Hey All!
First let me say great site and forum here. Even in my short life so far as an amateur photographer i've learned a lot from here and still am.
My girlfriend and i are currently traveling and our next stop is a 3 week adventure camping tour all around New Zealand. We booked with the company and then i later found out they have a promotion going. Each year whoever shoots the best picture that 'captures the nature of a Kiwi trip with great people enjoying getting beyond the "beyond the tourist trail" wins their whole trip refunded.
So to better my photography and to save on travel i would LOVE to win this competition.
I feel like i'm in with a very good chance. Although my experience is laughable short - 1 months with my d90 and 18mm - 105mm - i've been obsessive ever since getting it.
So now i'm looking for advice on how i can do my best in this competition. For ideas of what they are looking for here are some images they have on their homepage:
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And
here is their past years gallery of all the pictures that were submitted.
My current brainstorm of ways to improve, things i need and shots i should aim for are:
- Wide Angle Lens + Polarized Filter. I've been hearing great things about the stigma 10 - 20mm so i will get that and get some practice with it before hand.
- Practice shooting RAW + More memory cards. I haven't taken or edited any RAW images yet.
- People adventure shots. The site i imagine will be using these pictures to sell their product, which is all the travel, camping, food and socializing around New Zealand. While pictures of lakes, mountains and so on look great they are selling the experience and i think it'll look better with those backdrops but people in the activities.
- Capitalize on the uniqueness of the tour company. The company takes sporting equipment all the way around for everyone to use. A picture of everyone at sunset playing cricket with a mountain/lake + tent background would be amazing.
- Ask the guides and drivers what they think will be good, what the company wants.
- Practice HDR shot. Although anything to them that looks 'too edited' i doubt they would feel they want a v accurate representation of the tour.
So as you can see my thoughts are a little scatterbrained right now. Any suggestions on shots i should look for or get everyone together to make happen. Suggestions of kit. Or suggestions of practice or well wishes would be very very appreciated!