17 - Creative & Pictorial competition

March 17, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Hey everyone! Hope all is well!!!

Since writing to you last, I've been busy with a few different volunteering events for the Special Olympics, The Cleveland Animal Protective League, and even a presentation by the CEO of Lubrizol as he spoke to a Group Of Aspiring Lubrizol Leaders (GOALL for short).

Along with that, I'm mentoring another group of people at the Cleveland Photographic Society for the second time around, and working on setting up a photo club at Lubrizol!! Needless to say, I have no shortage of things to do, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds,

This past Friday was the final regular photo competition of the season, and it was a tough one! There ended up being an issue with some of the scores, which affected the overall final results of the competition. Sadly, all of my images were negatively affected by this causing them to not place. These things are bound to happen from time to time, and we just deal with them as they come. The good news is that I can still enter them in to the year end competition that's coming up soon!

"Smoky Mountain Star Trails" - Creative Competition - Did not place

This image is a compilation of close to 100 different photos (30-seconds each) that were taken back-to-back over a few hours. This was taken during my trip to the Smokey Mountains last April, which ended up being a great time!

2017-03-17 - Did not place - Creative Competition - "Submerged"

"Submerged" - Creative Competition - Did not place

This photo came about by me experimenting with a feature on my camera called Double-Exposure. It mimics the result of a double exposed piece of film, by overlaying the two images together. While looking through the menus on the camera, I came to find that you can choose a source image as the first image, as opposed to taking two photos back-to-back. That being the case, I loaded a few photos I had taken during a model shoot with a friend, and then headed to the park to take the "second shot". The reeds that the model appears to be submerged in were back-lit by the sun, which gave a neat effect. Aside from a few slight tweaks in Photoshop, this photo was largely done in the camera itself. Yes, this technique could be solely done in Photoshop, but I wanted to force myself to try something different with the camera itself. I really love how this image turned out, and have just gotten it printed on canvas!

2017-03-17 - Did not place - Creative Competition - "Breaking Through"

"Breaking Through" - Pictorial Competition - Did not place

This photo was also taken during my first attempt at double-exposed photos. Same technique as the last photo, that I also thought was fairly successful!

Well, that's it for now! I'll keep you posted on the year-end photo competition in the following month or two!

Have an awesome day!

Regards,

Dan

*2017/02/03 - B&W and Pictorial Competition

February 03, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Hey there!

Here are some photos from a B&W and Pictorial competition at the Cleveland Photographic Society! This post was part of an email that contained 2 competition results that were split into two blog posts, the brevity is due this post originating at the bottom of said email.

B&W category

2017-02-03 - Did Not Place - B&W Competition - "Bass Player"

"Bass Player" - Did Not Place

Although not a technically sound photo, I still really like this shot! Taken in my buddy's basement when I was doing musical instrument study... This photo was a part of a CPS exhibit a the Cleveland Institute of music a few years ago.

2017-02-03 - Honorable Mention - B&W Competition - "Giant Arch"

"Giant Arch" - Honorable Mention

I took a day off last fall to take some early morning photos in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and had to stop at the 271 bridge for this shot... it was an amazingly foggy day in the valley that gave a neat effect to the shot!

Pictorial category

2017-02/03 - Did Not Place - Pictorial Competition - "Botanical Trist"

"Botanical Twist" - Did Not Place

A few years ago I volunteered to help assist CPS photo students at the Cleveland Greenhouse. I slightly missed the focus on the lower portion of the tan portion of the plant, but I love the flow of the image and the different elements!

There's only one competition left for this season, aside from the year end competition... I'm really looking forward to both!!!

Until then, I have much to do!!!

Have a great day!

*2017/01/27 - Nature & Pictorial competition

January 27, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Hey there,

I recently gave a presentation at the Cleveland Photographic Society about the past 8 years of volunteer work at the Cleveland Animal Protective League. The overarching theme was how volunteer work helped me progress in photography, and how competing in photo competitions opened me up to doing photojournalism at the APL! I also used the time to encourage others to consider volunteering their time at the APL or other non-profit organizations for the fun and learning experience. A few people approached me after with positive feedback, so although I used 3 vacation days to finalize the presentation, it turned out pretty good!

Nature category

2017-01-27 - Did Not Place - Nature Competition - "Frozen"

"Frozen" - Nature Competition - Did not place

This was actually an icicle hanging from a friends porch during the extreme cold streak a few back.

