Webshots Blog

It was obvious from looking at this week’s entries for the sense of scale creative challenge that each of you have a very unique eye. From the breathtaking landscapes to those comical visions that are larger than life, your personalities really shined through.

#1. We often forget sometimes just how small we are in this world. This thought evoking image of Sao Pedro de Moel in Portugal by member uriguri fills the soul with renewed energy. Who hasn’t ever dreamed of having a beach all to themselves? Congrats to member uriguri—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. This image from member flyboy213 not only successfully captures the size of this tiny frog, but by using human hands he also conveys just how fragile life can be. Using both a sense of scale and symbolism makes for a more impactful image. Nice job!

#3.Who said playing with your food is a bad thing? This leaning tower of potatoes from galitay was one the more humorous entries that we received. Using a strong depth of field and some willing participants with herculean strength, he made an ordinary chip can seem enormous.

Thanks to everyone who entered the Challenge and shared their photos with us, we really enjoyed viewing all the entries and hope you had fun as well. To see all the entries in the Creative Challenge: Sense of Scale, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

There’s a wonderful feeling of satisfaction you get from taking a portrait that expresses the essence of your subject’s personality. Capturing the personality of a beloved pet is even more challenging and rewarding due to the serendipity of photographing a subject that may not be as cooperative as human subjects. This challenge has two opportunities for you to be featured! The winning photo will be featured on the homepage, but we’re looking for seven outstanding dog photos for a special Pets category feature coming in August. So send us your best pet portraits, whether they’re your own pets, those of a neighbor or a stray.

OFFICIAL ENTRY RULES
To officially enter the Creative Challenge, you must tag your three submissions with creative-challenge-pets. 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 30 to 3:00 p.m. on August 4 (all times EST).

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

*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: From the Hip
You’ve been working hard at creative framing, timely captures and carefully measured depth of field. Next week let’s break some rules and see what happens when you “shoot from the hip!”. Sometimes the most expressive and wonderful images can be created when you’re not looking through the lens. Maybe it’s because your subject is less inhibited, or maybe it’s the creative angle achieved by holding your camera over your head, whatever the reason, let loose and have fun and whatever you do - don’t use your view finder!

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

When composing photographs, having a sense of scale is a point of reference to the viewer. We want to see your best photos that give a sense of scale, whether true or false. For example, a person standing in front of the Grand Tetons would represent a true sense of scale, and a person appearing taller than a building, which you can achieve by photographing from a low angle, would be a false sense of scale. So have fun with this one and play with the sense of scale a bit! Show us your best true or false Sense of Scale photos!

True Sense of Scale

True Sense of Scale

False Sense of Scale

False Sense of Scale

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

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

*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: Pet Portraits
There’s a wonderful feeling of satisfaction you get from taking a portrait that expresses the essence of your subject’s personality. Capturing the personality of a beloved pet is even more challenging and rewarding due to the serendipity of photographing a subject that may not be as cooperative as human subjects. This challenge has two opportunities for you to be featured! The winning photo will be featured on the homepage, but we’re looking for seven outstanding dog photos for a special Pets category feature coming in August. So send us your best pet portraits, whether they’re your own pets, those of a neighbor or a stray.

Depth of Field can enhance an image by eliminating distracting background or highlighting minute details. This week’s Depth of Field challenge had a lot of great entries making it difficult to choose the winners. Check them out below!

#1. We choose this photo as the winner for the wonderful use of Depth of Field combined with the contrast in colors. DOF was well used by member xenidlo by highlighting the detail of the flower in the foreground and muting the background so it is not distracting in the photo. Congrats to member xenidlo—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. The interesting perspective of this old iron door with the use of depth of field made for a very strong image from member evanreese. The DOF highlighted the rough texture of the wood and brought out all the fine details.

#3. Member saritardif’s image was picked for its strong graphic content and classic DOF. We felt without the DOF the image would not have been as strong, and we really enjoyed the intriguing subject matter.

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: Depth of Field, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

Do you want to make a difference in your community? Then consider volunteering opportunities where you can use your photography skills! Volunteer shutterbugs can help raise awareness and funds, so find a subject that interests you and ask if the organization can use photographs for public relations, newsletters or fund-raising events.

If you’re an animal lover, consider photographing adoptable pets for local animal rescue groups.

Last year, I photographed foster cats at my local PetSmart for the “Homeless Cat Network” in San Mateo, California. It was a great opportunity to take pictures of cute cats while also sharpening my skills. Pet adoption sites often have dark or blurry photos of the animals, so if a well-exposed, sharp image helps a pet find a home that much faster, then it’s a win for everyone.

In fact, many of our members already utilize the Webshots community to get the word out about foster animals up for adoption. Be sure to check out these members’ most recent albums:

newhrbthre

rachelspoodles

rpershing

SPCA_Bay_Of_Islands

albertsville

dizzydame100

rwl125

katie_wehner

You can also use your camera to raise money for your favorite charity. American Greetings (Webshots’ parent company) recently participated in Bring Your Dog to Work Day, which included lots of doggies running around the office as well as efforts to raise money to support the Friends of the Cleveland Kennel.

Our awesome intern Kevin raised some much-needed funds that day by shooting professional pet portraits. He used a basic backdrop, a laptop, two memory cards and soft lighting. He charged a nominal fee, then used Webshots to fulfill the print orders and also sold CDs with all the photos from the shooting session.

Bring Your Dog to Work Day Portraits

Kevin’s volunteer work along with other events on that day raised enough money to fund a new dog run. Recently, Kevin visited the Friends of the Cleveland Kennel to share the good news, where he snapped a few photos of his experience:

Visit to the Cleveland Kennel

Volunteering with animals is just one of the many ideas. You can also work with a local school to take themed portraits of kids and parents at carnivals to raise money for arts and crafts programs or be the official photographer of a community or church event so everyone can enjoy the memories of the day.

If you have ideas for photo volunteer projects or if you’re in need of some help, let us know in the comments section, and reach out to the Webshots community for help!

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

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 high or low Depth of Field photos!

High Depth of Field

Low Depth of Field

High Depth of Field

Low Depth of Field

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

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

*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: Sense of Scale
When composing photographs, having a sense of scale is a point of reference to the viewer. We want to see your best photos that give a sense of scale, whether true or false. For example, a person standing in front of the Grand Tetons would represent a true sense of scale, and a person appearing taller than a building, which you can achieve by photographing from a low angle, would be a false sense of scale. So have fun with this one and play with the sense of scale a bit!

Capturing a physical quality or sensation like hot in a photograph surely is a challenge, but you guys pulled through with some thought provoking entries! This week’s top three winners sent us searching for relief from the heat.

#1. Can you feel the burn? This entry by member grosnounours105 will fill your screen with enough fiery heat to keep you warm the whole year through. Congrats to member grosnounours105—we’ll feature you’re photo on the homepage tomorrow!

#2. Red hot flames tickle sexy leopard heals, exposing a different layer of “hot” in this image from member sk8photoMAX. Watch your step kitty cat —meow!

#3.We loved that member ttalbum set up this creative still life especially for us in an exploration of spicy hotness! Who’s ready for some Indian food?

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: Hot, visit the DISPLAY PAGE.

We recently put together an editors’ collection of the Floods of 2008 that ravaged the Midwestern United States. We learned that our friends at MomGadget.com were, in fact, victims of the floods. When MomGadget blogger Gayla learned of Webshots efforts to raise funds, she was so moved that she devoted an entire post to it, titled “When humanity steps in to lift victims above disaster”. It’s a very moving piece, so check it out as well as the collection, and do what you can to help—even if it means sharing the collection with friends to raise awareness.