Scavenger Hunt – April 2018

By Lynne Rogers Harris

Photo by Lynne Rogers Harris

It was a surprise waking to a very cold and misty morning Saturday for our Photo Scavenger Hunt, especially after 87 degrees on Friday. But 10 of us showed up in Grapevine ready to shoot.

We had a list of almost 50 items to look for and about two hours time to get our photographs. With it being bitterly cold and windy, most of us took off for the Main St. Bread Company for coffee before really getting started.

Photo by Kathy Bezold

Thirty minutes later, we all headed out in our own directions; catching up with one or two others when popping into an open store to get warm and find items on our list.

We asked strangers to kiss, hold hands, make funny faces, jump in the air, etc. The strangers (now our new friends) had as much fun helping us with our list as we had photographing them.

We met at Willhoite’s for lunch and provided some of our best or most fun images to be put on the computer. After lunch, we drove to the Grapevine Community Center where we showed our images on a large TV screen. We ooh’d, aah’d, and laughed at some of
the images and with each other.

This was such a fun outing for the club.

Photo by Dick Graves

Photo by Debby Hoover

Photo by Debby Hoover

Photo by Dick Graves

Photo by Doug Tharp

Photo by Lynne Rogers Harris

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What Was I Thinking: The Story Behind the Photo

By Amy McMurry

What Was I Thinking by Amy McMurry

I was at the park, just trying to find something to spark my photographic interest. Becoming discouraged because nothing seemed to be quite what I wanted, I started heading back to the car. Then I noticed this red slider walking (very slowly) my way. I stopped to take his photo, but I realized that to get what I wanted, I’d have to get dirty. So … I got dirty, lying down on the ground so I could be on his level. I think he got tired of having his picture taken though. I’m pretty sure he considered me to be paparazzi. Oh well. I thanked him and went on my way, happy to have come across him.

Before you click “Submit”

Photo by Fredrick Suwandi on Unsplash

By Darren Wiedman

Our February contest judge, photographer Luke Edmonson, offered some great tips on how to check an image for obvious flaws. Perhaps his advice — and a little more from the internet — will give us a better chance of winning contests.

Turn it upside down

This is one that Luke Edmonson mentioned in his critiques. The eye is usually drawn to the brightest part of a photo. To see what that is objectively, turn your image upside down. The bright spots will suddenly jump out. Keep them if they are important. If not, tone them down or crop them out.

Eliminate distractions

Ideally everything in the shot should have a reason for being there. This is a tip best heeded while you’re shooting because it may be difficult to remove distracting elements in post. But if you can, do.

Flip it

Another one from Luke: try flipping the image so what’s on the right moves to the left. Sometimes this will make a big difference in the composition. Obviously this won’t work if there are words in the image.

Falling water

Be sure your horizon lines are level. You may have noticed this in your friend’s vacation
photos from the beach. Everyone is having fun in the shot, but your eye keeps going to the tilted ocean in the background.

Focus

The main subject of your photo needs to be sharp. Seems like an obvious point, but it’s amazing how often this comment is made by judges. Remember to view your images at
100% or closer to be sure the key part of your image is sharp.

Chromatic aberration

This is a fancy term for colored fringes around edges of high-contrast subject matter, e.g. rocks against a blue sky. This can happen with lower-grade lenses and a lot of post-production work on the image.

So what?

Yet another tip from Luke, “be bolder in saying something (as the photographer) versus just simply declaring.” Does your image tell a story or show something in a unique way? Are you rewarding the viewer for taking the time to look at your photo? “Find something … and present it in a way that if you had not, perhaps no one would ever see its beauty.”