Final submission

Our last submission for this month is from Emma Guy, of AB:

Taken with Canon Rebel T1i at f/4.7, 1/6 sec., ISO 3200

What an expression you’ve captured from a tired little boy!  Thanks for your submission, Emma!

And our September photo assigment is now closed!  Thanks to all who submitted this month – I truly enjoy seeing your work on our blog!

I will be drawing a winner for the Bo Bunny prize pack from the eligible submissions (photos taken between Sept. 7th to 30th) and will post a winner tomorrow sometime!  If you are one of the eligible participants, don’t forget to send me your layout, using that photo, before 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, October 6th, 2010 (see this post for contest rules).  One of our lucky participants will be published in an upcoming issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine and will win a Cinch by We R Memory Keepers!

Looking forward to seeing your layouts!

More Sharing

Tomorrow’s the last day to get your submissions in!

Today we’re sharing some great submissions from four readers.

Kim Deibert, of SK, shared these awesome photos from her summer vacation to California:

Taken with Canon Powershot SX120 at f/4, 1/320

Taken with Canon Powershot SX120 at f/3.5, 1/1250

and my favourite:

Taken with Canon Powershot SX120 at f/3.2, 1/1250

Oh. My. Heck.  I could just take him home right now!  I’ve nicknamed him Gilbert.  Thanks for sharing, Kim!

April Childs, of AB, sent me this photo of the fall colours in Edmonton:

Taken with Nikon D80 at f/7.1, 1/200, ISO 200

Gorgeous – thanks for your submission, April!

This next image was taken by Jen, of Edmonton:

Taken with CAnon Powershot S3IS at f/3.2, 1/30 sec.

I love the composition and the texture of the old shed/house – thanks for sharing, Jen!

Now, if anyone has had any baby urges lately, I am forewarning you – look away!  Nathalie Cormier’s image of this little guy will wreak havoc…

Taken with Canon EOS Sxi at f/5.6, 1/40 sec., ISO 400

Don’t blame me – I told you to look away!!  Look at those dimples… oh my!  Well, sorry, Gilbert – I’ve decided to take Baby Arnaud home instead!!    Thanks for sharing, Nathalie!

Okay, we’ve have some incredible photos submitted, but I just KNOW there are more of you who have taken photos in the last 20 days or so that will fit this photo assignment!!  So please send them to me before 11:59pm EST tomorrow night…

Cheers,

Fast and Furious!

That’s how the submissions are coming in!  I love it!  Thank you to everyone for sharing your photos with us!!  I have a lot to share today so consider yourself forewarned – this post is photo-heavy!

Bev Beaudette, of ON, sent me this photo of her granddaughter and her horse, Lexus – hence, the reason Bev titled this image “The Pursuit of Perfection”:

Taken with Samsung camera at f/5, 1/400 sec., ISO 100

What a beauty – both your granddaughter and Lexus!  However, I prefer a black Lexus…   Thanks for sharing, Bev!

Lee-Anne Thorton, of AB, sent in some lovely photos, including this one of she and her husband celebrating their 11th anniversary at Sheep River Falls:

Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/5.6, 1/80 sec., ISO 160

Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby!

Here are Lee-Anne’s other images:

Taken with Canon EOS 30 D at f/7.1, 1/200 sec., ISO 125

Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/4.5, 1/1600, ISO 200

Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/11, 1/160, ISO 125

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/4.5, 1/200, ISO 100

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/13, 1/200, ISO 400

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/4.5, 1/30, ISO 100

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/5, 1/60, ISO 200

Adorable!  Thanks for your submissions, Bethany!

Kelsy Propp, of AB,  also enjoyed the AB sunshine with her daughter:

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/5.6, 1/50 sec., ISO 100

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/11, 1/125 sec., ISO 200

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/5.6, 1/200 sec., ISO 200

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/5.6, 1/250 sec., ISO 200

Fantastic – thanks for sharing, Kelsy!

Wow! We’ve had some great submissions so far - I love them all!!  Well, I have to say… I’m glad that this contest is a random drawing because it would certainly be hard to choose one image over another!

There’s still time to send me yours… deadline is 11:59pm September 30th!  And please remember that while I am happy to share your images on our blog with our readers, to be eligible for the draw, your photo MUST HAVE BEEN TAKEN BETWEEN SEPT 7th and 30th. 

Cheers,

More Sept submissions

More submissions to share!

Dawn Hueser, of SK, sent these two submissions to share.  The first was taken at a local fair this summer, and the second was amazingly taken while traveling in a vehicle!

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel XSi at f/5, 1/40 sec., ISO unknown

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel XSi at f/6.3, 1/320 sec., ISO 200

Beautiful moments captured!  Thanks for sharing, Dawn!

