Themed Free Study Side Challenge - Post Here

12/27/2007 01:05:12 PM · #1

Please post your "themed free study" shots here. Anyone is welcome to join at any time as this isn't a timed free study associated with a month. The discussion of this challenge can be found here.

The goal of this side challenge is to create a final collage when your individual topic photos are complete. Please post individual photos and comment on as many as possible along the way. Also, once you have completed your final collage we can create another topic with final collages in it.

I have written down a few rules, but remember this is a free study challenge so the most important thing is to have fun and complete your project!

Rules:

1. Pick your theme which should be very specific and stick with it until completion. An example would be "silhouettes" and not "portraits".

2. Choose the number of photos to be taken in your side challenge prior to beginning. This can be any number you like but keep in mind your final poster format. For example for a nice even number of 5 rows and 5 columns of images would make a nice 25 photo collage.

3. Post individual photos and comment (as much as possible) and also post your final collage upon completion.

4. This is not a timed challenge therefore you can post any number of photos for your side challenge at a time and take as long as you want to complete your project.

Something to consider and what I might or might not do is choose my photo orientation and style (ie b/w, toned, hdr, grunge, overlays, etc etc) prior to beginning (landscape, square, portrait) and stick with that for the entire challenge so that my final collage will be uniform.

Participants:

fixedintime - Old Tobacco Barns - 30 photos

jasonlprice - Churches of Simpson County, Mississippi - 25 photos

karmat - "Desperado" by the Eagles - 14 to 18 photos

slaakso - The Power of Water - 36 photos

sfalice - Residential San Francisco Architecture

sulamk - Birds - 20 photos

SandyP - Animals - 30 photos

CWelch - Dogs - 25ish

thelobster - Leaves - 24 photos

BAMartin - Abandoned Buildings - 15 to 20 photos

WriteHeart - Undecided black and white

option - "Snow" ski/snowboard project - 25-30 photos

Message edited by author 2008-01-03 10:45:52.

12/27/2007 05:22:13 PM · #2

Just to get this one in here - it was posted earlier in the original thread - this was the first of the Southern Maryland Tobacco Barns

12/27/2007 07:26:10 PM · #3

I got out today and got three more images - so here is one for today, I'll get the others up later.

This barn is less than a half a mile from my house. Ever now and then a piece shows up in the Washington Post about how endangered these old barns are. But I can find them all over the place. Some are well cared for and others are in very bad shape. I have see them demolished, and I have seem them collapse in a storm. But many are still in use, although very few are used for drying tobacco any more. What made these barns unique was the the boards on the side would open up into what I would call a series of vertical slats to let air in to dry the tobacco what was left hanging in the barns.

I have uploaded the image to my portfolio. I have also posted the image to my photoblog and have created a page there with links to all of the images.

BAMartin

Apple iPhone 5

12/27/2007 07:29:46 PM · #4

Larry, I was under the mistaken impression that by tobacco barns you meant the old barns with tobacco ads painted on them. Your first couple of shots has opened my eyes to my error. Nice barns:-)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

12/27/2007 11:33:43 PM · #5

I think I'll narrow my challenge down to Churches of Simpson County instead of Mississippi. I wasn't to excited about taking pictures of churches, but after driving around a bit today and taking my first one I'm excited about it now. My first one turned out much better than I thought and the sky was wonderful today. I'm looking forward to driving around the county and looking for more churches.

Corinth Baptist Church - Magee, MS

CWelch

Nikon D40X

12/27/2007 11:34:17 PM · #6

[thumb]626472[/thumb]
This is Sandy..a bichon frise crossed with a cocker spaniel
First one I've taken for this challenge..Probably won't use it,even though she is really cute..I have a stupid window behind my table that makes all my shots really bright in the background

Message edited by author 2007-12-27 23:34:52.

12/27/2007 11:35:32 PM · #7

Barbara, I was kinda wishing that you would join this side challenge because I really loved your old building shots in the texture challenge. Care to join us?

Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Macro ED Zuiko Digital

12/27/2007 11:47:03 PM · #8

Courtney, can you clone out those dark areas behind Sandy? I love the high key look, but there is a lot of light spilling on to Sandy. Can you put some diffusing material over the window?

How did you expose this? Did you shoot in manual mode? I'm amazed at the detail and the fact that Sandy isn't way underexposed.

slaakso

Olympus E-510

12/28/2007 12:24:12 AM · #9

Tomorrow looks like a good day to shoot some water. I'll post if I get anything good.

12/28/2007 10:22:46 AM · #10

Good idea Jason to get closer to the barn and get a better reflection in the water. I was right on the road and walking up to the pond is a piece of cake - there is a no trespassing sign posted on a tree there.

12/28/2007 10:25:07 AM · #11

Originally posted by jasonlprice:

Jason, there are lots of good churches around and lots of variety in the architecture. I like the way you did this one and look forward to seeing the rest.

