Announcing a Photo Challenge

Since we had such a great reaction to the idea of a photo challenge, I'm pleased to present the very first...

Running From the Law Photo Challenge!

And since we're smack dab in the middle of a summer heat wave, I figured it would be appropriate for the theme to be: 

~~WATER~~

Here's how it will work:

ONE.  Get out your fancy camera and play around with it this weekend.  Take a couple photos (heck, take 600 photos!) that you feel represent this month's theme (water).  For example, take photos of your kids in the pool, playing in the sprinkler, at the splash park, going down the Slip 'n Slide, taking a bath, jumping in rain puddles, etc.  Or if you don't have kids, take a picture of your dogs swimming, or a photo of waves on the beach, you fishing or your friends lounging by a lake/pool.  Get creative with the theme or go traditional.  Anything goes, as long as there is water in the photo somewhere.  Easy enough, right.  

TWO.  Make sure you read last week's tutorial on taking better photos (HERE).  That will give you some good advice on how to improve your photos.  Think about your location and the settings you want to use.  If you're outside, lower your ISO.  If you want bokeh, use a wide open aperture (lower f/stop number).  If you want to freeze water droplets in the air, you'll want a faster shutter speed.  Play around with angles and perspectives - get low, get high, get behind something or shoot through something!  Work on getting exactly what you want to highlight in focus.  Experiment!

THREE.  Pick your best/favorite photo to submit next week.  ONE photo.  On Monday I will have a post on here where you can link up over the next couple days to submit your photo.  I will be taking submissions Monday morning through Wednesday night. You can submit your photo a couple different ways:

• Put your photo in a blog post (make sure you reference/link to this blog post) and add your permalink (URL) to my linky (lnky site will be up and running on Monday).
• If you don't have a blog, email me your photo (my email address is to the right) or submit it on my Facebook page  (make sure you're a "fan") and make sure I have your name and email address.

I'd love it if you explained why you chose that photo, how you got the shot, what settings you used, if you did any post-processing to the photo, or any other fun info that could help others achieve a similar shot, but that's not required.  The more info, the better so we can all learn together.  

FOUR. I will pick a winner out of all the entries (and maybe a couple runners-up) by the end of next week and announce it on the blog.  The winner will get a gift certificate to Pinhole Press to use your own photos to create personalized coasters or a custom Memory game for your kids.  Such an awesome prize!  Pinhole Press is one of my favorite companies and they graciously donated this gift certificate for our little contest here (seriously, they are the bomb!).  I made some of their coasters for Ryan for Father's Day and they're awesome - super thick and gorgeous.  I can't wait until Mac's a little bit older so I can make a memory game for him.  Either product is an awesome way to display your photos. 

So make sure to get out there and take some photos this weekend.

I'll see you back here on Monday for the link up.

NOW GET SHOOTING!