Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

After a few of days of moping around the house reflecting on our horrific fire disaster, I realised that the texture of my own 3-day growth was waiting to be shot. After all, it’s at least as interesting as the study materials I’ve been staring at. So, being the very lazy photographer that I am, I grabbed my 350D with the 50mm 1.8 lens, shuffled into the bathroom and took a couple of snaps into the mirror, with careless guesswork being my means of determining a focal point (obviously I couldn’t look through the viewfinder). After shooting three images whilst trying to stifle yawns, I chose the last and dialed down the saturation a little.  The unnatural yellow you get from down-lights lends it some character, and all I really had to do was crop closely and fiddle with the curves to improve contrast.  To shoot this properly, I should have waited until daylight, used my 30D and the 70-200 USM 2.8 lens on a tripod, with a remote control and me sitting next to a window.  As I said, I’m lazy and that was way too much work. Hence this quick and dirty, hand-held marvel with my toy SLR.

ISO 200, F4.0, 1/30

Joepi’s Submission

Joepi says:

This Ao Dai is my favorite souvenir from my travels. I took this for the photo challenge to show the texture of the fabric and the embroidery. I love the details on the dress – the stitches along the edges, the colorful thread used, and the satin on the collar. This beautiful softness is offered to you for your viewing pleasure. Shot with my Canon 400D on a 50mm lens.F1.8 1/40 shot in natural light.

My thoughts: I love this photo. I love the Ao Dai (pronounced “Ow Yay” in the south and “Ow Zhay” in the north) – Joepi has immortalised her stunning garment just beautifully. I love the collar as much as I do the design, the composition is very good, and the image is so sharp I feel like I could reach out and touch it. This photograph successfully transfers the feeling of texture from my eyes to my fingers.

Mat’s submission:

Mat says:

I’ve struggled with this one for the last two weeks trying to come up with a concept I would enjoy shooting. The main problem I had is that to me texture is something you feel, not something you take photographs of! I’ve had this silly pun in the back of my mind for at least a week, and as I haven’t been able to come up with any better ideas I decided to shoot it. I fed the shot through some of the interesting texture effects in Paintshop Pro to give the smooth wood and wall a far more textured feel. I think I’ve surprised myself by actually coming up with an interesting photo and not just a silly pun, but here it is: Textchair!

My thoughts: Mat said it himself. This was a bit of a cheat on his behalf (so was mine last week), but in fact there is texture everywhere in this image, the most obvious being in the post-processing. However, the chair has texture in the grain and feel of the wood, as does the floor it sits on and the plaster of the wall behind it. I for one, have ignored his play on words and thought immediately of how smooth the polished chair feels in the hand as you follow the bumps, grooves and stretches of timber shaped by the lathe. No matter what the purpose of the image, it’s actually quite an interesting one to look at.

Ken’s submission

Nope, it’s not an error – there are two images for Ken. Read on, then make your comments as necessary.

Ken says:

I set out to photograph some familiar rock formations along the coast for this weeks challenge. However, as i was getting into the processing, I kept glancing up at a postcard I’ve previously printed and pinned on my wall. It was from a set of the very first photos when I began getting back into photography in August 2004. I had just bought a Nikon D70 kit with an 18-70 f3.5 lens. The lens was terribly slow but still very sharp. This is a small alley near the Prahan Market on a very wet day. My original goal was to shoot the whole alley which was lined with plenty of graffiti along the walls. My favourite of the set ended up being this shot for its simplicity and texture. The addition of the sepia improved the contrast and mood.
…..whilst digging the alley photo out of the archive I have come across another which also fits very well with the challenge. I will let Stephen decide if two photos would be appropriate. This was a crab net on the docks in Port Fairy. I was travelling back from Adelaide and stopped in Port Fairy to spend the night. I was delighted to come across this old net on the dock. It lends itself well to being black and white as there is little contrast in the colour shot with the rust blending in with the background dock

My thoughts: I know sometimes we have a lot on our plate, so I’m OK with archival shots every now and then – this time Ken submitted two from his archive. One I’ve seen before and absolutely love, but I initially picked just one – the crab pot because it’s new to me.   Then I saw how much Ken wrote, and I know he doesn’t like putting pen to paper so much. I didn’t want to edit his submission, so here you are – two images.  As I said, they’re both awesome images, but I’m concerned about starting a trend in shot selection, so let’s hear your feedback first.

