This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums

Weekly Assignment

We framed our pictures this week using Natural Framing for the assignment. The goal was to use frames within the picture to help isolate the subject and draw your eye to it. There were a lot of great entries this week, but several of them really captured the idea of natural framing well by having a clear subject that stood out even better by the frame. Our winner this week was hlkljgk for her picture of her smiling daughter on a swing. The framing of the swing not only gave it a context but also brought the focus right to her smiling face. Our first runner up was lisa for her picture of one of her chickens coming into the hen house to looking for some food. Once again, the framing draws your eye to the subject and helps to give it context. Our final runner up was phillj for his picture, Looking Through. Even though the bright colours of the building really stand out, the stormy muted colours in the window create a contrast and draw your eye right out to the view you see when looking through. Well done everyone!

We started a new assignment this week too, and it is Feet. Look down and see what you can see. Feet are everywhere (not just on people and creatures). So show us what you see when you think of feet. While you can submit pictures at any time (and from any time), in order to be eligible for the mini-contest though, we ask that you take new pictures. So, in order to be eligible, your picture needs to have been taken between 18 June – 2 July 2008, the EXIF needs to be intact (it helps if you can include the main points in the text of your message), and your post must include the words “Assignment: Feet” somewhere in it. Next week’s assignment is “Sense of Scale” so find some way to make it clear how big (or small) that object that you’re photographing is!

Weekly Poll

This week we asked people if they geotag their photos. With more and more sites letting you put in location information with your photos, you are faced with deciding whether or not to geotag your photos. Most people answered that they didn’t, but there were a few that do. Here’s what they had to say:

waffles said, “I see it as nothing but extra work. And I think in some ways it can take away from the pciture. If I see something and think that it reminds me of somewhere I used to go as a little kid, then I’ll like it. But if I know it’s somewhere in Utah, then it loses some of the appeal to me.”

digirebelva on the other hand, said “if for nothing else, years later, I may not remember where the photo was taken, but I can always reference the tag for location..I learned that from my Dad..”Hey dad where was this taken”….”Don’t know been to long forgot”…Live & Learn”

And last but not least, Mandy73 said “I’ve just started Geotagging by hand on my Flickr account, basically because someone asked me where I had taken a photo. I don’t do all of them (at the moment) I’ve just been doing my favourites. I didn’t know anything about it because I thought you had to have the special gear and a GPS. So I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I could do it by hand and in my Flickr account. Very easy and nice and handy!”

This week, come tell us whether or not you carry a camera with you everywhere?

Hot Threads

• What motivates your photography?: It may be something that you think of quite a bit, or it may be something you never really gave much thought to, but what is it that motivates your photography? Who are you trying to please when you take a shot? What are your reasons behind taking a shot? Whatever they are, why not come share them with us in this thread.
• Local photography contest – NO PP: As summer rolls around, local photography contests seem to become more and more common. But what happens when they tell you “No post-processing”? What does that really mean? While you’ll always have to ask the contest coordinators this question, come join in the discussion about what sort of things may or may not be allowed.
• What do you want to shoot?: An older thread has resurfaced this week with the question of what is it that you want to shoot? Do you have project ideas in mind that you want to get done at some point? Do you have just a general desire to shoot certain things? Have you been inspired by someone else’s photography and now want to do something similar yourself? Come share what it is that you want to shoot.
• A shoot for work – what would you do?: Sime was faced with a dilemma this week when shooting some portraits of people at work this week for a pitch. He had the option of shooting the staff in front of a blue wall and dropping the logo in, or putting the logo on a large TV and shooting them in front of that. Come read all about it in this thread.
• Attachments in Critique: Please Read Before Voting: How do you feel about using attachments in the forums? Do you like them? Do you not? If you have an opinion on attachments, share them in this thread and vote.

Other Threads to Note

And last but not least, we have another week of What Would You Do, our weekly post-processing thread. From beginners to post-processing experts, this thread is your chance to show us how you would edit someone else’s photograph. The rules are pretty simple and the goal of the game is simply to show us what you would do. So, if you have any interest in post-processing and want to learn a little and have some fun, why not drop by What Would You Do?