Finally! Yes, folks, the Hubbers Photo Challenge is finally back on line after a 10 week hiatus! First there was the 6 weeks of European Vacation followed by 4 weeks of trying to get back into some sort of routine. Honestly I’ve barely even picked up my camera since I’ve been home. (Blog posts from the trip can be found here and I’ll be posting a gallery once I’m through sorting through the 6,290 photo’s that Mollie and I took with our three cameras!)
This latest extended challenge was SKYLINES, which I picked when I was thinking about my upcoming vacation and enjoying a few cool skylines in Europe.
You’ll also notice that I have added in a voting option to the pics which should let you apply 1 to 5 stars to each photo. I don’t know if this will work or not, so it is on a trial basis and will be in parallel with the usual voting in the comments until we can iron out the bugs. Please try it and let me know what you think.
The next challenge will be SILHOUETTES chosen by Lisa Bourgault for her win in the Urban Art theme. Submissions will be due Wednesday November 16, at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Okay, now enjoy the pics! And remember…
“Don’t just take pictures, make pictures!”
Misty Morning | Wendy Taylor | 1st Place
Sunrise in Trstenik | Glenn Hubbers | 2nd Place
Last Sunset in Dubrovnik | Mollie Fisher | 3rd Place
UPDATE: November 16, 2011
Although not all of the eligible votes are in, I’ve done a little cyphering and our winner for this theme is very clearly Wendy Taylor with Misty Morning. A well deserved win, Wendy! This was my favourite by a wide margin. Please remember to send me a new theme with your Silhouette pic.
Also, since I had only received two pics besides my own for this theme I’m extending the deadline by 48 hours to Friday November 18 at 7:00 pm. Of course if most of you feel that you want the weekend as well I could go to Sunday, but I’d rather not, so I’m hoping I get a selections of new pics submitted on time.
Yep, I guess that voting thing isn’t working as expected, so I’ll have to look into that. Hmmm….
Hurrah hurrah hurrah! So glad to get the challenge back! These are all such great shots … another difficult one. Love it. Back soon. K8
Yay!! You’re back!!! I must say, I missed having photo challenges to concentrate on—not to mention the camaraderie. Yippee!
Kate’s right, there are lots of wonderful photos this time ’round (as usual). I’ll get back online with my votes soon.
Glad to have you back, Glenn. We missed you!
These were ALL stunning photo’s. My parameters for voting were MY interpretation of “skylines”, which to me meant that there wasn’t something in the foreground grabbing my attention … that my eyes went to the skyline. Based on that, my vote is:
1. Misty Morning
2. Sunset in Shediac Harbour
3. Sailor’s Dream
K8
Woohoo!! So glad our photo challenge is back! Hope I was not too much of a pest Glenn … we really appreciate all the work you put into this!
So, again a great collection of photographs everyone! My choices are as follows:
1. Misty Morning. Absolutely stunning photograph Wendy. I love it!
2. Last sunset in Dubrovnik. The colours are stunning Mollie. Great photo!
3. Sunrise in Trstenik – perfect timing on this one Glenn!
I’ve made my picks, but the choices were tough.
#1… Misty Morning. What a lovely, lovely photo, Wendy. Very well done.
#2… Last Sunset in Dubrovnik. This is just a beautiful shot. I’d considered sailboats myself, but never got the timing right.
#3… My Blue Ridge Mountains Skyline. In contrast to the others (both sunsets, both intimate in feel), I loved the sense of wide-open land and the undulation of the mountains. Wonderful!
I’m glad the challenge is back. Missed you all. Oh, and can’t wait to see at least one or two more of Mollie and Glenn’s travel photos.
Well done, everyone!
#1 Sunrise in Trstenik © Glenn Hubbers–LOVE LOVE LOVE the way the sun is shining in ur picture!! I was instantly drawn to it and its just perfect, plus i always loves the colours of a orange sunset!!
#2 My Blue Ridge Mountains Skyline © Kate Potter–Love how you can look miles and miles away, its so peaceful and it makes our planet look so beautiful!! Something to be proud of when we say where we live!!!!
#3 Misty Morning © Wendy Taylor–again love the colors and love the fog gives it a mood feel!!!