I use the word challenge because I want people to think about the theme for the best part of 2 weeks and actually get out there and shoot a new image.  Another part of the challenge is to be able to select and edit – I know how hard that is for me, and Ken’s got a lot more good stuff coming out of his camera than I do.   Ken, I know your busy, but am I going to have to pick you up and take you away from the house, camera in hand, a couple of hours a month?  Actually it would do me some good and get me some Vitamin Sun.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

I’ve always been a texture enthusiast. Yes, I’m that kind of nutcase who goes shooting for textures every so often, especially during the rainy season – don’t ask me why as I can ramble on that for hours.

Looking back on my previous photo database, I could discern that every other image I took had been strewn with layers of textures ranging from fur to parched paper. Unluckily, most of them were merely experimental and not prone to be ever displayed in public. For what it’s worth, I’ve got a reputation to uphold.

For this shot, the aperture was at 9.0 and the shutter at 1/160 setting focal up to 55mm on me amid pine trees on a bright sunny day of Sunday.

My thoughts: Well, the timing on this is perfect – Survivor series 18 started yesterday, and it’s set in Brazil.  Katy looks like one of the competitors after a tough immunity challenge.  And if it wasn’t for the strap of her singlet I could imagine she is the wild woman of Borneo running and hiding in the forest whilst trying to remain a myth.  I’m glad someone photographed a pine tree. They are about the most enduring memory of texture I have from childhood. Most country schoolyards had them, I think.  One thing I’d really prefer to see here is a sharp crispness of the tree, as that is actually what my eye is drawn to. I suspect it was there in the original, but might have been lost in post-processing? Katy – any thoughts on that?

Next Challenge

It’s time to give Katy a go. She came up with a real doozy and I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this exactly.  The theme is “Seven Deadly Sins“.
For those of you not up with sinning, and I sure as hell (oops) am not, here’s what they’re said to be:

1. lust
2. gluttony
3. greed
4. sloth
5. wrath
6. envy
7. pride

Personally, I can’t see anything wrong with any of them.

Now, I’m not going to ask you to submit seven photos, nor am I going to spread this out over 14 weeks.  So, you have two choices.  You may either shoot one image that encompasses all seven, or you may pick your favourite sin and make it happen in a glorious 2D photograph.

IMPORTANT – I hate censorship as much as the next person, however this blog is read by people of all ages and I’m not quite ready to introduce password-protection or adults-only sections.  So, if you just can’t help yourself, send those images to me separately for private evaluation, but I can only publish the PG – M rated shots.

PLEASE submit your images by just after sunset on Sunday March 1st (Australian Eastern Standard Time for you internationals).
Most importantly – have fun shooting!

Tech⋅ni⋅col⋅or

/ˈtɛknɪˌkʌlər/ [tek-ni-kuhl-er]
1. Trademark. a brand name for a system of making color motion pictures by means of superimposing the three primary colors to produce a final colored print.
–adjective
2. (often lowercase) flamboyant or lurid, as in color, meaning, or detail.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts:

This is representative of my typical way of thinking about things – left of centre, although I’m sure Mat would have thought of this too.  This is a collage of “technical colour” things around my house.  I don’t have much else to offer about this image today so I’ll leave it to others for a change.  And thanks to Joepi for her help on how to use Photoshop to create a montage/collage or whatever it’s called.

Joepi’s submission

Joepi says:

Sinulog is a festival held in Cebu every year on the 3rd weekend of January. It is the Philippines’ version of Mardi Gras (sans the nudity as this is a religious festival).
The colors you see being displayed for you in the Grand Parade are just plain fabulous and earns the “WOW Philippines” tourism tagline. Among the hundreds of photos I took that day for the uber-technicolor event, I chose this particular photo obviously for the many colors in the photo but also because of the challenge I had in trying to bring out the colors despite a gray sky which dampened the color in a lot of my photos. If anyone has more tips on how to bring out sunny colors on a dreary day, please speak up!
Taken with my Canon 450 D Portrait lens.

