MPC #119 - Out of Your Comfort Zone -3/12-3/26

[BeardedClam]

Thanks to all that voted, I've been doing these for a while and gotta say that the happy feeling in my pants is a good one.

My life choices, where I live, and who I'm friends with all revolves around skiing, as do many of yours. I find myself not bringing my camera out unless I am touring or skiing in-bounds. Lately, I've been trying to get out and shoot things I wouldn't normally shoot. Whether that means the method or the subject, I think it's a good way to push yourself as a photographer.

I want you guys to do that as well. Take an introspective look at your portfolio and identify something you do poorly or that you wouldn't normally do, and go shoot it and try to get better at it. That means no Lake Tahoe for Splitter, Wildlife/landscapes for Mtcham, Etc, Etc. If you post regularly in "Picture of the Day", I don't want to see something that you've done well before.

You could also take this title as "getting close to fear", but I'd rather you try something photographically out of your usual routine.



RULES:
1. Photos must be taken within the time period of the contest.
2. You may submit 3 photos during the competition.
3. The contest moderator will choose 5 photos to be voted on.
4. The winner will get a happy feeling in his/her pants. (That is a rule by the way, not an option.)
5. In the event of a tie, the contest moderator will have the deciding vote.
6. Winner will be the contest starter/moderator for the next comp.
7. The winner has 3 days to start a new contest or 2nd place becomes the new winner.

[BeardedClam]

MPC#118 Water
MPC#117 Opposites
MPC#116 Resolutions
MPC#115 Celebration
MPC#114 Santa
MPC#113 Leading Lines part Deux
MPC#112 Story
MPC#111 Sunstars
MPC#110 Noise
MPC#109 Structure
MPC#108 Vast
MPC#107 Reflections
MPC#106 Monochrome
MPC#104 Your Beach
MPC#103 Relationship
MPC#102 Decay
MPC#101 Juxtaposition
MPC#100 Tilt-Shift
MPC#99 Zoom
MPC#98 Signs
MPC#97 Artificial Light
MPC#96 Portrait, as pertains to orientation
MPC#95 MACRO
MPC#94 Framed
MPC#93 October
MPC#92 White Line
MPC#91 Harvest
MPC#90 Where you live
MPC#89 Geological
MPC#88 Big Machinery
MPC#87 Hot/Heat
MPC#86 Stress Relief
MPC#85 Dirty
MPC#84 Transportation
MPC#83 Of Yourself, By Yourself, In Context
MPC#82 Long Exposure: Urban Edition
MPC#81 Old School
MPC#80 Energy
MPC#79 Need
MPC#78 Weather
MPC#77 Action Sports
MPC#76 Stress
MPC#75 Anticipation
MPC#74 Foliage
MPC#73 Unreal
MPC#72 Speed
MPC#70 Old Technology
MPC#69 Plan B
MPC#68 Atmosphere POLL
MPC#67 Plants
MPC#66 Patterns
MPC#65 Weathered
MPC#64 WINNING
MPC#63 The End
MPC#62 Food
MPC#61 Seeing Double
MPC#60 Normal
MPC#59 Tranquility
MPC#58 Silhouette
MPC#57 Waiting
MPC#56 Night
MPC#55 Fire
MPC#54 Wheels
MPC#53 Small Sensors
MPC#52 Blur
MPC#51 Found Faces
MPC#50 Portraits
MPC#49 Panoramic
MPC#48 Light & Shadow
MPC#47 Timing
MPC#46 Coffee & Beer
MPC#45 Community
MPC#44 Potential
MPC#43 Solitude
MPC#42 Holidays
MPC#41 Ominous
MPC#40 Imbalance
MPC#39 Transition
MPC#38 Unsightly
MPC#37 Self Portrait
MPC#36 Music
MPC#35 Summer
MPC#34 Passion
MPC#33 Home
MPC#32 Electricity
MPC#31 Bridges
MPC#30 Old & New
MPC#29 BW
MPC#28 Winter
MPC#27 HDR
MPC#26 Shadows
MPC#25 Circles
MPC#24 Bars
MPC#23 People
MPC#22 Architecture
MPC#21 Wild Beasts
MPC#20 Water
MPC#19 Bulb
MPC#18 Celebration
MPC#17 Sunrise & Sunset
MPC#16 Out of Place
MPC#15 Altered
MPC#14 Angles
MPC#13 Pain & Suffering
MPC#12 Unusual Perspective
MPC#11 Depth
MPC#10 Contrast
MPC#9 Festive
MPC#8 Reflection
MPC#7 Leading Lines
MPC#6 Minimal
MPC#5 Abandoned
MPC#4 Perspective
MPC#3 Airborne
MPC#2 Straylight
MPC#1 Motion

[Huck_Schmuck]

I'll start...

#1


My daughter was born at 0825 today.

[systemoverblow'd]

HA! She has great timing.

