these are the four I chose...

I put a lot of thought into it, and I realized a few things.

a) you get paid more for having your photo published than you do for winning this contest. potentially a lot more.
b) hence, I need to pick photos that I think have a lower likelihood of being selected for publishing (so I excluded the under-the-tree-with-the-colors-photo and the barn/house photo from my options)
c) the elements of a good contest photo are different than the elements of a good hang-in-your-home photo (so the runners were in and the swings out even though I reallyreally like the swing photo--more than anything because of the leaves in the upper corner of the runners photo)
d) that I should probably pick photos that aren't as likely to be captured by someone else (so the lucky strike was out) and for the places, things that are still there (so goodbye to southend, boo and frown.)
e) that I have very kind people who read my blog and tell me their opinions. I appreciate it mucho.

so here are my picks. for the um, er, pics.

though I'm still debating between these two. since I didn't manage to do it yet, I'll be deciding tomorrow morning and submitting the proper disk. I know, I'm a procrastinator and a waffler. I'm okay with that.