My thoughts: An extremely bright image which I think fits the criteria of our theme perfectly.  Excellent choice of crop, too. I like the tightly cropped portraits. I’ve seen the entire set of Joepi’s Sinulog photos and I have to say that the colours are just great the way they’re presented. In my view the overcast day actually helped them to stand out. Personally I dislike shooting in bright sun as it tends to wash out colours for me. Ken is the light expert, someone might want to wake him up out of hibernation and get his opinion.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

This shot was taken in a park nearby ages ago. I tried to play with the color blend a bit by rummaging up on PS – channel mixer basically and monochromatic noise set to 15 to make it look old. However, I’m not convinced whether I got the idea right.

My thoughts: This is actually quite similar to how I imagined technicolor movies might look (I don’t watch anything that isn’t in full colour, with lots of explosions and CGI).  In my view it also has an old Kodak (or was it Agfa) slide look about it. Hmmm, wonder if that’s why Katy used a slide in the image – to make that connection…

Ken’s Submission

Ken says:

This is a photo i took some time ago of Victor Pender, a local Melbourne musician.  I really like the shot as it very much represented his personal style. I like that it has a kind of retro/disco/techno feel.

Victor was sitting on my dining table with black muslin draped behind him. I used a pair of Bowens monolights, one high above to create the butterfly lighting and the other behind to give the green backlight. The spot in the corner and lens flare was applied in Photoshop.  I knew as soon as I fired the first shot of this sequence that it would be the best shot of the night.The sharp shadows are created using a small reflector on the light source and keeping the light close to the subject to minimise the light depth of field.

This was shot with Nikon’s 28-70mm at f8.0 ISO 100.  I tend to always stick to the middle aperature on the Nikon lenses when in studio as they prove to be sharpest and  have no distortion.  I control the exposure with the lights power adjustments.

My thoughts: I always remember a couple of things that Ken has taught me, and one is the use of F8 on my studio lenses to get the sharpest images.  I also marvel at how he thinks through the lighting to create the end result. Years of experimentation and practice, I suppose. This is a superb portrait of Victor with a lovely touch of dreaminess to take it into the realms of rock. The colours of the lens flare are very cool, and I like the slightly muted, rusty tones.

Mat’s Submission

Mat says:

I was considering heading into the Melbourne CBD to shoot some of the fantastic graffiti art that decorates the city, but with the high temperatures we’ve been having lately I was worried that my camera might melt, or I may spontaneously combust, so instead I decided to shoot a portion of my unfeasibly large collection of t-shirts.
I took a few shots at different exposures and played around with the HDR Merge function in Paintshop Pro to come up with something nice and bright but also a little unnatural. And yes, I do wear these t-shirts on a regular basis!

My thoughts: Yes. Mat does wear these t-shirts. I regularly go home with a headache after he insists on accompanying the orange one, which delights in shouting boorishly at anyone who will listen.  Another excellently thought out and composed photo.

Next Challenge

It’s Ken’s turn this time with his suggestion of “Texture“.   For your enticement I have a very intriguing and possibly difficult theme coming up after that, suggested by Katy.

Looking forward to all images being submitted by close of the clock on Sunday 15th February.

I was just about to press “Publish” after writing that we’re “Ken-less” again this challenge. He’s stuck somewhere in the Canadian boonies with sporadic Internet access (and probably no electricity, telephone, food or water and fending off grizzly bears).  However just as I hovered over the button I received Ken’s submission.   We also have Katy from Brazil submitting her first photo, so I have five images to share with you this time.

First, some housekeeping – Katy has given me a little bio to publish.

“First of, I have to confess that photography has taken over my life. I’ve always loved taking pictures. Passion that flourished when I was a little girl with a Zenit 12XP.

So now let’s talk about my work. I take self-portraits mostly – as you might have noticed on Flickr – because I get complete satisfaction being able to express myself thru art along with the fact that I am the only model I have. Shooting myself allows me to have full control and I also have a lot of fun doing it. It is, beyond doubt,  a challenge I enjoy taking on for two main reasons: it allows me to grow as an artist and as a person myself – I used to hate having my picture taken because I don’t really think I’m very photogenic. 

Photography to me is a package. There is so much to it from setting up the shot to taking the image, and the processing – I tend to use editing software on most of my photos, though I try not to overuse it, unless I’m doing more illustrative work, which I love.

Please feel free to criticise, praise, or comment on any of my pics either here or on Flickr. 

Thanks for your time and, of course, for taking me aboard.”

Thank you Katy – now, on to our photos.

