Photo Assignment January '07: Winter

[handicap18]

Thought maybe we'd try something a little different with this months assignment. A bit less Disney oriented, though by all means if you have a winter in Disney related photo or are GOING this month, post away. This months assignment: Winter. Its January and winter is fully upon us. What does winter mean where you are? What, photography wise, does winter bring in your area? For some of us its cold and snowy, for others its hot and beachy (is that a work?). For some it might be inbetween. I know that for my area right now, its supposed to be cold and snowy, but in the Greater Boston area we've barely gotten 2 inches of snow total so far this season.

You can get creative with your photos, no specific theme other than winter whether it be from a blizzard in Denver, skiing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, making snowmen in the Pacific Northwest, fishing off the coast of Southern Florida or lying on a beach in Sydney. Winter brings something different to everyone. Show us what it brings to you.

Get out there. Take some pictures. Have some fun!!!

 

[handicap18]

I'll start with one I took about a week ago. 2nd snow "storm" of the year (brough all of 1 inch, oh yay). This chair is in the backyard and I though the light from back spot light and the snow on the chair made it look pretty cool. So I took a picture.

ISO was either 800 or 1600 (I forget which and photobucket doesn't list ISO for my shots,,, DOH!) 50mm lens, 1/50th, f/1.8:

 

[0bli0]

aiyah - it's summer here!!!

here is a photo i took new years day (and developed at home) with my Lomo. it's of my DS (11) and my SIL's dd (4) on the trampoline

 

[tinksdad]

We had a VERY atypical winter storm that dump 12" of snow in the city and more up north last weekend. Been snow covered ever since...

Here's one I took of the pine tree in the yard with the moon coming up as the sun set.

 

[gruZ]

 

[ukcatfan]

It got down to a blistering cold 50 degrees here in SW Florida. Snuggle up with a loved one to stay warm!!!

Being from KY for the first 27 yrs. of my life; I still laugh when people wear thick winter coats when it drops below 50. Here I am walking into work, with just a Polo shirt to keep my upper body warm, next to these guys in their Sherpas and they are looking at me like I am crazy. Give me about ten more years in the heat and I might be part of their tribe.

Kevin

 

[handicap18]

Being from KY for the first 27 yrs. of my life; I still laugh when people wear thick winter coats when it drops below 50. Here I am walking into work, with just a Polo shirt to keep my upper body warm, next to these guys in their Sherpas and they are looking at me like I am crazy. Give me about ten more years in the heat and I might be part of their tribe.

Kevin

Then they would get cold just looking at me. I'm one of those that wear shorts year round. No big deal to some, but I live just outside Boston. Last year we had a stretch of about a week that the high temp was 10*F, which means that we I got up and headed for work at 4am the temp was about -4*F. Yep, I wore shorts. Hasn't really been a problem yet this year. Coldest its gotten is about 25*F in the early AM. I haven't even had to get out my boots yet.

Oh, to Tinksdad: EXCELLENT picture. Love the light in that one. Well Done!!

 

[jann1033]

only our second or third snowfall so far( usually we have a few feet staying on the ground by now) and ponds are just starting to freeze over etc.. i liked the sun on the frozen part and the reflection in the open part..the good vs bad of winter... ...but the photo was really busy in color so i tried it b &w which imo worked better. actually i did a copy with the trees just a tad lighter i like better but i downloaded the wrong one and considering i have been trying to download all day and not been able to..that was good enough

 

[Michele]

What are the camera settings for this picture? I tried to get this effect but couldn't get the blurred background. Here are some I tried. (I hesitate to post them because they aren't very good.) I think I wasn't close enough.

 

[Virgo10]

Winter certainly has a slightly different ring to it when you live in central Florida.

I had posted these on the CB already but for those of you who don't visit over there, here they are.

Pelicans and wood storks, two birds we usually only see in the winter.

The harvesting of oranges at the grove across the street from my house.

And on a rare day like yesterday when it was cold, OK... cold for here, the sky can sometimes remind me of Massachusetts.

 

[nbodyhome]

Okay - how do I insert an image? I was trying to do it with a link (or a file is fine).

Thanks.

