By Pat Greenhouse
Globe Staff

In judging the May Flowers contest, I had to whittle 287 images down to 50 and then select a top 10. The top 30, those that immediately impressed me, revealed themselves in the first cut. The standouts made good use of natural and artificial light, perspective, composition, mood, and a bit of whimsy. The top 10 came from this group.

I don't think I've ever seen such a stunning variety of photos of flowers ... and I now know more about stamens and pistils than I ever thought I'd want to know.

Because of her schedule, it looks like Pat Greenhouse may not be able to narrow the May contest entries to the Final Fifty until next week. So to keep you busy until then, how about another Photo Challenge: Portraits. We've taken photos of the moon, rain, flowers ... let's try some fellow human beings for awhile. Here are a few simple guidelines:

We've chosen a judge for the May Flowers contest, and we've posted all the eligible photos in one of the six galleries you can find linked on the first frame of our "slider" above. If you don't see your photo in any of the galleries, and you think it's eligible, please send an e-mail right away to raw@boston.com and we'll check it out for you.

OK, little Dawggies, my Moms project has eased since the site is launched! Meanwhile, back to our business: I haven’t had a chance to post a poll for contest themes for May and June, so I’m using my prerogative as Top Dawg to declare them unilaterally.