I need to count again.

And; I can now I told ya so. I knew the minute you told me you had entered the solar system Hi Res that you had won.:thumbsup: Well done. It alludes me still.;)

[Phil Hart]

I'm told looking ten years (+) younger than my age will be of benefit one day :D. Until then it only serves to bemuse others by the achievements of one so (apparently) young! ;)

And yes, John Sarkissian deserves a medal too!

[Phil Hart]

Also for the record, it was very noble of Alex not to enter the timelapse footage that he won Starmus with. Anybody who saw David play it and enthusiastically describe its features after announcing the HMs for the category could see how much he loves and is impressed by it. I think Alex could have easily entered it to this competition as well and would have walked away with a category prize (at least) for it! :thumbsup:

The problem now is that David Malin sees that as the bar that one has to reach for him to even consider awarding a category prize.. otherwise it'll be HMs only for that category again next year! :lol:

Phil

[Octane]

Phil,

You need to work on a time-lapse system that launches the camera into orbit while capturing stills. That'll raise the bar a little higher. :P

H

[gregbradley]

My wife is interested in time lapse and I can also write and perform music so I can add a sound track.

Some of the areas around my dark site are rather scenic so perhaps some can be used for a time lapse.
A coastal location though seems to be ideal. Victoria is a good spot as it is one of the few areas of Australia where
you would be imaging looking out to sea southwards so the Milky Way would be rising out of the sea.

Perhaps Phil would be so generous as to offer some advice on lenses. cameras etc.

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Thanks Martin...but.... you are not welcome...the hoi polli are doing just fine.

Just Kidding! :)

( I suspect the standard will be so high as to require the rest of us to don space suits to compete :). )

[EddieT]

Paul, the comp started in 2004.

Since we're quoting stats, I might as well add my lowly numbers,
1 Outright, 3 category, 5 HMs and now 4 HC.

At least some mention in every award since 2005, makes me happy enough :)

And may I add my congratulations to all of this years mentions. I'll have to visit the display when it gets to Brisbane.

[leon]

The overall wining image, :eyepop:well i am very surprised, in fact are you guys for real.:eyepop:

Leon:thumbsup:

[Phil Hart]

Timelapse is technically pretty simple.. I typically use a 5DmkII, 24mm f1.4 lens, rolling ~10 sec exposures at ISO3200.

The hard bit is dragging all the gear out to interesting locations and leaving it there for hours. And then there's motion control.. ;)

[Paul Haese]

Ah thanks Eddie. The website only has comps from 2006. That makes sense now. The name of the game seems to be persistance.

[leon]

Hi Guys, I have gone over the results here, probably three times and read every entry carefully, because i am prone to many a mistake. :rolleyes:

And from the limited view of the recipients and the over all themed winner, i am just astounded how that happened. :shrug:

I have seen some entries in this section, put a couple in myself, but that is neither here nor there.

That shot should not have won overall, IMHO. :sadeyes:

Yea, now I'm going to cope it, :shrug: but it just isn't that good, :sadeyes: and I was always told if you want to say something have the guts to put your name to it.

Leon :thumbsup:

[Peter Ward]

I doubt you will cop it Leon. But it's important to appreciate the CWAS David Malin awards are just that, David's call and no-one else's. David ruminates extensively on his choices...clearly not all will agree.

Next year there will be changes, David will get input from other judges, and after each year a review is always made, so watch this space :)

That said, OMG the standard is high! Entries that won some years ago wouldn't make the cut today....it has been a great catalyst for Australian astrophotography.

[Octane]

You're right, Peter. There were images shown as highly commendable, particularly those entered by Bratislav, where I was thinking "Wow! If they didn't get an honourable mention or a win, I can't wait to see what did!"

You really need to pull out something spectacular to get a category win, based on what I saw on Saturday night. :eyepop:

H

[EddieT]

And that is the ultimate truth year after year around this time :)


And that could be said of any images taken sometime in the past, not just winners of this contest. It's important to keep things in perspective, I think.

Agreed! However I also see a slightly sad side to this that I have mentioned in the past. Nobody here can say that they started astroimaging to enter contests. Yet contests seem to have become the ultimate goal for some. I think it's a little sad....

[Paul Haese]

Leon as a person who made complaint about the competition in the past I can well see you point of view.

