Source: www.layersweddingcakes.com
Thanks again to everyone for helping us celebrate our 1st blog-iversary! I loved reading everyone’s comments on the tutorials and blogs – I hope you all had a blast!
But we’re not done yet – we’re going to continue on with the celebration!
Welcome to our 1st Blog-iversary contest! To help us celebrate this momentous occasion, we are giving away a Cinch by We R Memory Keepers, as well as a chance to be published in Canadian Scrapbooker magazine, to one lucky participant!
(This is on my wish list!! 
)
So do YOU want a chance to win? It’s easy – just complete EACH of these steps:
1. Read our September 2010 tutorial on the rule of thirds.
2. Get out your camera and take some photos, using this tutorial as a guide.
3. Using our submission form, submit your photo(s) for the September photography assignment by 11:59 EST, September 30th, 2010. Photos must have been taken between Sept 7th through to Sept 30th, 2010 to be eligible. No exceptions. Please read the Rules & Regulations HERE prior to submitting.
4. Create a layout using an eligible photo that was submitted and email it to me by 11:59 EST, October 6th, 2010. Please read the fine print below for more details. For tips on photographing your layout, click HERE.
5. In your email, please remember to include the following:
Name:
Email:
Mailing Address (incl. postal code):
Phone:
Website/Blog (optional):
Layout Title:
Layout Size:
Supplies Used:
Comments:
6. Check back here when we reveal the winner on October 15th!!
And that’s it! Not only will you get a chance to win the fabulous prize, but you will also get some new photographs and layouts done in the process!
Good luck to everyone – I can’t wait to see your submissions!
Cheers,
the fine print:
1. The monthly photography assignment for the Bo Bunny prize is open to all countries, except where prohibited.
2. The blog-iversary contest for the Cinch and a chance of publication is only open to Canadian residents, except where prohibited.
3. Submissions for the monthly photography assignment are limited to five (5) per person. Submissions for the blog-iversary contest are limited to three (3) per person. Each layout submitted must contain at least ONE photo that was submitted to and eligible for the monthly photography assignment. Only the first three layouts submitted per person will be accepted. Additional layouts submitted will be disregarded.
4. Persons affiliated with Canadian Scrapbooker or the assignment and/or contest sponsors are ineligible to enter. This includes but is not limited to employees, volunteers, design team members or their parents, siblings or children; any related companies, subsidiaries, divisions, prize sponsors and promotional and/or advertising agencies and administrators.
5. Prize(s) must be accepted as awarded. Prize(s) may not be sold, transferred and is not convertible to cash. Prize(s) will be shipped to winner via Canada Post mail at the expense of Canadian Scrapbooker – Prize winner is solely responsible for all other costs such as duties, taxes or customs fees, if applicable.
6. Within 5 days following the contest deadline, a random draw will take place from among all eligible submissions received prior to contest closing date. The first entry drawn will be eligible to win the Prize and be published in an upcoming issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. The odds of winning the Prize will depend on the total number of eligible submissions received during the contest period. The winner will be posted on the Hands On! photography blog by October 15th, 2010. Winners will not be contacted via email. In the event that the potential winner does not respond via email within FIVE (5) business days of the announcement post date, she or he will be disqualified and an alternate potential winner will be drawn.
7. By submitting an entry, all participants automatically agree to accept and abide by these rules.
Conni Frankl, of SK, sent me this picture of her gorgeous daughter taken indoors with the use of a white reflector:
Taken with Nikon D5000 at f/5.3, 1/10 sec., ISO 800
What beautiful lighting! Thanks for your submission, Conni!
Cheers,
Fleur Smith, of BC, sent me this great shot of her son at his hip hop dance class:
Taken with Canon PowerShot SX210 IS at f/4.5, 1/101 sec., ISO 800
Fleur used the backlighting from the open door for highlight and the door itself to frame her subject. Well done, Fleur!
Tomorrow, I’ll share another submission for one of our readers – there’s still time for you to send me yours!
Cheers,
Thanks to Stephanie Schan, of ON, for sending us this adorable photo of her cat, Squirt:
Look at those green eyes! Thanks for your submission, Stephanie.
Today’s submission is from Lee-Anne Thorton, of AB:
Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/6.3, 1/25 ISO 320
Doesn’t that just tickle your tastebuds? Thanks for sharing, Lee-Anne… and for making me crave French Toast now!
And to the rest of our readers, there’s still plenty of time for YOU to submit your photos for our August assignment so get out there and take your camera off of the Auto setting… this is the time to practice! You have until August 31st – use our submission form and send me your photos for a chance to win an SEI prize pack!
Cheers!
Mmmm, I love summer! Full of fresh fruits and veggies – which are much easier to photograph than a 10 year old, if you want my opinion!
I received this submission from Lisanne Côté, of QC, of some delicious looking blackberries:
Taken with Canon Rebel XT at f/5.6, 1/40 sec., ISO 200
I can almost taste them! Thanks for sharing, Lisanne!
Tomorrow I’ll share another image from Lee-Anne Thorton, of AB – it will whet your appetite for summer berries!
Cheers,
Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/10, 1/10 sec., ISO 200
Thanks, Lee-Anne – I think I’m going to have to make waffles for my daughter’s birthday breakfast today!
How about the rest of you? Any natural lighting photos to share?
Cheers!
Erin Aumack posted this question in our comments and I thought I’d share it, along with my answer, in case any of our readers missed it and may have the same question:
Can natural light also be outdoors? Or is this a challenge for indoor photos?
Here’s my answer:
I would consider natural light outdoors as daylight (not direct sunlight) as discussed in the June tutorial. For this tutorial, I’d like to see you work on using indoor natural lighting.
