February 09 Photo Contest - Sell That House - Thru March

[AnnF]

Date change: The contest will continue through the end of March.

February's contest theme is "Sell That House".

"Famous Architect Lloyd Frank Wrong's publicist has called you with an assignment. Lloyd Frank Wrong has just finished his latest masterwork and has called upon you, uber-4/3rds photographer, to showcase his work. The only problem is, Mr. Wrong is chintzy (cheap) and he's only authorized enough money to buy space in Architectural Digest for a two photo spread.
Your challenge is to photograph the residence in such a way as to bring out the unique features that Lloyd Frank Wrong has put into this work of art so that he can sell it, pay off the contractors and further his already overwrought view of his skills. Remember, shoot this to enhance your client's reputation, help him shift the property value, and enhance your reputation as an uber-4/3rd's photographer."

"Now, of course, we don't all have access to some poncy architect's work, so the judges have provided the following guidelines:"

"You can use either your own residence (apartment, condo, yurt, house, trailer, tipi, shack, igloo, whatever) or some other residence that you happen to like.
You can have one interior shot and one exterior shot. They have to be composited into one single image."

There are some additional rules that the judges, in their finite wisdom, have added:

1) Minimum focal length is 14mm (why? because that's the minimum of the kit lens and most people have at least one lens of that specification). You may stitch several vertical shots together, though.
2) Additional lighting, flashes, filters on windows are all fair game, but if you use these you have to let us know, because a photographer with a single flash (or no flash) who pulls off the shot should have some extra credit for doing it the hard way.
3) Some post-processing allowed, such as to even out lighting and color (no combining of shots to even out lighting from windows, etc., and no removing of undesirable objects).

Note: Here are some pointers to help those who aren't familiar with real estate photography.
A simple way to deal with high dynamic range is; Open all blinds and curtains to let as much light in as possible. Expose for the outside light and use a flash. This way, while everything inside will be lit properly, the viewer can also see what is outside.
Additional resource: http://photographyforrealestate.net/
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The contest will run from Feb. 1st through the end of the 28th, and will close out the following day to give everyone a chance to submit entries if taken on the last day.

Please reduce your entry to approximately 800 pixels in width.
The Album is located here: http://43photo.smugmug.com/gallery/7274130_uAnsB
Log in using this User name: 43photo and Password: house.
If you have a smugmug account, please log out then in again with the above user name/password.

The photo must be taken in the month of the contest. Please include a title with your entry, along with your user name (or PM me so I know who it belongs to). If you need to resubmit another photo, be sure to include your user name again and PM me so I can remove the one previously submitted.

We must be able to see the exif, and since you'll be combining two shots into one file, you can email me a 'screen shot' of each exif shot. If you need help with that, PM me.

The entry must also be from a 4/3 SLR camera, which includes (but not limited to) the Olympus E-3, E-1, E-300, E-330, E-400, E-410, E-420, E-500, E-510, E-520, Panasonic L-1, L-10, etc.

The entries will be judged according to these criteria:

• Subject: Does the subject fit the theme?

• Creativity: How effectively/dramatically/interestingly is the subject presented?

• Composition: Has the subject been composed appropriately/interestingly?

• Lighting: Has lighting been used appropriately/effectively for the subject?

• Technical: Has the subject been exposed, focussed, etc appropriately/correctly?

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1st place winner will have a choice of one of the prizes below, then 2nd place winner will get the other prize.
There will also be two who place 3rd and 4th, and they will have a chance at the end of the year for the Photographer of the Year.

Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0 program (or any other Short Cut program). SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.0 is an all-round RAW converter with feature rich functionalities that produces the best results for your cherished images. With top notch adjustment parameters in an intuitive user interface you can enhance your own pictures with silky smooth results! SILKYPIX is the only program that is OSX compitable. Click the Silkypix picture for more info. or to see their other programs.

A 1 year pro account with SmugMug (They donate a free year for the first win, and if you win again it will be $25 worth of free SmugMug prints/gifts.) SmugMug keeps 4 backup copies of each photo in 3 states. Retrieve them anytime. Secure your family's privacy with your own secret SmugIsland. They'll see your photos without registering, and without spam. Real people who respond to every email every day. We fuss over more than 315,000 mostly fanatical, paying customers. Choose from an ever-growing list of amazing themes or design one. Click the SmugMug banner for more info.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

That's gonna be a tough one!

[NrthrnHrse]

This sounds like fun! Igloo pictures coming! LOL......

[shrinkpictures]

Lara - look forward to seeing some Igloo pics!

Yep, I am glad shack was in the list - I think I can make my 4 walls and a roof look like something that someone would want to buy (well, I bought it) Sound like a lot of fun to come up with something unique

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Lara,

[NrthrnHrse]

Hey I'm just glad that igloos was included so I'm allowed to shoot mine! LOL......just playing up to you all's idea of what I live in.

[vonbonds]

Originally Posted by Jim Flinchbaugh

That's gonna be a tough one!

Certainly appears that way as it only got 4 entries.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

Well the housing market is in the dumper at the moment

[MetilHed]

Just as soon as I saw this thread I had a great idea. Sucks being late.

The way these are going, pretty soon everyone that enters the monthly contest will win a prize.

Jeff

[bwenzel]

I think recycling some old themes might not be a bad idea. People who either werent part of the forum at the time or didnt think they were good enough might enter them this time around.

[AnnF]

We will be extending the contest through the end of March.

We will also recycle past themes.

Ann

[bwenzel]

Darn, I thought I had a chance to win finally!

[raggs]

Brad...I'll vote for you if you vote for me...

[AnnF]

[bwenzel]

[MetilHed]

Dang, I forgot what my great idea was !

Jeff

[6tsix]

good idea on extending the contest. its finally getting warm up here to go outside and take pictures of the house with out 5 feet of snow in front of it

[cEElint]

new guy here.. i love photo contests, i'll have to see what i can come up with

[skiprosti]

what a great info, thanks.
Thanks so much for this. I appreciate the effort. It really helps a lot.