Webshots Blog

From national monuments to statues of hometown heroes, landmarks surround us in everyday life. In this week’s Creative Challenge: Landmarks, we asked you to show us these symbols from your perspective. We enjoyed learning about the landmarks and where they’re located, and these three wonderful entries really stood out.

#1. What a rare and beautiful moment member lorrainemx captured: a glorious rainbow over the Stones of Callanish in Scotland. The dark, looming clouds are a perfect contrast to the vibrant colors of the rainbow, which gracefully arcs above the stones in the foreground. Congrats to member lorrainemx—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. We enjoy the close-up perspective of Ireland’s famous Giant’s Causeway taken by member noraquick as we can see the weathered detail in the interlocking basalt columns that are the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The use of black-and-white worked wonderfully to further enhance the details. Nice job!

#3. Ahhh, Venice! Member bfryxell submitted a classic image of the beautiful water ways for which the city is famous. We loved the engaging perspective as it made us feel like we were in a gondola ourselves, traveling through the romantic scenery of Venice. Congrats!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their photos with us. We really enjoyed viewing all the entries and hope you had fun as well. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Landmarks, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.

So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!

Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 53 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

Whether they’re national monuments or locations that are famous around your town, natural or man-made, landmarks surround us. Take your best shot at the landmarks around you for this week’s Creative Challenge: Landmarks.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-landmarks. You can then view them and everyone else’s submissions on the DISPLAY PAGE (it updates about every hour). To find out more about this, read the Using Tags on Creative Challenges post.

Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600 (submissions can have larger resolutions than this). Currently, vertical images cannot fit in the homepage template. Therefore, we cannot publish vertical or narrow panoramic images.

2. Images with added text or images, including watermarks, logos, copyright symbols, graphic borders, frames and time stamps, will not be considered. Collages, however, are acceptable.

3. Please do not submit pictures that have already been featured on the homepage.

4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on November 26 to 3:00 p.m. on December 1 (all times EST).

5. 3 pictures per member tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-landmarks

*Note:Images that don’t meet the exact guidelines can be submitted and viewed for everyone to enjoy, but please understand that we cannot publish images that don’t meet minimum guidelines on the homepage. Also, now that you’re tagging your entries, you don’t need to post links in the comments section anymore.

NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Season’s Greetings Around the World What do the holidays mean to you? I love finding traditions from around the world to incorporate into my holiday celebrations. Tell us a photographic story of what makes this season so special in your country, neighborhood or family for next week’s Creative Challenge.

Food is such a cultural experience, and this week’s challenge served up some tasty looking dishes along with an education on some of our members’ traditional foods. Be sure to peruse the delectable delicacies and many intriguing entries in this week’s Creative Challenge: Food. Though, as always, it was difficult coming to a consensus, the judges thank you all for entering and send our congratulations to the the top three winners below!

#1. The creative use of depth-of-field, tight composition, delicate lighting and subtle textures in PhotoDucky’s entry worked perfectly to make it this week’s winning shot. Congrats to member PhotoDucky —we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. Member plamcho’s entry is a study in contrasts. The smoothness of the pears to the rough texture of the layers of wood and bark, the ripe, red skin to the cool, green paint appeal to several senses simultaneously. Way to go!

#3. Member peg353’s unique tableau of a solitary wine glass and bottle in a dark and rainy environment evokes a feeling of isolation. But the lights of a distant city shine through the glass and lend a brightness to the scene, balancing the mood and suggesting the presence of friends nearby. Beautiful shot!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their photos with us. We really enjoyed viewing all the entries and hope you had fun as well. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: [enter this week’s challenge name], visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

Three weeks ago, Webshots sent me on a special assignment to attend a unique photo session about photographing wolves. I thought I would share a few lessons learned and a story of two about my experiences that day.

