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• February 2011

Photo Challenges:
February 2011

Winter

Brrr! Here in Toronto, Canada, we’re in the middle of a deep freeze. As I type this, it’s -19C, with a windchill of -26C, and twenty-plus centimeters of snow on the way tomorrow. That means winter is on my mind! Let’s see some images of what winter looks like in your part of the world. To me, it means snow, ice, bare trees, and cold. But it also means the fun of winter sports like skiing and skating! What does it mean to you?

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

One entry only each month per person, please!

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

A Canadian Winter

The Gate
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Mushing in Algonquin Park
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Leaf Trapped in Ice
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Winter Waterfall
© Julie Waterhouse

 

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• Home
• Photo Challenges
• February 2012

Photo Challenges:
February 2012

Curves

No straight lines here! This month, we’re all about curves.

Lines do two things in your image. First of all, they lead your viewer’s eye around your photograph. The human brain is hard-wired to follow lines with our eyes. This means that the placement of the main lines of your image is extremely important, since it directs your viewer as they look at your photo. You can lead them toward your main subject — or, if you’re not careful you can lead them straight out of the picture! Using curved lines directs your viewer slowly around your image, as opposed to straight lines that rush directly to their destination.

Lines also convey emotion. Horizontal lines are calm, vertical lines are strong, and diagonal lines imply change. What about curved lines? They can convey hope or melancholy, depending on whether they curve up or down. Curves can also be sensual or graceful. They are slow and meandering, not in a hurry.

Learn more about the visual design elements of lines.

This month, we’re looking for photos with no straight lines. The main lines in the image should be curves. You can submit photos of winding roads, your child’s slinky (or your own :), curls of smoke, a spiral staircase, a seashell… the possibilities are endless!

Read the rules. One entry only each month per person, please!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

Curvaceous Examples…

Looking down on two glasses and their shadows.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

I couldn’t resist including this shot of the curved buildings
in Mississauga, ON, Canada
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Beetroot
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Calla Lily Curves
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Ice
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Eggs
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Scanography of the end of a toilet paper roll.
Images are everywhere 🙂
© Julie Waterhouse

 

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• Home
• Photo Challenges
• January 2011

Photo Challenges:
January 2011

Water

Over 70% of our Earth’s surface is covered in water. This month, let’s see some pictures of water – in all its forms, liquid or solid. Show us snow, ice, or water, or even steam; running water or still; lakes, waterfalls, rain, or bathtubs! Get creative! Just make sure that water is the main element of your photo.

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

One entry only each month per person, please!

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

My Take on Water

Ice
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Lake Ontario through a pinhole lens
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Algonquin Park, ON, Canada
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Making Waves
© Julie Waterhouse

 

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• Home
• Photo Challenges
• August 2011

Photo Challenges:
August 2011

Elevating the Ordinary

A good part of photography is about making the ordinary into the extraordinary. That’s what we’ll concentrate on for this month’s challenge. Look for ordinary objects in your everyday world, around home or your neighborhood. See if you can photograph them in such a way that you turn them into something a little more.

Try looking at objects from a different perspective, or getting close up and shooting just a portion of them. Look for ordinary objects in extraordinary light. There’s beauty to be found all around us every day. This is a great exercise to train your photographic eye to really observe the world. Once you start paying attention, you’ll begin to see your surroundings in a new way.

Get out there and start shooting, and engage your viewers so that they take a second look at something they would normally take for granted.

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

Read the rules. One entry only each month per person, please!

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

My Ordinary World

Water flowing down the drain in my bathroom sink.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Another shot from my bathroom: the bottom of the shower curtain.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Grocery cart conga line
© Julie Waterhouse

 

The side of my neighbor’s house
© Julie Waterhouse

 

My guest room lamp
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Reflections of a street lamp in the parking lot.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

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• Home
• Photo Challenges
• August 2010

Photo Challenges:
August 2010

Summertime

What does summertime mean to you? Is it playing Frisbee with the dog, building sand castles at the beach, picnics, or car rides with the top down? Do you think of blazing heat, blue skies, and cornfields? Is summer a time to spend at the cottage with your family, swimming in the lake, fishing, and roasting marshmallows on the camp fire? Does it mean eating ice cream, soaking up the air-conditioning at the mall, and wearing flip flops? Turn one of these activities into an iconic image that captures the mood of summer. The most important thing is for you to make your image personal, and photograph a subject that represents summertime for you.

