Gordon offered up a theme a few days ago, but I’ve held posting it for a little while to give people some time to do other things.

This rounds theme: Unusual

I asked Gordon to give a little more information and he said anything which is “unusual” or unconventional, weird, bizarre, strange, odd, different, wacky, alternative, outside the box.

Maybe with Halloween coming up you might get some inspiration…

I suspect we’ll get a lot of very different shots this time!

Closing date for submissions is 15th November. Usual rules apply -

1 image on the above theme which you’ll submit via “submissions<at>learningtosnap.com”. I’ll make the images submitted available to the entrants for about a week. Winner gets the kudos and the right to pick the next theme.

Go on, give it a go!

The latest challenge, Daily Ritual, was set by Shereen a few weeks back. Talking to those who submitted, I think this probably caught the flavour of the game perfectly. Everyone seemed to go through the same series of emotions, from “what will I take” to “I’ve loads of ideas” and ending up with “this is really tough”. The final images though are all good, and all different – it’s interesting the different take people ended up with.

Though hygiene seems important!

The entries for this round were:

Geoff -

Stuart -

Gordon -

Shereen -

 

Paul -

Darrell -

It’s interesting that three of us picked self portrait shots.

This months winner, able to take home plaudits and bragging rights is Gordon. The shot of the aftershave bottle really impressed me with the complimentary colours and the strong shadows leading you into the feeling that it’s a morning thing.

Gordon, you’re up – next theme when you’re ready and we’ll have another go.

Time to play again if you’re interested. Remember, you neither have to be a great photographer or someone I know in real life. The whole idea here is to get an excuse to pick up your camera and take pictures!

Shereen was very quick to come up with the next challenge theme – Daily Ritual. I asked her where the idea came from and she said…

Daily Ritual was inspired by an LJ community called a "Day in the Life", where folk photo document a typical day in no more than 70 photos. I found most of the photos boring, but one or two would occasionally catch a small moment in time perfectly.

I thought that single moment in a day fitted within a single photo very well, much better than the photo storyboard approach the community was designed to do. A picture is not only worth a thousand words, it can conjure up the smells, tastes and sounds of breakfast outside a cafe; or the monotony of a commute. It would be interesting to see what people can come up with.

My first thought when I heard the theme was “Oh God”, but within minutes I was coming up with ideas and seeing possibilities. It’s a great opportunity to look at the day afresh and get some inspiration from the routine.

Lets give it until the 21st September for entries. Plenty of time to analyse your day and pick something. Usual rules apply, one photo per player, players vote for the winner and winner gets kudos and the choice of the next theme if we play again.

The second photographic challenge was food. Four people submitted pictures, and as with the previous challenge they were all quite different and all very good.

Without further ado…

Leaning Tower of Cherios - Stuart

Peach Macro - Gordon

Broccoli - Shereen

Lime Segments – Paul

After voting, the winner was Broccoli by Shereen.

Of the four pictures submitted, the Broccoli shot was my favourite. I liked the positioning of the two pieces of vegetable and the background colour and texture works well.

Shereen has already suggested the next theme and I’ll announce it later. Thanks to all who played, once again I found the game a great excuse to unpack the camera and take photos of things I might normally ignore.

If you’re thinking about playing in the Food challenge, here’s a little food for thought:

Vegan Yum-Yum

My enjoyment of the colour challenge, not in the least tempered by my unexpected win, makes me want to play again.

 

So, if you’re interested this time the theme is Food

It can be in its raw state, prepared state, whatever you want as long as it relates to food.

Usual rules apply. There are no prizes (apart from kudos and the right to pick the next theme) and it is just for fun.

We’ll aim for all submissions by the 5th August, with judging over the subsequent week.

If you played before, please play again and if you haven’t played yet, please do!

(edit: Correction made to satisfy the grammar police. Honestly, you'd think he would have more to do 48hours before B-Day!)

