Judge's Comments

This contest featured several really excellent portfolios of multiple entries form individuals. Nozzledog, Clearvision, Man314, SongFan, Tarpits99 - you all submitted outstanding collections. I sense some real professional skills at work from a few of these entrants, and I compliment all of your work.

The judging was based on how strong and positive a response an entry generated, and two entries stood out:

Second place goes to

Nozzledog (2011-02-13 11:26 PM #79269; Chalkboard1.jpg)
The image of the girl doing the chalk drawing of the High-Ball was really well done and really creative as were several of your entries.

First place goes to

rikrok (2011-02-09 4:33 AM #79017; nb3.jpg) for "Boulevard of Fulfilled Dreams,"
... in which the High-Ball was parked outside the restaurant Helnwein used in his treatment of Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks." This might have rated even higher if the original Nighthawks painting had been used, but it still feels spot-on to have James Dean (with pals Bogie, Marilyn and Elvis) ready to split and take off on the bike.

Entries deserving of Honorable Mention were plentiful

ClearVision has some great shots, including two versions of the Highball at black & white warehouses, a shot using a great art deco diner, and the very creative High-Ball at the AVR.

Nozzledog served up a great portfolio that showed creativity and some excellent PhotoShop skills. Favorites included the High-Ball on the moon, the $100 bill that reads "In Victory We Trust," Victory in Europe on VE Day, the Warhols (excellent), and the Work of Art (really well done).

Tarpits99 had several great entries, including cool urban backgrounds from L.A. (parking space) and Nashville ("The Third Coast"), Sun Studios in Memphis, and a great original called "Sons of Lee Marvin." Hats off to Chino from "The Wild Ones."

SongFan had multiple excellent entries, and we'll cite one we call the Eagle's Eye, a composite of the bike and a Bald Eagle. Nicely done.

Man314 had some strong entries, including a favorite called High-Ball on the Beach, which made us ask, "What bike"? There was also an entry with the boys from "Easy Rider," and a nice South Park treatment.

abarbee314 created a cool shot using a backdrop from Elephant Rocks State Park (2011-01-31 1:52 PM #78462; highball---aaron-barbee.jpg).

donetracey had multiple good entries, and we liked the car and bike combo in High-Ball & friend (2011-01-31 11:47 AM #78455; Highball & Friend.jpg), while "Lots of Highballs" made us thirsty.

The ddahlen entry showing the bike in Napa Valley (2011-01-31 6:51 PM #78482; WineCountrycopy.jpg) appealed strongly to this wine-loving judge, while ebayjoe with his Roswell City Limits entry (2011-02-01 8:41 AM #78518; higjball4.jpg) showed great creativity. The Victory Vision might be better suited to the UFO treatment, but the High-Ball worked well, too.