Photo Walks Today

It’s overcast and rainy here in Seattle today. Last night I set my alarm clock to wake me at 5:00 am in the hopes of a nice sunrise shoot, but the gray clouds promised nothing exciting. So I decided to work instead. Just couldn’t keep my mind on work so decided to play a little with the camera and flowers in the front yard.

I did a comparison test photographing flowers using no flash (it’s a nice overcast day with lots of diffused light – perfect for capturing colorful flowers).

Then I tried with with the cameras on-board flash. It’s not very strong so I thought it would punch up the contrast a little.

Just for comparison sake I thought I’d diffuse the flash by using a flash diffuser sold at clovercityphoto.com

All three photos are unretouched (I did resize them but they not even cropped).

I can see a difference. I like the flash with diffuser. It tones down the contract just a notch witch gives the photo a more natural, even look.

Sunrise happened at 6:00 a.m. this morning. I decided to get up early and try to catch it. This is a photo of the Snohomish river. Hwy two overhead, tug and fishing boats along the banks.

The summer flowers are in full bloom here and to celebrate I thought I’d give you a few tips on photographing flowers.

• Flowers look best shot from below or at eye level. Don’t shoot down on them, that’s the view we all see.
• Whenever possible use a dark background when photographing them. Pull out a piece of dark paper and place it behind the flowers – it’ll even work if you’re shooting in nature. Use a larger lens opening or F/stop to create a shallow depth of field behind the flower.
• Flowers look stellar on overcast days! They look even better just after a rain or mist, with drops of water clinging to their petals or leaves.

Now, go out and try taking some photos!

We had fun yesterday – sun day and I heard lots of shutters snapping. The assignment: take at least ten photos using a least two different camera settings. Plus, take one photo with the flash off and one with the flash on – even though it was a bright sunny day.

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Northwest Airlines  announced its inflight magazine, WorldTraveler, is sponsoring a photo contest. They’re inviting amateur and professional photographers to share their best travel photographs for a chance to win prizes and be featured in the December issue of the magazine.

   A panel composed of WorldTraveler editors and travel journalist Rudy Maxa will judge the photos and award three prizes in each of two categories – professional and amateur photography. The grand prize in each category will be two World Business Class tickets to accompany Rudy Maxa to an upcoming location for his public television show, “Rudy Maxa’s World.” Winners will photograph the destination, and their photos will be used in the DVD packaging for that episode of the show.
   First runners-up will receive a $1,200 NWA WorldVacations trip certificate valid for an air and hotel package. Second runners-up will receive two coach tickets to any domestic NWA destination.

   Photos must be travel-related (landscapes, attractions, people,wildlife, etc.). In order to be considered, submissions must include the photographer’s name, category (amateur or professional), address, phone number, e-mail address and a short explanation of the photo -
what it shows, when and where it was taken and what drew the photographer to the subject. Photos must be in a high-resolution digital format. Entrants can submit up to five photos by visiting www.digitalnwaworldtraveler.com.

 Submission deadline is Oct. 1, 2008.