Firstly, sorry for the delay in following the colour challenge up. I’ve been away most of the week in Galway on business. Twas very wet and dull.

Oh, and there was work to do.

Anyway…..Colour.

I ended up with 5 entries for the game and a 6th arriving after the judging was finished. It’s about the number I’d hoped for given this site is only really followed by friends and a few others. (What, you thought millions of people read my drivel???)

The five shots submitted were:

1. Colour – Stuart

2. Dahlia – Darrell

3. Paint Pots – Paul

4. Poppy - Gordon

5. Shoe Maker - Dermot

 

All in all, some nice pictures.

After voting the paint pots picture won. I was lucky enough to have taken this. I’ll post some details on taking the shot in a subsequent post.

I’d just like to thank everyone for taking part. Hopefully you found it as interesting a challenge as I did.

If people are up for it, we’ll start the game again in a few days. One of this months contributors has suggested we spice it up a little by not only submitting pictures, but by trying to match the image to the submitter…

(All pictures above are copyright their respective owners and are produced here with their permission (I hope!). )

Just a reminder that if you want to play, you need to submit your photos by Tuesday night.

All the details are here.

And remember – it’s just for fun so don’t feel it has to be the best photo ever seen. I don’t think mine is going to be up to much anyway!

Remember, if you wanna play – Colour

Have taken the image I’m thinking of using.

Not sure if I’ll stick with it or take another…

A few weeks ago I posted an idea for a game.

Well, a few people have contacted me to say they’d be interested, so lets give it a go.

First theme – Colour

Rules are pretty simple. you have until the 23rd of June to come up with 1 image on the above theme which you’ll submit via “submissions<at>learningtosnap.com”. I’ll make the images submitted available to the entrants on the 24th and you have until the 29th to vote for your favourite (only entrants can vote). Winner gets kudos and the right to pick the next theme.

why should you play? Let’s be honest, most people who read this blog are like me and learning to take photos. Having a theme to shoot to is a challenge – it can be hard to find something to fit a theme and it can be fun. go on! Give it a go!

Here’s hoping you’ll play!

(Oh, and if you want to photoshop – feel free.)

Is anyone interested in a bit of a photo game?

The idea is that each month everyone who wants to play submits a single image based on a theme. Everyone who submits an image is then allowed one vote (you can’t vote for your own image). Image with the most votes wins. You must take the image during the month (we’ll work an honour system).

The only prize is bragging rights and the privilege of choosing the next theme.

The idea is basically what’s happening on www.fujimugs.com but I’m guessing we’ll have a much smaller entry!

Why should you play? Well, it’s a good excuse to get your camera out and shooting to a theme is often good fun.

Oh, and if you win and you’re up for it, I’d love you to write an entry for this blog (or your own) telling me how you took the image and what you did to present it.

I know a few people have already said they’re interested, so we’ll kick it off at the start of June.

Was back browsing my street life pictures and found this one.

In retrospect, this is probably more along the lines of what the judges may have been looking for.

When you’re given a theme like “Street Life” and there is no brief provided to give a context, it should really be up to the photographer to interpret that theme. Sure, they may end up “outside the box”, but if it can be viewed as within theme then it should stand. However, with both themed NIPA competitions this year, the judge on the night has turned up and within seconds passed a comment to the effect of “the council have decided that <the theme> means…”

Instantly I was able to rule out a lot of my shots. More depressing was the fact that a lot of other photographers fell foul of this as well. On the night, I ended up getting second overall in the colour prints section, but to be honest it was marred by my frustration at this ‘secret rules’ thing that seems to keep happening. Myself and a few others mentioned our frustration to the NIPA rep – let me stress this is not his fault, he fell foul of it too.

Maybe next year NIPA will provide a context for the theme rounds on their web site? I’ll be dropping an email to ask them to do just that when the dust settles this year.

I have a feeling next weeks NIPA inter-club competition will be the worst one for me yet. It’s been hiding in my mind since September and no matter how I approach it, the subject just doesn’t do anything for me.

