For this month, August 2019, the theme challenge is “Flowers”.

Flower photography is a challenging genre because it encompasses so many techniques and even then it’s difficult to achieve an appealing image. The above image of a bleeding-heart was taken using a long focal length (600mm) with the background far enough away to make the background void of distractions as well as focus stacking three images to get all of the flowers sharp. You can take flower images with simple equipment, but it is important to remember a few key principles; plane of focus, depth of field including the distance to subject & distance to background, composition, and light.

There are many opportunities this time of year to create flower images with all the gardens that possibly you or your neighbours have spent countless hours nurturing into beautiful displays. Always ask your friends or neighbours if it’s ok to photograph their flowers and please be careful, just like landscape photography follow the rules of leave no trace. Remember what you learned from last months challenge on light as it will help make your flower images stand out.

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below is a YouTube video link to give you some hints and ideas.
Micael Widell, Flower Photography instructional aid:
My 8 Best Tips for Flower Photography
Speaker: Micael Widell
Link: My 8 Best Tips for Flower Photography (8min 9sec)

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.

For this month, July 2019, the theme challenge is “Light”.

The above image was captured using an iPhone 6 Plus as the sun was setting in the opposite direction causing a golden light to be cast on the landscape, Perce Rock, Quebec, Canada. As you can see it’s more about the light than the gear.

Let’s face it, it’s impossible to even capture an image without light. Light is what we as photographers use to create our images. The quality, direction, angle, colour, and contrast in light is what helps create fantastic images.

There are many opportunities to create amazing images during all kinds of conditions, I encourage you to get out at different times of the day, and under varying weather conditions to witness and capture the light.

Students are encouraged to develop their ability to tell a story or invoke an emotion, as well as how to plan and troubleshoot while creating their images. As such it’s important to not only create the image but to also include a “title”, and write a short paragraph about; how they came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled them to make the image, and describe any techniques on how they overcame any obstacles.

As always with our monthly theme challenges we try to seek out an instructional resource, below is a YouTube video link to give you some hints and ideas.
Nigel Danson, Landscape Photographer instructional aid:
7 Simple ways to “Master Light” in your Photography
Speaker: Nigel Danson
Link: 7 Simple ways to “Master Light” in your Photography (18min 58sec)

An important part of improving your photography is practice, which is one aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips.