Welcome to another Critique the Community contest! Each month, Fstoppers is challenging our community to submit their best photographs for our Critique the Community show, and three lucky winners will win a variety of photography related prizes.
For the months of June and July, we want to see your best "moody lighting" images. Your photos can be from any genre of photography including landscapes, portraits, architecture, or still life but it must portray a moody, smokey, mysterious, or fantasy lighting style . Each image featured in the critique will be picked based on creativity, lighting, subject matter, overall production, final edit, and overall "wow" factor. The community rating does play a small part in our selection but it's not as big as you might think so don't get too wrapped up in what others have to say about your image.
Deadline
This month we are allowing each participant to submit up to 4 photos. All images must be posted to this page no later than July 29th, at 11:45pm Eastern time.
As always, every eligible entry must have at least 3 sentences explaining how the photo was taken, any valuable technical information including lighting, camera gear, lens choice, etc, and any background story that might help our viewers understand why your image is so interesting.
The Prizes
Each month we are giving away a variety of different photography related prizes. Below are the prizes being offered for the 3 randomly chosen images featured in the next Critique the Community.
First Place - One first place winner will receive $1000 cold, hard cash from Patrick and Lee. Feel free to use this on your next camera or lighting purchase, or just use it buy Bitcoin, a pallet of fancy steaks, or a nice gift for your next door neighbor.
Second Place - Second place will win a Smoke Genie by PMI. The Smoke Genie is an incredibly powerful, battery operated smoke machine that makes adding fog, haze and dry ice to your images a breeze. This powerful kit will allow you to add all sorts of smoke effects to both your photography and video productions and is one of our favorite new products in the photography industry. Valued at $690.
Third Place - One third place winner will receive a free tutorial from the Fstoppers Store. We have full length tutorials on a wide range of genres such as architectural photography, headshots, landscapes, product photography, and of course portrait photography. Valued at $299
Added Bonus!
And finally, to help celebrate the month of July, Fstoppers is having a massive sale on The Well Rounded Photographer. It's normally priced at $300 but for the entire month you can get it for just $59.
This 13+ hour long tutorial is unlike any other tutorial created because it features 8 different photographers and covers a wide range of photographic genres. For many photographers just getting started, it's not always clear what field of photography they want to pursue. This tutorial allows you to get a taste of a bunch of different photographic styles in different genres like headshots, architectural and real estate, swimwear, product photography, fashion and editorial, and landscapes. Each of these lessons are taught by some of our most popular instructors we have worked with like Peter Hurley, Mike Kelley, Elia Locardi, Clay Cook, Joey Wright, Dylan Patrick, and Brian Rodgers Jr.
Once you learn some of the tricks these photographer use to make amazing images, photographer Monte Isom shares some of the most tightly guarded business secrets in the photography world. In this section, Monte interviews Liz Miller Gershfeld, a senior executive art producer at Energy BDDO based in Chicago about what she looks for when booking a photographer, comparing bids, looking over treatments, working out production costs, and pulling a team together.
Even if you are already an established photographer specializing in your own field of photography, this tutorial was designed to offer you the chance to see how other photographers work and hopefully teach you some techniques that you can then bring into your own style of image making.
Good luck to everyone entering and we look forward to critiquing your best "moody" images!
Hurray! Another Contest, and we are lucky to have them so frequently, thank you Fstoppers! And as a bonus they are FREE to enter!
I would like to comment this month similarly to the one I made last month, especially after seeing the "Results Video". My initial impression was the contest was to feature "pretty people with 'unique lighting'." I think my first impression held true, although there were some images featured of products, and a landscape.
My first impression this month is: images need to have "engineered moodiness". That is to say, the photographer is the driving force, with their own creativeness on display by staging the light, staging atmosphere, picking and placing an interesting subject. The second paragraph for this contest really is the key. Notice how "moody lighting" appears in quotes and is bold, it's been double emphasised.
