Now that you have had your dose of close to 31 days of tips and tricks in March, it’s time to put all that learning into practice. I realize we can all use some motivation now and then and I hope this will be a kick in the pants that you need.
The Weekend Photography Challenge is meant to be simple and fun, like me. There are no big rules and no huge prizes. The Challenge isn’t against anyone other than your own imagination. It’s an inner challenge with outward results. So Zen, without the meditation. Or monks. Temples. Rituals. Ok, it’s not very Zen.
I’ll post a topic every Friday and you have the weekend to come up with your best rendition of the challenge topic using one of the appointed techniques. Post your best, and only your best, photo as a link in the comments of this post for all to see. Link to your blog, Flickr, Smugmug account, whatever. And to help others learn, share a bit of the shooting information and what you did to take the photo. Simple? Let’s get to it!
This week’s topic is Spring
And you must capture Spring within the context of one of these techniques:
Pretty easy the first time around. Post your link in the comments section before Monday morning or you’ll get a shock through your keyboard. What time on Monday morning? Before I wake up.
Got this shot just a few hours ago. I was wandering around looking for spring things and managed to get this shot of a great tit singing amidst spring buds. I’ve a new 70-200 2.8 IS which I’m still learning how to use and your tutorials have been fantastic. As I wanted some nice blur on the buds so I opened the aperture to 6.3 (didn’t have time to experiment with different f stops) and this was the result. The ISO was 100 and the shutter speed was 1/320. Thanks for all your help Peter.
http://www.skribblerz.net/forums/uploads/monthly_04_2011/post-1-0-90051700-1302299654.jpg
Nice composition in a tight spot, George.
Late afernoon with the 50mm -Aperture setting
Crocus on Cape Cod – http://www.webpenguin.net/
I like the sharp focus and use of distance to give good blur to the background.
The cherry blossoms are finally out and yesterday there was actually some sunshine after weeks of pouring rain:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4hggs3kFhTCKii9wKDJdyw?feat=directlink
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/25 sec
Aperture: 18.0
Focal Length: 45mm
Flash Used: No
They are finally out here as well! So nice to see.
It looks like the slow shutter speed let a bit of blur, either from you moving or the tree in the wind, creep in. I like the composition.
I live in Dubai so seasons are not really easy to spot in nature! However Spring time is when the weather starts to get hotter and therefore there’s nothing like a very cool and refreshing mint and lemon drink to chase the sweat away. So I am posting this picture of my daughter that I took after a rather long walk.
ISO 200, focal length 39mm, no flash, partial metering f/4 and 1/40 s. (aperture mode)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pichoun/5602358081/
That’s a really interesting perspective Caroline! You can almost feel the heat in the image as well.
Caroline,
Nice catch of the moment and focus on the eye, even with having to focus beyond the straw. Looks like a nice drink.
Last week there was snow on the ground, today the first daffodil is truly out:
http://nelliemc.smugmug.com/Nature/Flowers/DSC1405/1245542693_iTLc4-S.jpg
Interesting way to use the gap in the fence posts to split up the scene all thirdsy like. Nice to see more flowers out!
Spring has definitely sprung here in Cornwall, UK – at last! Sorry couldn’t settle for one image.
http://memycameraeye.blogspot.com/
Settings, Blackthorn – AV mode, shutter 1/1000, f 5.6, ISO 100. The bud – AV mode, shutter 1/250, f5.6, ISO 100. These two using 18-55mm lens. The tulip – AV mode, shutter 1/3200, f2.8, ISO 100, 90mm lens.
Thanks for looking,
Have really enjoyed these tutorials. Thank you.
You cheated!! Oh, ok. Nice framing and tight focus on all three. I like the middle one as it shows the newness and opening up.
[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/2hhiv54.jpg[/IMG]
http://tinypic.com/r/2hhiv54/7 maybe this one will work????
Elizabath, You have Spring in Florida? :) I like the repeat of the shells in the background to help ground the image. The shadow on the main one on the left is bugging me for some reason, though, even though I know it’s not the point of focus.
Spring here is when everything turns bright green again and the humidity is under 90% :) I could try to photoshop that shadow a little smaller….I guess it looks so much bigger because its closer…
Spring in Oysterville
https://picasaweb.google.com/101707485799292864809/SpringClass472011?authkey=Gv1sRgCPG65tTExvmIxgE#5592359237372543970
Karin, Nice and simple and a good contrasting color to the background.
