Ashanali

Challenge has been added! enjoy. :D

The July challenge will be launched later tonight. For the challenge you will need a torch or a video light or even a lamp that you can easily move around... you also will hopefully have worked out how to do a long exposure. For those who aren't up with all that OR who have cameras that can't do what they need them to do, you will still be able to take part in the challenge but I'll keep it simple for you. More on this tonight when July is launched... it will be a month of frustration for many but when you get the desired result, all the frustration will be worth it. UPDATED WITH CHALLENGE: This month the challenge is all about the light... focussing on still life and/or painting with light. For those who aren't yet confident with their cameras or don't have a camera capable of shooting the painting with light segment, your challenge is to create classic still life images using available light only. NO FLASH! Yes, this is the time to grab a bowl of fruit and make it look pretty. So how do we make it look more than just a bowl of fruit? This month you need to really look at how the light is falling. Is there a lovely filtered light coming through a window somewhere? Do you have a lamp positioned in a dark corner that can light a bowl of fruit and make it look artistic... essentially, try and find a location that reminds you of a classic painting. Once you have your fruitbowl/subject positioned, take a series of images from a variety of angles. A bowl of fruit is ideal because within it there are a range of shapes and colours. Other items you could use would be hats, shoes, bouquet of flowers or any other objects with a variety of colours/shapes/textures. Have fun mastering still-life! To get a truly stunning result isn't as easy as it seems. for those shooting on DSLR's, try shooting in either Av mode OR manual. For those who are confident with their camera gear and want to really challenge themselves, your challenge is 'painting with light'. Painting with light is a technique that can be incredibly frustrating to master but the results are simply stunning. These are the images you see that look like oil paintings by the old masters. This link is one of my all time favourite Flickr members who has incredible control over his 'painting with light' techniques. http://www.flickr.com/photos/arienti/sets/72157614081723386/ (link contains photos of nudes. warning for those who are easily offended) People/dogs/moving/living subjects are the hardest of all to capture. Start easy and a fruit bowl is perfect for the reason set out in the first challenge. If you don't have a bowl of fruit, look for other objects with a variety of shapes/colour/texture. how do you paint with light. You need; camera, tripod (or something firm to sit the camera on), torch/lamp/video light, subject. Ideally you want a room that is utterly and completely black as the only light should be the light you choose to direct onto your subject with your torch. Shooting at night is recommended. You should be shooting in manual mode and your settings will be a bit of trial and error. A good start will be ISO 400, shutter speed of 5 seconds (yes, 5 seconds) at F8. With your room lights turned on, set up your subject and set up your camera on the tripod. Focus your camera then make sure you switch it to MF. You will either want to remote trigger your camera OR use the timer to set off the shutter. When you are ready to shoot, turn off your light, turn on your torch and hit the shutter button. Using your torch you are going to illumninate areas of your still life that you want to show up in your final image. Move the light over the subject and don't be scared if you have to walk quickly past the front of your camera to move to the other side of your subject to get the effect you want. (You shouldn't show up in the final image if you move fast enough.) Make adjustments to your settings as needed. If you're overexposed, either move backwards with your torch, make your ISO 200 or take your aperture up to 11 or 16. If it's still under exposed, increase the length of your shutter speed to 8 or even 10 seconds. Ideally you will end up with still life images that have an amazing painterly feeling. This is a technique that can take ages to get a single pleasing result. Don't give up if you get frustrated, simply put down your camera for the night and try again the next night. I promise that you will be so excited when you get "THAT" shot. It's worth the pain... and once you have the hang of it you can try extending the length of time you expose your subject for and you can move onto more difficult subjects (like people or dogs). Good luck everyone! I'm still on dial up for three days but I'll be back in to check out how everyone is going after that. If you have any questions please PM me as I can't open image heavy threads until our internet speed is back up again.

Hi everyone. Unfortunately I haven't been able to follow this thread for the last 12 days or so as we are currently on dial-up speed and will be for a few more days. I'm just letting you know that the July challenge will be launched tonight. For the challenge you will need a torch or a video light or even a lamp that you can easily move around... you also need will hopefully have worked out how to do a long exposure. For those who aren't up with all that OR who have cameras that can't do what they need them to do, you will still be able to take part in the challenge but I'll keep it simple for you. More on this tonight when July is launched...