2017-01-27 - Did Not Place - Nature Competition - "Ice Cave"

"Ice Cave" - Nature Competition - Did not place

Oddly enough, the ice at the bottom of the shot was at the top of Buttermilk falls... The icicles actually formed from water dripping out from a shale wall just upstream from the falls. Fun fact: Buttermilk falls is on the hillside as the ski hill known as Buttermilk at Boston Mills Ski Resort.

Here's another photo I entered a few years ago of the same place... (it had similar results in competition)

Pictorial category

2017-01-27 - Did Not Place - Pictorial Competition - "2016 Cleveland Fireworks"

"2016 Cleveland Fireworks" - Pictorial Competition - Did not place

Taken from just under the silos at the Port of Cleveland. What's really wild about this photo is that you can just barely see the silhouette of a Cleveland firefighter in front of the orange flames (you can just barely see his head just to the bottom-right of the flame).

Till next time!

Dan

*2017/01/06 - People & Pictorial

January 06, 2017 • Leave a Comment

Good day everyone!

I trust the holidays treated you well!

Friday the 6th was the last people photo competition for the season.

"Crimson Kristin" - People Competition - Did not place

Although this photo has good lighting, it sadly lacks inspiration... and the score reflected that. I don't think it's a bad photo, but it did fall short of placing in this competition. I just take that as inspiration to do better in people competitions next year!

"Smile With Your Eyes" - People Competition - Did not place

We were just fooling around with different things, and I asked my lovely model to wrap her head with her scarf. although I was just fooling around, I thought it turned out pretty good despite falling short of Honorable mention by one point. I'll probably enter this photo into the year end competition coming up in a few months, as I still have faith that it can do well!

"Sunset at the port" - Pictorial Competition -Honorable Mention

One of the many perks about being an active member in a photo club is the field trips. This shot was taken from the roof balcony of the Ernst and Young building downtown. I actually entered another photo from this trip during the most recent creative competition.

I'm currently working on a presentation that I'll be doing early next month for the photo club that will be about my volunteer work at the Cleveland APL!

In other news, I have a meeting with a coworker about starting the photo club at Lubrizol! I'm really looking forward to what we can achieve with this club!!!

Wishing you all the best!

Regards,

Dan

*2016/11/18 - Creative & Pictorial competition

November 18, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Good day everyone!

I recently hosted the most recent Creative & Pictorial competition at the Cleveland Photographic Society. Although there were many beautiful photos entered, it was a tough competition once again.

2016-11-08 - Did not place - Creative Competition - "Midnight Racers"

"Midnight Racers" - Creative Competition - Did not place

I took this photo back in April during my trip to the Smokey Mountains, where I stood in the dark for hours just waiting for cars to drive past. This road is on the way back to Pigeon Forge, KY from Clingmans Dome. I got lucky with this shot because I was able to catch cars moving in both directions, which only happened a few times throughout the night! Once the number of cars began to wain, I packed up my gear and headed back to the cabin for the eve. During the critique portion of the competition two of the judges argued about this photo... what one judge hated, the other loved... just goes to show that art is subjective and seen differently by different people. I for one love this shot!

2016-11-18 - Honorable Mention - Creative Competition - "Urban Lifeblood"

"Urban Lifeblood" - Creative Competition - Honorable Mention

One of the perks of being a member of the Cleveland Photographic Society is that we occasionally gain access to different vantage points throughout the city. For a while we were going to the 44th floor of the Terminal tower before the building was sold. Sadly we can no longer gain access as we once did... On the good side, one of our friendly members was able to get us on the roof of the Ernst & Young building right near the lake! This shot was taken looking West towards the Lakewood area. As you can see, I did some post processing to highlight the highway through the shot... It only took a few hours and was just barely able to score enough points to get the Honorable Mention.

2016-11-08 - Did Not Place - Pictorial Competition - "Beyond Bridal Veil Falls"

"Beyond Bridal Veil Falls" - Pictorial Competition - Did Not Place

This photo was taken at my favorite place in the Cleveland Metroparks. It's easy to get to, but the rocks can be quite slippery. No matter the season, it's always a great spot to capture some nature photos! This was unfortunately my lowest scoring entry of the evening, and I'm not sure why it placed so low... but that's just how things worked out... better luck next time!

That's all I have for the rest of the holiday season. My next photo competition won't be till early next year, so I have some time to get some more shots before!

Take care until then!

Regards,

Dan