Webshots Blog

Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.

So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!

Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 33 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

In the spirit of summer weather, we want to see your best photos that represent things that are hot! From a sandy desert to sexy heels (she looks hot!), get creative with your interpretations of this sizzlin’ topic.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-hot. You can then view them and everyone else’s submissions on the DISPLAY PAGE (it updates about every hour). To find out more about this, read the Using Tags on Creative Challenges post.

Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600 (submissions can have larger resolutions than this). Currently, vertical images cannot fit in the homepage template. Therefore, we cannot publish vertical or narrow panoramic images.

2. Images with added text or images, including watermarks, logos, copyright symbols, graphic borders, frames and time stamps, will not be considered. Collages, however, are acceptable.

3. Please do not submit pictures that have already been featured on the homepage.

4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on July 9 to 3:00 p.m. on July 14 (all times EST).

5. 3 pictures per member tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-hot

*Note:Images that don’t meet the exact guidelines can be submitted and viewed for everyone to enjoy, but please understand that we cannot publish images that don’t meet minimum guidelines on the homepage. Also, now that you’re tagging your entries, you don’t need to post links in the comments section anymore.

NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Depth of Field
Depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on either side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions. For some images, such as landscapes, a large DOF may be appropriate, while for others, such as portraits, a small DOF may be more effective. Show us your best large or small Depth of Field photos!

Photographing fireworks is fun, but making your shots really stand out is a big challenge. Sharp, clear images are always lovely, but taking your composition a step further to include a great location or a balanced exposure on the fly with the ever-changing sky is the trickiest part. The top three winners for this challenge made us all “ooohh” and “aaahhh.”

#1. Incorporating the historical Florida capitol building with the fireworks display must have taken a great deal of forethought and timing by member tildenrl. It’s always a bit of luck to capture the bursts in the right spot, but it seems that the fireworks couldn’t have filled the frame any nicer. Congrats to member tildenrl—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. The variety of shells and the many details of this image from member stormispirit are so vibrant, sharp and clear. It’s never easy to properly capture the energy of a finale, so we salute you!

#3.We really loved the sharp details and the overall composition, which added such a three-dimensional quality to this image captured by member fdguin .

Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their photos with us, we really enjoyed all the colorful and creative images that made up the big show. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Fireworks, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

Photo walks, a popular activity among photo-sharing communities, let us all be a part of something no matter where we are in the world. By taking a walk this weekend and sharing the pictures with us, you’re contributing to a global mural of life.

So put on your walking shoes, grab your camera and go for a walk. You’ll be surprised at the photographic opportunities that present themselves. We’d love to see all of your photos as you can submit as many as you like!

Please tag your photos with Weekend Photo Walk 32 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

We’ve heard from you, our members, that the Most Viewed, Most Recent, Most Downloaded photos on the Channel pages aren’t updating as well as our Newest Photos, which updates every hour. We’re aware of the issue, and our engineers have decided to stop the job that updates these photos so that they can really take a look at it and figure out the problem. They expect to have it up and running in about a week, so look to the blog for an update on when this is fixed.

In the meantime, if you’re craving something to view, check out our recently release editors’ collections:

Flags & Fireworks

World’s Best Beaches

Wedding Cakes

Many big celebrations, including America’s upcoming Independence Day on July 4, end with a bang—and by bang, we mean fireworks! So for your next challenge, we want to see your best fireworks photos, whether they be from a holiday, a weekend at Disneyland, or the sparklers in your backyard. Fireworks can be tricky to capture, so read our Pro Tips blog on Photographing Fireworks for some handy tips!

Need some inspiration? Check out the Flags and Fireworks editors’ collection!

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-fireworks. You can then view them and everyone else’s submissions on the DISPLAY PAGE (it updates about every hour). To find out more about this, read the Using Tags on Creative Challenges post.

Submission Guidelines
1. Our editors look for sharp, clear horizontal images that are at a minimum resolution of 800×600 (submissions can have larger resolutions than this). Currently, vertical images cannot fit in the homepage template. Therefore, we cannot publish vertical or narrow panoramic images.

2. Images with added text or images, including watermarks, logos, copyright symbols, graphic borders, frames and time stamps, will not be considered. Collages, however, are acceptable.

3. Please do not submit pictures that have already been featured on the homepage.

4. The Creative Challenge runs from 12:01 a.m. on July 2 to 3:00 p.m. on July 7 (all times EST).

5. 3 pictures per member tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-fireworks

*Note:Images that don’t meet the exact guidelines can be submitted and viewed for everyone to enjoy, but please understand that we cannot publish images that don’t meet minimum guidelines on the homepage. Also, now that you’re tagging your entries, you don’t need to post links in the comments section anymore.

NEXT WEEK’S THEME: Things That Are Hot
In the spirit of summer weather, we want to see your best photos that represent things that are hot! From a sandy desert to sexy heels (she looks hot!), get creative with your interpretations of this sizzlin’ topic.

Photographing fireworks can be challenge, so to make sure you capture summer’s “big booms,” we have some handy tips for you whether you’re using a point-and-shoot camera or a digital SLR.

Steady Does It
To get optimal shots, we always recommend using a tripod and a cable release (on an SLR) or the “timer” mode (on a point-and-shoot) to eliminate the camera shaking.

Location, Location, Location
An important aspect of shooting fireworks is framing your shot. Scope out the available locations in advance, and do your homework to find out where the shells will be fired from. Avoid positions that are close to trees or where the rockets are being launched. Allow yourself room to zoom or go wide without capturing too many distractions, such as light poles. Look for opportunities to make your images stand out from the pack. For example, if the show is located in a city, look for ways to incorporate historical landmarks into the scene.

Don’t Forget!
Some firework displays can be pretty long, so make sure you have enough memory in your camera.

To Flash or Not to Flash
A common misconception is that using your flash will help you better capture fireworks; this isn’t true. Unless you want to freeze something in the foreground, such as a person, or light up a particular object, your flash should be turned off while shooting fireworks as it will have no effect whatsoever on the exposure and will just anger the other viewers around you.

Check the Manual
If you own a point-and-shoot camera, utilize the preset fireworks mode.

Additional Tips for SLR Cameras
For those using a digital SLR, we have a few more tips for you. The first is to consider your focal length. One of the hardest parts of photographing fireworks is having your camera trained on the right part of the sky at the right time. This becomes even harder if you’re shooting with a longer lens. Zoom lenses are nice because they will give you more of a range and the ability to have different shots from one location. To make sure that your depth field is not too narrow, it’s important to use a mid-range aperture. Shooting between f/8 and f/16 will give you a good depth a field to capture the fireworks.

Probably the most important part of shooting fireworks with an SLR is choosing the appropriate shutter speed. Generally, a few seconds (2-5) is an appropriate time frame for the shutter to be set at. The bulb setting could be used as well so that you can control how long each shot can be without having to constantly change the shutter speed on your camera.

A great place to start would be to set the camera. Hold the shutter open, watch the sky carefully, judge whether or not the bursts filled the frame, and move to the next shot. Be prepared to adjust the camera’s angle somewhat throughout the show. Also, don’t leave your shutter open longer than 15 seconds. The longer the exposure, the noisier (grainer) the image will look. To achieve longer exposures and have less noise, use ISO 100 or 200.

Some of the more successful imagesI ‘ve taken in the past have been in the beginning and middle of the show as finales tend to be difficult to capture because it’s really easy to overexpose the image due to the sheer volume of explosions.

If you follow these tips carefully, your images of the big show will be something to brag about to all your friends and leave you with happy memories! We’d love to see your fireworks photos, so upload them to Webshots and post a link in the comments section below!

We all wish we could be on summer vactaion after seeing all the wonderful photos in this week’s Creative Challenge. After going through all the entries, we all feel these three best represent the feeling of summer.

#1.The epic summer scene puts these two surfers as the focus of this amazing image by member sk8photoMAX. We liked how the clouds and surf complemented each other, and having the raindow was a serendipitous touch. Congrats to member sk8photoMAX—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. What’s more “summer” than a kid enjoying a cold treat on a hot day? We really liked how member dsworster cropped the action, which let us see the bright colors and the child’s expression. Great job!

#3. Member nadiavto caputerd the simplicity of a summer tradition with this elegant shot. Can’t you just imagine those being your foot prints?

Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their photos with us. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Summer Scene, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.