Steve’s submission

My thoughts: Xmas in Australia is represented by warm weather, blue and cloudy skies, simple cold meat or roast feasts, christmas pudding, quaffable Australian beer and the cricket on the telly. Here’s the chimney Santa tried to slip down this year in a typical suburban Melbourne dwelling. As long as he doesn’t break the aerial on the way down he’s always welcome.  Just wish he’d take some of the children back with him to work as elves through the year.

Shot on my Panasonic FZ18 with some Photoshop curves and mask magic applied to bring the chimney back out of the shadows. 

Joepi’s submission

Joepi says:

There are several things that can depict a Filipino Christmas. There’s the Belen which is a diorama of the Nativity scene; the Simbang Gabi (Night Mass) which is a 4am mass several days before Christmas; vendors selling Puto Bumbong and Bibingka - made with rice sugar and coconut sold after the mass; and lastly my favorite: Christmas Lanterns or the Parol which depict the star that shone the way to Bethlehem. Parols are made from whatever material you can find at home as long as in the end it forms a star! Of course, if you’re lazy and have had your share of Parol making as a kid (like I did with my dad!), you can actually go out and buy yourself one. This photo is one of the first corners in Manila that sold the more extravagant lanterns. It was always a sign that Christmas is in Manila (which typically starts in September) when these stalls are put up and the nights are lit with blinking stars.

This photo was taken on the 23rd of December – Christmas is already in full swing in Manila, but this hopeful is still waiting to sell more of his merchandise. Now I know I need more help in the whole shooting at night department, so I apologize ahead of time for the noise. This was shot at a very high ISO 1600 at f1.8. Somebody tell me how to get better photos of alternately blinking lights at night without using flash! It was drizzling too, so I was in quite a rush!

Oh and Merry Christmas to you Steve, Mat, Ken and Katy! Cheers!

My thoughts: Xmas in the Philippines sounds like madness. Just like every other aspect of it.  Good madness, mind you.  Love to have experienced it.  Re shooting this better than you already did – ask Ken.  I think you did fine.  A little fill flash, if you can work out how to do it on that cam, might have helped.  And cropping more tightly would stop me from straining my eyes to see the detail. 

Ken’s submission

Ken says:

Technically this shot is all wrong. I had no flash and only the Christmas lights to illuminate Cameron. I also had to push the ISO all the wait up to H1 (1600 i think). 50 mm lens at f1.4.  This is straight out of the camera as I have no editing tools in Canada. Actually, I have no decent pc even to open the files. Thankfully I found an late night Walmart to buy a USB cable.

This is Cameron’s first Christmas and I loved spending every minute with him.  He didn’t cry when sitting on Santa’s lap and enjoyed the tearing of Christmas wrapping paper to discover his  new toys

My thoughts:  Should have bought a Canon, Ken  But seriously, not-so-little-anymore Cameron in his Santa suit looks very cute and very warm in what must be a chilling Canadian winter.  This photo looks like it could have been taken in any Australian home on Xmas morning, and I doubt there are too many differences between us other than the weather.

Katy’s submission

Katy says:

Thinking of my concept for Christmas wasn’t a struggle at all.  First, I really love the whole Christmassy atmosphere all around the globe. Second, Santa has always been my favourite Xmas character of all – as for many others.

Cheer up, y’all! We, the Santa Katies, have something for you. All you have to do is drop us a line or give us a call, and “we’ll bring your shopping to you”!

Well, it may sound a bit harsh, but that’s exactly the idea of what Xmas has become to me. Nobody, broadly speaking, can be bothered getting off their seats and actually getting outside to buy something meaningful – as Christmas itself should be- to the ones they love.

That was my very brief description. Hope you work out the rest.

This picture was taken with my Sony DSC-W55. Yeah, still haven’t purchased a decent camera! I did some kind of Photoshoppery to that image: Multiplicity or Clone Shot, which most of you have heard about. It is a simple process of taking two or three images of oneself in different areas of the same frame (ideally mount your camera on a tripod) and layering each figure into one frame on PS using the pen tool and moving layers into the master composite.

