This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (15-21 Nov ‘09)

In case you hadn’t heard, one of our forum admins is a new dad! Congrats Sime, Mum and Baby.

Weekly Assignment

Things got noisy for this week’s assignment which was Sound / Noise. We had a real variety of shots, but what made us pick the ones we did was most often because of the way that it really showed off sounds and the impact of those sounds. Our winner this week was rt80639’s “Colour of Sound” this was an excellent example of how the sound from speakers can be used creatively. While you might not be able to “hear” the sound in this one, it wouldn’t be possible without it. In case you missed the writeup last week, rt. also explains just how he took it. Our first runner up was Evil_Banana’s “The Sound of SIlence”. If you don’t have the guitar plugged in, no matter how much you play, you aren’t going to hear much. This shot had really good depth of field, and it was clear that there was no sound, but as we all know sometimes silence itself is very powerful. Although this was the opposite of noise, we all know that silence can have a sound of it’s own. And last, but not least was TTHW’s Mixer. The light on the spinning beaters gives a real sense of motion, and if you’ve used a mixer in the kitchen you’re almost certainly able to hear that whirr even with just a photo. Congrats to all of this week’s winners, and best of luck to everyone in the next assignment.

Throw you camera in the air cause it’s time to play with Kinetics. Ok, you don’t have to throw your camera (you can if you’re brave), you can also play with zooming your lens during the exposure or otherwise moving your camera. The point of the assignments is to challenge you in your photography and help teach you new things. Move beyond snapshots and show us something creative and unique. Before you head off to post your Kinetics photos though, a quick reminder of the rules. First, your photo must have been taken between 11-25 November 2009. Your post must include the words “Assignment: Kinetics” and the date the photo was taken. Your EXIF should be intact and it’s useful if you can include some of the main points (e.g. camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, etc). Next week’s assignment has two possible parts to it. The next assignment (which will be posted on 25 November) depends on your gear. If you have a 50mm lens (or a lens that can be set to 50mm), the assignment is to shoot something for which you’re thankful and do so at 50mm. If you can’t set your camera to 50mm, then just take a photo of something that you’re thankful for.

Hot Threads

• Strobist: Show us how you took it?: If you haven’t heard of Strobist, it’s all about getting your light off camera. But when you’re just starting with off camera lighting, how do you know what is the “right” way to position your lights? Whether you’re a dedicated strobist or you’re just curious about how to light, come look at this thread to learn about lighting setups and contribute your own.
• Flash Gun… Do you really need one?: Photography is all about light and capturing it. But does that mean that you must use a flash or is natural light enough? If you’re a strobist, well, then more likely than not you probably consider any light you can get your hands on, natural or otherwise as available light. Come add your 2 cents to the discussion of if and when you need more than just the naturally available light.
• Camera Rentals or Borrowed Lenses… Where to go?: One thing we’re probably all familiar with is that camera gear is expensive. And nobody wants to spend all kinds of money on a lens without some idea of what they’re getting. And sometimes you just want to try out a lens for one time purpose, what do you do then? That’s when lens rentals become very useful. But which sites are good for renting lenses and cameras? Come share your experiences in this thread.
• Spell Shot: One of the popular games on the forum this week is Spell Shot. This thread challenges you to spell out a word using the photo’s subject. So, if the word were EYE, the first person may post a photo of an Elephant, the second, a Yak, and the third, an ELK. Jump on over to the forum to find out what word is currently being spelled and see how you can join in the fun.
• What Would You Do: Each week we have a post-processing challenge in the forums which gives you the opportunity to edit someone else’s photo. Whether you’re new to post processing or you barely need a camera to create an image any more, you’re welcome to join in the fun and creativity that’s always found in this thread.