February 2020 Print Winners – Assigned and Open Categories

by Susan Sheets | Feb 7, 2020 | Competition Results, Happenings, Print Winners

First Place – Assigned Category – An Idiom Expressed as a Photograph

Two First Places

Spread One’s Wings    Bridget Cline

It was taken in Myrtle Beach, SC at sunrise.

Thunderstruck    Ross Steensland

This photo was taken in November of 2019 during an intense thunderstorm over Myrtle Creek.  I was there before sunset and long into the night.  As the sky got darker I was able to take repeated 2 minute exposures at f7.1 iso 250.  I blended together two lighting strikes into the same sky photo, then blended that with the foreground and orange horizon from sunset.   Canon 6DmkII Canon 24-70mm f2.8

Three First Places – Open Category

A Crack In The Sky Reflected    Susan Sheets

I shot this at Bandon beach on a wintery, wet and windy weekend this January.  The gear: Olympus 12-100mm lens at 12 mm, F8, 1/60th sec., on a tripod, Olympus EM5 MkII.

Go Ahead, I’m Listening    Jim Heern

Golden Eagle    Rudy Dierks

Image was shot at Wildlife Images. Two shot focus stacking was done on the bird to achieve sharpness over most of the image. The background is a blend of a couple of my own shot textures. I used a Canon 5D Mark  IV with a 100/400 lens set at 263mm/F-8/500 shutter speed/2500ISO. Image was processed using photoshop 2019 and DXO software. Amazingly beautiful bird up close!

Three Second Places

I Hear You, I See You,  I Smell You    Susan Sheets

On The Lookout    Rudy Dierks

The Image of the Bengal Tiger was shot at the West Coast Game Park near Bandon. The image is a time lapse of one cat taken several minutes apart. The background is a combination of images that were taken at Joshua TreeNational Park. The tigers were blended into the background using Photoshop. I used a Canon 5D MarkIV with 100/200mm lens/F-8/600Shutter speed/ ISO400 to shoot the cat shots and a 24/70 lens for the background shots. I hope this cat likes it’s new home.

The Boot    Jim Ingraham

January 2020 Prints Winners Assigned and Open Categories

by Susan Sheets | Jan 13, 2020 | Competition Results, Happenings, Print Winners

First Place – Assigned – Fog, mist or rain

Waterfall In The Sky    Susan Sheets

I shot this in September 2019 from my back yard. A first for me in catching lightening. 2.5 sec, f5.0, iso 500.

Four First Places – Category – Open

SnowFlake Dancers    Dale George

This image was taken at the dress rehearsal of Stillpoint Dance Studio’s version of The Nutcracker. I have waited 3 years to get this image for myself and it was worth it. Shot using a Canon MKIV and 24-70 mm lens combination. I had my ISO set at 6400 and aperture 4.0 as most of the dance was in challenging low light conditions.
Not a lot of post editing, mostly some color correction and bringing up some shadows and highlight control…as well as some sharpening and noise reduction.

The Ghost Of The Mountain    Jim Heern

Snow  Leopards inhabit the highest altitude of any big cats. These most elusive cats nicknamed ” Ghost Of The Mountains”. They are perfectly equipped to thrive in extreme high-altitudes (up to 20’000 ft.)
Snow Leopards can endure temperatures as low as -40 degrees F , they are vulnerable to extinction, there only 6,000 left in the wild.
Shot at f/ 8.0
ISO 2500
1/250 sec.

Aurora Vintage    Larry Pollack

Purple Pier    Ross Steensland

This image was taken late December in Avila Beach California.  After the sun went over the horizon I checked the North side of the pier and found a warm glow still illuminating the structure.  I composed the image as to where the pier was leading into the brightest point of the sunset.  I shot at multiple focus points, several exposures to compensate for the highlights and darks, and then about 3 additional minutes to create the smooth ocean.  All of them were then blended in photoshop.
Canon 6D mkII. Canon 24-70 f2.8. B+W Polarizer filter.

Two Second Places

Aurora Contemplation    Larry Pollack

Waiting For Prey    Greg Smith