January Photo Contest - Evening Photography w/Natural Light

[AnnF]

January's contest theme is "Evening/Night Photography with Natural Light".
Evening begins when there is limited natural light (typically resulting in longer exposures). For those in the city, street lighting is permitted since there is no way around that.

Some compiled suggestions for future contests will be reiterated:

One of the objects of these contests is to get the creative juices flowing and allow the imagination to run free, resulting in more 'out of the box' thinking.

Try tackling the subject of each contest without a camera in mind in the first instance and then give considerable thought as to how to depict the subject matter with a camera.
Because we won't be using a flash, try experimenting with different exposures and speeds, etc.

Also, show the photo(s) in the photo forum and ask for some critique to see if improvements could be made. If the shot can be taken again, try shooting at different angles and don't be afraid to experiment with other techniques to produce varying results. Ask yourself if it really fits the theme of the contest and if it's creative enough to really stand out.

--------

Please reduce your entry to approximately 800 pixels in width.
The Album is located here - http://43photo.smugmug.com/gallery/7037297_L3yDd
Log in using this User name: 43photo and Password: night.
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. You are allowed to submit one (1) photo. You can resubmit another one, but be sure to include your user name again and PM me so I can remove the one previously submitted.

Please include a title with your entry, along with your user name (or PM me so I know who it belongs to).
We must be able to see the exif, so please make sure it is attached to the photo. If you need help with that, PM me. If the original exif is not there, I will contact you asking for the original photo so I can retrieve it.
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?

------------------

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 (along with 1st & 2nd place winners) will have a chance at the end of the year for the Photographer of the Year.

Silkypix Developer Studio 3.0 program (Click the box to see more info) 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. "SilkyPix Developer Studio 3.0 es el mejor convertidor de RAW para las imagenes digitales!"

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.) (Click the SmugMug banner for more info) 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.

[assafx]

Ann,
We don't have a POTY for 2008?

Assaf

[AnnF]

I'm sorry, we wanted to get this up before it was too late in the month.
We will be working on that, plus having the December judging take place very soon.

Thanks,

Ann

[zbahu]

I'm not sure what counts as evening for this theme, do you mean after the sun has set or, say, up to an hour or so before?

Either way, a nice theme I think

Colin

[AnnF]

Well, I guess it doesn't matter whether the sun has set or not, as long as there is limited natural lighting (in the evening or night). The idea is to use your imagination with no flash, which will most likely result in a longer exposure.

Ann

[NrthrnHrse]

Oh I can't wait....I have tons of pictures I just took and posted on the -40° thread.

[zbahu]

Brrr - Nice shots!

I hope shooting at -40f is not a requirement for this contest...

So I guess a scene with man made light, in the form of street lamps, signs etc is OK but the photographer must not add his own light (flash) for this one?

Colin

Oh I can't wait....I have tons of pictures I just took and posted on the -40° thread.

[AnnF]

Oh I can't wait....I have tons of pictures I just took and posted on the -40° thread.

Nice shots.

So I guess a scene with man made light, in the form of street lamps, signs etc is OK but the photographer must not add his own light (flash) for this one?

Colin

No, this is about using whatever natural lighting is available during the evening night time hours.

Ann

[tomsi42]

Hi,

I am new on this forum, an have a question regarding the competitions. The rules are easy to understand, but there is nothing about whether I can publish the picture on the forum at the same time. Or use it on other forums as well. Are there any restrictions on that ?

Tom

[tspore]

I have moved the End of year POTY back to March, to get it away from the holidays when people hopefully have a bit more time.

[AnnF]

Hi,

I am new on this forum, an have a question regarding the competitions. The rules are easy to understand, but there is nothing about whether I can publish the picture on the forum at the same time. Or use it on other forums as well. Are there any restrictions on that ?

Tom

Hi Tom,

No, there are no restrictions on that. As a matter of fact, we encourage showing them in other forums (3rd paragraph down in red in 1st post). Although, it's preferred they not be posted in this thread.

Ann

[tomsi42]

Hi Tom,

No, there are no restrictions on that. As a matter of fact, we encourage showing them in other forums (3rd paragraph down in red in 1st post). Although, it's preferred they not be posted in this thread.

Ann

Ok, that's good. I have an idea that I want to try out with the E-420, but I need som snow first. And it is a good idea to try it out on a few forums first.

I can understand why you dont want the pcitures here

Tom

[holmesworks]

Nice shots.

No, this is about using whatever natural lighting is available during the evening night time hours.

Ann

I'm confused. So none of the images posted up by Northern horse on the -40 thread would qualify?
Only starlight, moonlight and ambient skylight (no city light-domes) with no artificial light at all? That certainly makes it tougher - but a great challenge none the less.

[cosmonaut]

I guess natural light means, sun and moon. Are parking lot lights and other sources excluded?

[bg2b]

I was kind of assuming "natural" meant nothing that you're directly controlling at the time of the shot (e.g., a flash). If you live in a city, it's pretty limiting if you can't have ANY man-made light in the scene.

[AnnF]

Hi all. I'm sorry I didn't respond sooner. I hadn't been getting notices and I've been swamped with end of year stuff.

I spoke with Tony and he said street lights will be allowed.

But remember, this is evening or night time photography where there is limited light, no flash (most likely resulting in longer exposures).

Thanks,

Ann

[AnnF]

I am missing info on the following contest photos for January:

Got the info I needed, thanks to those who responded.

[NrthrnHrse]

Decision coming soon?

[AnnF]

Yes. Will tally up the votes as soon as the final ones come in.