2013 Photo of the Year - Finals

 Best photo of the year. I told you the minute you uploaded it. Congrats Reuben.

 Calgary represent hahaha Awesome Reuben

 I'm pretty sure you will "ride" away with the cash bro. Excellent lighting, compo, angle, action, location. This pic is one of a kind, I bet even you were stocked when you looked at the camera screen... Great job.

 These colors takes my breath away every time i watch it. My top from start. Good luck.

 what's sterling's website ?
if someone could help me out

 www.sterlinglorence.com

 While I respect you both, I'll be kinda bummed if you don't win... Sterling's shot here just doesn't do it for me.

 Well, Stirling shot don't really impress me because it's all a lighting trick stop motion shot. You all have provably seen this shot before, it even crosses the cliché line for me, is just that the lighting makes it a lot more eyecandy, strobe or whatever he used. On the other hand, krabbe's shot just has it all, simply beautiful, like a great song, good from top to bottom...

 Sterling and Krabbes shots have both been done before in similar ways. Stop trying to act like either one is for some reason "unique" or a "new idea" and therefore should win. There were more unique shots that didn't make it through. Both of these pictures are great. I really don't see the reason to shit on either photographers work because I'm seeing a lot of it from both sides.

Typical classy pinkbike.

 tjet, Everything you describe is what I was debating when voting. Sterling's shot is simple eyecandy and makes me love it because Thomas is destroying a berm and its AWESOME!
But:
Reuben's shot is capturing a moment of tearing down a trail immersed in west coast rain forest.
So torn......
Two great shots made it to the top again. Typical classy pinkbike!

 Yup, these shots are both crazy awesome. I was hoping to see Trumps too! Oh well. What's with the mockery heli? You're just proving his point.

 No mockery, just a different point of view. I did think ths shot of Thomas was a bit simple and content has been around before but really what hasn't, still awesome shot. I thought the same stuff but just preffer to portray it in a bit more positive light rather than downplaying skills of photographers (cuz I really don't know anything about photography) or downplaying others interpretation of the images (cuz everyones got a right to an opinion). No?

 I saw you as celebrating Pinkbike as opposed to mocking or engaging the initial complainant. I found it a lighthearted reply to an unnecessary dig at the Pinkbike faithful. But thazz jus mah pinion.

 shall we say closest voting round yet?

 Every year I wonder what people consider when they vote for Photo of the Year. Location? Rider? Photographer? Natural vs. artificial lighting? Whether it's a close-up with mostly rider in the shot or a shot showing more of the trail/zone? Or if people just pick the one that is most appealing in each match-up. Personally, I have a hard time deciding between photos sometimes. Sometimes one sticks out right away, sometimes I take all of these things into consideration and still can't decide. How do YOU choose your votes?

 I vote based the picture I enjoy more.I dont really consider light, trail, close up, etc...I go for the one I can look away from

 Stoke factor. I pick the shot that makes me want to go ride, especially if it makes me want to go ride where the photo was shot. Subjective, yes (I"m obviously going to vote for photos that reflect how I like to ride more) this whole contest is exactly that: subjective. That's kinda the point of art: the subjective experience of interacting with it.

 honestly, i would go by the 90/10 rule. 90% of ppl are voting on the "oh, shiny!" principle and spend about 1 second reviewing each photo. the other 10% are actually looking into things like lighting, sharpness, fore/background, timing...overall technical level of the shot

 glad Reuben's picture was able to end that madness. Can't have 2 years of PotY looking the same...

 Haha the current photo you are all excited about looks more like last years winner than Trumpore's does. Maybe staring at the FAKE golden hour light in this one is screwing with your judgement.... Sterl for the win with a photo that wasn't created in photoshop.

 I am kind of biased on photos taken in BC, but I chose a photo based on the uniqeness.

 You got that right.

 Agree, at the end of the day, Reuben's shot is the one I want hanging on my wall. The riding being a bit more mellow works for me, makes it more about the trail, and the scenery, that's what riding is all about for me.

 I disagree 100%. Sterlings shot is an amazingly crisp and clear moment pulled from some absolutely phenomenal riding. We don't get a ton of shots that are that pristine, the level of detail is mind blowing. It's just practically flawless detail.

 The detail and crispness has nothing to do with the photographer and everything to do with the expensive camera. When you look at Sterling's picture, you think "that's a really good roost", but when you look at Reuben's shot, you think "that's a really good photo". Photo of the year isn't about the best rider, it's about the best photographer. Reuben's picture would still be great without a rider at all.

