Tag Archives: Seascape

September Theme Challenge – In Your Home Town

Posted on by
Reply

We all do not live in iconic locations but there are still many subjects and vistas that are interesting just waiting to be photographed. This month’s theme challenge, “In Your Home Town“, I encourage you to go out within a 10km (6.2 mile) radius of where you live, to look and observe with fresh eyes what there is to photograph. This month is an open category which basically means make an image of any subject or scene that you find interesting. This month’s challenge is intended to get you out to see your home town with a new attitude, noticing things that may not have caught your attention before, just get out more often and look more closely under different weather or lighting conditions to help you see things in an interesting way.

Time to practice what you have learned so far; exposure, composition, interesting subject(s), timing, and making use of available light. Similar to previous challenges, it doesn’t matter what camera you have, even the camera in your phone will work. Depending on the gear you have it will allow you to take different images.

Stretch your creativity and let’s see what images you create this month from your home town. Below are some examples of what’s in my home town; which is a fishing community with the ocean, beaches, islands, and a provincial park.

Wildlife

This time of year (late August and early September) bird migration is taking place which provides opportunities to capture shorebird images such as Willets, Plovers, and Great Blue Herons. There is also other wildlife to photograph such as Gray Seals, Robins, Warblers, Porcupines, and Deer. Getting out more often with your camera is the key. With some animals/mammals/birds it depends on the time of day and sometimes being in the right place at the right time gives you the possibility of capturing an image.

Water

In our area hurricane season brings waves and they are exciting to photograph. Choosing a slow shutter speed to create an ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) image or a faster shutter speed to freeze a wave or the crashing of a wave against the shoreline. Don’t be afraid to get out and have fun, but at the same time keep safety in mind.

Industry

We have an ocean pen Salmon Fishery in our area which can provide opportunities to photograph boats you may not have seen before. These are usually taken with a longer focal length because it’s located about 500meters from the shore and has Saddle Island in the background which is approximately 1000 meters away. It’s always interesting what you will see, such as atmospheric fog between islands or golden light on the pens and boats. Sometimes a collection of images can tell more of a story.

Variety

There are many things that may present themselves to be photographed which provides a variety of possible images. Take your time choosing the right aperture, shutter speed and composition to complement your subject. Go out at different times of the day when the light is amazing it really helps with creating great images. Compose your images to suit the subject, for example the hair braids from a horse in our local area. It provided a more interesting photo instead of a wider view of the horse due to the busy environment the horse was in. Notice the background colour complements the image as well.

Seascapes

Early in the morning or late in the day makes for great colour. Go out when the sun is rising or setting to get that golden light. Make use of the movement in the water to introduce some interest in your photo. When using slower shutter speeds it really helps to use a tripod which results in a sharp image.

Additional Resources

We try to seek out additional instructional resources for our monthly challenges, Below are some YouTube video links to help with techniques, hints, and ideas for Taking photos in a small town or in Boring Locations:

■ Photography Tips: How to find photos when the location’s ‘boring’ by: Mike Browne (11min 50sec)
■ Making Photography In A Small Town by: Evan Ranft (10min 30sec)
■ Photography in the World’s Most Boring Town by: Henry Turner (20min 1sec)
■ How to Take Stunning Landscape Photos in “Boring” Locations by: Mads Peter Iversen (10min 39sec)
■ Boring Landscapes? How Foregrounds Will Improve Your Photos by: Nigel Danson (20min 18sec)

You’re encouraged to develop the ability to “tell a story or invoke an emotion“, as well as learn to plan and troubleshoot while creating images.

  • It’s important to not only create an image but to also include a “Title”, this process helps with; determining your subject or story, and composition.
  • Try writing a short paragraph about; how you came up with the idea, any interesting back ground that compelled you to make the image, and describe any techniques how you overcame any obstacles.
  • Do some research and include any relevant information behind the subject of your image. This helps with planning and your approach for a story

An important part of improving your photography is practice, practice, practice which is one important aspect of the monthly theme challenge, in addition you have an opportunity to learn about different genres, techniques and tips that you are not familiar with.

