AN EMOTIONAL APPEAL PHOTO CONTEST |
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| Send us your favorite photo that expresses a human emotion: happy | sad | tired | mad - or any other human emotion. | |||
The Photo Contest Grand Prize Winner will receive a magnificent Tamron AF28-300mm XR VC (Vibration Compensation) Di zoom lens for a Canon or Nikon Digital SLR camera.
Plus, the winning image will be showcased in the Tamron Online Gallery in the Learning section of tamron.com with up to 20 of our favorites.
The contest is judged by professional photographer André Costantini and guest judge professional photographer Emily Wilson. Deadline is 11/30/08 to submit by mail or email.
See below for contest entry form and details. |
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Professional photographer André Costantini speaks regularly to scrapbookers around the country about taking better photos. Here he provides his top 10 Photo Tips that are sure to help you make fabulous people pictures. |
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Stopping action in its tracks is an effective way to create images that grab the viewer’s attention. Indeed, by selecting shutter speeds from 1/250 sec up to the camera’s fastest speed of 1/4000 sec, you can record events that are not perceivable by the human eye, and that adds to their charm. Another way to achieve the same effect is by using electronic flash, which usually exposes the subject in a burst of 1/1000 sec or less. This appealing picture of a young girl jumping rope with her with her feet high off the ground is a fine example of the visual impact that can be achieved using this simple technique. You can even do it on “auto pilot” by setting your camera to S (shutter-priority mode), and choosing a fast shutter speed. Or, choose your “speed” setting on the program dial. Just make sure your ISO setting is high enough to give a good exposure at fast shutter speeds—try ISO 400 or 800.
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According to the rules, portraits are supposed to be shot with medium telephoto lenses (about twice the focal length of your camera’s normal lens), not wide-angle lenses. This is because close-ups taken with wide-angles tend to exaggerate certain facial features, notably noses. However, this is one rule that’s made to be broken because without a doubt some of the best, most intimate and revealing portraits are taken with wide-angle lenses. Here’s a classic example of a boy and a girl just bursting with life and joy. The wide-angle lens not only provides an intimate glimpse of this dynamic duo, but also gives enough depth of field to get a reasonably sharp image of the girl in the background. |
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Using flash outdoors or in daylight to fill in the shadows is a great way to achieve properly exposed faces while retaining detail in a dramatically backlit background. Fill flash is what enabled the photographer to shoot fun full length portrait where the bright sky behind the subjects would ordinarily lead to a under-exposed subjects. Fill flash used to require extensive calculations, but today many cameras provide an auto fill flash setting that make taking pictures like this quite easy. |
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Rembrandt used it and so has every other great portrait artist and photographer down through the ages. The soft diffuse light you get by posing your subject near a window is simply beautiful, combining definition with diffusion that is almost impossible to achieve with complex lighting setups. This compelling portrait shows what can be done with this simple, eloquent, universal light source. Keep in mind that the light falls off more quickly when the subject is close to the window (meaning the face further from the window will be in shadow). The further the subject is from window, the more even the light will be. |
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Using a long telephoto lens to compress the apparent depth of a scene is a time-honored method of creating dramatic street shots and cityscapes, but it can be equally effective in establishing visual intimacy when photographing people as well. Here the photographer used a long lens to create a visual bond between an artist and his subject. To create a more compelling image of the process, he focused on the model and the painting, so the artist, who is closer to the camera, is slightly out of focus. |
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“Fill the frame” is one of the oldest rules in photography and it’s one of the best techniques for enhancing visual impact. By eliminating extraneous detail, you force the viewer to concentrate on what’s important, and you can delineate details that give the subject its special character. Establishing a visual connection between two or more subjects is also essential in creating powerful images, and people close together or even “cheek-to-cheek” is a simple and effective way to achieve this. This engaging picture of a toddler is a fine illustration of the impact you get by combining this technique with selective depth of field. |
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Selecting a wide aperture to minimize depth of field and achieve a narrow plane of focus is an effective way to get the subject to “pop” off the background, and is also a great means of de-emphasizing a distracting background. Both elements are shown in this amusing portrait of a young hooded bubble-blower. Both the greenery in the background and the big bubbles in the foreground are fuzzy, which draws your eye to the pursed lips of the irrepressible subject. |
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Placing the main light source, natural or artificial, behind the subject can produce dramatic results like this stunning landscape/environmental portrait. In-camera exposure systems can be fooled by backlight, so you may have to dial in 1-2 stops or more exposure with your camera’s exposure-compensation control usually designated by “AE +/-.” While this technique is used for sunrise and sunsets most often, this is the same technique that you would use to properly expose for subjects in front of a window or against bright sand and snow. Be sure to use your lens shade that came with the lens in order to avoid or minimize distracting flare. To see how André Costantini created this image, visit www.howishot.com. |
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Setting a slow shutter speed is an effective way to blur a moving background, which draws your eye to the main subject while conveying a feeling of action. Here the exuberant young girl on the tire swing is rendered with sufficient sharpness to capture her engaging smile while the background is attractively blurred to suggest a swinging motion. To capture this moment, Andre was on the tire swing with the girl. Since they were both not moving relative to eachother, a slow shutterspeed of 1/15 second was used. The background is blurred since the tire swing was spinning very fast. Use this technique on fast amusement park rides. Or try holding one hand with your subject, camera in the other at waist level, and spin real fast while snapping your shutter several times. |
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Capturing your subject from different angles can make an image more engaging and fun. Try shooting from below or above eye level. Keep in mind too that your whole subject does not always need to be in the frame. This image, shot looking down on the child as he reaches up emphasizes his toddler size. Note also the effective use of selective depth of field—the out-of-focus object in the foreground leads the eye to the main subject.
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| For more tips and techniques visit Tamron's Learning Center. | |||
CONTEST RULES:
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AN EMOTIONAL APPEAL 2008 ENTRY DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 30, 2008
NAME:________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_____________________________________________________________
CITY:____________________________________STATE:_________ZIP:____________
PHONE:_______________________________________
EMAIL:________________________________________
LENS USED:____________________________________
TECHNICAL DATA:________________________________
I hereby certify that the photo I am about to submit is my original work and has never been copyrighted or, if copyrighted, that I am the sole copyright owner. I am entering this photo as an honest and true effort of my personal creativity and unique artistic vision, and I understand that it will be published on the Internet as my original work and under my own copyright. I understand that my submission will be reviewed before it is accepted for the contest. If my photo is offensive, artificially enhanced, a studio image, animation/artwork, or of poor image quality, then it may be disqualified. _____YES _______NO
Signature: ___________________________________________________ |
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| MAIL SUBMISSIONS TO: TAMRON USA, INC. 10 AUSTIN BLVD., COMMACK, NY 11725 Attn: An Emotional Appeal 2008 |
OR EMAIL TO: webmaster@tamron.com Subject line: An Emotional Appeal 2008 |
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