For our December photography contest, the theme is wildlife or animals of any kind.
Prizes
3rd place wins any tutorial from the Fstoppers Store.
2nd place wins $500
1st place wins $1000
Prizes must be accepted by messaging Lee Morris within 30 days of the end of the contest.
Contest Rules:
1. Each contestant may submit up to three images
2. Images this month must be pictures of animals or insects
3. Each image submitted must include a description of the photograph. We want to know how it was taken, the gear used, and any post-processing you did to it. Images without a description will be disqualified.
4. Each photographer is only allowed to win one grand prize/year and one tutorial/year but they may still submit images to, and be featured in all 12 contests.
5. Everyone is encouraged to rate and comment on everyone's submitted photos but the highest-rated image will not necessarily win the grand prize.
The deadline for this contest is December 27th. Around January 1st we will review our favorite 10 images and announce the winner of the grand prize on the Fstoppers Youtube Channel.
Featured Image by Gaetano Cessati
I realize composition is very much a subjective thing. I realize sometimes an image can be quite appealing when including a significant portion of the subject's environment. But personally I like a fairly tight crop. Bird , squirrel , snake or bug ( flowers too ) a fairly tight crop shows much more of the subject's detail. Obviously the more frame you can fill with the subject the less cropping you will have to do. One of the most amazing things I witnessed as the megapixel wars raged on was how much cropping you can do and still have decent photos. Especially if all you do is post to the web or look at them with a computer. My camera is only 20 MP. Compared to my first 1 MP camera there is a gigantic amount of cropping I can do. If you cant walk to it or zoom into it with a telephoto lens then crop it! As I scroll though these wildlife pics I see many that , in my opinion , could be improved substantially with a bit of cropping. I sometimes feel like some folks are afraid that if they crop their moms might find out and send them to confession. Any way if someone is seeing cropping as taboo they really shouldn't since that's what a tele zoom does anyway. In Camera cropping of the scene.
Charles,
There are some image-making opportunities that are best served by having the subject very large in the frame, and others that are better as "environmental portraits". Or, if not a true environmental portrait, then at least showing a fair amount of the animal's surroundings.
I think that to have all of one's images one way is a rather shallow form of photography. A portfolio is much more interesting and engaging if it includes images that vary in many different ways, and size of subject in the frame is one of those ways in which there should be a wide range.
Fortunately, it does not have to be one or the other. We can capture many images with the animal filling the frame, many with it mid-size in the frame, and many with it smaller in the frame.
In my experience, it is fairly easy to get close to the subject and fill the frame with it, creating a close-up portrait.
Yet I find it challenging and difficult to get an image with the animal small in the frame, and to have all of the surrounding habitat look good and work into a nice, aesthetically pleasing composition, with no distractions or incongruous elements.
Points all well taken. Your words remind me of 3 perspectives from which we observe and love our children. First is from our hands on close personal experience and relationship with them. Changing diapers , helping them to walk , sharing our lives with them and eventually learning from each other. Second . a few steps away from them , is observing them as they act and react in our homes with the rest of the family and friends that come and go on a daily basis. Third is watching them as they expand and grow in their own big world . School , College , Careers and families all their own. Three very distinct windows through which to love and care for our kids. Yet when see other families and their children it is mighty tempting to think to ourselves " If that were my kid....." looking at other people's photos I tend to think like that....