After 4 weeks of voting the results of our annual Challenge of Challenges photo contest are in, and although it was a close contest there was a clear winner. Click here to jump straight to the results in full and to once again be impressed by the amazing photographic skills and vision of our Challenges community.
This week and next we are featuring a series of articles on portraits. Earlier today I shared some portraits of women for you to enjoy and get inspired by. So you can probably guess what the weekly photography challenge is, right?
You got it – portrait of a lady!
By Ryan Seyeau
Surely there’s a lovely lady in your life that deserves a great portrait of herself. Now’s the time to create one of her, maybe as a gift. Or perhaps if you are a lady, a self portrait is in order.
Use natural light or flash, whatever you prefer and are most comfortable using. Practice your lighting skills. Try shooting or processing in B&W. Experiment with some LR Presets or try out some new processing tips like adding a texture overlay.
Here are a few images to get you thinking, spark the ideas.
By Chris Bailey
By Wen Chen
By Zuhair A. Al-Traifi
By Dan Finnen
By Michael Yan
By Priscilla Santana
By Alex Dram
By Mysi(new stream: www.flickr.com/photos/mysianne)
By Kris Kesiak
By Elizabeth Anne
By dawolf-
By acearchie
By Ji?í D?cký
Once you’ve taken your “portrait of a lady” we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge Portrait of a Lady by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Earlier I shared 35 stunning night photography images. I hope you got inspired by them because now it’s your turn!
By Simon & His Camera
This week’s challenge is night photography!
There are so many things you can do at night including:
By Justin Brown
By jason
The possibilities go on and on so you have no excuse for lack of subject matter or ideas. So grab your tripod (you’ll need it), your remote trigger, and a friend (helps if you’re light painting and is infinitely more fun than by yourself) and head out into the night to take some photos.
Check out these articles:
By Bill Dickinson
By Adrien Sifre
Once you’ve taken your ‘night photos we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Night Photography by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Earlier today I shared a collection of images of cats. Cats in windows, cats in doors, cats doing what they do best – mostly lounging around!
By Kazutaka Sawa
Even if you aren’t a “cat” person this week I challenge you to get past that and go find some cats to photograph. An empty windowsill is just that – empty – without a cat sitting on the ledge. A doorway and stoop, missing something without a feline resident taking sentinel position.
I find that many times when I am photographing doors and windows (two of my favourites, check the collection from last week to see my other one) I am most attracted to the ones with a small fur-ball in the scene.
By Ste Pagna
I just love the pair in the image above! You can’t help but wonder what trouble they’ve done. Great camera angle, use of humor, lighting – it all works and is simple.
Now it’s your turn. Show me your cat photos. Bonus points if they are NOT your cats.
Once you’ve taken your ‘cat’ photos we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Cats in Windows by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Earlier today I admitted my dirty little secret. I am addicted to photographing bicycles. Yes, it is true!
By Kat…
I also shared some amazing bike images – check them out!
So you can probably guess what this week’s photography challenge will be, right? You guessed it – bicycles!
You get the idea. Bikes are great subjects because you can usually find them anywhere, at any time of the year. Even where I live, in two feet of snow, someone is crazy enough to ride their bike, or you can find one buried under the snow.
So no excuses accepted!
By Bernat Casero
By matt
By Pörrö
Once you’ve taken your ‘bicycle’ shots we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Bicycles by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
To showcase the talent and imagination shown by our Challenge hosts and entrants, we’re once again running a ‘Challenge of Challenges,’ to find the dpreview.com Picture of the Year for 2013 (yes, it’s a bit late, but we ran out of days before the holidays). We’ve whittled more than 1000 challenge winners down to a more manageable 25 – selected by the dpreview editorial team. We’re also trying out a completely new voting interface for the first time. Click here to jump straight to the voting page.
By Ted Murphy
Try something new
Step out of the old comfort zone
Dare to be different
Dare to mess it up even!
I’m talking about creating abstract images, and there is no right or wrong. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and abstracts bring art down to its simplest forms: color, shape, and light. Couple tips for doing this:
By Joe Duty
By Chris Jagers
By inabeanpod
By Javier Alvarez
If you want to read about some techniques on how to get started, here’s a few ideas for you:
Okay, your turn! Let’s see you have some fun with this.
Once you’ve taken your ‘abstract light’ shots we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Christmas Light Abstracts by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
This week we’re going to focus on the season at hand and just embrace it! Your weekly photography challenge is – winter!
I know it’s cold out (trust me I KNOW!) but find a day that’s bearable and just go for it. Be prepared (see link to some tips below), dress warmly, grab a hot chocolate and away you go!
Doing what others find difficult or challenging, including shooting in what some might call inclement weather, will help take your photography to the next level. You’ll come back with shots none of your friends have, and get “ooohs” and “ahhhs” on our images when you post them online. Dare to be different. Be brave. You can do it!
By Derek Tam
By Sharon Mollerus
For those of you in the southern hemisphere without snow try some infrared techniques to make it look like a snowy scene:
By Tom Gill
By Robert Martinez
Once you’ve taken your ‘Winter Photography’ shots we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
By Eric
By Shane Gorski
The post Weekly Challenge – Winter Weather Photography by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
By Pison Jaujip
Earlier I posted several macro, or close-up images to give you some ideas. Now it’s time for you to get out and try it. If you don’t have a macro lens there are plenty of other methods you can use that are less expensive if buying a new lens isn’t an option.
Here’s a few articles and resources on different options for doing macro photography:
So there’s your reading material, now show us your macro images!
Remember get creative with what you photograph. Try shooting everyday, ordinary things and see what they look like close up – even the dog! Make sure you still keep in mind all the other aspects of good photography like: composition, lighting, and camera settings.
By Casey Myers
By Sean Rogers
By Martin Heigan
By nick@
Once you’ve taken your macro shots we’d love to see them in comments below. Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section as pictured below) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them.
The post Weekly Challenge – Macro Photography by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Something that tends to strike fear into the heart of many new photographers is street photography. So today I’m going to urge you to get out of your comfort zone and go try it. I teach a travel photography class and when I share my photos of different exotic places, it’s always the street photography, and in particular the people photos, that get my students most excited.
Taken during a photowalk in Portland, OR. This guy was stopped at a light and I took about 20 photos of him in 30 seconds. Made him laugh! If he had minded he would have said something, or gestured – if you get my drift.
To me, it’s the people that make a place what it is; they are the essence, the culture. But that fear of photographing a stranger, in a public place, and actually having them see you take their photo is a biggie. Am I right?
Getting outside your comfort zone, doing something you don’t normally do, stretching your limits – that’s where real growth will occur. If you want to take your photography to the next level, give it a try and push yourself a little. You don’t need to travel to do this kind of photography. The two images below are done in my own city.
I was basically running behind these guys with a wide lens. Good timing is everything in street photography.
The other approach is talking to people. I chatted with this guy for 10 minutes. Then gave him $ 2 for his newspaper (how he makes a living) and took his photo.
Yesterday I posted 30 inspiring images of street photography, go have a look to get you fired up. Then find some a friend to go with you (even if they aren’t taking photos) and hit the pavement.
Get out there and walk around. Photograph what grabs your eye including architecture, traffic, people along the way – everything! Be fearless, you can do this!
To help you out – here are some other great articles with more tips to get started and overcome the fear.
Post originally from: Digital Photography Tips.
Check out our more Photography Tips at Photography Tips for Beginners, Portrait Photography Tips and Wedding Photography Tips.
Street Photography – Weekly Photography Challenge
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