Contest Results

I entered a photography contest earlier this year.  It took a long time to get through the contest and even longer to get the results.  There were over half a million photos submitted.  Each round took about two days and there were twelve rounds.  After the twelve rounds there was another round called Best of the Best and that round took forever.  The end of the contest aligned with the Black Lives Matter protests that were happening.  There was some drama with the host of the contest on social media.  I'm not exactly sure what it was all about but something about them making a statement and then saying something that sounded like they didn't actually believe what they originally said.  People got mad and asked for their photos to be removed and comments were blocked and I don't know what else.  I wasn't sure if the contest would actually end but it finally did.  I honestly don't know what the results would have been if people hadn't asked to have their photos removed but the results came out today.  I had 4 photos make it to the top 10% (which means they made it to round 11).  These are my top 10% photos:

I had three photos make it to the top 20% (round 9 and 10):

I had 5 pictures make it to the top 30% (round 8 and 9):

I am proud of myself for entering and I am happy with my results.  I am surprised that so many made it as far as they did and I also wish more of my favorites made it further.  The actual winners of the contest had phenomenal photos so making it as far as I did was encouraging.  I had not intended to enter and in fact, entered about two hours before the extended deadline.  I was just sitting at the computer and saw that the deadline was extended and was ending in two hours and I don't know why, but I just decided, "I'm gonna do this."  I'm happy I did it.