05 - Black & White and Pictorial competition

February 05, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey there,

Last Friday denoted the last B&W photo contest of the season. Aside from one more regular competition late next month (Creative category), there is also the year end competition/banquet in March (which is where the "Photo of the Year" awards are presented)!

2016-05-21 - Did not Place - Year end competition - B&W Category - "Dark Flower"

"Dark Flowers" - Did not Place - B&W competition

Although I like this photo, it fell 1 point short of getting an honorable mention. I think if I had cropped this picture differently, I think I could have brought that score up. Something I need to clearly work on in the future!

2016-02-05 - Did not place - Pictorial Competition - "Northern NY"

"Northern NY" - Did not place - Pictorial Competition

A nice snapshot from a road trip I took several years ago... I look forward to visiting the area again for some more photos! Given the low score of this photo, I'm thinking it may have not been the best photo to enter into this contest. Guess I just need to try harder next time!

2016-02-05 - Did Not Place - Pictorial Competition - "Kendal Lake"

"Kendal Lake" - Did Not Place - Pictorial Competition

A neat place in the park on a perfect day! This photo also didn't do well in the competition, but after seeing all the entries, I'm not that surprised... There are some incredible photographers at CPS!!!

I still have much to learn about photography, but am having a great time along the way!

Farewell for now!

Dan

*2016/01/15 - Nature & Pictorial competition

January 15, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Good day everyone... I hope you're all well!!!

January 15th was the final Nature photo contest at the Cleveland Photographic society. In regards to this competition category, Nature is defined as "Photos of animals, flowers, plants and scenics where the 'hand of man' is not evident". Although this category is one of my favorites to enter, I also find it to be one of the more difficult. Even the contrail from a plane will disqualify an entry into this competition...

2016-05-21 - YEC - "Bedford Metroparks" - Did not place

"Bedford Metroparks" - Did not place - Nature competition

As many of you know this is my favorite place in the local park system, and with the convergence of several waterfalls it's easy to see why! Sadly, this photo fell 1 point short of getting an Honorable Mention, but it is what it is... There are a few things I could have done to allow for greater impact... That aside, I still really like this photo and am not disapointed by any means! This place will most certainly be photographed even more in the future... so keep an eye out.

2016-05-21 - YEC - "Foreshadowing" - Did not place

"Foreshadowing" - Did not place - Nature competition

I took this photo about a decade ago on a lone road trip through the Adirondack mountains... What a great trip that was... I concentrated mostly on northern New York and spent days wandering around in my car, trying my best to capture some semblance of autumn. This would have been easier if I hadn't been a week early for the changing leaves, but I still had fun non-the-less! This photo was taken is a small stream somewhere along the road. I'll take this same road trip again in the future, but have so many other places I'd like to visit first.

2016-01-05 - Did not place - Pictorial competition - "Garfield Monument"

"Garfield Monument" - Did not place - Pictorial competition

One of the many benefits of being a member of Cleveland Photographic Society is that we often go on field trips to local places like the Lakeview Cemetery. This photo was taken from the inside of the Garfield monument just above the statue in the center. Although this photo also didn't place, I still thought it was kind of neat...

Well, that's it for this week! The next photo contest will be the last Black & White competition of this season. After that, there's one other competition before the year end competition in May.

Have a wonderful day!

*2016/01/08 - People & Pictorial competition

January 08, 2016 • Leave a Comment

Hey everyone!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New year!

It has been quite a while since I've last written to all of you wonderful people! Hope all is well on your end!!!

Last Friday denoted the last People competition at The Cleveland Photographic Society for this competition season. Being someone who likes to mix things up a bit, I'm always trying different styles of photography. Trying new styles, although fun, doesn't always yield the best results...

"Kelly"
People Competition - Did not place

Kelly is a long time friend of mine that was kind enough to model for me a few months ago... It was great fun, and I learned a lot about flash photography... I'm really looking forward into studying studio photography in the future!

"Murica' or Git out!"
People Competition - Did not place

With all the gun news out now-a-days, I figured I'd go for a more over-the-top satirical photo... Although it was a bit unnerving having a gun pointed at my head, I thought this was a neat photo concept. It's clearly not a good one, but it was fun none-the-less! This is dedicated to all those crazy gun nuts out there! This photo ended up being published in the Cleveland Photographic Society's online publication in 2016.

