Winners for April and May!!

Thanks to all participants over the last two months who sent in their submissions for our April and May tutorials.  Here’s a thumbnail peek at each of their layouts:

The winner of the 3 Bugs in a Rug prize for the April tutorial on Depth Perception is:

List Randomizer

There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Darla Holdstock, SK
2. Kristi Kennedy, BC
3. Stephanie Schan, ON
4. Jennifer Lundsten, SK
5. Carrie Butterwick, AB
6. Karly Potts, AB
7. Agatha Wiebe, ON
8. Vicki Chippette,NL
9. Carrie Butterwick, AB

Timestamp: 2011-07-08 20:48:41 UTC

And the winner of the Bo Bunny prize for the May tutorial on Balancing Elements is:

List Randomizer

There were 3 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Lorie McCall, ON
2. Agatha Wiebe, ON
3. Vicki Chippette,NL

Timestamp: 2011-07-08 20:51:56 UTC

Congratulations to Darla and Lorie! Your prizes will be sent out shortly to the address on your submission forms!

Thanks again to all who particicpated – and for your patience in my tardiness!!  Watch for another post next week for more chances to win a prize!!

Cheers,

Another Round of Submissions

Sorry for the delay in posting the final submissions for our Apr/May tutorials!!  I have a friend and her family visiting and we took a whirlwind trip which included Niagara Falls, Canada’s Wonderland and downtown Toronto.  We got in late last night and I was unplugged for most of the trip (which was pretty nice, I have to admit!).  But without further ado, here are the final submissions…

Vicki Chippette, of NL:

Taken with Canon Rebel T2i at f/16, 1/200 sec., ISO 400

Taken with Canon Rebel T2i at f/7.1, 1/200 sec., ISO 400

Carrie Butterwick, of AB:

Taken with Pentax K100D Super at f/8, 1/350 sec., ISO 400

Taken with Pentax K100D Super at f/13, 1/3000 sec., ISO 3200

Stephanie Schan, of ON:

Taken with Canon 5DMkII at f/4.5, 1/320 sec., ISO 4000

Karly Potts, of AB:

Taken with Pentax K100D at f/8, 1/350 sec., ISO 200

Darla Holdstock, of SK:

Taken with Canon Rebel T3i at f/1.8, 1/4000 sec., ISO 100

Lorie McCall, of ON:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/5.6, 1/125 sec., ISO 100

Thank you, ladies, for your submissions and my apologies for not having them up sooner!!

I will randomly select and post a winner tomorrow!  See you then…

Cheers,

Another to Share!

Kristi Kennedy, of BC, has sent me another photo for our May tutorial assignment on Balancing Elements:

Taken with Canon EOS 10D at f/5.6, 1/30 sec., ISO 400

This photo of her children colouring depicts her daughter as the focal point, with her son in the background as an anchoring, or balancing, element.  Love the concentration in her sweet face!

Thanks for your submission, Kristi – and I’m encouraging everyone else to get their submissions into me before the deadline of June 30th!  Because wouldn’t your Canada Day be a little bit brighter if you were randomly chosen as one of the winners of our fabulous prizes??

Cheers,

April/May Submissions

Is anyone else amazed that nearly a month has passed already?  We’re nearing the half way mark towards our June 30th deadline for our April & May tutorials and I have a few submissions to share!

Jennifer Lundsten, of SK, sent me this photo for the Depth Perception tutorial, with her adorable focal point.  She used the trees as background and the wagon in the near foreground to create depth.

Taken with Pentax K-R at f/5.6, 1/2500 sec., ISO 800

So cute!  Thanks for sharing, Jennifer!

Agatha Wiebe, of ON, sent me this photo for the same tutorial:

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel XSi at f/7.1, 1/320 sec., ISO 200

Notice the bush on the right side acts as the foreground element and the barn/garage is in background, while the play set is the focal point.  Great light patterns, Agatha!

Agatha also sent me a submission for the May tutorial on Balancing Elements.

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel XSi at f/5.6, 1/125 sec., ISO 400

While this photo of the flower would be gorgeous on its’ own, by adding the out-of-focus branch in the “white space” of the composition, it adds more visual interest.  Beautiful!!

Do  you have any submissions to share with us?  All you have to do is use our submission form and send us your image, along with camera info and settings used and you could win a 3 Bugs In a Rug or Bo Bunny prize pack!  More details in our April and May tutorials posts here and here.

Cheers,

May Tutorial: Balancing Elements

In our May tutorial, we are going to discuss using balancing elements in our composition.

In September, I wrote a tutorial about using the Rule of Thirds as a guideline for achieving pleasing composition within an image.  Somehow, though, using the Rule of Thirds can create an empty void in the scene.  To balance your image, try placing an object of lesser importance in the void to offset the weight of the focal point in your scene.