My thoughts: Katy, this is an absolutely perfect start to your contribution to our little club.  Having also seen some of your other shots, I like the way you think your ideas through to every little detail of the composition – possibly something the rest of us don’t do quite to this extent. The shadow on the wall & the props really add story elements, and of course the stockings are a real attention grabber as well as a talking point.  This is an image full of conversation starters, and I think your style will add yet another level of balance to our group. I’ll chat to you offline about cloning/multiplicity, as I don’t know how to use PS to that extent yet, and am interested.  I was thinking of creating a collage but didn’t know how to use PS to make a professional one, so had to choose one image.  You might be able to help me skill up in that area.  Once again, welcome.  I just hope the boys in our club are going to be able to objectively critique your images.

Mat’s submission

Mat says:

Christmas often seems to be about family and food. As my family are
all on the other side of the planet, here’s the food that I enjoyed on
this Christmas Day.

My thoughts: I saved the best for last.  I absolutely adore this image. I could see it up on my wall. Great presentation of simple, yet telling images. Even the mobile phone in the breakfast composition helps to tell the story.  For some strange reason I think that baked beans “meal” is being eaten off a placemat on your polished floorboards!  Well done, Mat.

Next challenge

Time to do something a little different.  Well, not really that different. I’m just going to turn over the choice of themes to you guys.  BUT – to give you all time to send me suitable themes, the next challenge has been chosen by one of our readers, Veena Rusli.  V is the Bureau Chief of Berita Harian (Wikipedia is your friend) in Sabah, Malaysia. She’s a top journo in other words. So to have her as one of my regular readers is an honour. Mind you, she seems to be more interested in words than images, but you can’t win ‘em all.

So, V has suggested “Temptation”, and I’ve gone with it because I know it will challenge some of you in a new way.  Please have your submissions in by Sunday 18th January.

Katy lives in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil.  Katy is a teacher, and a beach lover who lives 1300 km from the nearest beach.  She has an excellent photo collection on Flickr which I invite you to go check out now. Welcome aboard, Katy!

Transition can mean so many things to so many people. And therein lies the fun of asking four very different people to apply their creativity to this theme.

Steve’s submission:

My thoughts: I’m not sure I should go first this time, as I don’t think my photo is really indicative of my style, nor a particularly good shot.  However, it does show the constant cyclic transition that nature experiences. In this case an old tree comes to a possibly untimely demise at the hands of farmers, but way below the eyeline, as yet unnoticed, the tree’s offspring raises it’s youthful head ready to take up the challenge of survival.  Shot on the Canon 30D, 45mm, F22, 1/50, ISO 100. Primarily processed in Lightroom 2.1 and all the really tough stuff cleaned in Photoshop CS3.

Mat’s Submission:

My thoughts: Mat, this is a fantastic idea.  I really love what you’ve come up with.  Next step for you is to build your technical skills to allow you to present the very best version of your ideas that you can. Ken is the post-processing master, so go drop in on him unannounced, with a bottle of wine of course, and get him to give you the works. Your photos will love you for it, and the less creative of us (i.e. me) will be bowing in deference.

Mat says: I struggled to come up with an idea for this one. I had some thoughts about sunsets or nature scenes where one landscape transitioned into another one, eg grass to beach to sea, or field to freeway, or parkland to car park – but the very wet Melbourne weather this weekend made me somewhat disinclined to venture into the great outdoors.

So I ended up deciding that with every tick of the clock we are transitioning from one time into another. I used a 5 second exposure to capture 5 ticks in a fairly gloomy room, then I massaged the result with some of the filters in Lightroom and Paintshop Pro to give it a slightly more abstract and grainy feel. I wanted an old fashioned look which is offset by the word QUARTZ showing it is actually a modern clock – hence indicating a transition from the old clock-work world to our modern electronic one.

Ken’s Submission:

My thoughts: I think Ken might still be having trouble with my Aussie accent, because he’s given us “trainsition” instead. This image had me believing the trains were both moving, making me wonder how on earth he took the shot. I love the character and details in Ken’s images, so even when I’m through thinking about the life analogy delivered by the passing trains, I can analyse the rails and stones to see what I can find in there.

Ken says: I must say…I have struggled with this week’s theme!  I understand why Stephen chose it, but once again I did not want to entertain the obvious and therefore set out to find something left of field. 

