h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

They all look like pictures you'd find in a mainstream photo library like Tony Stone or Getty Images. I was expecting something more quirky and unusual. Oh well, you can't be blamed for the entrants lack of imagination.

I'm very sorry you feel this way Manny, as we really love these photos. We did get lots of quirky entries to the competition, and many more 'eccentric' photos made it to the final thirty or so. We didn't set out with a policy to eliminate them, but we were blown away by the beauty of these photos, and this led us to our final shortlist.

I think its rather ordinary too,

Are we going to get the chance to see some of the others that were submitted?

Totally agree... the pictures chosen almost entirely contradict the criteria given in the main text... very strange.

Yes, can we see the others?

I actually thought some of the pictures were really good. I especially liked the unusual sunset and the Birmingham department store entries. However, I can't believe the bird picture won it. Bird pictures are dull. It's not even a good bird picture, it's right foot(?) is blurred. Also, The Statue Of Liberty was only picked because of where it was taken from, it's an awful photograph.

Hello RoonSa,

Thanks for your feedback - on the in-house team there really were some spirited debate about the pros and cons of the final ten and which were the best and of course it was Martin Freeman who chose the winner. We chose the finalists for various reasons and it wasn't until Jim, Paul and I were actually throwing punches at each other in the office that we actually clarified what our reasons were for choosing them.

Although I like all the photos, my favourite is possibly the sunset too. Or possibly the Cumbrian landscape. Or Selfridge's... Or... When we swept up the carnage at the end of the elimination process and tried to glue all of the daleks back together, we all mentioned how glad we were that we didn't have to choose from the final ten.

Elasticmonkey and Spike - yes, the other entries to the competition will be illustrating Entries all over h2g2 rather soon.

Natalie

Hope you’re wounds heal quickly,

Thanks elasticmonkey I'm just waiting for the Tardis-shaped scars to heal...

"It's not even a good bird picture, it's right foot(?) is blurred."

Er..roonSa, i think you've somehow missed the entire point of the photograph

The 'blurring' is a deliberate effect caused by/illustrating the movement of the foot, i.e. it shows the bird 'dancing'

If the photographer had used a faster shutter speed to freeze the action, it would indeed have been a 'dull bird photo'..

Well, speaking as someone who tends to photograph inanimate objects (but with some limited experience of photographing fast-moving critters like monkeys), the issue isn't shutter speed, but depth of field. I expect the shutter speed used for this shot was fast enough to freeze the action, it's just that the back foot, like the branches in the foreground and background, is outside of the limited range that would be in focus.

I agree with whoever said he looks like he's about to scratch behind his ear! (Or maybe, he could be saying, "Now stop me if you've heard this...")

HuggyBear & lucluc,
It was low depth of field that knocked the background out of focus (f4.5), but the foot is blurry because of its movement (not quite frozen at 1/600).

Thanks for the kind comments!
AC.