I stumbled across a good example of this online when logging into Flickr:

[source]

The couple dancing in the foreground is offset by the dancer sitting on the sidelines.

Another example:

Taken with Nikon D80 and 18-70mm lens at f/11, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

Here, the barn acts as the image’s focal point, yet is offset by the long grasses in the lower left corner of the scene.

So, are you ready to play?

May 2011 photography assignment:

Using the May tutorial as a guide, photograph an object or scene using the Rule of Thirds – and then offset it with a balancing object.  Try to look for scenarios that are naturally occuring – it’s sometimes difficult to spot!  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Jun 3oth, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!! This month’s randomly drawn winner will receive this yummy Bo Bunny prize pack:

May 2011 Bo Bunny Prize Pack

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between May 1st and June 30th, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking!

April Tutorial: Depth Perception

This month, I’m going to discuss another technique in composition and that is creating depth in a scene.

Photos display images as two-dimensional objects.  Because of this, it is important to try to create a feeling of depth within a photo, to allow the viewer to sense the depth in the scene.

To do so, it’s important to incorporate three areas – foreground, middle ground and background – that include an object of interest in each.  Take the following photo, as an example:

Taken with Nikon D60 and 18-70mm lens at f/5.6, 1/500 sec., ISO 360

The barn itself is in the middle ground of the image.  However, it is the fence and farm equipment in the foreground and the shoreline in the background give the image its’ sense of depth.

Another way to create depth is similar to layering on our scrapbook pages.  When we use dimensional adhesives to layer items, we create a three-dimensional object.  And even though images are only 2D, by overlapping two objects in a scene, you can create layers that the human eye will recognize as different depths.

Ready to try creating depth in your images?

April 2011 photography assignment:

Using the April tutorial as a guide, photograph an object or scene and create depth within the image.  You can try layering objects in the scene, or use the suggestion of including objects of interest in each of the 3 areas (foreground, middle ground and background).  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, Jun 3oth, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!! This month’s randomly drawn winner will receive this yummy  prize pack from 3 Bugs in a Rug:

2011 April 3 Bugs in a Rug Prize Pack

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between May 1st and June 30th, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win our awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking!

Late is better than never, right?

Sorry, folks – time got away from us this month!  I was busy preparing for ScrapFest and then, as I returned home, I became sick!

If  you are a new visitor, perhaps from my class at ScrapFest, welcome!!

As it is, I just realized that I haven’t posted our March winner yet!!

Thanks to our participants this month:

And without further ado, and with thanks to www.random.org, we have a winner!

List Randomizer

There were 4 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Agatha Wiebe, ON
2. Carrie Butterwick, AB
3. Lee-Anne Thorton, AB
4. Lise Malette, ON

Timestamp: 2011-04-22 01:31:28 UTC

Congratulations, Agatha!  Please email me your mailing address and we’ll get your Sassafras Lass prize out to you!

Also, April Childs, if you are reading, please email your mailing info to me as well!  My computer seems to have eaten all of my prior emails and I don’t have an address to which I can send your February prize!

Because we’re so late posting the tutorial this month, I will combine April and May tutorials and photo assignments and will give out TWO prizes!!  Watch for a new tutorial in a few days!

Cheers!

March submissions

Here are the March submissions for our photo assignment on Backgrounds!

Lise Malette, of ON, was first out of the gate with this assignment.  She sent me these two images:

Taken with Canon EOS Digital Rebel at f/16, 1/200 sec., ISO 400

In this photo, the railings and poles compete with the subject as well as the background and create a chaotic scene.  As well, the backlighting is creating lens flares and causing the subject to lose detail.

Taken with Canon EOS Digital Rebel at f/10, 1/400 sec., ISO 400

In this photo, Lise moved herself (or the camel did!) so that she was looking up at him/her, using the clear blue sky as a backdrop which coordinates beautifully with the brown fur.  I hope you were using a zoom lens, Lise – don’t camels SPIT?!  Thanks for sharing!

Carrie Butterwick, of AB, also sent in two photos to illustrate the advantages of eliminating a distracting background:

Taken with Pentax K100D Super at f/11, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

In this photo of her friend, holding her adorable daughter, there are distractions that lead the viewer’s eye away from the subject, like the sign beside their heads.

Taken with Pentax K100D Super at f/11, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

By moving to the side, and having her subjects follow her, she effectively removes the cluttered background and replaces it with a snowy scene.  Thanks for your submission, Carrie!

Another set of submissons received came from Agatha Wiebe, of ON:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/4, 1/64 sec., ISO 400

In her first image, you can see her adorable subject peeking through the window of his toy car.  But by zooming in and cropping out the distracting background, she ended up with this image:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/4.5, 1/64 sec., ISO 400

Thanks for sharing, Agatha!

