Revealed!

Here’s the January prize pack from Me and My Big Ideas that is up for grabs!

How’s that for incentive to get up and start playing with your camera?  *wink*  You can find the January tutorial and assignment here.

Cheers,

January Prize Pack…

is from Me and My Big Ideas!!

Photo to follow tomorrow night sometime!!

Cheers,

We’re having a contest!!

We’re trying to spread the word – and we’re asking for your help!

You can help us spread the word about our new blog, Hands On! Photography and to thank you, we will enter your name into a random draw to win the following prize from Just Cre8!

July Cre8ive Pack by Just Cre8

Click here  for details of this prize pack.

It’s easy to enter - all you have to do is blog about our new site and share a link  (www.canadianscrapbooker.com/handson) with your readers.

Of course, there are additional ways you can earn extra ballots for our contest!  Here’s a list – you can do one, two or all of them to increase your chances of winning!

1. Add our blinkie above to your blog sidebar with a link to our blog - 2 ballots
2. Tweet about us - 1 ballot
3. Add our blinkie in your signature in an online forum – 2 ballots
4. Join the Canadian Scrapbooker – Hands On! Photography Fan Page  - 1 ballot

In order to receive your ballot entries for the contest, you MUST leave me a comment here with the following detail(s):

* A link to your blog post about our site
* A link to your blog showing our blinkie
* Your Twitter name
* Website address of your online forum and your username
* Your Facebook name

IMPORTANT:  Please be sure to add ONE comment for EACH item, so as to receive the multiple ballots (i.e. if you Tweet about us, AND add a post to your blog, you should leave TWO comments!)

That’s it – just help spread the word of our cool new Hands On! Photography blog and you can win!  Comments will remain open until 11:59pm EST on January 31st, 2010.  All qualifying ballots received will be entered into a random draw and the winner will be announced within the first week of February!

Good luck!

December Assignment: Bokeh

Bokeh, as we learned, is derived from a Japanese word, boke, which means “blur” or “haze”.  It basically refers to the out of focus area of your photo.

So now that we know what it is… how do we get it?  It’s quite simple, actually!

To create pleasing bokeh, ensure that your background has some light sources.  It could be Christmas lights, car headlights, or even dappled sunlight behind your subject, like this:

(Taken with Nikon D70 at F/4.2, 1/320 s., ISO 200)

Then, using a very large aperture (meaning the smallest number, like f/1.8 or f/4.5, depending on your lens), focus on something in the foreground of your composed photo.  The short depth of field, created by your large aperture, will blur the background and create bokeh!

I told you it was easy! 

Your December assignment:

Using this tutorial as a guide, create your own bokeh background.  Experiment with different light sources and backgrounds. With Christmas around the corner, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of inspiration!

Deadline:  December 31st, 2009

Please submit your photo(s), along with camera settings, using our submission form linked above, for a chance to be entered into our draw.  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 do not abide by these rules will NOT be posted on the blog, or entered into the drawing.

Our December prize pack is this lovely seasonal kit by Kelly Panacci:

Thanks in advance for playing along this month – I’m looking forward to seeing your submissions!  And stay tuned for more information about our contest to be posted early next week!

Happy Clicking!

Two more evenings!

Tomorrow’s the last evening to practice this month’s assigment!  Tell me… have you been experimenting with light painting?

You have??  Then don’t forgot to submit your photo to me by 11:59pm tomorrow night for a chance to win this great Karen Foster prize pack!

Come on – show me whatcha got!

November prize pack alert!

For our November assignment winner, we have a Karen Foster prize pack!   To qualify, read our November tutorial on Light Graffiti and submit your photo by 11:59pm EST on November 30th, 2009.  Don’t forget to include your camera settings in the Comments field to be eligible!

Happy Clicking!

Extended deadline!

Since Hallowe’en is all about darkness and spooky, I’m extending the deadline for the October tutorial to 11:59pm, Monday, November 2nd! This will give everyone a chance to take some photos of their little spooks or freaky decorations on the hallowed night!

Keep sending your submissions in for a chance to win this month’s prize from Pink Paislee!

Happy Clicking!

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Get snapping…

and this gorgeous prize package from Pink Paislee may be yours!!

**October '09 prize pack by Pink Paislee**

Oh, baby… come to Mama!