Kim VanWormer, of NY, shared this patriotic photo:

Taken with Sony DSLR A200 at f/10, 1/160 sec., ISO 100

Lovely composition!  Thanks for sharing, Kim!

And last but not least, Maxine Lozinski, of AB, sent us these two beautiful wildlife/fauna photos:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/7.1, 1/500 sec., ISO 200

Taken with Canon Rebel SCi at f/9, 1/25 sec., ISO 100

Such rich colours!  Thanks for your submissions, Maxine!

There’s still a few days left to take your photos and submit them to me!  Remember that to be eligible for the 1st Blog-iversary contest, your layout must contain a photo that was submitted for the photo assignment – and photos MUST HAVE BEEN TAKEN BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 7th AND 30th!!

Happy Clicking!

Lots of submissions to share!

Wow!  We have some great submissions to share today - and if you haven’t submitted your photo yet, you have until 11:59pm on Thursday (Sept 30th)!  See our September photo assignment for more details…

Now, onto the sharing!

I received two submissions from Erin Aumack, of AB, a few days ago:

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/5.6, 1/125 sec., ISO 400

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/9, 1/125 sec., ISO 100

Adorable subject!  Thanks for your submission!

Kim Gowdy, of AB, also sent me two of her submissions.  One of Bella, her “ball-obsessed chocolate lab”:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/11, 1/125 sec., ISO 200

And this awesome shot, taken at Cavendish Beach in PEI:

Taken with Canon PowerShot SD970IS at f/11, 1/251 sec., ISO 80

Fantastic, Kim!  Thanks for sharing!

Christine Monteiro, of ON, also sent me a photo for this month’s assignment:

Taken with Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S800 at f/4.8, 1/1000 sec., ISO 80

Love the vivid colours!  Thank you for sending your submission!

Another great submission to share – this one from Lorraine Melin, of AB:

Taken with Canon Rebel XSi at f/2.0, 1/100 sec., ISO 200

Love this – thanks for sharing!

One more to share – Jennifer Whiteheadd, of ON, sent in this submission:

Taken with Nikon D50 at f/18, 1/125 sec., ISO unknown

Beautiful composition – thanks for your submission!

I have more submissions to share tomorrow!

Just a note, regarding the contests… While we LOVE you to share your photos with us, please remember that to be eligible for this month’s prize pack from Bo Bunny, AND to be eligible to win the 1st Blog-iversary contest, your photo MUST HAVE BEEN TAKEN BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 7th and 30th.  If it does not meet these qualifications, it will not be eligible, even though we may have shared it on our blog.

Can’t wait to see what memories you all capture next!

Cheers,

Another round of submissions

I’m excited to share more submissions today!

Kelsy Propp, of AB, sent me this adorable photo of her daughter, jumping on their trampoline:

Taken with Canon EOS Rebel T1i at f/5.6, 1/640 sec., ISO 160

Fantastic – thanks for sharing, Kelsy!

I received TWO submissions from Teresa McNutt, of NS, taken at Peggy’s Cove (on my bucket list of Places to Visit!!):

Taken with Nikon D40 at f/6.3, 1/640 sec., ISO 200

Taken with Nikon D40 at f/9.0, 1/320 sec., ISO 200

 Ah, the power of the ocean!  Thanks for your submissions, Teresa!

Congratulations to both Kelsy and Teresa, for not only are they eligible for the random drawing of the Bo Bunny prize for the September photo assignment, but they are also eligible to enter our 1st Blog-iversary contest by sending me a layout completed with their photo(s), by October 6th!  You can read about the contest details HERE.

Have you sent me your photo(s) yet?  Remember, to be eligible to win the WRMK Cinch, your layout submitted must contain a photo that was submitted for the September photo assignment!  And this month, it’s a easy one!!  Can’t wait to see what you come up with! 

And remember, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email at sue{AT}canadianscrapbooker{DOT}com.

Cheers,

More submissions

If you’re looking for more information on our 1st Blog-iversary contest, please scroll down or click here.

I have some great new submissions to share with you today!

Lee-Anne Thorton, of AB, sent me this photo taken in Osoyoos, BC:

Taken with Canon EOS 30D at f/5.0, 1/50 sec., ISO 100

That looks so relaxing – thanks for sharing, Lee-Anne!

Another submission this month comes from Stephanie Schan, of ON:

Taken with Canon 5DMk2 at f/5.0, 1/600 sec., ISO 125

Wonderful – Thanks for your submission!

So get out and start snapping because remember, to be eligible to win the WRMK Cinch, your layout must contain a photo, taken between September 7th and 30th, 2010,  that was submitted for the September photo assignment!  And this month, it’s a easy one!!  Can’t wait to see what you come up with! 

And remember, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email at sue{AT}canadianscrapbooker{DOT}com.

