Winter '11 Photo Contest!

[james]

Hey all,

Just in time for Academy Award season, I am happy to announce the voting for the Winter '11 Photo Contest! The submissions have been excellent and it was extremely difficult picking the five finalists. And here they are. We have picked an interesting cross section of snow and sun ovens, indoor and outdoor ovens and US and international ovens.

I hope you are enjoying the contest. Be sure to vote, and remind your friends to log on and take a look.

Also, you can see all of the oven photos that were submitted here:

Pizza Oven Photographs | Contest Entries - February 2011

From left to right: Hamden, CT; Rayong, Tailand; Williamsport, PA; Bandera, Tx; Northern, VA.

Enjoy!
James

[bearsway]

Re: Winter '11 Photo Contest!

G'day to all from Sydney Australia. I would like to vote for the fourth oven, the lovely and functional Bandera, Tx. This oven is in an open outdoor space, so mess is not an issue and the oven looks exactly like that, an oven. I'm not impressed with ovens that are done up to look like toys or miniature buildings

Well done to the creator of this oven. It's a fine example and I wish you many years of happy gatherings.

[bryons]

Re: Winter '11 Photo Contest!

Greetings!

I concur with bearsway: I like an oven that looks like an oven. I love the dome shape of the Rayong, Thailand oven, as well as its' not-overdone layout. Simple, functional and shelteringly inviting, open, not massive or enclosed. I saw my first pizza oven inside an Italian restaurant- it was a dome in warm earth colors. "So that's how they're done!" Pizza ovens are domes and I like that shape expressed rather than hidden. Round corners and shapes are friendlier. I had a hard time telling that some of the structures in the photos were pizza ovens at all.
This is really an oven contest, rather than photography. I enjoyed seeing all the current different ovens a lot! I liked the photograph showing only the door ajar, flames, pizza and stone. Obviously a true pizza oven because of the door, just enough to tell. Excellent photo. I could almost feel the heat.
Great contest. I'll look forward to the next one! Thank for a great website!

Bryon

[mguarino]

Re: Winter '11 Photo Contest!

Hello from New England,

The "photo contest" in this months newsletter is awesome! What great photos and ovens. That cover photo is absolutely a focal point of what looks to be a Tuscan landscape in the Italian winter. Beautiful, serene, and I'll bet delicious Napoletana pizza and Tuscan cooking.

[mrskoob]

Re: Winter '11 Photo Contest!

Anyone that has undertaken the building of a WFO from the ground up is a winner in their own right. Just the accomplishment alone sets them apart from all the rest. Every oven is an extension of the personality and vision of that person. In the cold climate states, where snow and freezing rain comes into play, most oven owners prefer to enclose their domes. In the warmer climates there obviously is no problem with keeping an exposed dome and creating all sorts of unusual shapes. Whether it is in the shape of a ceramic whale, as seen in Florida, or a sculpture in AZ you are only limited by your imagination. The real beauty is when you look inside. You look up and see the fire licking off of what has been referred to as the Sistine Chapel. The beauty of the brick work and the heat that emanates from the hand laid brick is hard to explain to those who have never built one. Every one that I know that has built one has that same passion and understanding of the process. Congratulations to everyone around the globe that has build their own oven and to those that are thinking of getting started, it will be one of the most enjoyable experiences you will undertake.
K

[Lburou]

Re: Winter '11 Photo Contest!

Although I did vote, I see the beauty and functionality of each oven in the group.

It is interesting to see how each owner situates and uses their oven, how the setting influences every rendition, and how the local weather can complicate everything. Weather, it seems to me, is a major player in incorporating an oven into your living environment.

Thanks for the pictures!