Whilst shooting the various images to compile this particular shot, U2’s Running to Stand Still was drifting through my head. For me, this week at least, transition is a train wreck in the making… We sometimes struggle to transcend without tearing down everything and beginning again. With all our optimism we set out with the lesson previously learnt in an attempt to make the transition to a better, happier life… Our problem is that we never really apply what was learnt and fall desperately back onto the same ol’ twisted tracks. All the while it seems that everyone else is on the fast train…passing us by…getting somewhere… anywhere….or maybe we are all just running to stand still?

U2 – Running to Stand Still (first verse)

And so she woke up

Woke up from where she was lying still
Said I gotta do something about where we’re going
Step on a steam train
Step out of the driving rain
Maybe run from the darkness in the night

This was shot with my trusted Nikon D2X, Nikon 28-35mm f2.8 lens. (shot at f8 at about 1/300 , ISO 200) 

Joepi’s Submission:

My thoughts: I left the best for last. This is the most tangible and definable transition of all, and Joepi’s presentation of herself in this collage is a little self-deprecating, a trait Aussies love.  I’ll leave it to Joepi to explain the story behind the image.

Joepi says: I had no plans of actually sending this,but I did put the collage together for the challenge just for the giggles.

The transition from drab to fab is every girly-girl’s favorite activity. And every woman goes through these transitions at least once in their lifetime, others do it too often, others too little and most, like me, do it for fun (especially if it’s a free make over!) 

Next challenge:

The next challenge will be a little different but the theme is a tad obvious – “Christmas”.

This time I am not looking for abstract images or unusual interpretations, but rather something that represents your personal impression of or experience with this particular event.

“Christmas” should be submitted by Sunday December 28

I’d also like each of you (including Katy) to submit a theme idea, and I’ll randomly use one for each of the upcoming four challenges.

Steve’s submission:

My thoughts: Shot on my Canon 30D at 55mm, ISO 100, F8 & for 1/2 a second, this is a natural light image with some Lightroom and Photoshop treatment. I solarised a copy in Lightroom then layered the result onto the source image and painted back most of the original detail.  I love the effect this has on the shadows, turning them into what could be a power lead, and giving the previously dull laptop text some futuristic personality.

Regarding the concept – originally I wanted to shoot myself on all fours with the laptop on my back, but realised that was far too obvious (and I was too shy). I like this idea better.  It doesn’t necessarily reflect my own personal opinion on the often unhealthy relationship between computer and geek, but it does raise questions about who controls who, and by what means.  Perhaps you might ask those same questions about human to human relationships. Those stilleto boots could assist you in your analysis.  This photo is intended to be completely open to your interpretation.  Now please discuss it amongst yourselves and let me get back to my computer.   Thank you.

PS – This arrived in my mailbox today. China classes Web addiction as clinical disorder. Personally, I think not being plugged in and wired up is the real clinical disorder! Phone calls and actual human contact are so 20th Century, people! Get with the program!

Mat’s submission:

My thoughts: I was hoping to see something like this from Mat. He’s a creative guy and I like it when he puts his creativity into action. The only one of us to present an image directly referencing the sexual definition of the word, he is also the only one I would have put my money on to do so. His chosen digital treatment enhances and perhaps sanitises what could have been an uncomfortably personal photograph (at least for me). I like that I can choose which of the four versions works for me, although in the end I’ve decided that all four are inseparable, working together to present a lovely textured aesthetic.  Andy Warhol might have created something this interesting with a bit more practice and a mentor with good taste.  Unlike Andy’s rudimentary creations, this could actually hang on my wall.

Mat says: Here’s my submission for Submission. Which kinda means I could send in anything and it would fit the theme because it’s a submission, but I went for the sub part of the mission and here’s the result.

The most fun part of this shoot was getting to tie my girlfriend up in her lingerie, because it was for an artistic challenge. At least that’s what I told her. I fiddled with the final shot in Paintshop Pro to add a frame and some arty textures and then merged four of the best results together.

Joepi’s submission:

My thoughts: This shot scares the crap out of me, and I think it fits the brief very well. Great use of lateral thinking by Joepi. The look on the guy’s face is priceless, and from this distance even she looks rather hesitant. I think for one moment they’ve forgotten the modern submission associated with marriage (he submits his credit card, and she submits her domestic abilities) and are truly submitting to the all powerful Him who must be obeyed.   Either that or the guy is actually one of the Reception Centre waiters who was called in to replace the groom at the last minute when he scampered.  Hmmm – looking at the clothes he’s wearing I’m going with that option.

