Webshots Blog

This challenge is all about the spirit of Halloween, which includes jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treaters, ghostly spirits, halloween decorations, spooky looking houses, graveyards, black cats, costumed pets, bats, and spider webs to name a few.

You may enjoy our Halloween photo tips:

How to photograph Jack-O-Lanterns

How to Make Ghostly Images

Note: Due to the holiday, there will not be a people’s choice vote for this Challenge. However, it will return for the next challenge!

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Halloween Spirit Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-halloween-spirit. 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 for first place or being featured on the homepage big photo of the day at a later date. Collages, however, are acceptable. Images submitted should be your own.

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 October 19th through 12:00 p.m on October 27th (all times EST). The winners will be announced at 6pm EST on the 27th, but the the winning photo will be featured on October 31st!

5. 3 pictures per person (regardless of how many member accounts you have) tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-halloween-spirit

*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.

NEXT CHALLENGE THEME: Night Out on the Town – this challenge focuses on capturing cityscapes (and/or citylife) after sunset. Long exposures are recommended. This challenge will run from October 28th-November 7th.

This week, we are very excited that professional photographer Kevin McNeal is our special guest judge for the Changing Colors of Autumn Creative Challenge. He personally chose the top10 and provided his thoughts for why each image was selected. Today, he expressed to us that it was very difficult to narrow down from all the excellent entries. To view all the entries, please visit the DISPLAY_PAGE.

Kevin and the Webshots editorial team also chose several photos as Honorable Mention. We will include them in among the photos that placed 2nd through 10th place to vote on for People’s Choice Photo of the Day! Please cast your vote through 9am (EST) October 24th. To vote for people’s choice, please click here.

Congratulations to all of those who placed and we hope everyone will join us for the Halloween Creative Challenge which will begin on Wednesday.

Also, be sure not to miss Kevin McNeal’s Top Ten Tips for Adding Impact to Fall Photography!

 

#1. “Chasing Sunbeams” by member lynnie440 – Kevin McNeal commented “I love the warm light and interaction between nature and man’s best friend. The composition is spot on and allows us to follow the beams of light. The inclusion of the dog in terms of timing and the way it is positioned between the rays could not be better. The burst of warm light and rays really connects with the viewer in terms of mood as well. Congrats!”

Congratulations! Your photo will be featured as big photo of the day Wednesday!

 

#2. “Monarch and Fall Leaves” by member ALDitzler - Kevin McNeal commented “Lots of reasons to love this but the complementary colors really puts this as a stunner . The placement of the butterfly in terms of composition does not suffocate the subject and leaves plenty of room to enjoy the surrounding colors. The combination as in the winning image includes skill but great timing as well. ”

#3. “Autumn Colors Around Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria” by member suresh_krishna - Kevin McNeal commented “Wow ! Talk about amazing subjects. It is always fantastic when you get the opportunity to shoot an amazing subject like the one in this image; combine it with vivid fall colors and fantastic clouds and you can’t go wrong. Love the choice to break the rule here and center the image as in this case the size of the subject is dominant enough to really take presence and have the surrounding color complement the subject.”

#4. “Gatineau Park” by member peg353 - Kevin McNeal commented “The lighting is second to none here and really catches a special moment. The solidarity of the yellow tree against the rest of the colors really makes this one stand out.The shadows really add to contrast and depth as well here.”

#5. “Take a Seat and Relax, Moulder Park, Orange NSW” by member rnewbery - Kevin McNeal commented “Amazing composition and the colors are one of the best I have seen in an autumn image.”

 

#6. “Plattekill Waterfall, Catskill Mountains” by member CatskillHiker - Kevin McNeal commented “The framing is top notch here. The shutter speed and the abundance of color could not be better. Excellent use of the composition as well.”

#7. “Hillier Gardens in Autumn, Hampshire, UK” by member fmcoleman - Kevin McNeal commented “Love the pathway to allow the viewer to feel like they could walk into the image. The choice of color really adds to the depth as well.”

 

#8. “Headlight Basin and Mount Stuart” by member thom52 - Kevin McNeal commented “Lots to love about this. Great composition and placement of the larches against the backdrop of Mt Stuart. The deep blue skies and whisky clouds really makes the image “pop” as well.”

 

#9. “A New England Autumn, Litchfield, Connecticut” by member bmanis51 - Kevin McNeal commented “The diagonal lines and use of colors strikes me here. This image really tells a story and signifies what a New England image should look like.”

#10. “Backroad Colorado Fall Colors, Near Silverton, Colorado” by member mojo0716 - Kevin McNeal commented “Again the use of the diagonal lines and color really create a mood within. The deep blue skies really make the foreground colors stand out.”

 

Please vote for your favorite photo (no more than one vote per image, per IP address) through 9:00 am (EST) October 24th, 2011. The winning photo will be featured on the Webshots homepage as a future POTD in October. (Note: if you don’t see the vote button under each photo, please try FireFox as a browser) After voting, you may need to refresh your browser.

  (Read on …)

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 203 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

Here’s a fun idea for this week’s photo walk: make your walk into a Picture Show & share the link! 