However, I have come to accept (through the guidance of a few of the chaps here Eddie included) that this competition is not about the best image (be it technically or aesthetically) but the images that appeal to David's tastes. Davids criteria is different to what some might think is correct, but it is David's competition. One either accepts this or one does not.

As Eddie has quite rightly pointed out, no one should enter astro imaging just to enter competitions. One should enter it for any reason but this particular reason. These competitions should not be viewed as verifying your skills but more of a chance to show case what you love most. That being the night sky and all its wonders.

Well that is how I see it now.:)

[jjjnettie]

Yes yes, we all have noble words to say about why we enter/compete in competitions. (myself included)
But in the end we all hope to either win or gain the recognition of our peers. Otherwise we wouldn't have entered. We'd be quite happy to just keep sharing our images online with our friends.
Don't take this as a snide remark. I have the highest respect for the skill it takes to get to produce images of the calibre entered in the Malin's.

[Paul Haese]

Not at all. To some extent everyone does put up the images to win, but it should not be the reason we image. :)

[anthony.tony]

Hello All Alan Dyer From Alberta Canada .Writes in Aust Sky and Telescope -Canadian SKy news -Etc. Said to me The Problem with Contests is You get The same crowd Coming in and Cleaning up every Year-What they do is to a Point is Once you win In a Catergory is you can't enter the Next year.That gives some some of the other imagers That are still honing their Skills a chance to get in and get at least a place or a win,Otherwise you get " and so we all meet up again Syndrome. "-Reguard's Tony -and Yes at No offence too the people that come into The Malin Award's and clean up every year.people do enter Contests to win or at least get a place to gain some recognition of their imaging skills.Remember once the Bug bites you can pour Thousands of Dollars into the Pass time.For most there is no way of getting any Income out of it .It's Just for the love of it .So Entering Contests and getting a Place or a Win puts Your Name up on the Billboard. Reguard's Tony from Canowindra.

[jjjnettie]

The images that win, are an inspiration to us all. They're the bench mark we aim for.

[Omaroo]

This is something I've gone into in a big way over the past few months Greg. What instruments do you play and have to play with?

Me? I've gone down the analogue synthesizer route and have a Moog Slim Phatty and a Doepfer Dark Energy is on its way from Germany - as well as about a zillion software synths. Great for "space" music :)

[Octane]

Or, you could just use any old Klaus Schulze track (with permission, of course) for the same space soundtrack. :P

H

[gregbradley]

Moog slim phatty would be nice. I haven't heard of the Doepfer Dark Energy - I'll check it out.

Various guitars and virtual synths. I had a modified MiniMoog for years but sold it. A fabulous but unstable instrument. A Roland SY85 is the interface I use. Virtual synths are great but probably lack that last 10-15% of the real thing. A keyboard very often these days is really only a workstation that runs everything else.

I also use Spectrasonics sampled products. Very nice. Also some nice virtual synths from Native Instruments. Moog V, MiniMoog, Hammond B4, Prophet V.

Music has always been my main aesthetic interest but astroimaging has dominated in the last several years. Music has never been far away though. I am in the process of putting together a sound studio in my house to start writing and recording again.

As far as the Malins go I am appreciative of the fact that a competition exists in our local area for our work. It definitely does increase interest in our pursuit (it took me a while to come up with a name for what we do - calling it a hobby sounds demeaning don't you think?). It also creates a game which is fun as long as you don't take it too seriously. Now if I only start drinking 20 cups of coffee a day instead of 15 maybe I can win next year!!

Greg.

[anthony.tony]

I have Attended every Malin award from Day 1.Every year The Quality of The Images gets better...Some of the Imagers must spend hours taking the shots then Even longer To process them.I suppose you could spend 2 to 30 hours all up recording the The Information-Then Probably up to 8 to 20 hours processing the images.You would want to have a lot of patience and a kind of fanaticism to get things done. Trevor Barry said at his Talk once he has captured his Planetary data -he can spend 12 to 14 hours processing it.From what I have heard our Australian Imagers the ones that Clean up at the Malin Awards are Equal or Better than Any of the Imagers from around the world. ---- Tony

[DavidTrap]

I'd like to pass on my concern about how some individuals have responded to the results of the David Malin competition.

