Creative Challenge: Christmas Songs

Filed under: Creative Challenge Details,General,Just For Fun — Editorial at 12:01 am on Wednesday, December 7, 2011

creative challenge details Creative Challenge: Christmas Songs

Whether traditional or contemporary, nothing gets us in the holiday spirit more then listening to Christmas music! This week’s creative challenge is to take your favorite Christmas song and intrepret it via photography. For example the example photo above would fit “The Nutcracker Suite.”

Please include the song title in the photo title.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-christmas-songs. 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 December 7th,  through 12:00 p.m on December 19th  (all times EST). 

5. 3 pictures per person (regardless of how many member accounts you have) tagged exactly (including hyphens) with: creative-challenge-christmas-songs. *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: Landmark Interiors – Photograph the interior of a historical landmark to convey a sense of place. For example: a lighthouse, a mansion owned by someone famous, an old train station or a cathedral. HDR techniques and/or a long exposure and use of a tripod are highly recommended.

12 Comments

Comment by Peggy

December 7, 2011 @ 9:38 AM

Re the next challenge, I realize there is a love of HDR in photography these days, especially here at Webshots, but it appears to me that photos no longer look like photos when one does HDR, they suddenly begin to appear to go towards a painting which is a whole other category of art. Also many of us live in average places where there are no mansions available or old train stations (it was torn down) or cathedrals to tour and we don’t travel. It appears Webshots is eliminating photographers to the elite few with fancy cameras and the ability to travel or live in exotic places.

Comment by Jim Harmon (police370)

December 7, 2011 @ 10:41 AM

While I an agree that some HDR photos do carry things to the extreme, I also know that HDR is a very useful tool in certain lighting conditions. I use HDR in many situations simply because of poor light that I can do nothing about. It can be used to save a worthless photo. A good many of my photos in my One a Day album are HDR. Some you can tell. Others are not so easy to see that they are HDR. Depends on what I wanted to do. Like an HDR of a sunset. You can get things never seen in a single photo no matter what you do. They would be a black silhouette and a sky. HDR sample below.

http://entertainment.webshots.com/photo/2012342010039841951urWQTs?vhost=entertainment

We cannot all have places to shoot for every challenge. Many times, I simply have nothing. I shoot what I can and wait for the next CC. I also happen to live in a small town. A traffic circle that I could throw a rock across.
A fancy DSLR is not needed to win. I have won with a simple digital camera. Many others have also won. I follow the challenges on other sites and see simple digital cameras as winners. A winner can be shot with any camera. It is all about using the camera correctly for light, white balance, F stop, ISO, etc, compositions, and picking a good subject that fits the theme. First off, Stepping away from the auto mode is a way to get those special photos.
I think it would be a boring challenge if all we could shoot was simple life in simple places. If I cannot shoot it, I look at it as an opportunity to tour the world through the camera lens of those that can see these places.
Explore your possibilities, use good technique and hope to get picked. Nothing fancy needed. A good photo is a good photo no matter what camera is used.

Comment by Penny Adams, Photo Editor

December 7, 2011 @ 10:52 AM

Hi Peggy,

Re: HDR Techniques. We recommended HDR (and long exposure) with a tripod be used because generally more detail and a sense of place may be achieved with ambient lighting than with a flash. HDR does sometimes look more painterly, but the same technique can be used in a manner to look very natural as well. You might enjoy this past article by Kevin McNeal “Can HDR Really Help My Photography?” There are several software programs available to combine multiple images into one single image. There are also several with free trials if you wanted to try them out..

If you own a point and shoot, you can certainly achieve similar results that a DSLR can. Use a tripod. Set your camera to aperture priority (set it to 5.6 or lower) and your camera will determine the proper exposure for you. If you need to tweak it to make it lighter or darker, use the exposure compensation function (+/-).

Do the best you can with finding a location. Even smaller towns have buildings on a smaller scale with fascinating interiors. For instance, an old diner. Even abandoned structures, when photographed creatively can be very beautiful. We hope you will participate in the next creative challenge!

Comment by Linda

December 7, 2011 @ 12:11 PM

I can’t get my pictures to tag. Every time I try an error note keeps popping up. What am I doing wrong?
Linda- tigerlady96

Comment by Penny Adams, Photo Editor

December 7, 2011 @ 6:27 PM

Hi Linda, I was able to tag successfully. I just noticed you have 3 images listed on the display page for the Christmas Songs challenge. I’m assuming that it’s working for you now. If you’re experiencing any other problems with tagging, please let us know.

Comment by Jim (police370)

December 8, 2011 @ 12:12 AM

In reference to HDR that I made above, I decided to make an album of a few of my HDR photos and I showed what it was like without HDR following the HDR immage. I think you can see why I used HDR on these photos. I do not use HDR all the time, but most times, shoot bracketed in case I need it to do HDR to pull color and details out of the photos. Some may not like HDR, but, take a look at what it can do for you if you give it a chance.

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/581946337lofZGU?vhost=entertainment

Comment by Jim Harmon (police370)

December 8, 2011 @ 8:45 AM

P,S. The link Penny gave to the HDR article by Kevin McNeal “Can HDR Really Help My Photography?” is very good information on HDR.

Comment by Polgaratex

December 10, 2011 @ 12:43 PM

Sorry Jim but with most of the shots in your sample album, I literally prefer your “example” or the center of the bracket shots to the HDR, particularly in the sunset shots. Personal preference I guess. I have seen a (very) few HDR shots I really liked but most of them to me look like CSI Miami, over-saturated and cartoonish. Judy of North Carolina

Comment by tigerlady96-Linda

December 14, 2011 @ 5:39 PM

I had to get a new PC how do I download the webshots desk icon on my new computer. Thanks Linda

Comment by d8withf8

December 15, 2011 @ 2:50 AM

I thought that featured on the home page meant the Webshots home page, not just a featured photo. I have a photo that was featured as member’s choice random pictures, but it was not on the home page. Is it still eligible for this challenge?

Comment by Dick Bendele

December 15, 2011 @ 5:29 PM

I agree with Jim Harmon, a relatively inexpensive point n snap can take a good photo. The most expensive camera doesn’t make a good photo. The photographer makes the photo, not the camera. The ability to see the photo before you take the shot comes with practice and study. My simple Sony has taken excellent photos. And, the advantage to a small camera, its always in the pocket and ready to shot.

Comment by cg

December 19, 2011 @ 4:36 PM

I do see where Peggy is coming from with her view. It is a little intimadating to see the tips of HDR and tripod but Peggy you have to remember that is just suggestions for the best shot. Dick I do agree that the small cameras can do a wonderful job and I was determined to see if I could get in with a plain camera and no altering the photo, which I had a photo place on the Halloween and win the peoples choice on Christmas trees. I like what I have to work with a Nikon P100, but the clarity doesnt compare to cameras 500 dollars and above, so I have to adjust for that. I love technology and the always something new, next Christmas maybe it will be 3D, but basic mastering the light always makes a wonderful capture. I live in rural northeast Oklahoma and I have fun just catching what I can to put in the competetions, most of the time I can scan through the photos and pick the winners but I love the fun of it and reading the viewings from everyone.

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