I traveled to Battle Ground, Indiana to visit Wolf Park, a non-profit organization which supports education, research and conservation. Their photo seminars consist of an educational session about wildlife photography taught by Wolf Park photographer Monty Sloan, followed by 2 1/2—3 hours of photography inside the wolf enclosure. The photo shoots consist of 3 1/2—5 hours of photography inside their wolf enclosure. The program also included a one hour session on safety.

You might be wondering why I would prefer to photograph wild animals in a captive situation verses in the wild. While I would have loved to go on location to their natural habitat, the truth be told is that most photos that you might see of endangered species in calendars or books are taken in controlled settings. During a single day, I would have the benefit of guaranteed opportunities to capture quality images of beautiful creatures in close proximity. It’s not uncommon to hear stories of photographers which have experienced sitting in Yellowstone for days before seeing one wolf and even then, it’s at such a long distance which even the longest lenses did not give the best results. Ultimately, it was safer for both myself and the animals to not encroach upon their natural habitat. Unless you’re an expert in wild animal behavior it’s simply not worth risking your life and disrupting their environment.

Monty has spent over 20 years interacting daily with the wolves, so he was an amazing resource to answer questions throughout the day. Wolf Park wolves are not only well socialized and accustomed to greeting visitors, but they are also well versed and experienced as models. Before the seminar, I received an informational packet which helped me better prepare for the day. I knew I was in for a close encounter when they recommended using a protective filter in case that my lens might be licked.

The wolves I photographed were running freely in a beautiful park enclosure with a large pond surrounded by many trees and most importantly they have lots or room to run around. No restraints like leashes or chains are used. All in all, the wolves were able to come and go as they wished from the seminar group, though they seemed to stay close to enjoy the special treats Monty kept in his pocket.

The day started out with Monty giving an informative slide show presentation of successful images he’s taken, he provided recommendations for camera settings, angles and lenses to use when photographing the wolves as well as how to avoid common mistakes.

A few words of wisdom that he shared were:

Use a higher shutter speed - he recommended using 1/ 1250 of a second or higher if possible

Don’t aim down on the Wolf. Photograph at eye level.

Don’t use a tripod. The action is happening all around you and you need to be free to move quickly at a moment’s notice.

Natural light is best, but use a flash if necessary to balance shadows or to compensate for a lack of light.

Shoot RAW vs. JPG for greater control to adjust color temperature and exposure without losing data during editing.

Move around, don’t lock yourself in a single location. Move with the animals and explore the environment for complimentary backgrounds.

Take lots and lots of photos. From frame to frame, their expressions will make subtle changes in split seconds.

After the slide presentation, we were given further instruction from Wolf Park staff member Gale Motter regarding how to behave properly around the pack. She also shared a video of past behaviour between visitors and their pack. The most important lesson was to just treat the wolves as if you were meeting a stranger for the first time. In other words, respect their space and to not to treat them like a family dog. It was really an eye opening experience to witness the subtle body language of wolves. Both Gale and Monty are quite familiar with each member of the wolf pack and their individual characteristics.

Being that it was autumn, their fur had thickened and a few trees were still showing color. The weather was warm and the sun was shining bright. I think the biggest challenge that day was adjusting for the harsh shadows. When the wolves were facing towards the sun, just like humans, they tended to blink or squint quite a bit. Ideally, a cloudy day would have been ideal for a more even exposure, but who can be picky when opportunity knocks.

Once inside the enclosure, the wolves got very excited and greeted us all with a friendly sniff. I was hoping that they wouldn’t hold it against me that I own cats, but they didn’t seem to care one bit. At first, it was a little difficult to concentrate on proper exposures and f/stops when you’re not used to being surrounded by wolves. It was a safe situation, so I wasn’t too apprehensive around them, but it took a few minutes for me to become fully comfortable. Eventually, I found my stride in taking photos and just started going with the flow of what the wolves felt like doing. The only thing I had to fear was stepping in a hole or kneeling in some unsavory leftovers from their last meal. Both Monty and Gale accompanied our small group around the property and helped identify when a wolf was simply being flirty or helped guide us to behave differently around them. If I had to select a memorable moment, it would be when I was low to the ground, locked in focusing on a wolf fifty feet away when another one snuck up behind me and licked my ear. Then another one kept trying to put his paw on my leg, demanding attention. Sometimes you just need to stop trying to record what’s around you and be apart of the moment itself.