Thanks for your queston, Erin – can’t wait to see your results! I’ll be back with our first August submission soon!
Cheers!
We’ve looked at both daylight/sunlight and artificial light. This month, I’d like to discuss natural light.
Natural light is sometime referred to as available light. When I mention available light, I am referring to all types of lighting that occur naturally in a scene (with the exception of direct sunlight). Preferred by many photographers, it is free and produces near true-to-life colour and excellent detail.
When one mentions natural light, most people will generally think of light from a large window, such as in the following photos.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4.5, 1/40 sec., ISO 200
Taken with Nikon D90 at f/1.8, 1/60 sec., ISO 200
However, it is not always necessary to have a large window, although it certainly helps! Consider the following photo:
Taken with Nikon D90 at f/1.8, 1/60 sec., ISO 200
The only available light was from an average sized kitchen window. Fortunately, directly across from the window was a stainless steel refridgerator, which acted as a natural reflector!
Of course, this is not always the case. You may have to use your own reflector, either purchased or handmade, and position it opposite your light source to reflect onto your subject.
Sometimes, it is necessary to move closer to the light source, as I have below. (Granted, this handsome little fellow graces my kitchen window all the time…) You’ll notice that I’ve opened my aperture wide to f/1.8 to overcompensate from the backlighting from the window light.
Taken with Nikon D90 at f/1.8, 1/640 sec., ISO 200.
Sometimes, your available light will not come from a window, but a door! Our french doors leading out to our deck provide perfect lighting for photographing my layouts, cards and projects. You could also use patio doors, garage doors, etc…
Taken with Nikon D300s at f/1.8, 1/2500 sec., ISO 500
You may have noticed that almost all of the photos shown here, with the exception of the first one, were shot with an aperture of f/1.8. Because using existing light sometimes results in low-light situations, your best bet for capturing a properly exposed photo is to use a faster lens, such as a f/1.8 or f/1.4. If you don’t have a fast lens, don’t despair! You can see that it is possible to achieve a properly exposed image using a smaller aperture (remember: larger f/stop number (i.e. f/4.5) = small aperture…). However, prepare to adjust your ISO and shutter speeds to allow more light into your camera. If your shutter speeds are too slow, use a tripod to avoid camera shake.
Having said that, you’ll notice that in the last photo, my shutter speed is very fast to counter balance the wide-open aperture. I could have slowed the shutter speed down and used a smaller aperture, without having to use a tripod, but I wanted a very shallow depth of field for this image. Notice that the leaf and one petal is in focus, but the remainder of the image is blurred? This is the beauty of shooting in manual mode - you can manipulate your results to suit your needs!
So grab your camera, find a subject (preferably willing!) and hunt down some available light for this assignment!
Your August assignment:
Using the August tutorial as a guide, photograph a subject or object in natural/available light. Remember to play with reflectors to see the effect they have on your lighting. Have fun and experiment!! As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me.
Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, August 31st, 2010
Please submit your photo, using our submission form only, 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 click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw BEFORE submitting. 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 remember that your photos should be sized to 72dpi, and at least 500 pixels wide. Don’t forget to include your camera settings, including camera used, f/stop, aperture and ISO 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.
This month’s sponsor is SEI! Check out this sweet prize pack from their Moravia line!
August 2010 Prize Pack by SEI
Thanks for playing along this month – Happy Clicking!
Thanks to our readers who shared their photos with us this month!
I’m using a new method of choosing a winner – still using www.randomizer.org, but in a different format. So our winner this month is:
List Randomizer
There were 5 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
- Kim Gowdy, AB
- Serena Gelaman, AB
- Stephanie Schan, ON
- Michelle Kuijer, ON
- Michelle Kuijer, ON
Timestamp: 2010-08-06 02:31:49 UTC
Congratulations, Kim! Your prize pack will be mailed to the address on your submission form shortly!
Stay tuned for our August tutorial – coming soon!
With the rest of our July submissions!
Michelle Kuijer, of ON, sent in two submissions this month. In her first submission, she used the existing spotlight and added additional light from her external flash.
Taken with Canon Rebel XS at f/4, 1/60 sec., ISO 400
For you Rush fans (my hubby included!), those drums are the originals played by the legendary Neil Peart for his first few years on tour. I love her son’s shirt, which reads, “Got Peart?”
Michelle’s other photo uses simply her on-camera flash:
Taken with Canon Rebel XS at f/5.6, 1/16 sec., ISO 400
Love the framing! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!
Our last submission this month comes from Serena Gedlaman, of AB. Serena writes, of her lighting: “I used my on-camera flash, but turned on every available light source and set up some extra lamps that I could direct toward my daughter from her left side.”
Taken with Canon Rebel T2i at f/4.5, 1/60 sec., ISO 400
Great job, Serena - and what a happy expression you’ve captured! Thanks for your submission.
I’ll announce a winner tomorrow – and be sure to watch for a new tutorial on combination lighting!
Cheers,
Sue has been behind a camera for more than 25 years, working professionally as a photographer for the last ten years. While she began the hobby of scrapbooking in 2000, as a complement to her photographer career, it soon grew into a rival passion! Sue loves to enlarge one of her favourite photos and make it the focal point of her page, using her supplies to bring the focus onto her photography. She has, in recent years, turned more to scrapbooking "moments" rather than "events", choosing to leave her children more insight into her point of view of their lives.
Sue has been married to her best friend, Gary, for over 10 years and has two children, Connor and Aili. She is the owner of Just Cre8, a Canadian online scrapbooking store (www.justcre8.com) She considers herself very fortunate to be so lucky to work not only for herself, but also to be involved with Canadian Scrapbooker - both of which combine her passion for scrapbooking and writing!
CONTACT SUE: sue@canadianscrapbooker.ca