A friend of mine, who had success in the competition, has received communications from members of the IIS community saying how "disappointed" they were that his image was well received by the judge. Some of these comments have come from prominent, longstanding members of the IIS community. I am personally disgusted by such behaviour. My friend does not want to name and shame these individuals, but agreed to me posting this comment on the existing thread about the competition.

The fact that these awards are subjective has been acknowledged on this thread. To personally attack the recipient of one of these coveted awards is extremely low. Criticism of the judge's decision should be directed to the judge - or are the attackers frightened they might offend him and jeopardise their future entries. Leon has at least had the guts (in his words) to voice his disagreement with the overall result in a public forum.

David Malin is an amazing individual - we are privileged to have him involved in amateur astronomy. Please don't sully this competition by such acts.

DT

[Paul Haese]

Agreed David. Attacking a winner is not on. Despite what you might think of the results attacking the winner of a category is just not on in my opinion either.

[beren]

:sadeyes: Unbelievable, pretty disappointing to hear..... put your manners in place to those members who lowered themselves to that level.

On a positive note congratualtions to all the winners and contributors to the Malin awards and everyone that has a go :)

[EddieT]

Wow, that is sad to hear. Totally uncalled-for behaviour! I guess competition by nature can bring out the best and the worst in people...

[gregbradley]

Yes I agree. Competitions are competitions but it would be great if it could kept at a light note and fun. The competition certainly seems to have created some interest.

Greg.

[Peter Ward]

Yep, I heard that next year all those jockeying for a position will have to be weighed with their saddles and checked for substance abuse :)

[DavidTrap]

I remember an Olympian being disqualified from the modern pentathlon for consuming too much caffeine during his events - astronomers will be stuffed if those rules are applied!!!!!??!?!?!?!!

On a more serious note - thanks for the comments of support for my friend. One can only hope the parties responsible have read my previous post and the follow-ups universally condeming such behaviour.

DT

[hotspur]

This is an amazing event-Australia is very fortunate to have Dr David Malin and John Sarkissian and their team hold and run the event.There is a lot of back ground work for these type of events.So a big thanks to them for running it.

Congratulations to all the award winners!

Just wondering how I might go about receiving my certificate and prize,as I have tried to contact the organisers,but the are no doubt very busy.Did any AAQ members go down-they might have been able to collect my prize.,and bring it back up.

Cheers Chris

[marc4darkskies]

OMG that's disgusting! :mad2: I hope whoever did this is feeling suitably ashamed!

[Paul Haese]

Chris, keep emailing John and he will send them to you.

[anthony.tony]

I found this Story in the Parkes Champion Post 22/7/2011-Friday.A nice littlr Story about the Astrfest and The Malin Awards-- Tony

[strongmanmike]

Nice write up boys :thumbsup:...you all "look" like astronomers too :lol:

Mike

[hotspur]

Yes Paul-no worries,Just got an email from John,he will send the prizes and awards to people next week.Does anyone know what the prizes were for the award winners? The certificates look really nice framed up in the photos posted.What A thrill it will be to physically hold such a coverted award.

Looking forward to seeing all the award winning images-this event is really something special.

Cheers Chris

[atalas]

Your kidding ! some just can't be happy for people can they! :mad2:

Anyway,congrats to all winners and non winners(maybe next year) I know great time and effort goes into imaging let only preparing your entries for this kind of competition....kudos to all.

[Octane]

Hrm, I'm not sure why people would bag out the recipient of a prize. Sour grapes, perhaps?

Thanks for posting the newspaper article, Anthony. :)

H

[leon]

I think some of you guys have got it all wrong, :sadeyes: and if some of the jabs are at me, fine, i can handle it.

I am game enough to say what i feel face to face, and/or put my name to something that has been said.

I do not send PM's bagging anyone, ever, just making that clear. :sadeyes:

My point about the winning image was not that it was a bad image, but in a competition with many other images, it was not the best to win the award, and that is all.

Leon :thumbsup:

[Omaroo]

Leon - you are of course entitled to your view.

Did you (or the others who PM'd the photographer directly) also take it up with Prof. Malin? It was his decision.

[Octane]

Leon,

The message I posted was in reference to David's post about people bagging him (the recipient) out via private message. Just plain weird.

H

[DavidTrap]

For the record my friend did not receive messages from Leon.