Most of you share individual albums or photos from a single album for the Weekend Walk. You can easily make a Picture Show from your album. The first 12 photos from your album will be inserted if you’re a Free or Gold member, with the rest of the photos available when you click the “images” button.

Did you know it’s possible to create a themed Picture Show of your favorite photos from different albums? Just tag your photos with the same photo tag (WeekendWalk203  for example), click the “my shots” link at the top of the page, click on the tags tab, find & click the tag you used on your photos to see the the photos displayed and create your Picture Show! You can add brief text or explanations of your walk and pick the perfect music to accompany your images.

Here’s a quick example I made from some of my favorite Autumn photos.

http://www.webshots.com/videoSlideshow/3050709870017353410QSQxug

We’re excited to see your creations, so please post a link so we can all walk with you!

Many of you have mentioned how you would like to have more choices in music for Picture Shows. As we noted in our response, we will be adding more music on an on-going basis. In the mean time, we’d like to show you how you can select the perfect soundtrack from our library of over 100 songs!

In the Picture Show Creator, select “Change Song” on the right

Click on the category drop down at the top of the page – doing so reveals a list of 13 various genres to choose your music selection from.

Once you choose a category, you have the ability to preview each song.  Listen to and select the perfect soundtrack to tell your story, then save and continue creating your very own Picture Show!

Do you hear the soft rustling of crispy golden autumn leaves in the breeze, feel the chill in the air, see the blazing colors light up the trees on the horizon? There are signs of Fall all around, so grab a cup of cider and celebrate the glories of one of the most beautiful times of the year!

Our gorgeous new Fall Collection is sure to get you in the autumn mood – from scenic valleys, crisp colors and bright skies; our 2011 Fall Collection is filled with the best of Fall. Download them all today and start fall leaf peeping from your desktop!

Autumn celebrations abound! Share the beauty of fall via a ProShots Postcard. Our fabulous professional photos are perfect to send along to brighten someone’s day for any reason (or no reason at all ).

And our sister site, Egreetings has lovely, fall cards perfect for sending! From Canadian Thanksgiving cards, to cards for Halloween, Egreetings is filled with wonderful thoughts you can send to your loved ones!

Keep Celebrating! Don’t forget these other special dates coming this month:

Sweetest Day ecards (10/15) – share your love !

Boss’s Day cards (10/17) – send your best to your boss!

Diwali cards  (10/26 – 10/30) – celebrate the festival of lights!

Halloween cards (10/31) – Trick or Greet – send fun and funny Halloween cards!

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 202 and then post your links in the comment section. Your entries won’t be judged—this is just for the fun of it!

You’ve been asking for the ability to vote on creative challenges and after some recent updates to our blog platform, we’re happy to be able to offer that feature now. We tested our voting scenario last week from the Paws & Claws challenge, and are proud to bring you the first ever People’s Choice POTD!

The winner is…

 “Squirrel Watching” by member albertsville! Congratulations! Your photo will be the featured POTD on Wednesday!

Don’t forget, there are two weeks to still cast your entry in the Changing Colors of Autumn Creative Challenge.

 

To coincide with the current Creative Challenge: Changing Colors of Autumn, please enjoy this helpful article by professional photographer and special guest judge Kevin McNeal!

 

Top Ten Tips For Adding Impact To Fall Photography

By Kevin McNeal

When it comes to getting great autumn images there are many things that you can do to achieve success. The following list is just a brief summary of the top tips to adding impact. I encourage to go out and shoot as much as you can this fall and come up with your own top ten next year.

1)   Use the light to your advantage: It is necessary to consider the light when trying to maximize color when shooting fall foliage. The golden light of early mornings and late evening sunset work best. Avoid the harsh contrast light of midday light that strips subjects of their color. Also, do not be afraid to shoot in overcast weather just be careful not to include too much sky in your shot.

2)   Find colors that are complementary: Finding color in autumn is easy; trying to make visual sense is not. This means you need to consider how you arrange the colors in your image. Look for ways to match complementary colors or color contrasts. More specifically, I will choose compositions that accentuate the red of the leaves against the green grass or blue sky. 

3)   Try different perspectives: The best way to achieve this is to use a variety of lenses and focal lengths. There are many ways to showcase autumn; don’t lock yourself into one approach. I always shoot both wide-angle and telephoto. The wide-angle does a great job of showing the larger landscape and the color within its environment. It gives the viewer a better understanding of the whole scene. On the other hand, the telephoto is great for isolating smaller details against contrasting textures. Both give a completely different feel to the mood but equally effective.

4)   Shoot with a polarizer: always shoot with a polarizer to maximize color: Using a polarizer can really add an immediate impact to your image. The polarizer deepens the color of blue skies, provides more saturated colors, and reduces glare and reflections in bright or sunny conditions.

5)   Include reflections in the visual design: in a sense look for ponds, lakes, or any body of water to mirror the impact of color doubling the beauty. Water adds a sense of dimension and motion that adds to the depth and substance of the image.

6) The tranquility of water and its reflection brings a subtle mood to your autumn images. When photographing using water don’t be afraid to break the rules of thirds. This is the time to go with a 50/50 in terms of composition.

(Read on …)