Butterfly

Day ten and the final day for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for day ten was "Butterfly" and this was my entry.

Our friends Jim and Melva invited my wife and I to join them on their boat one evening in July. I knew I needed a shot of a butterfly for the contest. Lo-and-behold, as we were cruising across Acton Lake, this little guy flew up beside us. Jim steered the boat as close as he could and we followed the butterfly as he crossed the lake. I snapped twenty or more shots as the light faded, but was lucky to get this image. Thanks, Jim!

Sony DSC-RX100 with built in zoom lens @ 37mm (full telephoto mode); f4.9, 1/1250, iso 200.

Turquoise

Day nine for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition and the theme for day nine was "Turquoise."

This is McWay Falls, an 80-foot waterfall along the Pacific ocean coastline in California - a part of the area known as Big Sur.

Sony DSC-RX100 with built in zoom lens @ 16mm (moderate wide-angle); f11, 1/125, iso 125.

Stars

Day eight for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for day eight was "Stars." This was my submission for the theme and I'm pleased that it won an "Honorable Mention."

I took this shot at Hueston Woods State Park, at the edge of Acton Lake near the lodge there. It was about 3:00 am on a very clear, crisp summer night. My son, Sean, came along to keep me company. We didn't see another soul.

I set my tripod up on a stretch of cement walkway that leads to some wooden docks. I first tried setting up right on the docks, but the motion of the water made that idea unacceptable. I knew this would be a long exposure and the camera would need to be rock-steady.

I chose to shoot toward the western sky because the only city lights in that direction were from Brookville, Indiana and College Corner, Ohio. Other compass points were overwhelmed with light from Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton.

Canon 5D Mark III with a 28-70mm lens @ 28mm; f3.5, 30 seconds, with iso 3200.

Sprinkler

Day seven for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for day seven was "Sprinkler." While this photo was perhaps my favorite entry into the contest, it did not garner any awards.

I took this while on vacation to California to celebrate my son's 30th birthday. Our families were walking the grounds of the Spanish Bay golf resort near sundown when I happened upon this scene. I used a camera I had just received for my birthday a few weeks earlier; the Sony DSC-RX100. I think it performs very nicely for such a compact little camera.

Sony DSC-RX100 with built in zoom lens @ 10.4mm (full wide-angle); f9, 1/30, iso 200.

Bad Hair Day

Six days of judging are complete for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for day six was "Bad Hair Day." This photo was my entry. No awards for this one but I appreciate my good friend, Jim Brown, for being a good sport and serving as my model.

It was a simple, straight shot with little post-processing. Canon 5D Mark III with a 70 to 200mmm lens @ 200mm; f16, 1/250, iso 200.

Watermelon

The fifth day of judging is complete for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for the day was "Watermelon." This photo was my entry and I was very pleased to receive another "Honorable Mention" for it.

I used two flash strobes, aimed at white reflector board that served as the background. For front lighting, I used a silver reflector positioned just above the camera. I suspended the slice of watermelon by screwing two eyelet screws into the rind then attaching fishing line that was tied to the ceiling grid support. I carefully positioned the fork in order to catch the light off the background.

After taking the shot of the watermelon slice, I took a second photo of a spray of liquid from a water bottle. I used the same lighting set up as with the first exposure.

In post-processing, I combined the two photos, positioning the spray of liquid at the point where the fork entered into the watermelon.

Canon 5D Mark III with a 24 to 105mmm lens @ 60mm; f10, 1/125, iso 200.

Campfire

Day four of the Scavenger Photography Hunt International Competition results. The theme judged today was "Campfire." This photo was my entry which I'm pleased to say won a second place award. The portrait is of my good friend, Virg Otto, who has spent more time with campfires than I have with cameras.

Canon 5D Mark III , 28 to 70mm lens @ 70mm, 1/2 second, f-6.3, iso 3,200. Camera mounted on a tripod. I used a 40-inch gold reflector to the left of the camera to bounce back some light from the fire and soften the shadows on his face.

Picnic

The third day of judging is complete for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for the day three was "Picnic," and I was thrilled to learn that my photo won a SECOND PLACE award!

The lighting for this shot came from a combination of the setting sun and an off-camera strobe unit bounced into a 40-inch reflector to throw a small amount of light back onto the scene (otherwise everything would have been in silhouette against the sunset sky).

Canon 5D Mark III with a 24 to 105mmm lens @ 105mm; f4.5, 1/160, iso 100.

Popsicle

The second day of judging is complete for the Photography Scavenger Hunt International Competition. The theme for the second day was "Popsicle." This was my entry. No awards today, but I had fun setting up and taking this photo. I used two, off-camera flash strobes, three white reflector boards and a black background. I only photographed two popsicles, one at a time. After drilling a small hole in the wooden sticks, I hung each popsicle upside down using an "S" hook and fishing line that was tied to the ceiling grid support.

In post-processing, I turned the popsicles right-side-up, repaired the holes in the wooden sticks, and duplicated the yellow popsicle twice (to make a total of four popsicles.) Then I replaced the yellow color of the two newly created popsicles, making one green and one purple. I then arranged the four completed popsicles so that they overlapped to give a sense of depth to the photo.

Canon 5D Mark III with a 24 to 105mmm lens @ 105mm; f16, 1/200, iso 100.

Ashley and Steven

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing the wedding of Ashley and Steven. They are a delightful couple and we took time to take some photos near sunset. This is my favorite photo from that sunset session.

Canon 5D Mark III with a 24 to 105mmm lens @ 45mm; f9, 1/320, iso 100.

Sunburn

My editorial comment on the Chicago Sun Times outrageous action earlier this summer -- and my entry into the Scavenger Photography Hunt International Competition in the "Sunburn" category. I was very pleased to receive an "honorable mention" award for this photo.

Photographed with a Canon 5D Mark III, 24 to 105mm lens @ 67mm, 1/250, f-14, iso 100. I made the "tabloid" page in photoshop based on a news story and slide show done by CNN for their website. I placed each of the portraits taken by Brian Powers into a grid formation, then added the banner and headlines. My thanks to Virg Otto for "posing" for this shot. He is holding the camera lens and focusing the sunlight onto the tabloid page in order to set it on fire. This required quite a bit of patience from him, but he was great.