Last Day: 2012 Photo of the Year - Round 2

 @pedelin: Agreed... while I like the "mud roost" pic, it's nowhere NEAR the compositional perfection that is the "loser" in that compro (the only hing really special about it is the frozen "splash" in the pic, otherwise it's pretty "MEH" when put up against the "loser"). Not a "bad" picture in the bunch, but that one just doesn't sit right.



@DHMF: seriously??? The "winner" is one of the weakest pic in the whole bunch IMO. It's cool, but it's out of it's league in this group of shots.

 dang thats a bummer... I really liked the photo that lost in matchup 7... so pinned.. rider and shooter

 brendog is gonna take the title

 Just wait two months and the judges will post a write up.. Wait...

 Disagree, the blown out sunshine is a really bad part of the photo... it draws your eyes into the light, but there's nothing there. Note that all the other photos that are pointed straight into the sun got voted out. It is a lame cliche.

 only picture with mud in it-> win .. every other photo is "perfect" when it comes to riding conditions.

 do Americans spell 'Cheque', 'Check'? apologies for the off-topicness.

 oh I'm sorry @'the-medic' - some of us mere normaltons just look at a picture for what it is without the fancy wording, I love the left pic n the atmoshpere it creates with all the water and lack of vibrant colours, the sun glare pic is hard to even focus on the rider with all that sun glare, the rider doesn't seem to even be the subject of the pic

 i think if the one that lost, had gone up against one of the other pics, it would have won. but in this case,both pics are equally outstanding and deserve to be in the running. unfortunately only one could move on and the choice was made..

 I think both of the pictures are great! I spent about 5 min trying to decide wich one desrves my vote, and I chose the first one but they both are great photos

 I really liked the 'losing' picture in match 7 as well! When voting I think everyone should remember that this is a PHOTO contest. It's not about the riders, but it's about the photographers. Think about the creativity and effort in composing the photo. Obviously I like the splashing water, I just think the other picture is a little more unique.

 ya I also agree, all the photos I picked except matchup 7 were consensus.... I'm not a fun of splashing mud shots unless they have some cool angle. that one does not. so they captured some water in a fast exposure yoohoo. I much prefer the riders position in the sunshot... he's really in the bike.

But what about matchup 2? I voted for that one because of the composition... but damn the photo that lost was sick as well!!! Crazy in air stunt!! For me that was a bad choice for a combo... anyhow. on to the next round :-)

 @ibeaver, I took the Macaskill Photo because of the composition on Matchup 2. The Air stunt was really kool but IMO the Slant and shapes of Danny going down slope front wheeling it is is very well thought of.

 People this site is about RIDING, not landscapes with two fucking pixels of riders. I did not mean those pics are not that amazing like they are, but i think they are just out of the topic.

 the winner in matchup 7 only won because it was the promo photo for the whole contest. the other one is much better in my opinion.

 @The-Medic: sorry, i mean the round 2 matchup 7...

 @DHMF: no worries mate, I was kinda confused by that too hahahaha Sorry f I sounded snarky.

@CTD07... :???: huh??? Who pissed in your nutella??? IF composition is a "fancy word" then sorry, read a book and learn a little more about photography. I like both pics, but the "loser" has this rule of thirds thing going to my eyes and the sun taking the focus off the rider is actually really COOL in my eyes. It draws you away from the rider, gives him this kind of "ghostish" appearance and makes him look like he's moveing even faster, like he just "appeared" out of that flash going mach speed.


The exact reason you're propping up the other pic is why I don't care for it. mono-cromatic etc. BUT, I do love the depth of fied that's going on and the frozen spashes are cool, it's just kinda "typical" of what we've seen in a lot of pics these days.

 what is everyone's fascination with the super far zoomed out pictures? yeah, cool pictures, but better suited for a travel magazine. When you have to take a few seconds and actually search for the rider, then I don't think it should be considered for POY. Matchup 9 honestly pissed me off. No longer a fan of Photo of the Year. That is all.