Share your images and stories experienced this month

Even though this website is not setup to directly upload your images, you can achieve something similar by commenting on this post; firstly pasting your social media link to your image in the comment, then type any additional message you’d like to share. Everyone who visits will be able to visit your link. Note comments are moderated so it will not show up right away. We do get notifications when any comment is posted, so it won’t take long to get approved and subsequently show up. By pasting your social media link in your comment, it gives everyone visiting the bog a chance to click the link to see your image for the challenge and also the ability to look at your other work by viewing your social media through your pasted link. We want sharing to be a positive experience and we hope you have fun with this month’s dual photo challenge.

May Theme Challenge – Rocks

Posted on by
Reply

For this month, May 2024, the theme challenge is “Rocks“. This month’s challenge is almost an open category except the subject of your image needs to be a rock(s) or your subject needs to be supported by rock(s). This is another challenge that requires you to get outdoors and search for a location that supports this broad theme. This challenge is intended for you to concentrate on presenting a clear subject in your photographs. Similar to last month, continue to learn to reduce your composition to make your subject stand out mainly by excluding elements that you do not want within the frame. You can choose to present your images in either Colour or Monochrome. The above image of the stacked rocks at sunset is typically referred to as an Inuksuk taken at Bayswater, Beach Nova Scotia. Bayswater Provincial Park is nearby one of the Swiss Air flight 111 Memorial Sites which many family members have built Inuksuk’s in memory of their loved ones.

Imagine a Title for Your Image: Think about a title for your image while you are creating your composition, it forces you to think about what is your subject. With this image I titled “The Lonely Rock”, I wanted to make the story of the image about the shale rock that stood out from all the other granite rocks. This larger shale rock is like the lonely odd person out in a crowd who sometimes feels out of place. That being said this rock shows its beauty in the light, no matter how quirky or out of place one feels each of us is beautiful in our own way. Be careful when out on rocks when they are wet and/or covered by moss or seaweed, it can be extremely slippery.

Observation: Notice what stands out in the image and why you are drawn to it. My first trip to the American Southwest was an amazing adventure, there was so much to see in such a short period of time. The first image is a panorama of Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, showing the different colour of the rock in the mountains. While on the trail walk to Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park, California, you can observe in the distance rock climbers on the face of El Capitan. Using a 400mm lens I was able to capture two climbers scaling the face of the mountain. The rock formation in the last image was taken in The Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, on an extremely hot day, which looks like a person on their knees praying hoping for cooler days to come.

Supported by Rocks: Lighthouses make a great subject and are typically located on rocky rugged coastlines and the Lighthouse at Peggy’s Cove Nova Scotia is no exception. Whether its’ a sunset or stormy day with the ocean waves crashing on the rocks it is always possible to walk a way with an image you’ll be happy with. Other possibilities of subjects supported by rocks are shown in the example image of the small tree growing through the cracks in the rocks, which showcases a very resilient tree, then there is the image captured of a lone sea shell along a shoreline found while while out looking for sea glass.

Travel: While on our visit to The Gaspé peninsula, Quebec Canada, we visited the town of Percé. This is the location of an amazing rock formation called Percé Rock which is also located close to Bonaventure Island National Park the home of a large Northern Gannet bird colony. The enormous rock is an amazing sight to see and the boat trip to Bonaventure Island takes you around the rock and also around the back of the island as well. This is a location that has been photographed by many so if you happen to be there or a similar location take some time to try to come up with some different images.

By The Ocean: There are so many possibilities to capture images with the ocean swirling or crashing around the rocks on the shoreline or sandy beach during stormy, sunrise, or sunset conditions. Just get out there and experience what nature has to offer you will be glad you did.

Textures: There are so many rock faces that can provide interesting textures which you could use to create your own texture to include in other images, just let your imagination lead you to something interesting. The best time to shoot these types of images is with soft light provided by some cloud or on an overcast day.

Share with us the images you create this month.

We try with our monthly theme challenges to seek out additional instructional resources, below are a number of YouTube video links to help with some hints and ideas. Landscape Photography instructional aids:
■ 7 Easy Tips that will Improve your Landscape Photography: by Nigel Danson (19min 37sec)
■ 5 Simple tips to improve Your seascape photography: by Nigel Danson (20min 55sec)
■ Seascape Photography – A Real World Tutorial: by First Man Photography (10min 6sec)
■ Focal Length Tips to help your Landscape Photography: by Ian Worth (6min 31sec)

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. Also do some research and include the story behind your iconic location.

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.