| |
 |
| Photo by Scott La Bella |
| Click photo to launch image gallery. |
After recently moving to Rhode Island from California I bought an Olympus Evolt-500 package and haven't had time to learn anything about it. This article made me realize I wasn't going out that much to shoot since I got here. Well I searched on the Internet for interesting locals around and found a cemetery. I figured if I was going to spend all day shooting at least the stone artwork would keep me inspired. Being my second time using this camera and the fact that it was 13 degrees in the wind that day, this is what I called a victorious shoot. Two hundred and twenty four pictures later here are my favorite five.
Thanks for the kick in the butt,
Scott La Bella
East Providence, RI
***
I had planned to wake up early and head down to Chicago to catch shots of the sunrise over the lighthouse just off shore of downtown. However, a snow storm blew in overnight. I decided to go anyway, just to shoot what I could. Arriving at Soldier field at 7:00 a.m., I discovered an already long line of fans lined up to get a parking place out at old Mieggs field when the lot opened later in the day. Fans were out throwing footballs around in the snow.
Although the snow was coming down, I could still see across the yatch harbor that a couple of buildings had lit their lights in support of "Da Bears." Finding a little shelter from the wind and snow, I kneeled behind a bus-stop shelter and shot the buildings (DaBearsCRW_5277). Next I looped back to Soldier field, parked, risking a ticket, and climbed a snowy knoll to get the shot of the New Soldier Field. You can see in the darker parts of the building that the snow was almost horizontal. ( SoldierFieldCRW_5292).
With no parking in the area, I had no choice but to move on. Parking under Millenium Park, I went up to the Park. I was surprised to find not another soul around the reflective Cloud Gate sculpture. I took a self portrait reflection looking up into the underside of the bubble. ( Cloud Gate CRW_5311). Next I took a shot on the outside of the sculpture, shielding the lens from the snow with my red umbrella. The reflection is Michigan Avenue looking south. (Cloud Cate CameraNorthViewSouthCRW_5328 )
The fifth shot was taken at the back of the Jay Prizker Pavillion of the interesting sharp-edged benches against the hedgerow. When I looked at the image, it was almost devoid of color. Using Photoshop CS2, Channels, I left only the green channel, which brought on the best detail in the benches, and converted to gray scale. Hence the Black and white image. (Back of Jay Pritzker PavilionCRW_5341). It was still snowing.
Bill Burnett
Libertyville, IL
***
Dear PopPhoto,
Here are a my top five pictures from the day that I will now call "the day I found my eye again." Even though I do not consider them my best work ever, I have now found the spark that I had lost in the past couple of years. Lately I have been feeling very sluggish about the way I have been taking photographs, just taking them to make a quick buck and then be done with it. But after today I feel what I felt the first time I shot my first roll of film and it was an amazing feeling. I now know that I can continue doing what I love and not worry that I am becoming obsolete. There were many obstacles on my way to finding myself again; first I was sick and so I did not feel up to par, but I wanted to do this anyway and I am glad I did. Second, the Bears played today, so having my husband help and encourage me was hard for most of the day. But again I am really glad that I did it no matter how my photos turned out because I know that I still have it and I will continue this new tradition so I keep my spark.
Thank you very much,
Angela Bursell
Bloomington, IL
***
Well here's my shots I got. Yesterday my wife and I drove from our home town of Charlevoix, MI, to Rudyard, MI, looking for wildlife in the winter snow areas from here to there. I enjoyed taking images most of the day and did look at different things I generally wouldn't take the time to look at.
Thanks for the idea and it was a good experience.
Dave Christiansen
Charlevoix, MI
***
For my Sunday, I decided to take a journey to Muir Woods in Northern California. I brought my tripod but to my dismay I realized I left my tripod mount at home and therefore could not lock my camera into the tripod. I decided to shoot in the dark forest anyway even though I knew I'd be at the mercy of possible blurring. Since this contest is about creativity, I used the wood posts on the fences of the Muir Woods paths and got some steady shots that way. The result I feel is a nice theme of color and light. Even with the blurring, the pictures start to look like impressionist paintings (and my family thought sometimes Jackson Pollack). I hope you enjoy these images. I think in the end, regardless of focus, like all good photography, composition won.
Thanks,
Jonas Fields
Menlo Park, CA
|