Joepi says: Submission is spelled in three ways in this photo. One would be the obvious submission of the couple to each other. The other is the couple submitting to the looming figure of the pastor as he lays down the foundations of their marriage. And lastly to the commitments the pastor is asking them to verbalize through that microphone to make their submission public.

Canon 400 D
Focal Length 18.0 mm
Exposure: 1/30
Aperture F/4.5
ISO 1600
Edited in Picasa

Ken’s submission:

My thoughts: You may not be able to read the fine print down the bottom, so in summary Ken has provided five dictionary definitions of the term “submission”, and chosen to present the first, “Yielding, or readiness to yield”.  At first glance I thought this was an accident waiting to happen, and apparently it almost was.  However, Ken explained he used multiple exposures to drive (Get it? “Drive” ha ha – hmmmm, why is it so quiet in here?) his interpretation of the theme home.  One thing is for sure, Aussies don’t seem to be able to understand roundabouts and the simple rules governing their use. And I imagine many Aussies think yield is how you describe this year’s wheat crop.

Ken says: This was a little more challenging as i wanted to think as far out of the box as possible.  You may recognise the intersection on Boardwalk Blvd.  I shot this intersection with the Tokina 12-24 at f22 and 1/13th second (iso 100).  It is amazing how many times i experience the failure to yield at this intersection…!

This week’s challenge was initially deemed an easy one by some of us.  However I quickly pointed out that it could, like any theme, be interpreted in a very obvious way or in a totally obscure manner.  The artist defines the interpretation, not the public expectation.

Steve’s submission:

"Garden" - Steve

My thoughts: I don’t go out into the garden unless it is to sit in the sun and read a book, or play with the cats. And even then, it’s not for long.  But I do like to collect information. Therefore a bookshelf with gardening books is my own garden.  I shot this with the Canon 350D at ISO 400, 1/40, f2.2 and 50mm. The result is barely any depth of field, which shows on some of the books, and not a terribly sharp image due to motion.  However, I am a lazy photographer and just like to capture something as soon as I see it or have the idea.  So no amount of time was going to be spent on lighting this bookshelf any better, and I didn’t feel like adding any image noise that Ken might be want to bag me about.  I chose to desaturate all except the greens, simply because gardens are supposed to be green.  I kept some yellow because dying lawn is yellow.

Ken’s submission:

"Garden" - Ken

My thoughts: Ken didn’t let me down with his first submission.  He chose to apply strong compositional rules with his use of lines drawing the eye through the image, and his placement of the fence post. There is a natural border created by the shrubs in the foreground, and the shot was taken with extreme wide angle to create a panoramic effect.  What is most striking to me is the definition of the clouds and, to a lesser degree, the plow rows.  He does this with a combination of HDR, in this case created from 7 separate images across the exposure spectrum, and good contrast management in post-processing. The result, a hastily finished image that would still look amazing on a wall.  The connection with our theme is that it is a market garden near the Point Cook RAAF base.

Ken says, “Most of the fields are filled with Cauliflower and I suspect this one has just been readied for a new crop.  This photo is a blend of seven bracketed photos and shot with the Tokina 12-24mm on a Nikon D2X. I merged the images in Photomatix Pro and tone mapped accordingly.  It could use a bit more work with burning and dodging, but due to time constraints i will leave as it is.”

Mat’s submission:

My thoughts: OK, there is either a lot, or very little to say about Mat’s shot, from the point of view of an uninformed observer.  I personally don’t like the shot for many reasons, but that’s not to say the guy next to me doesn’t love it. As you will find out over time, Mat has a very different way of looking at things to me.

This shot was taken at Campbell’s Cove near Point Cook, on the smelly seaweed garden that gathers over the Point Cook coastline during the winter then rots as the summer heat kicks in.  I guess the bland colours and flat lighting, combined with an uncomfortably claustrophobic crop and a forlorn seagull poking me in the eye, work well to tell the story of unpleasantness this “garden” presents to the visitor.  Note to anyone wanting to travel down there to capture a better beach image – Campbell’s Cove is the home to what is probably Australia’s most revolting nude beach.  The inhabitants are about as unattractive as the location.

Mat says, “The rotting seaweed garden of Campbell’s Cove.  Come for the decay, stay for the stench.”

