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Photos of the Week - Week 13

Critique Group Challenge: 

Week 13, Nonsense

Photo by Francisco Valladares

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Francisco says: 

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

My submission is based on the above section of the poem. For this submission I used seven layers and used the same number of photos to create the collage.

1-The first and second layers were the background of the photo, I used a rusted sculpture we have in the backyard and a photo a took this week of our oxalis plants in our front yard after a rain.

2-The third photo is a photo I took in the Penwith Peninsula in Cornwall, England, this is the ruins of Carn Galver Engine House which was part of a 19th century mine.

3-Photos five, six and seven were the three characters on the photo. The Jabberwock is a phot of a figure standing in the front of a house in our neighborhood, it was put there for Halloween but never left, it still standing there guarding the house. The Jubjub bird is a weathervane in our backyard which I distorted to make it look funny and disproportionate. Finally, the Bandersnatch is the photo of a famous artwork in town by late local musician Daniel Johnston which he called “Jeremiah the Innocent Frog”, this mural was commissioned by the owner of a record store and was almost destroyed in the early 200s, however, the local population rallied to save it when new ownership of the building was set to destroy it.

This was a long process but I enjoyed the creative part of it.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 13 - Composite Montage

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 13, Composite Montage

Photo by Cheryl Franklin

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Cheryl  says:  

I had to take one last picture of my favorite fishing pond. I've spent many fun times here. I'm hoping the new owners will love it as much as I have. My texture overlay is a field of Texas wildflowers, mostly bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 13 - Scissors

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 13, Scissors 

Photo by Kristin Farwig

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Kristin says:

A jumble of scissors. Square crop. Prisma filter.

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 13, Scissors

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

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Critique Group Challenge:

Week 13, Nonsense

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2022 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

In a whirlwind of a busy week I managed to shoot this while getting a few pots for landscaping while in Wichita Falls. I liked the variety of colors and shapes and perhaps it makes no sense to chop up the image and shift the colors - so, this is my nonsence submission.

Photos of the Week - Week 12

Critique Group Challenge: 

Week 12, Free For All

Photo by Chris Maher

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Chris says: 

On Sunday I attended the World Guard International (WGI) Regional in Bethlehem PA. For the challenge, I decided to put some limits on myself that I couldn't do normally since I was not the official photographer for the event. My limits were to put my 30 fps camera in single shot mode, shoot only in B&W (since it is mirrorless I basically watched the show in B&W which was a cool experience), and use one prime lens - the 135 f/1.8. I caught this shot pretty early in the event and it turned out to be my favorite. I decided to bring it into Photoshop and add a background since the original had one person in the stands and I thought it was distracting. The gym was pretty dark and the B&W processing seemed to fit the venue well. My year word is Value selected, in part, to encourage me to do more black and white photography, so this was the perfect opportunity. This is Hempfile HS and their show had something to do with gold.

One other thing I did that I could never do as the official photographer - I took a break and missed three groups! I didn't want to get caught in the lunch rush, so I went out early. I not only grabbed some food but ran into some friends. It was a good break. When I got back, sitting right behind me was a good friend who was also shooting Sony. I hadn't seen him in a while and it was very nice to catch up. I headed home as soon as the last group finished as we had a family dinner planned.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 12 - Do Over

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 12, Do Over

Photo by Denneen Peterson

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Denneen says:  

I hunted on our property for subjects and wasn't feeling it today for the cacti or poles. However, I saw these doves that posed for quite a long time on this ocotillo wand as I moved closer and closer. I set ISO at 100, aperture at 2.8, and used the meter to turn the shutter wheel to 1/800. I like how the doves and a portion of their ocotillo perch are in focus and the closer ocotillo wands and background vegation are out of focus. I cropped to leave out a distracting ocotillo wand and to make a decent composition for the birds. This was late afternoon light, so I adjusted highlights and shadows, whites and blacks. I put some of the blacks back in to make the background trees darker. I masked and darkened all four edges. I also darkenened a bright spot beneath the doves.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 12 - Paper

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 12, Paper

Photo by Katie Sprugel

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Katie says:

I wanted to create a double image with paper and trees. I used Image Blender to overlay a photo of tree bark and a stack of magazines. I like the way it almost makes the photo 3 dimensional. If you look on the left , you see more of the bark snd from the right you see more of the magazines.

Photos of the Week - Week 11

Critique Group Challenge: 

Week 11, Zodiac

Photo by Hugo Dos Santos

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Hugo says: 

Pisces, 19 March!

Yes, it is tomorrow.

Well, we are too far away to have fish here in the mountains, and our pond is frozen.

I did not want to use the same fish as Ricky, so I needed to improvise.

I thought I might be able to draw some fish...but...No because I'm not very skilled at drawing.

I was looking for some ideas about photography related to the Zodiac, not the killer, OK?

I saw these pictures with different eyes, and I thought why not just color the eye of the Pisces zodiac and have my colored pencils?

1- Use an app to take the color of the eyes

2- Printed

3-set all the pieces together to create a natural drawing space

4-edited in Lightroom, just some brightening of the lights

5-opened in topaz to give an aspect of cartoons

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 11 - Shutter Zoom

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 11, Shutter Zoom

Photo by Tammy Baumel

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Tammy says:  

I originally shot this outside but I liked the way it looked against the hardwood floors better.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 11 - Rocks

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 11, Rocks 

Photo by Robert Berger

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Robert says:

Sunset on New Zealand river rocks

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 11, Rocks

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

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Critique Group Challenge:

Week 11, Zodiac

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2022 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

I'm Pisces. And chose to do that. I only had one lure so I took two shots - and a shot of the distress wood in one of the rooms of the house - so there are three layers here to create the image. I enjoy seeing the possibilities in Topaz Studio 2, but rarely use full strength, and also tend to erase and blend one back in Photoshop.

Photos of the Week - Week 10

Critique Group Challenge: 

Week 10, Found Landscape

Photo by Shannon Hiebert

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Shannon says: 

After much trial and error.....and lots of learning, I feel that this was the best image that looked the most 'believable' as of right now.....before I change my mind, again. I'm hoping this looks like the top of a mountain where there is buried treasure hidden in the cave. It's actually an upside-down decayed stump where the cat sometimes sleeps. I'm glad I remembered focus stacking for this, and am pleased that I was able to successfully remove the foliage in the background and replace it with a sky. I also removed a decent amount of cat hair.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 10 - High Key

Week 52 Photo Challenge:

Week 10, High Key

Photo by Liz Carroll

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Liz says:  

Another fun challenge. I brought my camera to the junk yard when my husband was getting a few parts

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 10 - Best Shot 

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 10, Best Shot

Photo by Cate Armstrong

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Cate says:

'Two Dots’ I have discovered that I love portraiture. And, as a result, feel that this portrait will be my first entry into the 100 Strangers project. She is a blend of vintage and modern with her teddy coat from the 60’s and her single dot tattoos under her beautiful eyes. Edited in iPhone using high key lighting with not other adjustments.

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 10, Best Shot

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

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Critique Group Challenge:

Week 10, Found Landscape

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2022 Critique Group

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Ricky says:

I enjoy exploring the possibilities. I used my 2 exposure in-camera. The subject was an unbound quilt on the floor. I took a photo of what it looked like here: - https://rickytims.smugmug.com/2022-PhotoExtras/i-MTrqSfc