Contest Submissions

For the Contest assignment, I took on something close to home, as I all of my photos have come from this area. I entered Idaho Falls Magazine’s photo contest (http://www.idahofallsmagazine.com/gallery/contest.cfm) I figured that the specific pictures I had to offer, having been taken in the Idaho Falls area, would be appropriate additions to the contest. That, plus the free, last minute, online entry, solidified my choice over various other contests.

The entry for this contest was easy. I entered each photo (three in total) by e-mailing each photo to a contest specific e-mail address with small amount of information (who, what, when, and where.) My photos could be sized between 2-7 MB each, and only one of mine required resizing from previously saved JPEGs. I simply had to try to fit my photos into the themes (I ended up submitting all to the Open Class, as none fit the specific categories as well as I hoped.) That was it! The contest closes in November, so it will be some time before I learn more. I submitted this the morning of July 6th, 2012.

1. Pipe Falls
2. 6/2/12, 11 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID
4. f/5.6
5. 15″
6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Spotlight

1. Jars Single Shot HDR
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT
4. f/23
5. 1/8
6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

1. Yellow Ace
2. 4/27/2012
3. Idaho Falls, ID
4. f/4.5
5. 1/80
6. Sony DSC-Hx9V, Tripod, Indoors.

Final Large Print (24×36)

1. Pipe Falls
2. 6/2/12, 11 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/5.6

5. 15″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Spotlight

This is the final image I settled on for my print. The image itself works well with the decor my wife and I already have in our house, and it ranked among my top 5 shots from this semester. The picture itself is a light painting experiment, taken on the walking paths at Snake River Landing in Idaho Falls. The only light at the time came from distant streetlights and buildings.

I took this 15 second exposure shot with my Cannon T3 on a tripod just to one side of this path (which the pipes run under.) I set up the shot and had my wife begin the timer as I walked to the far end of the scene with a spotlight and a homemade cardboard choke to block all but the narrow bright beam. As the shutter opened, I walked back down the path and briefly firing the spotlight directly down into each splash zone. I had to be quick as I did not want the full power of the spotlight in any single section, but rather wanted the half-on level obtained by briefly holding the trigger and letting go. I moved quickly towards the camera and was out of the way for the last five or so seconds.

In post, I tried many different things. What I finally settled on was a near 100% Camera Raw edit. I began by raising the exposure and brightness across the entire picture. The background was extremely dark, so I brightened it up a touch more. I could not brighten it any more than shown, as it began to be extremely grainy. I lowered the brightness and exposure and increased the sharpness of the flowing water, and increased saturation where needed.

Finally, after two different 8×10 prints to test colors, I expanded my image size to 24×36 (ending at 118 ppi.) After checking everything to ensure I would not have printing problems, I took the image to be printed and ran to purchase my frame. By the time I found a frame and grabbed lunch with my wife, my print was ready. Everything fit surprisingly perfectly, and that was it!

1. Sunset HDR
2. 5/27/2012, 8:19 PM
3.Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/5.6

5. 1/60

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod

This was an HDR early sunset picture I nabbed the other night after my wife was telling me the sunset looked cool out the window. The sky had great depth, so I zoomed in as close as possible to get this shot. I transformed this using a paint filter in PS and then followed the brushstroke tutorial to create the final framed work.

1. Pond
2. 6/2/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/3.5

5. 30″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Spotlight

One of my less stunning light painting pictures worked well for this project. After touching up in CR, I simply followed this tutorial from the book. I thought that there was certainly some motion in the clouds, hence the name.

1. Creek
2. 6/2/2012, 10:30 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/5.0

5. 30″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Spotlight

Another somewhat less amazing light painting that I thought merited use. Exposure edits in CR. Followed the burned border tutorial in the book. The border almost looks like it is from a different picture, but still fits.

1. Path (Fine Art Template)
2. 6/2/2012, 3:30 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/5.0

5. 15″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Spotlight

One other shot that did not make my #1 slot, but I still liked. O think it has a little less impact behind this frame, but it works. Exposure and brightness edits in CR, then adding behind the template created using the book tutorial (done vertically to match the picture.)

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Night and Light

1. Glowstick Box (Moving Camera)
2. 6/2/2012, 11 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/3.5

5. 10″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Glowsticks

Truthfully, the light graffiti activities have been my least favorite of the semester. It may have been my lack of good tools (limited to glowsticks which leave trails even when you don’t want them to) but I could not get into these shots. All creative attempts turned out poor. This was my favorite of a lot of pictures I didn’t like. After getting tired of the more creative attempts, I laid the four glowsticks on the ground in a “+” shape and used this to try to make a 3D cube. It worked to a point. I disliked the fast that when the shutter was open, I lost all visuals from the camera for the duration of the shot. It made this difficult to create cleanly.

1. Green Signature (Light Graffiti)
2. 6/2/2012, 10 PM
3.Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/3.5

5. 1/20

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Glowsticks

My 2nd least favorite picture. Don’t worry, I like all the rest. After hours of attempting various shots with my glowsticks, this was the only semi-intentional looking shot I ended up with. The composition is not great, but you can see my name. That sure beats failed sailboats, people, fireworks, halos, wings, works, houses, etc. This was done with a single glowstick in a slow, careful, backwards writing pattern with a tripod.

1. Tail Lights
2. 6/2/12, 10 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/9.0

5. 10″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod

On to better things. This shot is not great, but it is at least a decent looking picture. In the passenger seat of my wife’s car (as to not to be obvious about snapping shots of passing cars) I carefully and partially set up the tripod and angled my camera sharply out the window. I had missed most of the traffic for the evening. I was able to get some lines across the picture and had to bring them out more in post. Played with the adjustment brush in CR to brighten the sky, darken the bright indoor lights, and bring out a few details.

1. Pipe Falls
2. 6/2/12, 11 PM
3. Idaho Falls, ID

4. f/5.6

5. 15″

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod, Spotlight

My favorite shot of the day. This post gets the best and the worst of the excursion. I found this at Snake River Landing on the walking paths. A long shutter speed, ten second timer, and a spotlight all allowed me to get this shot. I pulsed the spotlight directly down into each water stream lightly, one at a time. I tried other effects, but this one looked less faked and more magical.

 

Bannack Best

 

1. Shootout  B&W
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5.6

5. 1/100

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

I loved this capture and knew I had a good shot when I pushed the shutter. The feel was very relaxed and natural, the light was good, and the composition was not bad. Little editing other than exposure, sharpening, and desaturation for black and white.

1. Shootout Sepia
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5.6

5. 1/150

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

My very last shot of the shootout. As Sister Esplin called to crap things up, I whispered at the model to look at me. He turned his whole head towards me. I motioned for him to turn back around and then said “just your eyes.” This was my favorite shot of this model and one of my favorites of the day. Post – PS sepia effect.

1. Cards
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5

5. 1/8

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

I admit – I have a thing for playing cards. I brought these old, worn looking cards along for this kind of shot. Little editing was done beyond saturation, exposure, and a burned left edge.

1.Truck HDR
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/23

5. 1/250

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod

My favorite standard HDR of the trip. Not much to say other than that I played with the sats and contrast/detail levels. I let the picture speak for itself.

1. Shootout Model 1
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/23

5. 1/150

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod

My favorite shot of the day. Had to balance the shooting angle with the sun moving fast in order to not blow our the sky. Very little post editing.

 

Bannack HDR

1. Jars Single Shot HDR
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/23

5. 1/8

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

I thought these jars had potential when I first saw then, but could not bright it to life until I ran it through Photomatix. The colors, with few modifications, were perfect. I turned up the black point to get rid of some of the boring background.

1. Yellow Truck HDR
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5.5

5. 1/1000

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod

I don’t like faked out looking images, but this one fascinated me. There is so much contrast and fine detail that I could not ignore this photo. Little adjustments outside of a round of HDR processing.

 

1. Brush Macro
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/–

5. 1/1000

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Extension Tubes

Though this is not the most well done shot of the day, I thought it was one of the more interesting. I decided to experiment with macro extension tubes, and this was part of the result. It took me a while to get in close and hand focus, but I was able to get a (mostly) clean shot. The band of focus is TINY in this picture. Without aperature control, I was not able to keep the front most section from blurring, but I did my best. Post editing brought out the beauty of this tiny branch of a shrub.

1. Books
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/4

5. 1/30

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

I snapped this shot in the sherrif’s house while waiting for another shot to clear out. I thought volume of children’s stories made for an ineresting shot. Little post edits, just small exposure changes and sharpening of the words.

1. Saw Blend
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/36

5. 1/15

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

Just a simple texture overlay, masked out everywhere except for the blade. Pulled one channel from the wood texture shot (obtained via spacer ring) and layered it with fairly high transparency levels. A quick mask job finished the project.

 

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Reverse Shallow Depth of Feild

1. Forground/Background Focus
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5.6

5. 1/100

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

While taking the shots of the model holding the gun, I discovered an opportunity to catch an interesting shot. I got close to the gun and focused in on the barrel. In post, I was able to sharpen the model’s eyes and classes in the background shot, and sharpen the barrel opening in the foreground image. I think the contrast gives a unique perspective on how focus can change our perception.

 

Bannack – Action Blur and Freeze

1. Blur Shot / Ghost Shot
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/22.0

5. 0.6

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3, Tripod

Simple ghost shot. The model moved on my count during a slow shutter speed shot. Lots of edits to set the mood. CR edits to cool the photo, tame sunshine through windows, darken the back hallway, burn the edges, and brighten and blur further the “ghost.” The hallway was actually very unremarkable and was not the least bit creepy looking, and I intended to change that to fit the theme.

1. Frozen Shot / Merry go Round
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/4.5

5. 1/500

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

The object here was to capture clearly the moment of this model on the merry go round. He was determined to stand as the merry go round was spinning. This shot captured his attempt. CR edits to cool the bright sunshine. I left the photo overly green to give a surreal feel to the moment.

 

Bannack – Portraits

1. Shootout Model 1
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5.6

5. 1/100

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

This was my favorite photo from this model. The light was dramatic and the pose seemed less posed than most photos. I angles myself to get a soft angle towards her face and to be able to capture the window without the people on the other side shooting in at her. Edits in CR to adjust exposure on light and dark spots, and a small amount of PS work to remove blemishes, fuzzies, and unsharp eyes.

1. Shootout Model 2
2. 5/24/2012, 3:30 PM
3.Bannack, MT

4. f/5.6

5. 1/400

6. Canon EOS Rebel T3

Most of my shots of this model were composed poorly because of the tight space restrictions and many people shooting. This was my favorite because I was able to compose the shot nicely, frame our distracting objects, capture interesting backgrounds, and snap a shot at the right moment. Editing in CR for exposures and colors, and editing in PS for eye accents.