 

[sk8belle]

If you're using a link, be sure to put

after it. Or just use the button on the reply screen that has a picture of a mountain on it. Click that and a dialogue box will pop up. Paste your link in there and click OK. That should work. The problem we had with posting photos seems to have been fixed. Just don't try to edit your message after you've posted it. That sometimes makes the photo disappear.

 

[tinksdad]

Then they would get cold just looking at me. I'm one of those that wear shorts year round. No big deal to some, but I live just outside Boston. Last year we had a stretch of about a week that the high temp was 10*F, which means that we I got up and headed for work at 4am the temp was about -4*F. Yep, I wore shorts. Hasn't really been a problem yet this year. Coldest its gotten is about 25*F in the early AM. I haven't even had to get out my boots yet.

Oh, to Tinksdad: EXCELLENT picture. Love the light in that one. Well Done!!

As long as you weren't wearing the flip-flops along with the shorts...... if that were the case, I'm afraid your friends would have you hauled off!!



Thanks for noticing!!

 

[tinksdad]

What are the camera settings for this picture? I tried to get this effect but couldn't get the blurred background. Here are some I tried. (I hesitate to post them because they aren't very good.) I think I wasn't close enough.

A lot of it has to do with the focal length of the lens you're using, the distance the camera is from the object and (of course) the aperture setting.
For instance your going to get a much shorter focal length using a 105mm macro lens at three feet away than a 18-135mm zoom, even using the same aperture setting.

Google focal length and hyper focal distance. There is a lot of interesting information that might help.

 

[gruZ]

What are the camera settings for this picture? I tried to get this effect but couldn't get the blurred background. Here are some I tried. (I hesitate to post them because they aren't very good.) I think I wasn't close enough.

This was taken at night after some freezing rain. The camera settings were:

F/5.6
2 second exposure
Focal length - 105mm
ISO - 400
Tripod was used as well as timer

I was pretty close (say 24 - 30 inches) to the frozen tree. The lights in the background are actually other frozen branches at various distances from the lens, and the light is coming through them from the porch light on my house.

 

[nbodyhome]

If you're using a link, be sure to put

after it. Or just use the button on the reply screen that has a picture of a mountain on it. Click that and a dialogue box will pop up. Paste your link in there and click OK. That should work. The problem we had with posting photos seems to have been fixed. Just don't try to edit your message after you've posted it. That sometimes makes the photo disappear.

Thanks! I wasn't sure if there was a way to post without linking (I did a preview of my linked post and didn't see anything, but maybe if I just do it, it will show up!) Sorry to hijack the thread with questions!

 

[handicap18]

Here are some I tried. (I hesitate to post them because they aren't very good.)

This is exactly why you should post them. What you might consider not good enough may impress others. At worst you'll get some good advise on how to improve or try something different next time.

I like the way they came out. If you were looking for a different look then your assessment that you might not have been close enough would help. Instead of getting physically closer and using 18mm, step back a bit and use 50 or 55 to get you closer. This would give more space between the background and the camera and might give you more of the blurred background your looking for.

Well done on the assignment.

 

[sk8belle]

This is exactly why you should post them. What you might consider not good enough may impress others. At worst you'll get some good advise on how to improve or try something different next time.

I like the way they came out.

ITA. I really like the first one. Personally, I would have cropped it differently, but the Christmas tree in the background adds to the photo, too. Great job.

 

[DISNEYLOVER70]

My son buried in the yard in upstate New York

 

[pixie dust 112]

Then they would get cold just looking at me. I'm one of those that wear shorts year round. No big deal to some, but I live just outside Boston. Last year we had a stretch of about a week that the high temp was 10*F, which means that we I got up and headed for work at 4am the temp was about -4*F. Yep, I wore shorts. Hasn't really been a problem yet this year. Coldest its gotten is about 25*F in the early AM. I haven't even had to get out my boots yet.

Oh, to Tinksdad: EXCELLENT picture. Love the light in that one. Well Done!!

You must be related to my DH! Shorts all year long. We live in upstate NY so it tends to get very cold. Of course this past Saturday it was 70 degrees so the whole family wore shorts!