 No, when I look at sterlings picture I think that's a really good photo as well and then think "that's a ridiculous drift through a corner at an incredibly high speed". And I don't understand what that last non sequitur was about, because this is about photographing mountain biking as a sport. I mean, even without vanderham the photo could have still looked great. You don't need an entire forest to make a good photograph, because that's the point I think you were trying to make.

 Oh Jesus someone said something negative about a photo, everyone neg prop him! I think MAGNA-EXCITOR speaks the truth. Honestly, I'm kinda pissed that Sterling's photo made it this far and so many other great pictures did not. It's a very boring photo. It's just grass, darkness, and a roost. Whoop-de-doo!

 Sterling's shot isn't just about a roost- there is so much more to take in. You learn this about art in high school art classes... a good composition is about how the piece works as a whole; how each element interacts with the others. That is why Sterling's shot is such a good one. The stance of the rider, the placement of his body and his bike, the way the dust is flying up into the night, the way the flash changes the color of the flying dust, how the colors of his kit and bike interact with the natural colors around him, and how the entire plane is filled by something. One of the key things that does it for me is how the dust isn't just a big cloudy mass, it has a shape to it and it looks like it is firing out into the night.

To explain how it is so aesthetically pleasing in a much simpler manner, the shot follows the rule of thirds. Imagine the picture divided up into 3 columns and 3 rows (a total of 9 rectangles). The dust takes up roughly the first two columns. The ground takes up roughly one of the 3 rows. Vanderham and his bike are on the line between the 2nd and 3rd column. All of this makes it a great shot.

 I'm sorry to disagree, but Stirling's shot is an action stop motion generic shot. No foreground, no background, no scenario, just a woooowww dude, that roost was gnarly "shot"!

 You're clearly high if you don't see the foreground or background in Sterlings shot. It's cool if you don't like it, seriously it is. Vote for whatever one you like the most, but don't make up shit about their work just to try to convince people to vote for what you like.

 +1.. really not impressed with the finalists.. no offense to the fotographers, but there were better options out there.

 The ferns blend into the background enough for them not to be a distraction in my opinion. I like the shot, it's a lot more interesting than the roost pic.

 I'm not saying it's a bad shot. I'm just saying it has room for improvement. If I was going to go retake that shot I would get rid of the ferns and shoot it portrait style instead of landscape since the left half of the picture is not particularly interesting.

I would also like to point out that Sterling's photo looks like it could be recreated in a driveway near you (minus Vanderham) haha

Lets see a 35 mm B&W photo of the year contest, dark room and all

 x2

 It's cool no doubt but it just seems a little too "studio" to me. More like a staged fashion shot (how often do you kick up roost like that without deliberately aiming to?) whereas Reuben's just feels more like a proper riding shot to me.

 I like photos that show riding that I don't, and in some cases, can't do. I cannot drift through a corner (he's not just smashing a berm, that's a HUGE drift) like Vanderham can, and that show is what makes me feel awe. They're both great photos though, just very different.

 Chances are the best photos weren't even in the shortlist. Nobody remembers the majority of the decent ones from the first half of the year so they never get nominated in the first place.

 Not just the rider makes that photo, but the clarity, the crispness, the lighting, the HUGE contrasts of light and dark going on. You have these massive dark clouds of dirt, framed by bright clouds of more dirt due to the lighting. It's like he's breaking out of the darkness into the light. And it also showcases incredible athleticism, riding that very few can do. It's a representation of the very best our sport has to offer and it could be a boring roost shot, but the massive amounts of contrast between light and dark, the foreground and background with vanderham just blowing up the middle. The way he managed to capture the dirt reminded me of this Hubble telescope photo: static3.businessinsider.com/image/504a6895ecad046d2700000b-1200/hubble.jpg

There is an incredible amount of skill that both photographers exhibit and if people would take a few minutes to think about both photos they'd see that instead of trying to downplay and crap on what both guys have achieved. One isn't a generic shot, one isn't more "sloppy" or whatever, they're both great.

 grfreeride, I just got home from a road trip and all my belongings are still in my house so not sure what you are getting on about saying I was robbed.

It's best not to take these things too seriously. Reuben & Sterl both have rad shots up there so no need to hate on anything just because the outcome isn't what you personally would have preferred.

 Thank god some people here have a great amount of rationale and common sense. I wish the community was more like you, they could stand to learn a few things.

 sure, shoot me a message through my website. www.ReubenKrabbe.com

 Kinda defeats the purpose, it being a photo contest and all.

 I'd like to see them as oil paintings...

 I'd like to see them with a ice cold beer in my hand......or oil paintings.....that'd be pretty good too....