What happens when Gizmodo readers capture action at 3-5fps? Why, the results of this week’s Shooting Challenge: Action Sequence Photography. Read on for the winners.

Second Runner Up

“Shot in my New England backyard during the lull in a snowstorm on February 26, 2010.”
Camera: Canon EOS 7D
Lens: Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM
ISO: 3200
Focal Point: 73mm
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter: 1/4000
[Ed note: Loved the juxtaposition of the soft yet miserable environment and a young, undeterred athlete.]
– Ron Miles

First Runner Up

“I have shot this series in Engelberg Switzerland on Jochpass on an awesome day. I have used a Canon EOS 50D with a 17-85mm lens.”
Exposure Time 1/4000
ISO 100
Exposure bias +2 steps
Focal Length 17mm
[Ed note: The epic jump, mixed with the sun that blinds us to the full scope of the scene—my eye kept coming back.]
– Simon Sharp

Winner

“I was directly below the snowboarder, standing behind the jump ramp. All photos taken with Nikon D2x with Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye lens. I didn’t use any tripod, it was all hand held. Aperture was around f/6.3 and shutter speed around 1/1000sec. No flash Photos are then merged together in Photoshop cs4.”
[Ed note: It’s just an awesome shot that required an element of risk, capturing a classic sports action sequence from an immersive perspective.]
– Vedran Frka

Truly fantastic entries this week. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Just a note to commenters: Please, please, sing praises for your favorites. There are so many great shots here, and it’s flat-out unfair for them not to be recognized. But there’s absolutely no reason to put down anyone’s work from the cheap seats. We will ban accordingly.

For this week’s Shooting Challenge, we asked you to abuse the principles of perspective to confound our sense of scale. The results are as charming as they are clever…or someone took out a second mortgage on that giant Aibo.

Second Runner Up

Taken with my Sony a350 Sony DT18-70 lens @ 20mm; f/9; 1/160sec; ISO100. Picture of Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, California. Took the picture w/ my friend Rafael Ortega he held the cup as I pretended to dunk the donut. Rafael bought coffee from Randy’s ,but the cup was too blank so after a couple of takes he decided to draw “Coffee” on it.
– Luis Marroquin

First Runner Up

I was aware of this optical phenomenon, but never really thought of it in relation to photography. Without an assistant to call for, I had to trust my remote once more. So here’s me (duck) peeking out of a cup, and a towering 70-200mmL (f/4 non-IS) lens with another duck on top.
Gear used: Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM, Manfrotto 190XproB tripod RC-1 IR remote. f/22 (max), 1/10s, ISO 200.
– Staff Anthomen

Winner

Meet my dog Arti(ficial). He likes humans (bones), pissing on big trees and having sex with trucks. He reads Gizmodo all day and tried to escape from me two times to become Rosa´s new pet. Too bad his battery drains and needs his own nuclear plant…
Canon Eos 500D / Canon 18-55mm lens @ 28. 1/50 sec. / F 25 / Iso 1600 / Monochrome.
Lightroom for brightness adjustment / Photoshop for crop.
– Bobo the Teddy

Thanks for all of the entries. And as usual, here’s the full gallery of participants:

Some people really hate being photographed, so much, in fact, that they’ll run, jump, tight rope walk or even teleport away. Seriously! Here are 30 such getaway shots from this week’s Shooting Challenge, including the winners:

Second Runner Up: ‘Don’t Fall!’

Technique: Pre-Step 1: Walk to beach. Step 1: Set camera on railing Step 2: Set 2 second timer to take 2 pictures Step 3: Press shutter Step 4: DON’T FALL! Equipment: Nikon D5000 with a 35mm f1.8 lens. Picture Details: 1/250 sec. at f/8. Nerd Details: Camera set to program auto (lazymode), ISO 200, custom picture style, auto white balance, no flash. Confession 1: Picture was actually taken 4 seconds after the shutter was pressed because the timer was set to take 2 pictures, each after 2 seconds. 2 seconds was nowhere near enough time to get into the frame, so the second picture was chosen. I’m not a tightrope walker, I can’t move THAT fast on that rail! Picture was taken in Emerald Isle NC. And yeah, it really was foggy. Like could not see more than 100 yards foggy. Like everything was moist foggy. Oh and sorry if you don’t like the word moist.
-Cory Efland

Runner Up – ‘Tight Rope Walker’