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month. One entry only each month per person, please!

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

My Summertime Inspiration

 

Signs of Summer
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

Hay Bales
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

Muskoka Chairs by the Lake
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

Bee on Flower
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

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• Home
• Photo Challenges
• December 2010

Photo Challenges:
December 2010

Pets

Chelli-chat
© Andrew Park

This month, let’s honor the pets that make our lives better. Please share an image of your BFF (best furry friend!) — or not so furry, if you keep goldfish! I’m away from home at the moment, without access to my photo archive, so my good friend Andrew has agreed to share some images of his menagerie as inspiration. Thanks, Andrew!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

One entry only each month per person, please!

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

Andrew’s Menagerie of Pets

Maurizio
© Andrew Park

 

Puppy in Motion!
© Andrew Park

 

Lucas Makes a Friend
© Andrew Park

 

Lights, Camera, Action!
© Andrew Park

 

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• Home
• Photo Challenges
• January 2012

Photo Challenges:
January 2012

Clouds

Photographers may be the only crazy folk who love bad weather and cloudy days! Clouds can act as a giant softbox, softening harsh shadows and extending your shooting time into the middle of the day.

Clouds can add drama and interest to the sky. Cloud formations may be compelling enough to form the main subject of your image. Clouds can also play a supporting role by adding important compositional elements to your photo. They can echo lines and shapes that are in your subject matter, and they can add texture to an image by filling in an otherwise blank sky, or reflective surface.

This month, we’re looking for photos where clouds are either the main subject, or they significantly add to the story of the image. In other words, if there were no clouds, there would be no image!

Read the rules. One entry only each month per person, please!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

My Cloudy Days…

This one is my favorite!
The cloud adds an important compositional element to the image.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

I waited until the single, puffy cloud was in the center.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Cloud Drama
© Julie Waterhouse

 

The clouds aren’t the main subject here,
but the image would be nothing without them.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

More Cloud Drama
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Dancing Clouds
© Julie Waterhouse

 

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• Home
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• July 2011

Photo Challenges:
July 2011

Flower Power

I can’t believe that I haven’t chosen “flowers” as a challenge topic yet, since it’s one of my favorite things to photograph! This month, I’m going to remedy that, so flowers it is. Macro shots, flower portraits, fields of wildflowers. Let’s see your best flower images!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

Read the rules. One entry only each month per person, please!

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

I Love Flowers!

Orchid
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Sunflower petals
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Lily stamens
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Tulip Festival in Ottawa, Canada
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Iris closeup
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Iris: there’s beauty at every stage.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

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• Home
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• July 2012

Photo Challenges:
July 2012

Signs

Once again, this month, I chose a topic from the pool of reader submissions on our Ultimate Photo Tips Facebook Page. This month’s challenge topic is "Signs." This one may be a little tricker; it won’t be as easy just to dig into your archives. Time to grab your camera, and go hunting for a sign!

The sign you choose to photograph could be a road sign or a shop sign, or any other creative way you choose to interpret "signs." It would be nice to see some kind of interpretation of the sign, or have the sign in an interesting context, rather than just a straight record shot.

I’m looking forward to see what you all do with this one 🙂

Read the rules. One entry only each month per person, please!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.

Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

I’m Looking for a Sign!

Stop
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Hey! I’m re-using a photo from last week’s "Roads" challenge…
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Children Crossing
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Okay, not much interpretation here, but I couldn’t resist including this!
© Julie Waterhouse

 

Feel Better? Or Feel Bitter? The choice is yours.
© Julie Waterhouse

 

 

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• Home
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• June 2010

Photo Challenges:
June 2010

Did you ever watch Sesame Street as a child? This month’s photo contest is brought to you by

The Letter "D"

This month, you can shoot anything that starts with the letter "D!" A deer, a donkey, or your pet dog! Dinosaurs? (Great Aunt Doris?) It could be anything from disaster and devastation, to dolls, dimples, or dessert! Try desert dunes or a landmark in Denmark! Dazzle and delight us!

Enter your super-amazing photos in our photo contests. The winning image will be featured on the Ultimate Photo Tips homepage for all of the following month.
Submit your image.

See what other people are submitting, and vote for your favorite:
View other entries.

 

My Delightful Demonstrations!

 

Gone to the Dogs!
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

Dressed up Donkey
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

The Duomo, Florence
© Julie Waterhouse Photography

 

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