"Orange Kitty"
Pictorial Competition - Honorable Mention

This is a photo of a former resident of the Cleveland Animal Protective League! It was originally taken to help him find a home, but the cat was at the shelter for only a short period of time! Although it didn't help him find a home, it did do decent in competition!

Since the photo club took a holiday break for competitions, we have a little catching up to do. I just got done uploading my competition entries for a Nature competition for this upcoming Friday! That being the case, you'll be hearing from me again very soon!!!

Take care!

Warm regards,

Dan

*2015/11/20 - Creative & Pictorial competition

November 20, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Hey Everyone,

It's that time again... Results from the most recent photo contests at the Cleveland Photographic Society! This competition is generally a lower scoring category as "Creative" is a broad category which is subject to interpretation. Although the overall scores for all who competed were lower than most other contests, I was still able to do a little better than I was hoping!

"Autumn Falls" - Did not place - Pictorial Competition

This is one of my favorite places in the metroparks, and I assume you can see why. Although this area is pretty, my image fell a little short of placing this time around. I've learned on what I can do better for next time, and look forward to trying some different things. For those of you interested, this is located in Bedford Metroparks, at an area called Bridal Veil falls. This isn't Bridal Veil, but if you walked down Bridal Veil falls, you'd eventually appear in the area on the right... It's well worth the visit, but make sure you wear slip & water proof boots, because this areas is slick.

"Guardian Angel" - Did not place - Creative Competition

This is a famous statue found in Lake view cemetery overlooking a family's grave site. I used a Lensbaby lens, which is a specialty lens know as a "Selective focus" lens. By using this lens, I was able to get the face in focus while blurring the wings that are very close by. Despite not placing in this contest, I still really like it for it's daunting look.

"Awwwmageddon 4: Frost Princess Fright" - Third Place - Creative Competition

I was recently asked to photograph a friends family, which is something I never do. Due to the fact that the family has supported my photography substantially over the years, I decided to go along with it. I managed to get some great shots of the family, but I won't be doing portrait photography any time soon... sorry! Although my typical "Awwmageddon" series usually includes shelter animals and pets, I decided to mix it up with a photo from the portrait shoot (after asking permission of course). This shot still needs a little work, but I was running tight on time (finished it at 1am the night before the contest)... I do plan on tweaking it a little more before I give it my stamp of approval, but I do like it anyhow!

That's all for this contest! The next competition won't be until January due to the holiday season, so I'll have more time to get things in order. Until then, I wish you all the best during the Holidays!!!

Take care!

*2015/11/06 - Nature & Pictorial competition

November 06, 2015 • Leave a Comment

Hey everyone!

It has been a while... I trust all is well!

I just attended the most recent photo contest centered around Nature and Pictorial categories. Although I didn't have much hope for my nature entry, I did have high hopes for my pictorial entries.

11/06/2015 - Did Not Place - Nature Competition - "Emerald Reflections"

"Emerald Reflections" - Nature Competition - Did not place

I didn't have much hope for this, and as you can guess, it didn't place. It should be noted that there was a perfect score on this evening which put the top score at 27, however, that wouldn't have mattered for my score.

11/06/2015 - Did Not Place - Pictorial category - "Exploring Autumn"

"Exploring Autumn" - Pictorial Competition - Did not Place

You just never know what impact your footsteps will bring

I used a specialty lens on this shot that allowed me to move the focal point of the image. I personally love this photo, but sadly the judges did not... I probably should have gone with a little less blur, but it is what it is..

11/06/2015 - Did Not Place - Pictorial category - "Lake View Guardian Angel"

"Lake View Guardian Angel" - Pictorial Contest - Did not place

This is an awesome statue at Lake View Cemetery that always looks a bit creepy. I tried my best to make it slightly more creepy... sadly, this didn't do well either.

Even though my photos didn't place this time around, I was still proud of the pictorial entries!

The next contest will be in two weeks and focus on Creative and Pictorial Categories... I'm going to have to step it up a little bit to compete against an ever improving group of photographers!

Have a wonderful day!

Regards,

Dan