This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums
Can you believe that we’re already up to 6000 members in the forums? It’s really great to see the community growing the way it is, so keep it up! Now on to the week in review.
Weekly Assignment
Our Fruit & Veggies Assignment came to an end this week, and we not only saw some great fruits and veggies, we also learned a little about which ones were actually fruits. We had some really great entries this week, as always, but our winner was Scampi for “Onion Interrupted”. We couldn’t help but be drawn in, even if this is one vegetable that brings us all to tears. We also had two runners up, and both are new members of the forum. The first runner up was LANLINE for the strawberry dessert shot that showed us that fruit doesn’t always have to be healthy. Our second runner up was mateofiero for the really colourful fruit stand shot. We couldn’t help be drawn in by the bold colours and lines.
This week our assignment is Weathered. This week isn’t about shiny, new, and glossy things, it’s about things that have been weathered. So far there has been a lot of rust, so if that’s your thing, then you’ll find this thread right up your alley. You can post any picture you want to the thread, but in order to be eligible for the mini-contest, you need to do a few things. First, your post needs to contain “Assignment: Weathered” somewhere in it. Second, your photo must have been taken between 5 September - 18 September 2007. Finally, the exif must still be intact so that we can make sure that it was taken during the time frame. Next week’s assignment will be Light Play, so get out those flashlights, laser pointers, or other light sources and take some pictures for the upcoming assignment.
Weekly Poll
We have a really diverse community in the forums and this got me wondering whether the majority of people were hobbyists or professionals (or hobbyists who aspired to become professionals). While most people weren’t interested in becoming professionals, nearly 30% of the people on the forums were either already professionals or interested in becoming professionals.
cathyetta said that for now she’s a hobbyist because “I’m having fun, fun, fun. If it starts being for money it might not be fun anymore. Occasionally I will have a photo published in the local paper but never for a fee.”
Of course, there are also hobbyiests who want to become professionals, like Nieton21 who said “Personally i think becoming a professional would be amazing and fun. Though there is the added stress and demand for great work that to me would be part of the fun of it. If you have a client that wants something different than your style and used to, you have to take that clients ideas and push yourself to a point beyond your comfort level. This will ultimately make you a better photographer.”
Check out this week’s poll and tell us if you prefer to take candid or posed photos of people.
Hot Threads
Gary Fong Lightsphere: A gear thread about one of the interesting flash attachments you can use to soften the light. Of course, if you’re more interested in a DIY version, you can also see a few examples of ways to make your own attachment to help diffuse your flash.
Anyone want to edit for me?!?: Sometimes photos don’t turn out simply because of a technical problem that you don’t notice until you get back. sgrbear724 had just this problem with one of her shots of her family. Thankfully there are a lot of talented photo-editors on the forums and there have been several suggestions on how to fix a shot that had problems with glare.
Self-portrait: I’m sure when KagoGrl posted a self-portrait she didn’t expect it to get this much attention, but it has been one of the hottest threads in the last few days. Self-portraits are hard because you’re limited by so many things, but there are a few tips in the thread for how to make the most of a self-portrait.
Working Women: Sometimes a photograph tells a story with a single picture. Sometimes it makes us stop and think. This critique my shot thread by kunaldaswani does both while highlighting some of the social issues in India.
Other Threads to Note
There are only a few more letters left in the alphabet threads because we’re already up to U is for… So whether your photo is underwater, upside down, or filled with umbrellas, if it starts with u, come post it in this thread. We’re also up to week 17 in the What Would You Do threads. These threads are a way for forum members to try out their creativity at editing a picture from another forum member to show the picture in a new light. These threads are a great place to learn a little more about ways to post-process an image.
Read more posts like 'This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums'
Digital Photography School is Digg proof thanks to caching by WP Super Cache!
onion interrupted - a good close up in fruits and veg category. the green stand out well and is the lifeline of the pic. cathyetta’s opinion to be a pure hobbyist is worth appreciation. there is certain demarcation between a pro and hobbyist. while Nieton21 is happy to be pro. and find fun in it. these are individual thinking and they stand on their own platforms doing great service to photography, one of the great subject the people among masses select depending upon their temperament. my best wishes to the winners and to both the hobbyist and pro.
Oh crap I didn’t even notice my comment made the post! That is really cool. goshort if you read the quote I’m not a pro. But think that it would be really awesome to be a pro *just wanted to clear that up*. I would say I am far from pro quality and hope someday to be that way. I might be wrong in my assessment that it would be a blast to be a pro. But right now I maintain my perspective that it would be fun. Learning and pushing yourself is always is fun, even if you don’t know it at the time.