In the month of July, I participated in the Chrysta Rae's Photography Scavenger Hunt on Google Plus (profile link
here).
The hunt works like this: we are given a list of 10 categories to shoot, and 30 days to shoot them. One photo per category is submitted, and then they are judged by a panel of expert photographers. The submissions are kept a secret until the judging takes place, then they are all released in what is known as the "reveal".
This was my first hunt, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. My main goal was not to embarass myself with my submissions, and I was successful at that. It turned out to be a great deal of fun, and a great way to learn both my camera (
Canon S100), and the tools used for processing them (
GIMP in my case) much better. I also found that the hunt was very compatible with my main hobby of geocaching as 6 of my shots were either taken during geocaching hunts, or in locations I originally discovered while out geocaching and returned later with my camera.
The following are my submissions for the July edition of the Chrysta Rae Photography Scavenger Hunt:
Category:
Blue
Not my best shot from an "interesting subject" point of view, but it did allow me to learn GIMP better by figuring out how to get just the blue to show on the chair: hint: it involves alpha masks.
Category:
Kiss
My son and daughter playing together. This was just a random moment, and not staged at all. Important lesson here: When involved in a photography scavenger hunt, always keep your camera handy.
Category: Lines
This is the old gates from an abandoned rock quarry I found while out geocaching (covered in my post: How
A Geocacher Goes Out For Donuts).
Category:
Model
Obviously geocaching related. This was the hardest category for me to get ideas for.
Category:
Motion
Taken from a rare pedestrian bridge over Interstate 40. I found the bridge while out geocaching, and came back at sunset to take this photo. I had to learn a lot about ISO, shutter speeds and aperture settings for this one.
Category:
Puppy
My dog, Bailey. This shot was taken at the same time (relatively speaking) as "kiss". If you look at the top right you can see part of my wife leaning over - she is holding Abigail over Zeke for play time.
I actually had this happen to me twice: multiple photos taken in close proximity in time and space for different categories.
Category:
Reflection
This is a decorative piece from the rear fender of an old Ford pickup truck that sits on the side of the road on Hwy 321 heading up to Blowing Rock NC.
Category:
Tree
Found while out on a geocaching run on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was driving along, pulled over at the next overlook, and walked back to snap the pic.
Category:
Rust
This is from the same pickup truck I got "reflection" from. Literally it is 3" to the left of the "F".
Category:
Breakfast
Not taken while geocaching.
It is, of course, a book. Specifically an old VHS case (remember those things?) done up to resemble a book.