So, did you take a nap this afternoon so you could stay up late and get some night-time shots?  I want to share a series of photos that I snapped of the full moon last week – it was around 8:30pm but already the sky was so dark…

Not that you can tell from these photos!  All were shot with my tripod and a wide-open aperture of f/1.8:

**Settings: f/1.8, 6.0 sec., ISO 400**

After photographing this, I realized that my exposure, at 6 seconds, was too long, overexposing the photo and showing considerable amounts of blur from the trees swaying in the breeze.  So I halved my time to 3.0 seconds and snapped this one:

**Settings: f/1.8, 3.0 sec., ISO 400**

It was still way too overexposed for my purpose!  So I dialed it right down again to 1.3 seconds:

**Settings: f/1.8, 1.3 sec., ISO 400**

Since it’s hard for me to judge exposure on my LCD screen, I always take several shots, bracketing my photos.  I find that it increases the chance of me getting the shot I want, so I photographed it at 1.6 seconds and 1.0 seconds:

**[Settings: f/1.8, 1.6 sec., ISO 400**

**Settings: f/1.8, 1.0 sec., ISO 400**

Ah! Now we’re getting somewhere!

These images are all SOOC (straight out of the camera) so I enhanced the colours slightly, using the Pioneer Woman‘s Photoshop Actions (go and get your own right HERE – they are awesome!)

First, I ran her Boost action (one of my favourites) to enhance the colour:

**Enhanced using the PS Boost action by Ree Drummond**

Then I ran the Lovely and Ethereal action (another favourite) – perfect for those photos where you want a dreamy and well, ethereal look!

**Enhanced using the PS Lovely and Ethereal action by Ree Drummond**

Ah… Photoshop is a beautiful thing!

So get out there and start snapping – not only will you learn a bit more about your camera, but you may end up with a fabby photo to scrapbook, not to mention a wicked prize!

Happy Clicking!

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September’s Assignment

Submission deadline: September 30, 2009

Welcome to our new Hands On! section here at Canadian Scrapbooker! I’m so excited to be working on this new adventure and I promise we will have a lot of fun on the way!

As I mentioned in my article in the Fall 2009 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker, each month, I will offer some tips and techniques on the basics discussed in the current issue, plus I will post an assignment! You are invited to share your completed assignments here in our blog – each assignment completed and uploaded earns you a chance to win a prize from our sponsor.

This month’s sponsor is Rose Moka (www.rosemoka.com). Upload your photo assignment here for a chance to win this great prize package.

We’ve all tried to capture the action with our cameras – sometimes successfully, other times not! There are several methods to help freeze movement and create a sharp, clearly defined image. Using a faster shutter speed is one of the easiest methods.

When we shorten our exposure time, we minimize the time that the action has to be recorded, and as such, reduce the chance of blurring. Consider the following photos:

Fig 1: Photo by Jessi Lute, using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel Xsi, 70.0 – 300.0 mm lens, f/22, 1/125 sec, no flash.

In the first photo, Jessi chose a relatively slow shutter speed, considering the speed of her subject. Notice how the subject is blurred – this is due to the fact that it is moving faster than the time lapse before the shutter closed again.

Fig 2: Photo by Jessi Lute, using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel Xsi, 70.0 – 300.0 mm lens, f/7.0, 1/1250 sec, no flash.

But notice what happened in Fig. 2, when Jessi decreased her exposure time to a mere 1/1250th of a second! She effectively froze time so that she could capture her subject in crisp detail.

Shortened exposure times are not just limited to sports. In the following photos, Holly effectively captured a waterfall scene at two different exposure times. In Fig 3, a longer exposure time of 1/15th of a second elicits a sense of serenity and movement, while a shutter speed of 1/120th of a second captures the drama and power of the water falling (Fig. 4)

Fig 3: Photo by Holly Attfield, using a Nikon D70s, 18.0 – 70.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. f/29, 1/15 sec, no flash.

Fig 4: Photo by Holly Attfield, using a Nikon D70s, 18.0 – 70.0 mm f/3.5-4.5 lens. f/9, 1/200 sec, no flash.

So, are you ready for some Hands On Photography practice?

Your September assignment:

Using a fast shutter speed, effectively capture action or movement in a photo. Try stopping the action on a football field, or capture your child tossing leaves in the air. Use your imagination for your subject and composition, and don’t be afraid to try different settings.

Deadline: September 30th, 2009

Please submit your photo(s), along with camera settings, using our submission form linked above for a chance to be entered into our draw. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn on December 5th, 2009   October 1st, 2009.

Thanks for playing along this month, and be sure to join us on October 1st, when we will tackle the opposite side of the coin – slow exposure times!

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