Well done everyone!!!! Love them all!!
Very excited for the next photo challenge!!! AWESOME PICK!!!
All the photos are great missed checking out everyone’s photos.
This was a hard choice had to look at them once and them come back to them all.
#1 Sunrise in Trstenik, love the way the sun is just coming up behind the mountains.
#2 Sunset in Shediac Harbour. Reflection in the water is great.
#3 My Blue Ridge Mountains. Looks so peaceful.
Well done, everyone. I enjoyed this group of pics, some of which I thought were exceptional!
1st – Misty Morning – Wendy, I had to stare at this for a bit to search for something to critize. No easy task. I would perhaps add some warmth to deepen the oranges, but I may be wrong if this is the way you remember the scene. This one is print worthy. Well done!
2nd – Last Sunset in Dubronik – I worried about whether I was picking this because I was there and have knowledge that this is actually the colour of that sky, burned into my brain. FYI, folks, Mollie did virtually no processing to this image. But in the end I got objective and picked it because it’s a an excellent photo that makes you long to be there in person. My only suggestion is to redo the crop slightly to eliminate the very small bit of boat at the lower right edge.
3rd – My Blue Ridge Mountain Skyline – Kate, this pic is lovely. All the more so since I know you can see scenes like this fairly close to your back door. You might have ranked higher except for the blue cast and haze in most of the scene. The blue cast is reflection from the sky and can be corrected fairly easily by setting your camera white balance to match the scene. You could also correct the white balance in post processing. And I’m thinking you’d get greater clarity pic and more contrast by using a polarizing filter. It’s hard not to have haze when there’s that much atmosphere between you and your subject.
And kudos to Peter: Although this didn’t say “skyline” to me, it is an excellently composed photo. Very nice!
@Glenn… Wouldn’t correcting the blue cast on Kate’s photo make it “My *Green* Ridge Mountain Skyline”?
@ Lisa – ha ha ha
@ Glenn: Thank you for your constructive criticism. Greatly appreciated. I know you recommended that filter to me in the summer… so I think I’ll put it on my wish list to Santa!
And I think this is the forum to brag about something: Hoeggar Supply Company chose my submission to their 2012 calendar contest as their AUGUST picture – a little goat (of course) chasing after a rooster. It’s not National Geograpic, but it’s fun anyway (and now I know what I’m getting my mother for Christmas! A 2012 Hoeggar Goat Calendar! ha ha ha ha).
@Lisa – You’re too funny!
@Kate – My thoughts are merely my interpretation of what you could do from seeing your photo. No guarantees and experimentation is required! But I would recommend that anyone who does not own a circular polarizer should go out an get one and learn what it can to, since that is an effect that simply cannot be duplicated in post processing. (An remember too if you have more than one lens you can save money by buying the right size for your largest lens and then buying step down rings for the smaller lenses you want to use it with. A filter can be $100-$200 and a step down ring is $10-$20.)
Congrats on the calendar submission! If you don’t mind, please send me a copy of the pic and I’ll append it to this post so we can all see it.
@Glenn: You give good thought.
My submission for the calendar was the same one that I submitted for
http://www.hubbers.ca/blog/2010/09/15/photo-challenge-5-bird/“ rel=”nofollow”>Photo Challenge #5 – Bird: “Youthful Curiosity”
Since Glenn and Kate brought up the idea of filters, I thought I’d ask if anyone would care to share their thoughts on investing in photo gear.
My circular polarizer was fairly inexpensive, maybe $35 US, and I chose it instead of a pricier one because I’m still using entry-level lenses—not to mention just beginning to learn how to use filters properly. (I decided early on I didn’t want to be that person who has $10,000 worth of top-quality gear and no idea how to use any of it.)
Maybe that was the wrong strategy. But I don’t want to throw cash away on an unknown quantity, so to speak. For instance, what if I buy a special lens that I hardly ever use once the novelty has worn off? Same with a cool filter that ends up collecting dust on a shelf—not because the quality stinks, but because I rarely need the effect it provides? I’m worried about wasting money either way.
So my question to you is, When it comes to a new lens, tripod, camera body, or other gadget, how do you decide when it’s worth investing up front in high quality, and when it’s better to start off with a less-expensive model?