 Agree. But what about match up 13 then? I also found the rider in the last moment. Well, last moment cause afterwards there's nothing left to "read", the rider ending up on the edge of the picture... I've seen another one of a scrub on the same rock but with a different angle. That was a good one. But it's not here. Nevermind, let's keep voting and hopefully it's a great picture that will win. Most likely!

 match up number 2 is not right in my opinion.

 i also agree with matchup #13. but I didn't find either picture that great.. so I just forgot about it. haha

 The problem with some of these match-ups is theyre so "apples and oranges" that it's hard to choose (#9 is a good example IMO, good call Wolfe3. I think someone screwed up cause the two "losing pics" from 12 and 13 should have been paired IMO and then the two scenery pics of 12 +13 (the ones that won the compro's respectivly) would have made for a more relevant contest.

For Match-up 2 I think the better composed picture won and honestly, how much "easier" is what Dany's doing then the "? flip" the guys pulling... they're both amazing, but TO ME , the composition of the pic of Macaskill is really neat and better then the other pic (again, there really are NOT and "bad" pictures in the bunch, it's not fair to say that because I LIKE one better that the others are bad pics, the photog's ALL did great work in this contest IMO, some just "better" to my eyes then others). Too bad for the other photo cause its also awesome, and the riding IN the pic is world-class, but again the composition just isn't there for me...

 Haha brotatochip is going to kiss a baby and shake hands with some troops after a statement like that.

 Got to agree that the trick of the photo is absolutely sick but the contest is a photography one. So the rider and his style got something to do with the result as a photo but personally, and it seem I'm not the only one,in terms of photography, I prefer the one of MacAskill.

 the MacAskill photo has better composition, far more leading lines directing you towards the rider, plus the flat color of the concrete allows the rider to stand out that much more as opposed to grey scale. Both great pictures but the MacAskill photo takes it in my book

 i think the backflip one is a pretty average dj photo with great lighting but I agree with ^^^ @sicsoma this is Pinkbike not Pinkmountainbike. Oh and @RaduDhx I'd like to see you try what Danny is doing.

 To be honest I was pretty surprised that the judges picked that photo out of my albums from this year. Im stoked on the photo & the fact that I was able to compete with all these other amazing photographers, but I think I had better photos to offer.
To add, personally from a technical stand point I think Colin's composition is genius. Best of luck to Colin & the rest of the photographers in the next round.

And Thanks to everyone that did vote for me Hopefully Ill be back for 2013

 @Ridonkulus: ask yourself how many of the above photos involve MOUNTAIN biking...and then ask yourself how many articles, features, and product write-ups on pinkbike focus on MOUNTAIN biking...and then you might see my point. and yes, i know this is a 'photo' contest, but it's also a democratically decided contest on a website that is 90% MOUNTAIN BIKING.

 I think the photos should be judged on artistic quality and not who is in it or what they are doing. While the act of riding does come into play; composition, lighting, etc is more of what the photographer brings to the photo than the rider. It is after all a photo competition and not a trick competition.

 Its really tough choosing a winner cause there are so many different elements that come into play. I think the winner should be the picture that embodies both Photographic creativity and rider ability; the photo's and the subject have an unspoken connection. (:

 Last year hardly any of my picks went through, but this year only 5, 10 and 13 didn't go through. Kind of a shame, cause I really thought #5 would be a contender. Love that you can ride alone while riding with a little buddy.

 It's not just about the difficulty of the trick. This also happened in matchups 3, 4, 9, 11.

 I'm with toddonbike, I'm looking at these as a photo, not that the rider has no imput, but it's what the photographer has done that should be the focus.

I love the winner of #4, the photo has a soul.

 MacAskill can make a trick look easy, that doesn't mean it's an easy trick!

 I was hoping for you Bryce! And I agree you have quite a few impressive photos in under your belt. Cant wait to see what 2013 holds.

 ...but i must say, the whip shot of jens staudt in #14 is just awesome. doesn´t matter if it´s brendog or some other insane rider.

 so true, from a photo standpoint #14 got robbed. all the fanboys voted for brendog's whip. The other pic was so sick!

 Say again.............. Photo competition not Riding competition. I think we'd all agree with you on the riding but have a look at lighting, composition and timing and unfortunately our Essex boy pic goes home.

 Totally Agree!!!

 good to know it's a close matchup!

 last pair that got robbed-16. Best photo lost.

 that branch looks like it might break my friend...