Contest - My Finalists

Yesterday, I decided that I was going to enter the NCCF contest, and that I would narrow down my choices to 15 pictures (I can only enter 3). I actually did better than that, I'm happy to say. Here are my seven finalists:




So there you have it! I'll decide in two weeks. In the meantime, next week, I'll shift my focus to other topics ... like the Cherry Blossom Festival and my plans! Have a great weekend!

Family Day

Now and then, some of my pictures appear in the public realm (ie not my blog). I'm always excited when this happens. I like seeing my work in other places besides my blog, Facebook, and Flickr - as long as my watermark is intact, of course.

Naturally, then, I was very excited to hear that my sister wanted to use some of my pictures that we took last fall. My niece's school needed them for a Family Day piece. The fact that my sister thought that these pictures were good enough to show to a bunch of strangers was great:





You may think to yourself - what is wrong with my confidence? Nothing! It's just that as someone who considers myself a macro photographer, it's nice to know that the rest of my work is useable. I'd rather be a specialist and focus on nothing but orchids, but reality sometimes takes me in other directions. I therefore have to make sure all of my work meets a minimum standard - and it did here. Macro and abstracts will always be my absolute strength, but I can do these other things if I need to. I'd rethink this strategy if I were doing this on a professional basis, but for now, it suits me.

Looking at these again, I plan to do even better next time. The first one could use some work with the lighting - it was very late in the day. I think the second is just fine as is. :)

Till tomorrow!

Contests

As you may know, I resolved to enter at least two contests a month. This month, I found three good ones - so I managed to exceed my goal. Here is what I chose this month:

1) Pixel Induced's Black and White Photo Competition. I submitted this:



2) SnapAlley's Up Close Contest. I submitted this:



3) Tamron's Fall into Winter Contest Four. I submitted this:



I realize this was taken with a point-and-shoot, but that's the point. I wanted to try my luck with it.

My Day 3 post is coming soon - stay tuned!

This Morning on GMA

I love GMA. It's my morning habit (for as long as it takes to get ready for work, anyway). Today, a segment aired where Joe McNally provided some tips and tricks geared towards those who managed to get a camera for Christmas. I listened closely - it's always good to learn. Some highlights:

1) Although the camera is a machine which does most of the work for you, you still need to know your camera and learn how to use it.

2) Group photography - this can be one of the most difficult types, especially if children are involved. You have to direct the group, get everyone in line, make sure everyone's eyes are open, etc. The best way to handle this is to tell everyone exactly what you want them to do, and take many many pictures. This way, you can guarantee that everyone will look good in at least one of them. I can relate to this - here's one that turned out very well:



I directed everyone to stand like this and smile. My sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece definitely do a great job of taking direction! :)

3) Get close to the subjects - here's a good one:



Any closer, and my sister probably would have slapped me. But, you get the point. :)

4) If you're shooting landscapes, find some visual interest in the foreground. I'm actually not very good at this. I tend to go for sweeping, beautiful landscapes. Or lots of colors, like here:



5) Move the camera around - funny - I do this ALL the time. I'm the one you'll find lying on her stomach, standing on a bench, squatting, or crawling somewhere. Here's an example:



I stood on the base of a statue to get high enough, and to be able to capture the entire section of the building. Had I stayed on the ground, the top half would have been cut off.

6) Remember that you can still be spontaneous. In fact, it's easier - you can take many, many candid shots without having to wait for several days for the film to develop (like in the "old" days). This served me well in New York:



My subjects were moving around A LOT. They were playing around, and I grabbed my camera and started shooting. Some of the pictures were blurry, but this one was really good (in my opinion).

All in all, I follow most of these tips anyway, but I really want to improve my landscape photography. Where and how would you like to improve? Which of these tips will you try?

Till tomorrow!

Life Without my DSLR, Part 3 - Central Park with Hala

As some of you know, portraiture is not my strength. Because I have a family who likes pictures, though, I'm giving this my best effort. What complicates the situation is not having my DSLR with me.