Cheers,

Starting off…

our September submissions this month is Heidi Brand, of ON, with this beautiful photo:

Taken with Canon EOS 40D at f/3.5, 1/100 sec., ISO 250

Taken with Nikon D50 at f/5.6, 1/25 sec.

Look at that adorable toothy grin!  Note how the quilted pattern draws your eye out across the photo.  Thanks, Melissa!

Congratulations to both Heidi and Melissa, for not only are they eligible for the random drawing of the Bo Bunny prize for the September photo assignment, but they are also eligible to enter our 1st Blog-iversary contest by now sending me a layout completed with their photo!  In fact, Melissa has already sent me hers!  You can read about the contest details HERE.

So get out and start snapping because remember, to be eligible to win the WRMK Cinch, your layout must contain a photo that was submitted for the September photo assignment!  And this month, it’s a easy one!!  Can’t wait to see what you come up with! 

And remember, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email at sue{AT}canadianscrapbooker{DOT}com.

Cheers,

September Tutorial: Rule of Thirds

Many of the visual arts, such as painting and graphic design use the rule of thirds as a general rule of thumb – even scrapbooking!  (see Christy Riopel‘s article on page 132 in our Fall 2010 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine)  The same holds true for photography.

The rule of thirds (or principle of thirds) states ”that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.” (Wikipedia)

Huh?

Well, in layman’s terms, it simply means that if you mentally divide your image into a 3×3 grid, your points of interest should be placed at either the intersection points or along the horizontal or vertical lines.  This will created a balanced photo, allowing the reader to view it in a natural way – studies have shown that the eyes have a tendency to start at these intersection points, rather than the centre so using the rule of thirds creates an image that is pleasing to the viewer and will easily engage them.

For example:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/4, 1/1250 sec., ISO 200

This photo engages the viewer, not only because of its’ adorable subject (love those little pigtails!), but because the focal point and points of interest are placed at an intersection point (subject’s eyes) or along the lines (subject, horizon, grass) as illustrated below:

Rule of thirds, illustrated.

Take the following photo, as another example:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/11, 1/400 sec., ISO 200

While the monochromatic colour scheme and the starkness of the black on white are effective, the photo is static and uninspiring.  But look what happens when I reframed the image, using the rule of thirds:

Taken with Nikon D70 at f/11, 1/400 sec., ISO 200

By zooming in on the image and shifting it to the left side, the tree is accentuated and the branches lead the eye across the image.  It also eliminates any distracting background elements in the background.

As a side note, I could have made my aperture (f/stop) wider (i.e. smaller number, like f/2) to achieve a short depth of field.  To do so, I would have had to increase my shutter speed (i.e. 1/8000th of a second) to achieve the same exposure.  You can review the tutorial on Depth of Field here.

Here are a few more examples:

Taken with Nikon D300s at f/8, 1/500 sec., ISO 200

Some cameras offer a setting that displays a grid in the viewfinder to help the photographer line up their elements according to the rule of thirds.

So grab your camera, check your manual for a grid display setting and start viewing things in a different way today!

September 2010 photography assignment:

Using the September tutorial as a guide, photograph a subject or object using the rule of thirds.  Line up your subject in various ways to get the most effective composition.  As always, if you have any questions, please leave me a comment on this post, or email me.

Deadline:  11:59 pm EST, September 30th, 2010

Please submit your photo, using our submission form only, for a chance to be entered into our draw to win an awesome prize.   Photos must have been taken between Sept. 7th and 30th, 2010.  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 submitted 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 Bo Bunny!  Check out this sweet prize pack from their Gypsy line!

September Prize Sponsor: Bo Bunny

But that’s not all you could win… stay tuned for details (to follow shortly!) on our big one-year blog-iversary contest for a chance to be published in Canadian Scrapbooker and to win a Cinch!!

Cheers,

September Winner!

Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry about the delay in posting the winners from our first assignment!  I had grand plans to video tape my daughter picking a name out of the bowl and to post it here online, but I needed my hubby’s technical expertise and he had some problems to solve at work so that was sidelined.

However, I did just go the old-fashioned route and wrote all of our participants’ names down on slips of paper and then just had my hubby randomly draw a winner…

Congratulations to Sierra Heggie who submitted this photo:

Taken with Canon Powershot S5 at f/8, 1/1250 sec., IS 400

Sierra, we will mail your prize out to the address on your submission form!  Thanks to all who participated in our September assignment.  I hope you will all try out our October assignment (be sure to check out BOTH parts here and here!) – I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone can do with low light!  I took advantage of a full moon a few nights ago and took a series of photos that I will share in a few days – a full or partially full moon often provides plenty of light for nighttime shots!

Just a note – please send me your submissions by using the submission form!  Thanks!

Happy Clicking!

~~~~~~~~~~~