Leon - I apologize if it was in any way inferred that you were behind such messages. I think you're one of the more honest people on this forum - your comments are usually pretty black and white.

DT

[atalas]

I wasn't thinking you did Leon....you don't strike me as that kinda fella! but just find It unbelievable that some people(whoever they are)would actually go to the trouble of to PM the winner,or winners to tell them they don't deserve the win....that's not cricket.

Now as far as your comment here well,I don't see what's wrong with that and I'm sure we all had our favorites too.

My comments here weren't directed at your opinion which you are entitled to mate just like the rest of us.

Stay Well

[leon]

I will say no more on the subject, if anyone was offended, I apologise humbly.

Leon

[EddieT]

I wasn't thinking of you Leon. I was referring to whoever it was. :)

[strongmanmike]

What is going on here?..someone posts on a public forum that they think a winning image is not worthy and it is somehow better and more noble than privately telling the photographer...? :shrug: what's got into you guys :screwy:

I think you should all let this go..?

Or I'll turn this into a Carbon Pricing thread :P :rofl:

Mike

[Octane]

Mike,

There's a bit of a difference, though. Leon didn't private message the author of the image that won a category and abuse them for it. He simply stated that he didn't think the overall winning image wasn't what he thought is a winner.

Keep your carbon tax away from here. :P

H

[EddieT]

Done!



Don't! :help:

[strongmanmike]

Yeh?? did someone really do that ie "abuse"... or is this a case of Chinese whispers :shrug:

Ooops :doh: ...let it go, let it go (John Rambo 1982) :P

[Paul Haese]

It is quite odd to PM the recipient of a decision made by the Judge. Not sure what that would achieve. Fair enough put your complaint up for all to see but whomever did the PM's ought to know better. :sadeyes:

[DavidTrap]

I have received a request to reveal who sent the message. That will not happen. I have discussed this with my friend. He is happy with what I posted and we will not enter into further debate about the matter.

Time to move on everyone.

DT

[anthony.tony]

I missed this yesterday -thisWinning image was Posted in The champion Post. Malin Awards -Winner Geoff Wyatt ---Tony

[Quark]

Greetings Tony and all of the IIS imagers whom I had the great pleasure of meeting for the first time at the 2011 CWAS Astrofest.
I apologize for this belated message, since my return to Broken Hill I have unfortunately been rather ill. It really was great to be able to put faces to the people whose work I admire and it was a highlight for me to meet you all and I congratulate all that submitted images to the David Malin Awards and especially those that received an award.


I sincerely thank John Sarkissian for the opportunity to speak at the Astrofest and for the deluxe tour of “The Dish” he so kindly gave my family and I on the Friday prior. I would also like to thank Alex Abbey for his initial approaches regarding the possibility of speaking at Parkes. I must say that originally I thought there would be very little a broken down ex-mine worker would be able to contribute but the timing of my work being published in both “Science” and “Nature” probably made my topic fairly relevant.


It was also a very great pleasure to catch up with David Malin again; so much had changed for me with my astronomy since his visit, along with Fred Watson to my observatory back in 2000. I apportion equal quantities of blame to both David & Fred for the development of my interest in the science of astronomy in general and planetary science in particular. David tells me he will be more wary from now on when offering encouragement to amateurs, but he said it with a glint in his eye.


I had been quite worried about being able to get through my presentation in the 50 min’s that John had allowed for it (he gave me an hour but with the understanding that 10 min’s of that would be for questions) so my wife & son had been enduring numerous trial runs over the weeks leading up to the event. To those that attended I hope I didn’t get side tracked too many times. When I am on a roll talking about my favourite subject it is often hard for others to find my off switch.


Following my presentation Alex Abbey was telling me that John Sarkissian also tended to be a very enthusiastic speaker and that they would never be able to have both of us talk at the same conference as the chance of us achieving critical mass would be just too great.
Again, what a truly memorable couple of days and what a pleasure to meet so many like minded people.

Regards
Trevor

[anthony.tony]

Thank's For the reply Trevor you Gave a Brilliant Talk Mate, Reguard's Tony.

[gregbradley]

I was thinking about this image after the awards and started working out where it was taken and from what direction and how it was done.

It must've been at the Lady Macquaries Chair area east of the Opera House but perhaps a little bit south to get the Harbour Bridge arch int he shot. Plus the moon setting around ENE this time of year. It must also have been early evening at the first crescent sets fairly early, say before 7 or 8pm.