However, I think I'm progressing. I took my sister to Central Park, and decided to experiment over there. Her clothes definitely helped - blue coat - to serve as a contrast. Some examples of my favorites:





Very minor surgery was required:

First picture - minor exposure change - it was a bit bright

Second picture - cropping to focus on my sister, as opposed to the background

Third picture - horizon tool, because it was a little "slanty"

My sister was a terrific subject. I'd asked her to give me a little variety so that not every picture was "straight on", and she definitely delivered. Cliche or not, she looks great! She definitely brightened up a dreary day.

Till next week! Happy holidays!

Life Without my DSLR, Part 1 - NYC Daytime Landscapes

Let me just start by saying that I missed my poor camera every moment of this trip. Don't get me wrong, the Canon point-and-shoot I purchased is great. It's just that I had a few issues with it:

1) The flash kept popping up, which was annoying - but I figured out how to keep it off.

2) The settings were not fun to modify (white balance, ISO, etc.) - it just wasn't as easy.

3) I missed the ability to use my specialized lenses. I particularly hated not being able to use an F-stop greater than 4.5.

4) Not having the option to shoot in RAW really threw me.

Having said that, there were a few advantages:

1) I didn't hurt my back or shoulders as a result of lugging around my heavy gear.

2) I could take candid pictures and be subtle about it (especially where my sister was concerned).

So, what do the pictures look like? Not bad, considering the season. Here are some examples:



The second picture (without the ducks) is the winter version of:



Let's face it, I like the fall picture far, far better. But, I didn't mind the winter ones, especially the ones with ice.

Some observations:

1) I needed to tweak the ISO to 200, but I kept the white balance to Auto. Shade didn't work very well.

2) I needed to darken every single shot in Aperture.

3) I found these pictures very gloomy, but the park was hardly colorful that day, so it fit the mood.

4) I could see myself using this camera for daytime shots such as these - simple landscapes. This isn't the case for my other NYC shots, though, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So to summarize, I did the best I could by modifying as many settings as possible to ensure I had the best results.

Parts 2 and 3 will cover my lessons learned with taking pictures using this camera at night, and taking shots of my sister during the day and at night. Till tomorrow!

Contests and Considerations

As I mentioned in a prior post, I'm entering two competitions every month. There seems to be no shortage of contests - whether it's magazines, online events, or galleries. However, not all are appropriate for me right now. So, here's the criteria I've chosen:

1) Online only - any contests where I have eventually deliver framed prints or anything similar is not going to work right now. It's too big of an investment. Also, online is fast and easy - it suits my traveling lifestyle.

2) Relatively low fees - one contest charged $15 an entry. That adds up! Right now, I'm not going to spend more than $30 a month on entry fees. If I start making progress, I'll adjust accordingly.

3) Direct fit - I always browse the previous winners' work to make sure my work is in line. This is why I rejected the National Geographic contest. My work isn't exactly what they're looking for. I really want to be smart about my submissions, and not just approach this randomly.

So, what did I choose? I entered Smithsonian Magazine's 8th Annual Photo Contest. Here's the picture I chose for The Natural World category:



The next contest (I have promised myself to do two a month, after all) will hopefully be one where I can submit some of my butterfly or floral shots. In my opinion, they're my prettiest, as well as the most difficult to execute from a technical perspective.

Till tomorrow!

What I Like About You, Fall

I really dislike any season other than summer. I think the beach, the sun, the heat, the humidity, and everything that goes along with those things is heaven. I will probably complain every day until next summer. I'm just one of those people.

However, some positives:

A later sunrise and an earlier sunset - for photos such as this one, which I took at 7 am a few years ago:



Let me tell you, it was nice to not have to wake up early to take this.

Obviously, the leaves and all of the colors. Here's one shot I've always liked:



Or this one, with more foliage:



But, I need to do a few things differently this year:

1) Get some inspiration by leaving town. To that end, I'm spending the night in the Shenandoahs later this month.

2) Take pictures of something other than just leaves - I need to add some visual interest. I love cliches, don't get me wrong, but I want to take some risks this year. Maybe I'll break out that telephoto lens again, or try some macro shots. Or lie on the ground and take pictures from that angle. I won't know until I try.

3) Go on multiple outings, not just one. I suppose this means my weekends are shot. :)

What about you? How will you embrace fall?

Until tomorrow!