It’s funny in a way, since I’ve yet to find a type of photography I haven’t enjoyed apart from the sort of “Street Encounter” shot which I think the theme is hinting at.

Actually, while I’m talking about titles, if I could change one thing about the NIPA rounds it would be these two word titles. When you look at something like Fujimugs, this approach works well, but NIPA seem to have a habit of changing the rules right up until the closing date of a competition and when it’s decided that “Water” must be a certain percentage of water and you only find out on the night of judging, it can be a pain in the rumpus. I’m kind of dreading what rules they’ve decided on for “Street Life”

Anyway, I don’t think I’ve done myself justice this round, but I thought I’d share.

The club phase of the NIPA round 2 competition was last night, and as anyone who's read anything here over the past few weeks will know, the theme was "Water".

I ended up submitting 7 entries, 3 in the beginners mono section and 4 in the beginners colour. I thought I'd post, showing you the final choices and the comments they received.

But first...

The entries to the competition where quite varied, ranging from some lovely waterfall shots through to droplets similar to pictures I'd been trying. There were a few "loose" interpretations on the theme, but all in all I thought the pictures were pretty impressive. I counted around 20 mono and 30 - 40 colour prints.

Within the club, points are awarded to the top 4 colour and top 4 mono pictures. The best 3 expert photos and best beginner photo in each section go through to the NIPA inter-club phase.

The judge on the night was very thorough, giving a critique of every shot. I felt he was maybe a little critical at times and tended to concentrate on the problems in each picture, but as I said to one of the members - "I wasn't putting photos in to have people blow bubbles up my bum" (No, I'm not sure what I meant either).

During judging he reiterated a few points

• The majority of the picture needed to be water
• Still water was lifeless and bland unless reflections or some such set it off
• Horizons really needed to be straight
• The context needed to be clear
• Division of interest - there being multiple subjects in the same show

I was going to be in for a rough night...

The Mono Pictures

The three mono pictures I ended up submitting were:

 Dripping Tap. (Names are such transient things!)

Droplet

Ice

I know these shots have issues, and after printing the strongest was the "Dripping Tap" photograph. I'm not going to try and quote the judge here, but in essence.

• Dripping Tap - Possibly a little tighter drop to remove the dead area to the right of the tap.
• Droplet - The judge wasn't sure what this was, wondering aloud if it was the ripples of a sinks drain or something similar.
• My Little Iceberg -Recognised as ice, he summed it up along the lings of "it's just a photo of ice on a plate"

 

The Colour Pictures

Splash on Silk

Droplet on a Leaf

 My Little Iceberg

 Lake in the Mournes

Again, without trying to quote the judge.

• Splash on Silk - He wasn't sure what this was and wasn't keen on the colour, saying he felt water pictures should be water coloured
• Droplet on a leaf - Whilst there was water in the picture, there wasn't enough of it and it wasn't the main subject
• My Little Iceberg - (I'm not even getting into it. I shouldn't have submitted this...)
• Lake in the Mournes - Almost monochrome landscape, quite dull and lifeless

 

My Thoughts

I've heard it said a few times now that you can't read a judge before the night. There's always an element of luck to it. But having seen the winning pictures in each round, they deserved to win and the  judge did get it right.

I don't necessarily agree with some of his comments in regard to "Splash on Silk" and "Droplet on a Leaf", but given he doesn't read this blog he might have been right. I'd be keen on other peoples thoughts.

All in all I'm happy with the night and the round. I learned a little more and saw some brilliant examples of thematic photography. I also managed to achieve 4th overall in the mono section with the "Dripping Tap" and the "Droplets on Silk" picture was picked as the best beginner colour photograph. Both go through to the inter-club round.

Can you imagine the feeling of dread as the lookout on the Titanic yelled those words?

Well, that was probably a lot more intense than the dread I felt as I popped open the boxes with my latest attempt at clear ice cubes.