Have I got it right?

It is a clever framing of curves and angles. To get all 3 elements in the same frame which is somewhat zoomed in (300mm lens? or a small telescope like an ED80?) must've taken some planning and weather being favourable.

It seems there's a lot of forethought and planning that has gone into making that shot.

Also its a bit hard to get the crescent moon to show up the shaded part in an image - it tends to blow out with the bright areas easily so that also means a low ISO setting and a slightly fast exposure time.

Clever.

Greg.

[Adelastro1]

Hi everybody. I just received this email from John Sarkissian saying that the website for the 2011 awards is now up. It's great to see all the winning images again and to be able to spend some time appreciating them rather than the quick view from the awards night. As most have you said on here, they ARE amazing. Can't wait to see them on tour!


Hello all,

The web page highlighting the results of the 2011 CWAS "David Malin Awards" is now available at:

http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/astrofest/awards/

Within the next week, a photo gallery slideshow will be added to the page in which ALL of the 2011 DMA entries will be viewable. I'll keep you posted on this development.

Thanks to Denis Crute and Brad Le Brocque for the use of their photographs of the event.

Congratulations again, to all the award recipients.


Regards, John

[dugnsuz]

Great images all
I love your image Wayne - gorgeous.
Doug

[Adelastro1]

Thanks Doug. David said when he presented my award that it may have been a winner in another category because it's not completely identifiable as an Australian iconic scene and therefore didn't deserve to win this category, which is fair enough. Damn! I did however enter a similar image into Widefield and received a commendation. Ah, there's always next year!
PS. I sold this through Redbubble too which was a surprise, and my first sale on there!

[zardos123]

http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/astrofest/awards/

congrats all
regards brad

[anthony.tony]

Hello Brad how did you go with your car the VW . Tony

[spacezebra]

Congrats to all the winners, all images are spectacular.

Cheers Petra d.

[EddieT]

On a slightly different note, if any of you G12 winners have too many cameras and would like to offload yours, PM me.

I've been using my G10 (from 2009) prolifically and love it. Would like a G12 upgrade!

[Garyh]

Thanks for the updates etc Tony! :thumbsup: good to catch up with you at the awards.
Only caught up with this thread yesterday, boy things look like they got a bit heavy alright. This sort of nonsense happened a few years back as well with Mikes winning images. ............But going behind the scenes and having a go at the winner is real sour grapes...Everyone has there own opinion as to the best images as well as David Malin and well it`s the David Malin awards isn`t it?
No offence taken at all Leon at least you are upfront to what you believe!

Like Greg mentions a few threads back, there is quiet a bit of planning to get this shot as to location, date and composing the shot as well as hoping the weather co-operates...So congrads again to Geoff..:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsu p:

I was really surprised to win the widefield section as was expecting to get a HM as the level of images is just going up so fast. I think the biggest buzz for me is that your image gets to go on a traveling exhibition for people to see the beauty of the night sky and what a dedicated astro imager can do these days..
Really good to see other deep sky images like Marcus, Greg and Mr H and others get HM and wins for recondition long overdue :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
You are the guys that keep inspiring me!
Enough for now......
Congrads again everyone!
cheers Gary

[strongmanmike]

You should be congratulated Gazza for consitently producing images that David Malin likes every year :thumbsup:... I've lost my Malin mojo the last two years :sad:

But! I do have a DSLR finally... and I have a few nice trees in mind :question:...so, LOOOK OUT! :P

Mike

[Garyh]

Thanks Mike, much appreciated !
Don`t forget a few nice clouds to go with the trees!;)
Now you have a excuse to buy some nice lens that you could use with the FLI
cheers

[zardos123]

hi tony, i ended up disconnecting a module from an old engine immobilizer the auto electrician found, runs like a dream now, thanks again for your help
regards brad :thumbsup:

[anthony.tony]

Brad Join the NRMA and Upgrade To Premium Care.Free Towing -Motel accomadation paid by Nrma.Assistance with Hire car-Reguard's Tony

[anthony.tony]

http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Winning-Sky-Photos-David-Malin-Awards-MR-Final.pdf --The Travelling David Malin Award's Sydney Observatory- Lited Here-Reguard's Tony

[anthony.tony]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/skys-the-limit-for-science-geeks/story-e6freuzi-1226112721818 ---The David malin Awards In the Telgraph -Good Advertising.-- Tony

[Rob_K]

Great article Tony, but why the heading?