I may be wrong in my impression, and I have already submitted a landscape image which I believe to be moody. But I think as someone who primarily shoots landscapes, wildlife, and nature, and not people or products, I'm going to have to put my creative hat on and think of something to shoot where I have the control over the "moodiness".
Good Luck Everyone!
I can't wait to see all the images!
Moody Lighting
Has anyone else picked up on the contradictory “Critique the Community” information on the rule page lately.
This month for instance;
Main Welcoming header Splash Screen states “Submission Deadline: Jul 29, 2024 at 9:45 PM”
Posted day June 3, Okay.
Next paragraph “For the month of May, we want to see your best "moody lighting" images.” ? Okay a typo.
Under Deadline heading - no later than June 29th, at 11:45pm Eastern time. Okay = What?
Way down at the bottom the pages main slash screen display inviting submissions by login / registration states “Submission Deadline: Jul 29, 2024 at 9:45 PM” again as stated above ?
Is anyone else confused? Is this going to be another extended event like the last one or the “great ski trip debacle”
Anyone else confused or I'm I dense ?
Missed that entirely, Paul!
But interestingly, I have a slightly different time stated in the "Main Welcoming header Splash Screen", 8:45pm and below it also 8:45pm....I'm thinking this might have to do with the timezone the members are in....I'm PST and I think you're in one east of mine. :D
Although the June-July thing is a puzzle, I'm betting on June!
As for May, that's a given OOPS!
Yes Frank those times are adjusted for our / memeber's time zones how thoughtful of the powers that be you can't other media moguls apply that ;) But yeah the whole leap month thing is bewildering. A few years ago a local newspaper went to press with the wrong day and date at least the got the year correct. Which got me to thinking if Fstopper adjusts for time zones I wonder if the adjust for the international date line, ouch! that hurts my brain ;)
Confusing eh? Something I wonder at is all the submissions that no way fit the theme (in mh opinión at least) yet some are great pix and have many votes.???
I hear you. Do you watch the reveal videos ?
The hosts do a great job!
I certainly agree with you:
Confusing...Yep
No way fit the theme, (IMHO too)....Yep
Some of those are great pix....Yep (even fantastic!)
Have many votes...Yep
Of course the theme can be debated...I even debated it with myself, (see first comment above...and the submissions I made), gotta just smile.
BTW...your "...Only Boys" is fantastic! It looks like a bit of work was put into that! Cool trick with the LED!
Thanks. But at the end of the day it is great to have the incentives. This last contest certainly drove me-good job I am retired and have spare time! Good luck. Years ago I bought 2 LUMECUBES with the idea of attaching them to the drone I had. Neverreally put them to good use but now, no drone, but I use the LEDS so often and so easily.
Yeup noticed that too...it's confusing and frustrating, especially for someone participating in one of these contests for the first time.😖
Okay so here is the deal, Lee and I had to fly out to Europe for Mike Kelley's wedding (because he refused to get married in California), and we had to leave a few days before June. If you travel to Europe with your whole family, kids included, you gotta stay a while to make the most of it (that flight was brutal with an 18 month old).
So we filmed, edited, and cued up the May CTC to be released around the first week of June but realized there was a horrible audio issue in the video export announcing the new contest and we had no way of fixing it remotely.
What we wound up doing was just extending the June contest into July so we could 1) announce the contest properly on Youtube and 2) we would have more time to promote the contest in our normal videos which weren't being made while we traveled.
Sorry for the confusion but basically this contest will be a 2 month contest instead of just June.
The good news is Mike is now a happily married man, Sweden and Norway were amazing, and as today, Lee and I are both back in Puerto Rico.
Reply to Patrick :
Best Wishes to the Newlyweds, and welcome home to y’all!
I would love to see a CTC “Film Photography” I feel like we keep rehashing the same things. Done architectural like 5 times now
You mean give the Boomers home court advantage ;)
OK! ;P
Or something Full frame, No Crop, No Zoom, Minimal Post-Processing.
The issue is we would have like 20 submissions if we did Film. We are trying to keep them broad enough that a lot of people can participate.