Can you help me pick a winner?

Once again I'm coming to you, my blogging friends, to help me out with something. I have some decisions to make, and it's a case of the more pairs of eyes the better.

There's a photo contest deadline looming over my head (July 24th, to be exact). The Athens Soil and Water Conservation District is sponsoring the contest.

The 2009 All Athens County Photo Contest is open to amateur photographers of all ages who are residents of Athens County, Ohio. Participants can enter as many as three photos total. All photos must fit in one of the three photo categories.

One overall first place winner will be chosen and will receive a $50 cash prize. Honorable mentions will also be selected but won’t receive a monetary award. Winning photos will be displayed at our annual Athens SWCD Meeting held in October. It is hoped that a 2010 calendar can be produced using the 1st place winner and the top 12 honorable mention photographs. The top 12 photos will be selected by public vote at the 2009 Athens County Fair in the Agricultural Resources Tent during the fair.

The categories are:
• Close Up Conservation
• Conservation in Action
• Ag/Conservation/Natural Resources/ Environment and Landscapes Across Athens County

That's a pretty broad range of options for the categories, as far as I'm concerned, but I'll be concentrating my entries in the Close Up Conservation category. Examples for this category, to name a few, are:
• Plants/flowers/crops
• Prairie Plants/Wildflowers
• Recycling
• Water drops/drips/splashes
• Worms/roots/compost

The photos cannot be edited in any way, so I wouldn't be able to submit any of my B&W photos, nor any of the others that I have added subtle effects to. They must be submitted as they came out of the camera.

I have a Top 10, which needs to be whittled down to 3. I have some ideas, but sometimes what is eye-catching to me isn't the same as what's eye-catching to others. So please, help me out by telling me which are your favorite 3 of these 10:



1. - Fluffy Dandelion head


2. - Awesome Osteopernum


3. - Lost in the crowd


4. - Care and Maintenance


5. - Tulip surprise


6. - Dogwood flower


7. - Squirrel's dining table


8. - Preserved in ice


9. - Gentle Giants


10. - Fall mushroom


Thanks for your time and help. You guys are awesome! (I just realized I don't tell you that enough!)