However, like the Titanic, it seems I too was doomed to failure.

This time I'd tried to use de-ionised water. It was the closest to purified I could find (if anyone knows where I can get some, please tell me!). The ice was clearer, but still not great. I guess for round three I'll boil the bugger and see what happens.

Anyway, after lots of fruitless cursing at it I smashed it up so it would melt faster and not lie in the sink with an accusatory glare all night. As I looked at the pieces, I decided to have a bit of a play.

(f/3.5, 1/250sec, 100mm, ISO-200, 06/10/2008)

OK, this has been toned quite heavily to give it that odd blue glow. It's not great. In fact it reminds me of the turkey giblets quote from last year. But since I share the good and the bad, I thought I'd show you my lack of progress with ice.

Between mountains and models, the water project had taken a little bit of a back seat the last few days, but I got back onto it again tonight and after an hour of shooting, I'm growing to hate it.

I decided to move away from the ice idea for a while and try simple things like water filling a glass. I also decided to try and use a flash to light it as I wanted something a little 'ethereal' as a result.

Well, after an hour, this is the best I've got.

 

(f/4, 1/200sec, 100mm, ISO-200, 2/10/08)

 

It's still blurred, or at least not sharp enough for what I wanted.

I think this is probably down to the shutter speed of 1/200 (which is the fastest sync speed for my flash). I did try one at a faster shutter speed with the flash on manual, but it blew everything out and I needed to pack up.

So, according to my calendar I have 2 and a bit weeks to shoot something decent related to water and get it printed. I'm not panicking yet, but I'd getting a little frustrated.

Ah well, at least I have the weekend to try a few things and go back to my ice experiments!

Well, it's a sort of water isn't it?

I've been looking at different water ideas for the last few days, and as Geoff pointed out - either I take a brilliant version of the same typical water shot or I do something 'different'.

Well, I decided to give different a try.

Now I knew ice would be a trial and error thing so I decided I'd make a couple of different attempts and prove out a few ideas before going to far.

First problem with ice is that it tends to go white when you freeze it. Great for a cocktail, not so good if you want to photograph things embedded in it. Dermot suggested boiling the water first - something about getting the minerals and such out of it - so I gave that a try.

And after explaining to my patient and understanding wife as to why all the plastic containers in the house were now in the freezer filled with bits of leaf and flower, I got to break the first one out tonight.

Before I go on I have to say, these are proofing shots to see what the idea might look like with decent lighting and composition. All I was interested in tonight was seeing how the ice actually looked!

Ice in Container

When I lifted this one out, I was a little disappointed by the whiteness of the ice. It was by no means as white as the typical ice cube, but it still wasn't 'clear'.

Still when broken out of the plastic box, it was better than I first thought.

I took a few sample shots with an off camera flash at different angles. Here's the best of them.

Samples

 

So, what do I think?

• I'd like the ice to be a little clearer
• These aren't sharp enough (but I was shooting freehand using a +10 closeup filter indoors with an off camera flash lying on the table)
• To much petal, not enough ice

I've reset this container, with less petals this time to allow more of the ice to stand out. I've also boiled the water a lot more to make it clearer (I hope). I've also reduced the amount of water I used - I wonder if it will work better with less water and thinner ice as a result?

One final thing I might change is the composition, I've been considering getting really close up until now, but I wonder how this would look with a rose bud or something in a block of ice... Might be time to look for another container.

...take a picture of.

I recently joined the CPA, a photographic club in Belfast. I'd spent the summer debating the feasibility of doing a course and came to the conclusion that it was the one thing that might actually put me off photography - I'm always busy at home or with work and being forced into assignments and study would soon drive me up the wall.

So, I joined the CPA since a friend had recommended them to me last year. I've been to a few meetings at this stage and the talks are interesting. What's really good is seeing other peoples work and getting an honest assessment of some of the things I've taken. Everyone who comments here is great (and I thank you for it), but it's nice to have someone tell you in person that you suck (courtesy 'yerman'). that said, everyone has been brilliant.