You can actually enter multiple of classes, but if you are awarded 2nd in one, you are automatically disqualified from the others as you are a second place getter. I know one person who once entered her dog in state and open, there were 3 dogs in state and she was the only one in open, because she entered both, she had to participate in both, she got awarded 2nd in state, which meant she was already a beaten dog, and couldnt go in both. IMO - Its a waste of money. When it comes down to choosing if you want to enter your dog in Minor or Puppy, i go on maturity. If I have a very mature 8 month old, I may put it up to Puppy. But you must remember some dogs in puppy are almost 12 months. CruiseNRoxy this is infact incorrect. I have a Whippet bitch I exhibit that we frequently exhibit in Intermediate (her age class) and NT (State) Bred (means more to her owner/breeder). We have had this come up in the past and according to the rules a dog must be judged in ALL classes it is entered in. So for example, we had Nicky in Intermediate and she was exhibited against one other and was beaten. She is a beaten dog in the Intermediate class but has not had her shot in the State Bred class, and therefore is not a beaten dog in that class. She would then go against another bitch for State Bred and usually get first, because of the second place in another class she is not eligible for Challenge, however if the Intermediate bitch gets challenge she is eligible to contend for Res CC. If she gets first in both of her classes and then goes onto win Challenge, both of the second place dogs return for Challenge. For us it is worth it because we exhibit a few Whippet bitches but there is only 2 of us to handle, by doing this we knock ourselves out (unavoidable anyway) and usually have 2 left which works well for us. If I need to clarify let me know. Actually, the rules state that a beaten dog may not compete for the challenge so even if your bitch may win one class, if she is beaten in another she should not compete for the CC. And with regards to entering in multiple classes anyway, check with your individual state controlling body on this rule. Here in Tasmania, we are allowed to enter ONE class only per dog per show (with the exception of sweepstakes, progeny, property classes etc if offered). As Megz said, she IS NOT eligible for the Challenge, but she MAY be eligble for ResCC.

Everyone is doing so well with this challenge, I am very impressed. It just goes to show that everyone can capture something special without needing to use special effects in post processing. Just a heads up for people who are keen to do next months challenge - I know it's early, but you will need a torch, flashlight or video light AND if you have a tripod, it will help (if you don't have a tripod you will need something firm to rest your camera on). Cheap torch will be fine.

So when are you moving to the house one street over? I am sensing some tool sharing should happen...

It isn't NEEDED to import, however if the dog is an Amstaff with papers and registered with the AKC then amstaffcali can prove to qantas that the dog IS an amstaff and not a pitbull and tell them to shove it.

Domestic is different. Pit bulls are a restricted breed and can't be imported, however once they are here, they can be flown domestically without an issue. amstaffcali - I hope you can work it out. If your dog is AKC registered then you should be okay.

did you read the last post? I talked about heading to where there was already an established feeding pattern and someone else was doing the feeding. Is taking photos of it adding to it?

Okay, let's alter it a bit then. If you're in Brisbane, head to Brett's Wharf about 3-4pm and the staff feed the birds the bits of fish they don't use in the kitchen. You can get close and there is a larger range of birds here (pelicans, gulls and a couple of other water birds that I have no idea what they are). Or head to Junction Park State School behind the swimming pool and at about 4.30pm the old woman across the road throws out birdseed for the pigeons. There's even an odd all brown one in there that stands out from the drab grey. Four top-knot pigeons also join this group. Port of Brisbane also has an abundance of bird life at the big lake that is there. If you're anywhere else, grab some cheap crap fish from a fisho or some birdseed. Have fun.

A tip for those who are wanting to try bird photos. If you live close to the water there are likely to be seagulls around. Or in city areas you might have pigeons. Take a supply of food with you (they'll eat anything, hot chips are good), and take a friend. Get them to throw the food up in the air in front of you and when the birds take off to grab the food, you can attempt some frozen motion images. The advantage is that these birds will come and close and even take food from you hands so you can get as close to the action as you need to.

I think it's more that he's a bit of a techno-geek than anything, but there are still people out there who think he's god (obviously - according to the joke)

Tess, did I say I like him?

He's a highly regarded photographer (obviously ) Yes. Google is your friend

Huh? I'm plenty happy

It was actually a compliment to Hassleblad and the skill of Ken Rockwell. I think you missed the joke :D

yes... okay, there are a few there you can send to me also.

It depends on the camera Huga. Some will have something in the menu when you look through it. Best thing to do is google it.

You can just pop them in a post-pak and send them up this way thanks!

Love it. As for writing your name... write it normally then flip it in photoshop

This thread is off to a great start. Awesome photos everyone.

My favourite is my 50mm 1.4 My husband's is the 70-200mm 2.8 L we also have a few cheapie lenses that we like to use as they are quite hardy (like the 17-85mm, 28-135mm and a couple of others). On our wish list is something around the 90mm mark with macro, a 10-22mm and possibly the 24-70 L series. However the 5D comes first. :D

AM! Well done! :D

This could get me started on a tirade... but I won't. Short answer is, yes. Long answer is very complex.