BAMartin

Apple iPhone 5

12/28/2007 10:26:19 AM · #12

Originally posted by jasonlprice:

Barbara, I was kinda wishing that you would join this side challenge because I really loved your old building shots in the texture challenge. Care to join us?

I am not sure I can do another photo a day, but if you will settle for 15 - 20 photos of abandoned buildings, I would love to join you.

12/28/2007 10:52:41 AM · #13

This barn is about three miles from where I live and is not in very good condition. I am waiting for it to collapse, or for someone to sell the farmland for development and tear the barn down.

As it is now some boards are missing, the doors are leaning in, and it looks like the entire barn is leaning a bit to the right. This is one of two barns I have thought of taking monthly images of just to get a record of their demise.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

12/28/2007 10:57:38 AM · #14

Originally posted by BAMartin:

Originally posted by jasonlprice:
Barbara, I was kinda wishing that you would join this side challenge because I really loved your old building shots in the texture challenge. Care to join us?

I am not sure I can do another photo a day, but if you will settle for 15 - 20 photos of abandoned buildings, I would love to join you.

Please do it Barbara.

If you notice this is a side challenge with no fixed length or fixed number of images. So take your time and do as many or as few as you wish. I've started off with a quick few, but once the new year starts and I head back to the office it is going to get hard to find time to get out while there is still some daylight. My best bet them may be to catch a few on the way home from work at that point, and get out on the weekends when the weather cooperates.

BAMartin

Apple iPhone 5

12/28/2007 12:55:31 PM · #15

Harold's Place, Mixed drinks

Although this looks like it is on the bad side of town, this is actually the best side of town. The true sadness is that once this was a thriving town, now barely holding on to life.

Message edited by author 2007-12-28 16:14:57.

WriteHeart

Canon EOS-40D

12/28/2007 01:04:30 PM · #16

Can I join? I would love to do a black and white collection (still trying to figure out the subject).

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

12/28/2007 01:44:37 PM · #17

Originally posted by WriteHeart:

Can I join? I would love to do a black and white collection (still trying to figure out the subject).

Julie, it would be great to have you join in.

CWelch

Nikon D40X

12/28/2007 06:58:31 PM · #18

Originally posted by jasonlprice:

Honestly,I don't remember what I shot this in...I thought it was in auto (I use that for pretty much everything..lol) but when I looked later it was on portrait(?)(the one with the person..wow,I'm bad at this)...
I was just trying to get her to stay still for 5 seconds,so it was a rush to get the picture..lol
I tried using photoshop to make it a bit darker behind her but it didn't work...By cloning out the dark area behind her - do you mean the little black things by her ears? I put bows in her hair,but you can't tell that's what they are..lol

12/28/2007 10:46:26 PM · #19

Originally posted by BAMartin:

As Larry said this isn't a photo a day challenge, so no pressure! I've put you down :) Welcome!

12/28/2007 10:48:07 PM · #20

Originally posted by fixedintime:

Originally posted by WriteHeart:
Can I join? I would love to do a black and white collection (still trying to figure out the subject).

Julie, it would be great to have you join in.

Yes, please do join us. I've put you down as undecided, just let me know what subject you choose. I really wanted to do black and white for my churches, but my very first photo needed color because of the pastel sky so I've committed to color now :)

12/28/2007 10:55:26 PM · #21

Originally posted by CWelch:

Yes, I was talking about the bows..although I didn't realize that was what they were :) Once you blow out the higlights completely like behind her there is no information to darken..That can be good for this type of shot (high key) and it really works well for your dog, I was just referring to the light "spill" which is the transition between the blown out window and the dog. Ideally there would be more separation between the dog and the window thus detail in every part of her fur. Anyway, I do like the shot alot.

sfalice

Canon PowerShot SX60 HS

12/29/2007 01:11:30 AM · #22

Okay, Jason. I'm moving from the "undecided" column into " architecture" Now, I haven't decided how detailed the architecture will be, maybe doors, maybe windows, maybe the whole house, but definitely residential and located in San Francisco. There's no way, though that I can limit myself to "x" number of images. Let's just see what happens.

12/29/2007 09:46:13 AM · #23

Barn Number 4

Someone must care more about this old barn as the doors have been replaced. Most of these old barns are just weathered wood. Only occasionally do you see one that has been painted the more traditional barn red. The barn is located directly across the road from the one I posted the image of yesterday.

This is the last of set I got pictures of two days ago. So now I need to get out again. Yesterday it rained and I didn't get out. Now I want to move away a bit from the landscapes to getting up closer with the barns. That is not too easy with some of them as of course they are all on private property. But there are a few closer to the roads where I have a better chance.

And then the weather people are threatening us/promising us a chance of snow on Sunday evening, so perhaps next week I can get some good images in the snow.

12/29/2007 09:32:46 PM · #24

Originally posted by sfalice:

Great subject Alice! I'm looking forward to whatever you decide on the specifics. The number can be determined anytime based on how you want your final collage to look.