We went for a drive along Saginaw Road and saw this beautiful old church. I didn’t realize until I got home how much the wide angle lens distorts the vertical when you have to stand at the bottom of a hill and look up at the object. Then, I realized I hadn’t change my ISO from my try at sunset the week before. One of those comedy of errors days! I decided to post anyway since I did work in Aperture mode. I’ll do better next time.
: )
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jltaylor57/5608601170/
Jeanne, I like the composition although it would be nicer without the fence. It’s funny how some versions work (old wood) and some just distract (deer & rabbit). The angle helps to move the eye up the frame.
An attempt at using the panning blur technique: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmontague/5608436255/
Nice panning blur, I like that. I’ll have to get out and practice this a bit more :)
That looks real cool.
My husband is a cyclist and I was juts telling him about the panning blur technique. i told him that I’d like to try that on him but that means he will have to keep going until I get it right!
Thanks! I was having trouble getting the exposure correct. It’s pretty blown out near the top. This was the best of about 50 attempts sitting next to the bike path; only a few of them gave me weird looks :)
I just saw Peter’s suggestion to share the shot info, too. This one was shot w/ my Canon T2i + f1.8 50mm lens, shutter 1/13, f/22, evaluative metering, -5 exposure compensation, ISO 100, manual focusing
50 attempts is not bad. :) It takes practice and shooting in the middle of the day is hard as you want things slow, but often the aperture if is already stopped down. Thanks for the shooting info as it helps to see the -5 exposure compensation from what your camera wanted to do.
With pan blur it is often not too much of a worry of blowing parts out, as long as the subject is not. In this case, shooting a rider with those dark colors really helps separate him from the bright areas from noon-ish sun.
Fun, isn’t it?
I think spring is more about colors, mostly GREEN.. We have some colorful pictures,so let me try green..
I hope this counts as rule of thirds.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/akasapu2985/5608458045/
Girish,
I’m impressed that you got a shot like that to show Spring on what I know was such a gray day around the Sound. You got a nice amount of distance and separation between the subject and background and it’s very pleasing.
Spring in Japan is my favorite season with the sakura at full bloom. Here is one of my favorite shot using the horizontal lines of the rule of third: http://ozawapi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Kanasawa-3.jpg
It was taken in Kenrokuen Park with a Nikon D700 and a 35mm at f/2.0, 1/6 sec, and ISO 2000. I would love feedback on the technique!
Simon, Whoa, it took me a second to figure out what was going on. The tree is situated nicely to hide the distant shoreline, making the transition from image to reflection very nice. And while it is symmetrical with the tree and reflection, the curving shore on the left brings focus through the image.
Thanks for the feedback Peter! We were quite lucky with the set up and the light that really brings the colors out, but I’m happy with the end result indeed :)
Thanks everyone for playing along! I’ll have another challenge on Friday and hope to see you there. This was a lot of fun for me to see different takes on the same subject. Thank you. pwc
Hey everyone – sorry for not posting a pic too — at first I couldn’t figure out what would look like spring over here yet – but finally yesterday and today the snow has been melting and tonight I went out to shoot tons of pictures of flooded streets and rivers and reflections — however I simply haven’t taken the time to dump them on computer.
Thanks for posting for those of you who did – I enjoyed it!
I noticed some of you tried the panning blur — I got this one of my friend riding a motorcycle in Chiang Mai, Thailand when I lived over there. Canon T1i, f11, ISO 100, 1/50 shutter (slightly too fast for this one – should have tried a little slower.) No flash, … I was riding on a bike beside him and both were driving somewhere around 30 – 40 mph – can’t remember exactly.
https://picasaweb.google.com/delmarp/CareyPhotoChallenge?authkey=Gv1sRgCI7vpMrikcD3lAE#5594567692317228658
Let’s see if I can be more punctual in submitting a picture next weekend… :|
Peter, didn’t you like Lindsey and my pictures!!! ;)
Eeek! Forgive me. They got lost in the shuffle as the page reloads after each comment and my eyes were blurry and this panther was stalking me and I had to finish my spelling test and Cuban drug lords wanted their money back and I was helping an old lady across the street.
True story.
LOL great excuse sorry true story!!!
http://www.photoshop.com/users/bikeridingdelandflorida/albums/fb25a75fe5cf479ca8da5bd6878e579f
This is my weekend post on Thursday, The Rule of Thirds.