Lastly, I want to share these submissions from Lee-Anne Thorton, of AB:

Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/8, 1/10 sec., ISO 200

This lovely colourful display on Lee-Anne’s coffee table manages to mix a variety of textures into one photo.  But watch the simple effectiveness when she zooms in on one of the elements:

Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/5.6, 1/13 sec., ISO 250

Gorgeous!  Thanks for your submission, Lee-Anne!

I did receive several submissions that did not meet the requirements for this particular assignment, (i.e. sending me two photos of the same subject, taken with a difference in backgrounds).  I do however, want to share this submission from Sharon Muyser, of AB.  While it is ineligible for the assignment, you will agree with me that it is too spectacular not to share!

Taken with FujiPix JV100 at f/4.3, 1/1351 sec., ISO 100

Look at that beautiful pattern left behind by Jack Frost!  Thanks for sharing, Sharon!

Thanks to everyone who participated – I will randomly draw a winner tomorrow!

Cheers,

Update…

I’ve had a few emails asking me about using a camera other than one with manual setting capabilities for this tutorial.

While the earlier focus of our Hands On! Photography tutorials was geared towards the technical side of your digital cameras, we are now into the artistic side of photography (composition).  For this reason, we will gladly accept photos from other cameras.

All digital cameras store the camera settings in the image file so they are still available.  You can easily see them in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements by clicking on File Info.

<Note, other programs may also be able to read this info, but I am unfamiliar with them – if anyone knows, please let me know and I’ll pass the info along!>

If you do not have either of these programs, please submit them anyways!  I can try to view the settings and include them when posting to our blog.  This will still provide a learning tool for those who view an image and wonder what settings were used to achieve the exposure.

Hope that is clear to all!  If not, please contact me via email at sue {at} canadianscrapbooker {dot} ca.

Cheers,

March Tutorial: Backgrounds

We all have them. Photos with telephone phones sprouting out of Aunt Mildred’s head, or a misplaced spray of water from a fountain that makes Grandpa Tom look like he’s… well, you know.

This month, I want to discuss an aspect of composition pertaining to backgrounds in your images.

As you grow and learn about this wonderful hobby called photography, you are not only learning the technical side of your cameras, but you are training your “inner eye” to be more aware of your surroundings. The key to good photography is not just about proper lighting and the rule of thirds. It’s also having a sense of everything around your subject and how it will be perceived in your finished image.

And although your subject may not have ill-placed tree limbs behind them, a cluttered background can be just as hazardous.  Look at this photo of my son, taken by my husband:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4.2, 1/60 sec., ISO 200

Cute as he may be (and yes, I know I’m biased… ) and while the story is being told, the image lacks effectiveness and doesn’t convey his concentration, nor his obsession with art.  Notice how this all changes as he zooms in on his subject, eliminating the distracting furniture behind him:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 200

Sometimes, it’s just a matter of waiting for your subject to be engrossed in his craft.  And at times, when you can’t or don’t want to zoom in, you will have to change your position until your subject is in front of a neutral backdrop.

However, it is sometimes not feasible to move your position or your subject. For example, when you are photographing a performance, or in a small location where there is no neutral background. In that case, you can set your camera to the widest aperture to create a very shallow depth of field. This will blur the background, as discussed in our Winter 2009/10 issue (see my January 2010 tutorial on Depth of Field here).

So, are you ready to try out what we’ve learned?

March 2011 photography assignment:

Using the March tutorial as a guide, become aware of your backgrounds. Explore your surroundings and potential distractions in your images.  This month, you will submit TWO photos – one with a distraction behind your subject and a second one, with the SAME subject, but with the distraction removed.  You can use any of the techniques discussed above (zoom in, move your position, or use a short depth of field).   As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me at sue {AT} canadianscrapbooker {DOT} ca.

Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, March 31st, 2011

And now for the fun part – the prize!!  This month’s randomly drawn winner will receive this yummy Sassafras prize pack:

March 2011 Prize Pack by Sassafras

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

1) Because the whole purpose of the tutorial is to get you to experiment with your camera, submitted photos must have been taken between March 13th and March 31st, 2011, inclusive. Photos that do not meet this criteria may be shared on the blog but will not be eligible for our contest.

2) Please send original-sized files – I will size them for our blog.

3) And PLEASE don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO settings for your image in the Comments section of the submisson form! Submissions that do not include this info may not be posted on the blog or included in the prize drawing.

Please submit your photo, using only our submission form (no emails, please!), for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will not be posted on the blog, or entered into the draw. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting.

Happy Clicking!