Hi folks,

Here is the theme and a tentative timeline for the August contest.

The theme, as chosen by last month's winner AndyS, is as follows:

"The unseen world. The small things we walk past every day; the beauty in the bouquets in the floral department at the grocery store, the zen of stones in a garden, that lone green sprout in the compost or that small creature under your feet. Not necessarily macro but that's not excluded. Butterflies and birds reach out and grab our attention but I'm encouraging all of us to take note of the more subtle compositions around us. As for post processing, sure if it makes the image more appealing or enhances the connection between the subject and viewer. Most of all HAVE FUN with it."

Here is the tentative timeline:

August 10th: Contest entries start, for a period of one week, unless we get thirty entries sooner.

August 17th: The semi-finals start, for a period of three days.

August 21st: Finals thread, for a period of three days.

August 24th: Announcement of the winners.

On a personal note, I am having minor, outpatient surgery on August 11th, which is why I'm scheduling the week of initial entries for August 10th. I'll probably be laid up for a few days, but should be back in business in time for the semi-finals. I'll ask for help if it looks like I'm going to have trouble.

Have fun!

Grumpy Old Guy

We purchased a new Canon EOS R7 for my wife Legger. Here are some of the first test images.

Hi folks,

I'll be running the August photo contest, subject matter yet to be determined.

I have an idea that I'm going to try. Let's see if it works.

As you know, we always have a second thread for comments each month. Usually it's just for the usual "I'm in" comments and a few words of praise. I'm going to recommend that contestants take a few moments to add a few words about their photos, and specifically, how they were processed. For example, I almost always balance out the highlights and shadows, crop, boost the saturation a little, and if necessary, add a little bit of sharpening to the picture. Many of my night shots are long exposures shot on a tripod, with enhanced processing of the Milky Way if it's in the shot.

Not only would this clear up some misunderstandings in advance, it could also be useful for those who want to learn a little more about the craft.

What do you think? Any comments?

Ross
aka Grumpy Old Guy

These are two more pics I considered entering in the July photo contest "I have my eyes on you."

Ninja Squirrel



Grouchy Owl

I recently had the opportunity to join several other photographers for an evening of "light painting" in the California Desert. Light painting is a technique where one can create a long exposure of the pitch black night sky, often including the Milky Way, while briefly lighting the foreground for a second or two with a hand held light. It takes a little practice, but the results can be dramatic. It helps if the photographer is working in an official "dark sky" area.

In this case the location was the Galleta Meadows Sculpture Gardens near the town of Borrego Springs in California's Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The park is east of Palm Springs not far from the Salton Sea. Daytime temperatures hit 106F, and the rattlesnakes and scorpions are abundant. (We saw several scorpions, and had to carefully check our camera bags for them when we were finished).

Dennis Avery, heir to the Avery Label fortune, was a resident of Borrego Springs. He purchased the land and commissioned the sculptor, Ricardo Breceda, to create one hundred and thirty metal sculptures, which are placed in the surrounding desert. It's a kick to drive around looking for them in the middle of nowhere. We were honored when Mr. Breceda joined us and hung out for about forty five minutes.

Some of the shots were lit with a small LED RGB light, some were lit with a laser pointer, and some were lit by an overhead drone. All of these exposure were twenty seconds long, and the light painting lasted about two seconds during that long exposure. A few of the softs are soft because due to the difficulty of focusing in pitch black circumstances.

Enjoy!