Thank you all for the comments on my photo, i stopped on the side of the road one morning on way to work. some passerby were not too happy with me, but in the end it was well worth the stop, and being late for work!
Quickly voting!
1- Misty Morning- Incredible scene, love the inclusion of the fence and the overall balance.
2- Sunrise in Trstenik- Again, nice balance, love the depth
3- Sailors Dream- Love the sharp silhouettes against the beautiful sky. Only one thing bothers me… I get the reference but I don’t think the title suits it because there is no sign of sea or ship! Just a little detail.
I thought Sailors Dream referred to “pink sky at night, sailor’s delight …”
That was in response to Mollie’s coment
1. Misty Morning
2. Last sunset in Dubrovnik.
3. Sunrise in Trstenik –
@Lisa, I thought I’d wait to see how others answered your question, but in the absence of that I’ll give it a go.
This is not an easy question to answer. I have some equipment that I have some regrets about buying, and other equipment where I have no regrets whatsoever, and these lists are not always correlated to whether I compromised quality to save money.
For example, I didn’t buy a kit lens, opting instead to upgrade to better quality from the start. That’s not to say that I don’t have regrets about the lenses that I did buy. I do. And my reasons are based on experience working with them that I didn’t have at the time which is, I guess, your point. The fact is, had I gone for top of the line glass instead of the middle of the road that I did get I might not have any regrets right now since those are the lenses I now want.
One example of buying quality right up front where I could have saved money is my Nikkor 50 mm f1.4 lens. This is simply my favourite lens that I doubt I will ever part with, at least as long as I’m using Nikon. Sure, I could have spent 1/3 of the money on the f1.8, but I don’t think the quality compares and I would always have regretted that decision. Camera bodies come and go, but good glass can last you for decades.
An example where I spent too much and still didnt get the quality I wanted is my Manfrotto 7322CY tripod. This tripod is actually excellent for what it is, and if you never wanted to upgrade it it would be perfetly fine for many years. I got it on sale for 60% of the regular price in a boxing day sale, but I didn’t do enough research so I didn’t know that I could not change heads from the built in ball head. This will bug me till I replace it, and yet it was expensive enough that I’m not about to do that on a whim.
So based on that, here are my rules of thumb:
1- For things that are likely to change based on new technologies, like camera bodies, get the cheapest one that meets your needs list.
2- For things that are in the path of light between your subject and your camera sensor, such as lenses and filters, get the best you can afford and consider waiting and saving up for what you really want. You can rent in the meantime and gain some experience to know what you’d like to buy.
3- For other accessories like tripods, camera bags, straps, and anything else that doesn’t affect the image, this is a much tougher call, but I also have started to tend toward rule #2 and do without until I save for what I want instead of buying something I know I’ll have to replace.
4- Lastly, I have found that my biggest purchase regrets come from buying middle of the road equipment. I usually outgrow it too soon and than I’m regretting having spent so much on it.
And a last note on filters. I only have two. A circular polarizer to fit my largest lens and a variable neutral density filter along with step down rings for the other lenses I want to use them with) . Both of these were not quite the top of the line, but closer to the top than the bottom. Unless I buy a larger lens I should not not have to replace either of these for a very long time. The effect of virtually any other filters can be recreated in photoshop, so why bother?
@Lisa: Sorry I didn’t respond … I just haven’t made any investments in my camera equipment since I got it … other than my zoom, and that I did SOME research, and ended up getting an older model due to the price. It seems to suit my needs.
Glenn’s responses are – as usual – very well thought out and useful.
Thanks Glenn and Kate.
Glenn, your thoughts are very much appreciated and incredibly helpful. I am just starting to think about finding myself a macro lens, and on your advice, I believe I will look for something high quality and wait until I can afford the one I want, rather than go with a middle-of-the-road version that I may grow out of too soon.
I’m fortunate to have two excellent camera stores in the area that are staffed with experienced photographers just dying to provide advice and guidance. However, there’s nothing like talking to fellow amateurs and learning from their trials and errors and successes.
I’ve got a Photoshop class coming up in early December, and I’ll pose my question there, too. If I get any interesting insights, I’ll share them with you.
Thank you again, Glenn, for taking the time to write a very well thought out response.