Cheers -

[dugnsuz]

From the article...
"The self-confessed "science geek", who first caught the astrophotography bug in 1985,"

[Paul Haese]

Tony, I reckon it is a bit of shame only DSLR images where used in the article. Why not one other shot taken with astro gear? You don't actually see any astronomy photos in the article. No offence to the guys who took those images but they are not exactly astronomy images. More like interesting photographs with terrestrial objects in two of them.

[Paul Haese]

Just to clarify I think the winner of the DSO and Solar sytem Hi Res or DSO wide field would be good candidates as well as the overall winning image. That gives the impression of an astro competition.

[hotspur]

Actually Paul,I do find this comment not all that favourably,and I feel Geoff might too.

Reason-I have observed that aircraft for many years,and put a fair bit of time in to working out the calculations of when it would pass the moon.If that is not some sort of maths and astronomy-well may be you think Captain James Cook was not doing astronomy when he went to the Pacific to observe the transit of Venus.

Geoff has also used a similar style of observation-0ver many years to obtain his wonderful image.

May be the mods like to have a review of the above post from Paul.

Thank you-Chris

[Paul Haese]

Chris despite the planning that went into both images these are strictly speaking not astronomy images. They are both great images but the competition is supposed to be an astronomy photo competition. Advertising should include images taken with astronomy gear of further afield astronomy targets. All the images presented are of the moon and two of them have terrestrial targets which dominate the scene. The overall winning image should be included but other astro related images should have some relevance too.

Why should my comments be moderated here Chris? Why was it ok for Leon to say something and not I?

[troypiggo]

A wise man, my Dad, always says: "Don't try to control things that are beyond your control."

And from a movie: "Opinions are like a**holes. Everybody's got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks."

And from the great philosopher Jeff Fenech: "I love you'se all." :D

[DavidTrap]

A dictionary definition of Astronomy is:

the branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole

Surely the moon is a celestial object? Aren't these images therefore astronomy images?

I checked the David Malin Award website, but could't see it defined by the organisers. There is a definition on that site that relates to the Open Section:

Open Themed Section, where the subject this year is “Australia Beneath the Stars” - iconic Australian scenes, taken at night, that are readily identifiable as 'made in Australia'. The images can be of inland, maritime, city or suburban environments, but must have an obvious connection to Australia and the night sky, and must contain astronomical objects.

Any publicity is good publicity.

DT

[anthony.tony]

Hello Using the Word "Geek" Is Demeaning .Who ever The Journalist was he needs to learn a bit more about Astroimaging and The people that are involved in it.But what can you do -maybe before they write these Articles they Should Consult someone from Committee that organised it E.G. John Sarkissian .Then they Could probably Compose a Half Decent Story. -- Reguard's Tony

[Paul Haese]

Guys think what you like but surely a DSO shot could have been included on this page.

[M_Lewis]

I think apologising for not classing someone's winning shots as astrophotographs might be a good place to start.

[troypiggo]

If everyone had the same taste/opinions, the world would be a boring place, wouldn't it. ;)

[Paul Haese]

Hardly!

[M_Lewis]

Then tell us what you really think Paul instead of footsying around the limits of being rude.

[Paul Haese]

Mark I am not being rude and I am not apologising for having an opinion that the article should have had a DSO image instead of several images which have the moon in them.

[M_Lewis]

Instead you insult the people who took those photographs by calling them .

One of the authors did take offense to the above, to which no attempt or apology from yourself has been forcoming. Call me blind freddie, but the last time I checked, any moon shot is an astro shot.

If you have a complaint about a news article, take it up with the paper in question, there isn't a soapbox on iis last time I checked to knock someone's photographs which have been judged winners in a noteable competition.

[gregbradley]

Reason-I have observed that aircraft for many years,and put a fair bit of time in to working out the calculations of when it would pass the moon.If that is not some sort of maths and astronomy-well may be you think Captain James Cook was not doing astronomy when he went to the Pacific to observe the transit of Venus.

Geoff has also used a similar style of observation-0ver many years to obtain his wonderful image.