Congrats

[ridinshockgun]

photo cut due to 3 entry limit

[Edgnar]

I only brought my nifty fifty lens for this trip. I usually shoot with my 15-85, and usually only at about 15mm.

IMG_0734b by Ed Carley, on Flickr


IMG_0706b by Ed Carley, on Flickr

[kalisto]

I realize it's not what you're going for... but this is more 'getting close to fear'.

Camera in hand, trying to stabilize it with the other, while hanging off a prussik, rappelling into a couloir... switch.

[geomorph]

Congrats Huck Schmuck, as a new father myself, I can say from experience that you will become very comfortable taking baby pictures soon enough.

My entries are self portraits. I don't take many portraits, and certainly not of myself. In addition, I'm trying to get more comfortable with RAW post processing. Hopefully I don't look too much like a serial killer in these.

#1


#2

[zartagen]

#1. My first entry isn't what you're looking for, but I was very much uncomfortable when I took it.


(It was really windy up there, too)

#2. I've only just begun taking photography a bit more seriously, if you can call it that. Just about anything other than ski shots and doggy pics is outside my comfort zone.

[ridinshockgun]

Most of the time I bring my camera its on a hike, or kayaking or mountain biking. Not that I do that well or anything, but it's almost always landscapes or action stuff. This time I took it to a bike show at the convention center downtown. The North American Handmade Bike Show came to Charlotte last weekend, and crappy weather made up my mind. So I took the camera with me, and tried not to look like a complete idiot taking pictures of people's bikes

These were all from 3/16

This bike was by Razik Bicycles, it's a woven carbon fiber construction. I couldn't stop checking out this bike, and what kept catching my eye for some reason was the cable routing through the top tube, maybe because it showed how little material there was there... so I tried to capture it while still getting something from the bike.


IMG_1202 by cbkoontz, on Flickr

Really liked this, on a bamboo frame tandem bike


IMG_1190 by cbkoontz, on Flickr

A beautiful wood frame mountain bike complete with..... wood wheels.

IMG_1172 by cbkoontz, on Flickr

[From_the_NEK]

Most of the time I bring my camera its on a hike, or kayaking or mountain biking. Not that I do that well or anything, but it's almost always landscapes or action stuff.

^This. I will add that I don't usually take the camera out around people I don't know. So I decided today was a good time to get out and take some "urban" shots in downtown STJ. Keep in mind that there is a pretty high unemployment rate here and a lot of the unemployed live and hang out in this part of town. They like to give the old stink eye to people poking around with a camera.

With that said while trying to get this shot, a local guy was walking in front of the building. He of course comes right over and grumpily asks if I got him in my picture to which I replied "No, I waited for you to move". Then he asked why I was taking pictures of St Johnsbury's bedbug infested building. To which I answered "it is still a nice building architecturally". I have no idea how I ended up getting this shot with no cars driving through or people walking. I took it just before 1:00PM at the busiest intersection in town.



Moving over a block I got this shot while dodging cars.



Finally, I got this shot right in front of where I parked my truck. My wife's uncle and cousin built this retaining wall last year.

[skibum220]

This is from my first trip to Moab and my first time shooting climbing



Not really pushing comfort zone but trying to get lifestyle portraits on the same trip.



I shoot lots of skiing but as a photographer this is the scariest shot I've ever gotten, really close to the landing zone and the skier had a blind takeoff. If he went too far right I was ready to duck my head and camera into the snow hopefully letting my pack take some of the impact.

[Vt-Freeheel]

We have a flock of crows that drift through every morning and evening scrounging for anything they can get.



Smoking some bacon

[systemoverblow'd]

This was shot in the south, so that really isn't my comfort zone. Also, the subject and style is outside my usual mode.





And just messing around. Again, not something I would normally take a photo of

[Huck_Schmuck]

If you look through my Flickr you'll see I don't really do portraits, so I'm leaving #1 (way out of my comfort zones on so many levels).

#2 & #3 are both (kinda) portraits and using my new flash - a complete first for me, I have lots to learn:

#2



#3

[systemoverblow'd]

...using my new flash - a complete first for me, I have lots to learn

One thing that really helped me learn flash was taking it out of E-TTL mode. Shoot with it in manual mode and adjust the power and distance of the flash to your subject to see how the strobe effects your capture. Remember, twice the distance away from the light source is going to only get 1/4 of the light power with the same camera settings (inverse square law). If you shoot in E-TTL, they will try to expose the image the way the metering system thinks it should so moving the light may not effect the scene like it should. Also in E-TTL, depending on where you are metering, you may get very different exposures based on that.

So, my advice if you are interested in shooting flash, play with it in manual. And just like shooting a camera in manual, with time comes speed. And depending on the camera, you may be able to adjust the flash power manually via the camera. Start with 1/32 power and go from there. Good luck!

http://www.lightenupandshoot.com/com...ightflashpower

[Huck_Schmuck]

Cheers Scott!