Contest: out in the midday sun -- win a prize!

[JigCard]

Hi. I'm new to this site, having just found it yesterday. I'm impressed with the fantastic information and this contest looks like fun.

I enclose my entry:

"Strolling Barefoot beside the Pacific" shows my son and granddaughter on a bright day at 2:23pm near San Diego. The dark shadows show that the sun is almost overhead, but there's a more subtle shadow at about 90 degrees to the first which I find very interesting because I'm, not sure where the light source is, perhaps reflected light from the waves.

Olumpus E-3 with Zuicko 12-60mm Lens @ 21mm. Aperature priority, 1/2500, f3.5, ISO 100, white balance 5300K.

[Tertulia]

There is my entry. Hope you like it.



E-500, ZD 9-18 mm @ 9 mm, ISO200, 1/3200, f4 taken on August 1st, 2009 at 11:03 AM

_____________
Cristian Samoila
www.tertulia.ro/blog
E-3, E-500, ZD 9-18 SWD, ZD 14-54, ZD 50-200 SWD, ZD 70-300, ZD 35, FL36, Lensbaby 2.0

[Alan Baxter]

You might be in for a surprise!

[lk13]

Princess with a crossbow.. E3,35-100mm f2,8 Metz 58 AF1, ISO 200, 1/3000.Time is 11:54.

[barkly]

My entry is an Oz magpie enjoying the mid-day winters sun.

[bg2b]

You should have taken your picture by now (end of August 8, your time). I'll start judging on Tuesday (Eastern Time, US). If you will need longer than that to finish post-processing your entry, please send me a PM.

[Stetr24]

Woohoo, judging day

[bg2b]

It's been a most interesting contest. There were many good entries, enough to make the judging difficult. Before giving the winner, let me start with other four entries that I thought stood out. In no particular order...

photo_owl's flower:



Excellent color and composition, and even a couple of bugs thrown in for good measure. A definite winner in a flower or macro competition, but in this case, I thought some other entries made better use of harsh light.

ehongisto's girl with flowers:



As a parent, I'm a sucker for a cute kid picture, and this one has cuteness in spades, and is a great fit for the theme.

Ddaside88's barn:



I think this one stood out a bit among the landscapes by having a nice sun on the barn itself, very appropriate.

InOmaha's mime:



Great colors, a great subject, and very suited to harsh light, with reflections and shadow detail really giving it a sculpted look

Now, as to the winner. I went back and forth between two pictures enough that I hated not to give prizes for both. To that end, a special judge's prize of $20 goes to...

Vipermann500's Maid of the Mist:



I love the color, love the high contrast of the falls, love the mist, and love the boat for scale. Any other day, this would have been my #1, however...

There was one entry that really stood out in my mind as making the most creative use of hard light. Indeed, the photo is practically the embodiment of what I had in mind with this contest. Harsh light makes the picture, heck, harsh light IS the picture. With a skillful black-and-white conversion, I could imagine it hanging on some gallery wall with a $1000+ price tag. So a big round of applause for our winner...

ikemann's wonderfully geometric railroad station:



Thanks to all for your entries and your interest.

[Stetr24]

I want a re-count!! Just kidding...

Congrats to Vipermann500 and Ikemann and thanks to bg2b for hosting the contest

[FireSerpent]

I can seen now that I'm going to have to post some scantly clad women from the local swiming pool in the next contes ....

[ikemann]

thanks to bg2b from myself as well -- i am quite thankful . this was the first time that i have ever won anything with a picture that i have taken. it is certainly an honor to have been chosen from a pool of such wonderful shots. thanks to all the great people on this forum.

cheers.

-- ike

[Don Kondra]

Congrats to Vipermann500 and Ikemann and thanks to bg2b for hosting the contest

Ditto

I enjoyed having an excuse to get out and shoot but offering a cash prize is over and above....

Thank you.

Cheers, Don

[ehongisto]

Congrats to winners and thank you for the contest. This was a very first time for me, but I'll surely participate again

[ExBlue]

If Im not to late here is one I took of a nymph sunning herself at the Bristol WI Ren Fair.
Was about 1pm. I shot her while she was standing in the sun and she was directly infront of a shaded area.

[bg2b]

That's a nice nymph, though unfortunately too late for the contest.

[Ddaside88]

Congrats to Vipermann500 and Ikemann! Thank you, bg2b, for hosting the contest. It was fun, and I'm delighted to see my entry got honorable mention.

[JigCard]

Congrats to ikemann! and to the other honorable mentions winners. Special thanks to bg2b for the contest and prizes.

[Viperman500]

I was happy I won something. Congratulations to the winner. The picture is simply made for the contest. Love the shadows, the lines, everything in it!

Thanks bg2b for holding the contest!

[InOmaha]

Thanks for hosting this challenge. It was a hot, sunny day and I wouldn't have taken this picture if I hadn't thought about this challenge.

We need more assignments/challenges like this to push us out of our comfort zones.

[zbahu]

Good job in hosting this and congrats to the winners

I would have liked to join in myself but we haven't had any sun, never mind mid-day sun, for weeks!

Colin