I shot this image tonight on a roof top in Chicago. I setup a single strobe (Calumet 7B) synced to my 5D Mark II on a tripod, set the timer and leaped from one roof top to the other! 5D Mark II with a Canon 17-40 f/4; Exposed for 8 seconds at f/5.6; Strobe at half-power; ISO 200; Mirror locked up. It was a fun shoot, little did I know, the rooftop that I was jumping onto was someone’s apartment. After about 5 test jumps I heard some screaming and ignored it, after getting this final image the neighbors were throwing eggs up on to the roof at me.
-Josh Billions

Winner – ‘Teleport’

For this shot, I used my Canon XSi on the 2sec timer with a Canon 50mm at f/1.4, ISO 100, and 15sec. I set the camera to shutter speed priority at 15s. I then ran from my camera holding a flashlight for about 10 seconds, then light painted my body for the rest of the exposure.
-Kinta Maeda

I absolutely love that we started with such a simple idea—running from your camera—and ended up with so many entries I could have never anticipated. Even more worthwhile shots in the full gallery:

Thanks again for your participation!

You readers have filled me with so much freakin’ holiday cheer that I may, MAY, not protest the holidays with my ritualistic murder of a tree. Here are the 107 entrants in this week’s Shooting Challenge. UPDATE: Wallpaper versions HERE.

Second Runner Up
This is actually a picture of my Christmas tree. I shot this with my Canon XS using a 4 second exposure at f-8, and an iso of 100. I started with the lens unfocused and zoomed in at 55m. During the 4 second exposure I zoomed out to 18mm.
-John Chapman

First Runner Up
Sony A230 Body; Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 lens; ISO 800; 1/500 sec @ f2.8; No Flash
-Nick Marquis

Winner!
Nikon D5000; Nikkor 18-200 VR; Exposure: 12.2 seconds; Aperture: f/9.0; Focal Length: Multiple; ISO: 200; White Balance: Cool White Fluorescent. This was taken in bulb mode on a tripod. I exposed the tree and surrounding scene at 18mm for about 9 seconds, then slowly zoomed to 200mm closing the shutter right before hitting 200. More here.
-Dan DeChiaro

Dan, please contact me to claim your Joby SLR-ZOOM Gorillapod and Ballhead.

As always, thanks to everyone for participating, and enjoy all of the awesome entries in the gallery below. Picking winners is my favorite worst job to do of the week. Oh, and for those of you wanting wallpaper-sized images, we’ll be popping those in a separate post soon.

By the way, more of you sent in shots of soul-sucking winter than pretty, happy Christmas lights. What’s that say about us all?

Images coordinated by Kyle VanHemert.

Honesty: I never, in my wildest dreams, expected your slow shutter photography to be this crazy-awesome. But 74 of you turned in some humbling shots for this week’s Shooting Challenge.

First Place
“Smoke Signal was taken with an Olympus sp350 set to night scene. This was taken with a color changing led rave light about six inches long by 1/2 inch wide that I wrapped with electrical tape to create a candy cane stripe. I placed the light on my record turn table at a slow RPM and swiped the camera vertically to create the spinning stripe”
– Brad Bogle

Second Place
“No photoshop! To take this photo, I set up some white paper for a background in a dark room. I laid strawberries on a table and separately stood up a banana with some cardboard and tape. With the lights on, I set up a quick-release tripod properly framing the banana (this makes it much easier later). Now the lights are off. So now I set my camera to bulb and used my built-in pop up flash to shoot straight down on the strawberries, filling the frame. Keeping my finger on the shutter button, I put my camera on the tripod and then hit the pilot button on an external flash. The flash hits the white background behind the banana, silhouetting it briefly. Effectively, this washes out all of the original photo of the strawberries except for where the silhouette is, thereby superimposing the first image into the second. And you get a cool glossy product-shot-reflection-look that results from the shadow drop off of the external-flash (although if you look closely, you’ll notice the “reflection” is actually just other strawberries from the initial shot) And now you can have a strawberry-banana! Canon 20D 17-55 IS lens @ f/22 ISO 200 13s (multiple focal length)”
– Jason Yore

Third Place
Nikon D5000; Nikkor 18-200mm VR; Exposure: 36.5 seconds; Aperture : f/5.0; Focal Length: 38mm; ISO: 400; WB: Daylight. I had a friend spin some burning steel wool in an eggbeater attached to a lanyard at the top of the overpass. What you’re seeing are the resulting spark trails. More here. [Ed note: the umbrella shots are even more impressive]
– Dan DeChiaro

These placements are almost unfair with so many good shots being in the mix. I wish that I could honorable mention you all. Check the gallery. It’s well-worth a waste of 10 minutes.