Having an experienced photographer that is familar with the wildlife as well as the surroundings was such a benefit to make the day more successful. Monty was so familiar with how the light would fall on the property during the day and all the prime locations that he kept us on the move throughout the afternoon. All in all, it was a very full day and I was pretty exhausted from all the rigors of snapping 400+ photos that day. I left Wolf Park wanting to come back to visit another day. It was recommended to leave the camera bag behind, so I could only bring in one lens into the enclosure. I chose my 100-400 F/4.5-5.6. All in all it did a pretty decent job, but limited my options greatly as the light dimmed. When I visit again, I will probably bring a faster lens such as a 70-200mm 2.8. Just because the wolves are so close and using a faster shutter speed is far more important than distance.

If you live in the Midwestern United States and are a fan of wolves or would just like to brush up on your photo skill set, I’d highly recommend attending a photo seminar at Wolf Park. Otherwise, I hope this post might inspire you consider taking a photo workshop sometime with a subject that interests you. Photo workshops are found just about everywhere, some more costly and exotic than others, but some are even free.

For those who might be interested, this is a slideshow of all the images I shot that day.

Wolf Park, Battle Ground, Indiana

Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.

So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!

Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 52 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

With the holidays around the corner and lots of tasty treats available now is the perfect time to practice the art of food photography. If you haven’t already read Penny’s blog post on the subject, read up now, for some great pointers on making your food shots the most appetizing they can be. One of my favorite food sites is 101 Cookbooks where the photography makes art out of a simple dish. As an author, photographer and designer, Heidi Swanson has an inspired eye, great ideas about food and offers some great tips to help you on your way through this week’s challenge.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-food. You can then view them and everyone else’s submissions on the DISPLAY PAGE (it updates about every hour). To find out more about this, read the Using Tags on Creative Challenges post.

Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600 (submissions can have larger resolutions than this). Currently, vertical images cannot fit in the homepage template. Therefore, we cannot publish vertical or narrow panoramic images.

2. Images with added text or images, including watermarks, logos, copyright symbols, graphic borders, frames and time stamps, will not be considered. Collages, however, are acceptable.

3. Please do not submit pictures that have already been featured on the homepage.

4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on November 19 to 3:00 p.m. on November 24 (all times EST).

5. 3 pictures per member tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-food

*Note:Images that don’t meet the exact guidelines can be submitted and viewed for everyone to enjoy, but please understand that we cannot publish images that don’t meet minimum guidelines on the homepage. Also, now that you’re tagging your entries, you don’t need to post links in the comments section anymore.

NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Landmarks Whether they’re national monuments or locations that are famous around your town, whether natural or man-made, landmarks surround us. Take your best shot at the landmarks around you for next week’s Creative Challenge.

The entries for this week’s Creative Challenge: Mystery Macros were so very interesting. It seems that our editors weren’t the only ones playing Sherlock Holmes this week. We enjoyed reading many of the guesses that were left under all the submitted photos.

#1. This colorful capture of a frosted window pane from member photoplo captivated our editors. The intricate details of the frost contrast nicely against the warm hues of the background. It’s a thoughtful use of creative lighting to compliment the subject. At first glance, it’s mysterious how the photographer captured the image before the frost melted away. Congratulations to member photoplo —we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. Member clarkdavidw submitted an interesting entry that had our whole office guessing. We wonder if it’s mud, chocolate frosting, a creek bed, a rock, or a the back of a horseshoe crab? We’re stumped!

#3. Member gdg1130 entered an intriguing macro of a stack of cds. By lighting the translucent material from behind, the light refracted.

Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their photos with us. We really enjoyed viewing all the entries and hope you had fun as well. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Mystery Macros visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

With many of today’s digital cameras coming packed with features like facial recognition and image stabilization, the descriptor “cheap” is becoming less common. Our cameras are often investments, so it’s important that we recognize how to properly care for them. Your camera’s manual should be the first point of reference for your care and maintenance instructions. To supplement that information, here are some additional tips and tricks.

Tip #1: Get a Camera Bag
It’s important to keep your camera stored in a camera bag to protect it from shock, dust and water. Camera bags come in many shapes and sizes, so you can find one that fit your needs. For instance, if you hike a lot, you may prefer a backpack style or one that clips to your waist. If you prefer to carry your camera with you, there are many compact sizes available. Also, it’s a good idea to keep a plastic bag in your camera bag to protect your camera in case you’re caught in inclement weather.

Some manufacturers, such as Lowepro, offer tools online to help you find the bag that suits your specific needs.

Tip #2: Keep Your Sensor Clean
Digital SLRs provide the widest range of creative options for taking pictures, but they’re also highly susceptible to sensor dust. Thankfully, most digital SLRs sold today include a built-in sensor-cleaning function. If you see little black dots on your photos, especially when they are in the same portion of the photo time and again, you’ve got sensor dust.

Read your camera’s manual on how to use the built-in sensor-cleaning function. If your camera doesn’t have a self-cleaning function, we recommend getting a brush to clean it, such as the Arctic Butterfly Sensor Brush from Visible Dust.

Tip #3: Protect Your Lens
Another threat to your camera’s lifespan is drops and incidental impacts, and your lens is most sensitive to these bumps and bruises. Fortunately, if you have a camera that has a threaded end on the lens, you can use a decent UV filter to protect it.

You can find good UV filters for $10–$25—a minimal cost when you consider that if you drop your camera, you’re more likely to break the $10 UV filter than the expensive and most likely irreparable lens. UV filters also keep dogs’ noses, kids’ fingers, drinks, and whatever else off the front lens element, which is easily scratched. If you need help buying a UV filter, we recommend taking your camera into your local camera store.

Tip #4: Clean Your Lens
If your lens gets especially dirty, you’ll start to notice a soft, dreamy quality to your photos. This is from all the dust scattering the light as it enters your lens. Provided you don’t allow any fingerprints on the front of the lens, you can keep your lenses clean with a blower brush. Some professionals highly recommend using a large rubber bulb blower instead of canned air for two reasons. One, the blast of air from canned air might be too strong for delicate electronic parts. Secondly, tipping canned air down, sideways or when held upside down shoots out solid frozen stuff, which could leave a lasting residue. To clean your lens or filters without air, you can also use a micro-fiber cloth to wipe off any “fresh” fingerprints or smudges with a gentle circular motion. If the smudges are stubborn, the safest method would be to put a drop or two of lens-cleaning fluid on a micro-fiber cloth and wipe in a gentle, circular motion.

Many camera shops offer cleaning and adjustment services. Typically, a clean, lube and adjustment costs around $70-$120, but they will usually take apart the whole camera to clean and adjust all the gears and moving parts. For more tips on cleaning your camera, check out the New York Institute of Photography’s article on camera tune-ups.

Tip #5: Protecting Your Camera in Inclement Weather
Don’t let a rainy day ruin your shooting session! If you have a camera that can take a filter, then you can try this: Take a large plastic bag or plastic sheet and cut a hole in it the size of the filter. Then, carefully attach the filter to the hole in the plastic using a strong waterproof tape or adhesive. Finally, screw the filter in place and use the plastic to shield your camera and your head. Voila! You now have a rain guard for your camera and yourself. You could even make a separate opening for your flash if you have a suitable way of ensuring that rain will not get in through the opening.

Between this info and your camera’s manual, you should be well on your way to protecting your camera. What tips and tricks do you have? Please share!

Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.

So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!

Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 51 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!