May be the mods like to have a review of the above post from Paul.

Thank you-Chris[/QUOTE]



That is an awesome shot Chris.

It reminds me of one I took 7 years ago when I was first starting out.

I was imaging the Venus transit with a Meade LX90, Baader solar film and a Nikon D70 DSLR. The sun was getting low and a 747 came flying in on its final descent. Also the heat plumes coming off the engines made interesting distortions of the Sun.

Again a one in a million type image, complete with Venus transiting the Sun.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/30349784/large

Greg.

[Paul Haese]

Oh grow up. People have different opinions all the time here.

[M_Lewis]

Thank you, that's all I needed to hear from you.

[iceman]

Guys, chill.

I didn't take Paul's original post as personally attacking. I don't agree with his statements but I can choose to take offence to them or not. I can choose to just ignore them.

Even though it may not have been worded the best, I took Paul's issue as with the paper and the article, not the photographers who took the pictures. If he thinks they're not astrophotography, that's his opinion. I don't agree with him at all but I'm not going to take offence to it even though I take very similar shots all the time.

There's no need to try and defend the astrophotographers, or defend the competition against Paul's comments. The massive number of people entering each year speak for the competition. And David's winning choices speak for the photographers.

[Peter Ward]

:rolleyes:...this is sounding rather like the Archibalds....but I can see where Paul is coming from.

Here is the link (http://www.atscope.com.au/BRO/gallery104.html) to my HM shot

Would I classify it as an Astro-image? :question:

I think the answer is no.

I like it alot, it's a unique landscape (seemed to tick two boxes, Australia? Yes. Under the stars? Yes. )

But a picture of just the heavens it is not....plus this years DM open prize had a pretty clear theme.

"Australia under the stars" (the fine print was "Australia under any celestial body" :) ).

As to whether "Solar system wide angle" or "deep sky" can be permitted to have an interloper in the field....where do you draw the line. Bird? Plane? ISS? Comet?

I suspect the answer is the image needs to have interest...

This is a great shot of the moon.
(http://www.atscope.com.au/ap155edf/Ap155moon.jpg)
but,

this lunar shot is better (http://www.atscope.com.au/skypics/jupmoon.jpg)


Just my two cents worth....

[bratislav]

Just one planet? Sheesh :P

[hotspur]

Just to clear up a bit of confusion that two members appear to be having.(although it more likely appears they are exhibiting signs of SOL).

Here is a 'in situ' image of the gear and equipment used to obtain the Astro image that won the Solar System category.Basically-its a refrator telescope on a EQ mount,with motors to track celestial objects.I fail to see how anyone make the claim-the image is not a astro image.Obviously 2 people here are very upset.

I have seen plenty of other people over the years use very similar equipment to take one frame images of celestial objects and win astro comps-no mention of them not been "proper astro images"

Doubtless,if other members here,had a winning image and some said it was not a proper astro image-the moderation would have been swift.As we all know the moderation here on IIS is done on a lop-side basis-moderation for some,but not others.

[iceman]

You know, this is just not true - no matter how many times you or anyone else says it.

Just because someone has an opinion that it's "not an astro image", how does that deserve moderation? Why should that post be deleted? Under what rules? Because 1 or 2 people got offended by it?

This is not a nanny forum. We're all adults here. I take exactly the same type of images as the Moon/plane one that won, and I have won competitions with those images as well. I did not get offended by his assertion that "It's not an astro image".

Because I know it is. And you know it is. So who cares what one person thinks? If you think it's sour grapes, then call it sour grapes and move on. Or just shrug it off and move on.

But i'm certainly not going to delete the posts. Just as we didn't delete Leon's posts that said the overall winning image wasn't all that great. It's one person's opinion.

It would not have mattered who made the claim - the moderation would be the same.

[Peter Ward]

Nice. Colour too. But you missed my point.... The image is interesting.

Unless the lunar limb looked like it was taken from lunar orbit, it would have bee a run-of-the-mill moon shot: there are thousands of examples out there.

Put a planet or UFO next to it....and the image has interest!

[bratislav]

No point argued. Just an image.
Moon and Mars were only 17 degrees above horizon when session started, less than 12 at the end. No 'lunar orbit' shots were possible with that, but we can't control these events. I don't think I'll see another grazing occultation like that in my lifetime.