(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_leadnewnew.jpg)The point has grown cliche by now, but it's true. Every week your submissions to Shooting Challenges (http://gizmodo.com/tag/shooting-challenge) blow me away. And your polar panoramas (http://gizmodo.com/5462612/shooting-challenge-polar-panoramas) just upped that ante on every challenge to come.Honorable Mention (non-original photography)(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_isaacchambers.jpg) (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/isaacchambers.jpg)
Subject: Denali, Alaska
Built from 9 photos
Camera: Nikon D80
Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 18mm (27mm /35mm equiv.)
Aperture: ƒ/8
Shutter Speed: 1/250
As you can obviously tell by climate, I broke rule 2 because I'm a college student and don't have time to go out and take photos, but I did want to test my hand at the challenge!
-Isaac ChambersSecond Runner Up(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_davidcrosby.jpg) (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/davidcrosby.jpg)
Camera: Sony Cybershot DSC-W50
F-stop: f/5
Exposure time: 1/200 sec.
ISO Speed: ISO-80
Focal length: 16mm
Flash: none
I leave my office right around sunset everyday and park on the top of a garage in the middle of downtown Charleston, SC. I saw a particularly nice sunset and pulled out my basic point and shoot (Sony Cybershot DSC-W50) and took a series of 5 pictures to stitch into a panoramic. After creating the Polar Panorama, I merely adjusted the brightness so that the buildings would show more detail.
-David CrosbyFirst Runner Up(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_robertrickner.jpg) (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/robertrickner.jpg)
I shot these with a Nikon D60, 18-55mm kit lens. This was seven 20-second exposures at f5 of the quad at Oklahoma City University.
-Robert RicknerWinner(http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/500x_newone8.jpg) (http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/02/newone8.jpg)
Camera: Nikon D5000
Lens: Tamron 28-135
ISO: 500
Exposure: 1/250
Location: Seattle, WA
I had gone out shooting trying to emulate the look of old contrasty but yet washed out photos of boats I had seen all over the harbor and its various shops and thought it would make an interesting juxtaposition using a new technique with an old look. Taken in the Ballard Harbor.
-Tyler Yates
This was the hardest week to judge yet, and I don't know that anyone can really "win" at art. (So as always, praise our intrepid photographers in the comments.)
Also, for those of you saying "I wish this was in a wallpaper," just go here: [Gizmodo Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodo/sets/72157623255762771/)]
Read more: 74 Phenomenal Panoramic Planets (http://gizmodo.com/5466774/74-phenomenal-panoramic-planets)