Joepi’s submission:

Garden - Joepi

My thoughts: This is a simple but beautiful and natural image, that immediately calms and relaxes you when you view it.  Long-term staring may bring attention to technical issues, or scruffiness of some of the flowers, but that would be taking away from the intended enjoyment of the image. You wouldn’t critique a cut flower arrangement instead of being soothed by it’s simple placement in a vase, would you?  I’ll stick my neck out and critique it anyway.   Whilst the depth of field is OK, the white flowers directly behind the main subject serve to take away from the definition of the flowers. A cleaner backdrop, even if made up of leaves and branches would help the main orchid bunch to dominate the image.  The darker leaves around the outside make for a nice vignette.  The lighter, unopened buds to the bottom left distract me a little.  But I’ll finish by saying that the moment this file opened on my desktop my immediate reaction was “ah, very nice”. Just as a bouquet of flowers may do.

Joepi says, “Orchids have always reminded me of my Mum’s garden. The color contrasts of purple and yellow-green off-set by the whites just make for a very fresh and clean feel. This photo was taken in Tagaytay last Sept. 28. Canon EOS 400D, 1/2500 sec f/1.8 at ISO-200. Edited in Picasa.

Next

I hope this first post serves to raise a few hackles, soothe a few savage beasts, and get the juices flowing for another round.  The next challenge theme is tougher. It is “submission“, and is due by Sunday 16th November.

Welcome to the first of what I hope to be many Rock Portrait Photography Challenges.

My idea is to present each of my photographer friends with a regular challenge to create one image in a particular theme. Nothing ground-breaking about this idea, but each of us has very different points of view, artistic visions, experience, skill sets and countries of origin, and can therefore present images that cover the gamut of the photographer spectrum – from basic enthusiast to experienced professional.  As site owner, I get to be the reviewer – for now (until one of the others regularly writes more than I do, and by default becomes head reviewer).

I intend to review these images from the point of view of you – the uninformed viewer.  I may, or may not present the point of view of the photographer as well.  We’ll see how I feel.

You see, whenever I look at images online, or in a gallery, I generally have no idea how or why it was created, so I make up my own view. Whether my conclusions are right or wrong are irrelevant. In fact, it’s my opinion that this is what art is all about. Art is just a word to describe the result of one person creating something (usually not particularly practical) that another person can interpret in an entirely different manner.

The four contributors at this time are:

1. Ken Warmington
   Ken is the most experienced of us all.  He’s an Australianised Canadian who has been shooting since before birth, uses Nikon exclusively, is particularly interested in black and white and HDR (high dynamic range) images and knows too damn much about photography.
2. Mat Ward
   Mat is a miserable Yorkshireman doing his very best to cheer up in the warm Aussie sun.  Well, he’s not as miserable as he seems, and he proves it by occasionally wearing orange t-shirts and funny hats.  Mat is learning the ropes with a Canon EOS 450D or something, and spends a lot of time trying to make the camera capture his world the way his very unusual mind sees it.
3. Joepi Paloma
   Joepi is the only cosmopolitan of us still living overseas, and she takes full advantage of her Manila home to go scuba diving in some of the very best locations in the world every weekend (grrrr!!!).  Joepi has recently purchased a 400D which is put to good use above water whilst her Canon A620 in it’s housing goes nuts in the depths of the tropics.  Joepi clearly has too much time on her hands as she is easily the most prolific photographer of us all.  She’s also a Nudibranch fanatic!  If you don’t know what that is you have two choices – either giggle uninformatively under your breath or go look it up in Wikipedia for the correct definition.
4. Stephen McGrath
   That’s me, of course. I’m the only real Aussie, although I tell everyone I’m Irish whenever Paddy comes over here to hand the Aussies a drubbing in International Rules football. I once tried telling an Irish girl that I was Irish and nearly got bonked over the head with a mouldy potato.  ( I did say “of Irish descent”).  Anyway, I use Canon gear – a 30D and 350D – and try to shoot in natural light (I hate flash), capturing candid moments.  Ken is my mentor, but we also work very well together due to our complimentary and very different points of view about everything.

Hopefully this challenge will kick off some excellent discussions, learning experiences and, at the very least, inspire the more busy of us to take photos more often.  And if we get enthusiastic enough, we may even start a podcast!  But let’s not get too excited…