One of the interesting features of the club is the competition nights. Essentially each month members submit photos on a topic and the best are sent forward into an inter-club competition.

Anyway, next months competition is on the subject of water. Yep. Water. That's it. No advice, no information, just one word. WATER.

Expect a lot of wet photographs over the next few weeks is all I can say.

OK, I know I have these pictures from last year.

I also have countless other pictures of beaches and lakes and such, but I really want to use the topic as a chance to take something new.

When I got home today, I decided to start simple, just squirting some water onto a tin tray...

(f/9, 1/40sec, 50mm,  +4 close up filter, ISO-400, 22/09/2008)

First thoughts...

This isn't sharp enough. Taken free hand with a close up filter at 1/40 just isn't going to work well. The decided lack of shadow/feature is also a bleurg (technical word).

I like the colour though. And be honest, if I didn't tell you it was rotated 180 degrees, you'd never know...

Firstly, thanks to everyone who sent entries in. I appreciate it was neither a pure photography competition or a great picture to build upon. That said, it was a bit of fun and I hope you had a laugh doing it.

Given how frequently cropping was used within the entries, I'm guessing nobody liked my original composition!

In order to make it impartial, I asked Dermot to judge the entries and provided them to him in an anonymous flickr page.

You can find a gallery of entries here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27345143@N05/sets/72157606014987089/


About the winner, Dermot said:

"A nice clever crop, good composition, a little bit of brightness tweaking to bring out the colours and give definition to the clouds, we don’t need to see the whole digger to know that it’s a digger…"


So, without further ado and with much ripping of virtual envelopes, the winner of the 2008 Learningtosnap challenge is.....




Andrew!


Thanks to all that entered and to Dermot for judging the entries.

Folks, a final reminder that if you want to enter the challenge/competition thing I set up a few weeks back, then I need your entries by the end of tomorrow!

You can find all the details here!

 

Send them to me at paul(at)learningtosnap.com

Just a quick reminder that the challenge is still ongoing.

 

If you're interested in having a bit of a lugh and maybe winning the grand sum of £10 in amazon Vouchers (no expense spared!), then take a loo here.

It was just pointed out to me that there might not be an obvious email address to actually send entries to.

All I can say is 'ooops'.

Please send them to

paul<at>learningtosnap.com

Needless to say the <at> should be an @...

I purchased my camera and started this blog in earnest in July last year. A year seems to have flown past and hopefully I've shown a lot of what I've learned about photography. I know I've hosted a lot of images and had a surprising number of visitors to this blog.

In order to celebrate a year of blogdom and camera fun I thought it might be nice to have a challenge.

The aim of the game is to take the following image and make it 'better' using any post processing tools you have at your disposal. Be it Photoshop or Picasa, GIMP or Paint Shop Pro, even the online tools I discussed here are allowed. When you've finished, email me the image and I'll host all the finished work in a gallery for review. I'll even arrange an independent judge to pick the best one.

To make it interesting, and as a thank-you to all the people who've visited over the last year, I'll donate a £10 Amazon voucher to the winner. I know it's not going to change your life, but hey...

Closing date for entries will be the 30th June and I'll post the gallery and winner as soon after that as feasible.

So! What are you waiting for?

 

...oh, yeah, the image...

 

The full size jpeg can be found here.

The full size raw (.dng) file can be found here.

(You might want to use right-click then save link as...)

 

 

The small print.

I'm not sure if we need much in the way of formalised rules here, but just in case...

1. No more than 2 entries per person. The competition is open to everyone

2. All entries should have a valid email address associated with them

3. Submitted pictures should be composed of the above image (no substituting my digger picture for some random blonde, Jon)

4. The judges decision is final

5. The £10 Amazon voucher can be made available in different currencies as required

EDIT (21/05/08)

The link for the .dng file should now work.