Webshots Blog

Time to get out some cool lights and get creative and dramatic! Look at the light sources you use to take photographs and then think how you could put a creative twist on it. If natural lighting is your source, play with shadows and go the more dramatic angle. Either way, have fun exploring dramatic and creative lighting!

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-light. 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 April 30 to 3:00 p.m. on May 5 (all times EST).

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

*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: Mothers
With Mother’s Day just around the corner (it’s May 11!), how could we not dedicate a Creative Challenge to moms and motherhood? Thanks to member Ruth77707 for the suggestion. Take the concept of motherhood to new levels, such as animals, inanimate objects, mother nature and more, as you explore this relationship.

Fantastic photos abound in the Creative Challenge: Still Life! We saw some new faces this time, so welcome to all those who just joined this growing group. We also discovered some great photos and albums, so some of you will soon see your work featured on the homepage and channel pages. With that said, we were very impressed with the traditional and nontraditional approaches to this topic, and these top three were our favorites!

#1.We all picked this one by member police370 as our favorite—and it’s easy to see why: great color contrast, superb focus and an interesting twist on the theme. Congrats to member police370—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. We really liked how member gdg1130 took the apple still life to the next level, making the overall composition look like giant peas in a pod. The dramatic lighting only adds to this engaging piece. Great job!

#3.Who doesn’t love a tea party, especially when it’s captured so stunningly? Member Felkos did a great job with the off-balance composition and reflections. We loved it!

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

Spring’s flowers are blooming in the Pro Shots Flowers category! We’ve added a bouquet of new photos for you to download, send as eCards, add to your favorites and more! So take some time from your busy day to stop and smell the roses…and daffodils…and orchids!

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

Whether you’re growing your portfolio or just getting started, learning how to take great still life photographs can help you take better pictures overall. Still lifes are all about capturing the mood, so start looking around your home for ideas and inspiration. Have fun grouping objects and adding cool lighting, too!

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-still-life. 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 April 23 to 3:00 p.m. on April 28 (all times EST).

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

*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: Dramatic/Creative Lighting
Time to get out some cool lights and get creative and dramatic! Look at the light sources you use to take photographs and then think how you could put a creative twist on it. If natural lighting is your source, play with shadows and go the more dramatic angle. Either way, have fun!

Who needs an actual frame when you have such creative framing on the photos in last week’s Creative Challenge? We were very impressed with the unique ways you approached this challenge, and we liked these ones the best—we’d frame these on our walls any day!

#1. With a little help from Mother Nature and her keen eye for composition, member loriarnold101 perfectly framed the Garden of the Gods beautifully this winter. Congrats to member loriarnold101—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. Using a decorative window, member chrisrod1000 framed this unique view of Ullswater in the Lake District National Park. The stark blackness of the window contrasts very nicely with the vibrant scenery. Nicely done!

#3. Member lynncb7 utilized a nearby tree and every edge of the camera’s frame to draw attention to the raw action on ‘Alau Island. This location seems like the perfect place to spend a long, peaceful afternoon.

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

Passover Plates Exhibition

Passover begins today at sundown, and many Webshots members will be celebrating this religious holiday that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the liberation of the Israelites. One of the many traditions for this holiday is the separation between matzo products and chametz during Passover. Observant families typically own complete sets of serving dishes, glassware and silverware that are reserved for use only during Passover. In an artistic twist to this tradition, member ykarelic2 shares an album a Passover Plates Exhibition at Nahalat Binyamin.

If you and your family are participating in the celebration, be sure to take lots of great pictures and upload them to Webshots!

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 21 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 been busy at Webshots, and we’re happy to bring you a new Desktop client! You can now upload videos directly from the client, and this new version has better Windows Vista support.

The Webshots Desktop is a photo- and video-management application that displays stunning professional photos as your screensaver and wallpaper, and provides innovative tools for sharing your personal photos and videos on the web.

Download the new Webshots Desktop now!

Bug Fixes
Thanks to you, our members, we’ve been able to find out about bugs as soon as they happen and fix them just as quick. Life will be that much sweeter now that…

1. You can bookmark up to 25 photos—some members reported error messages when they only had 18 bookmarked, for example.

2. You won’t get an error message anymore when trying to rearrange your photos and videos.

3. You can now send photo, video and album eCards to your hearts delight as issues related to them have been fixed!

Bye, bye, bugs!

It’s time to think inside the box for this week’s Creative Challenge. We want you to use Creative Framings, which is using the four edges of the image frame creatively to draw attention to the focal point or subject and create a balance within the composition. For more info on creative framing, check out this tutorial and view the example images above.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-framing. 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 April 16 to 3:00 p.m. on April 21 (all times EST).

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

*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: Still Life
Whether you’re growing your portfolio or just getting started, learning how to take great still life photographs can help you take better pictures overall. Still lifes are all about capturing the mood, so start looking around your home for ideas and inspiration. Have fun grouping objects and adding cool lighting, too!