Tonight, I finished my first year in a photographic society--one of my goals this year was to go out of my "comfort zone" with photography, and I did that primarily by joining the Roswell Photographic Society and by entering some Photography contests/exhibitions--I am now on display in three places locally for a year, and I did get two photos in a juried exhibition recently. It was a thrill to go to an "opening" and to see my work on the wall with so many other talented photographers!
Part of being in the society means submitting photographs for critique/judging, and when I found time to take a shot for the monthly themes, I submitted photos for review (we get points if we place, and the society tallies the points for Photographer of the Year at the end of the year).
I'm happy to announce that my photos were featured in the end-of-year slide show for winning shots, and I placed in the top five for Photographer of the Year! (I came in 4th place overall).
This is a rather poorly crafted collage (ah, I remember the early days of 365 when I could not even figure out how to make a collage) of my winning shots for 2014. I wanted to share the good news 1) to thank everyone for their encouragement over these two years on 365 and 2) to encourage anyone starting out or even mid or late-project to put yourself out there. I've grown so much from this experience, even though it's tough being in a big society only knowing a few people.
Congratualtions to you both for your success in having your work exhibited and in coming in well in the photographer of the year competition but even more for just having the courage to put yourself and your work out there.
Thanks all! You are all such an inspiration to me. As @grammyn knows I was a hesitant artist, but the challenges/themes here give everyone a chance to explore, and that I have! I have told many folks about this website and I always say it is the "nicest place on the world wide web" -- I have done so much with your support, and my day is always a good one when I can travel across the globe, learn a new technique/camera setting, figure out what acronyms mean (RAW, SOOC, etc), see birds of the world, witness blooms, investigate abstract images, watch changes of seasons, discover cultural events, and find constant amazement in squirrels!
Well done! Its so nice to see how 365 really helps us to grow our photography skills. I joined my local photo club back in September and have hardly taken any photos since, ops, oh dear how did that happen lol. I have seen the entries for their first competition, and this week heard the judges constructive criticism for the second competition so I'm now getting ready to submit a couple of photos, fingers crossed. Absolutely could not have even thought of joining a photo club before I started 365.
@suebarni Good luck! I have found the critiques to be a hit or miss honestly. The best ones are those that involve a judge who divorces himself/herself from "liking" or "loving" the shot and critiquing it for the success of the techniques (including processing, focus, composition, etc.). I often hear it's not taking a photograph, but making one. The latter is my objective in the end. I had one critic dismiss my photo because it was of ribs (she's a vegetarian apparently) because all she said was "someone likes ribs, which I know nothing about"-the theme? Food! Ugh. But I like getting the constructive criticism as long as it's not personal. I really like when someone says, "one way to make this photo more effective would be..." So far, I have not witnessed a negative attack like some have expressed as their experience with clubs. Our club is big, so getting to know folks is a bit hard, but I hope this next year will forge some photographer friendships. Nothing beats 365!
@darylo TOOT TOOT TOOT!!! Three toots for you, Daryl, congrats! I hope the doll babies in the gutter are part of the show! Your work is so good and I'm so happy for you!
That's fantastic! Congratulations on your well deserved achievement!! I love all of these. They really look great together, too. Yay!
(I actually challenged myself to the same thing this year. Our local society's year runs from September-September, so I'm only in my third month as a member. It's really fun and great experience!)
Congratulations and very well deserved. I noticed that we shoot with the same camera, you are obviously a lot further along the curve than I am when it comes to experience and creativity, Looking at your project makes me realize two things (two things that I have read often, but looking at your project it drills it home to me), the first being that a newer and more expensive camera does not make a better picture without the operator knowing what they are doing, and secondly investing in glass is more important.
@ukandie1 Thanks for looking at my project. Yes, totally agree! I have a friend who is a pro and uses the same camera--for portraits mostly, but she has high end glass. I have one high-end lens, but it's for a full-framed camera--but it produces a nifty-fifty result on our camera. I have had to learn that high ISO can be a friend. The camera settings challenges and the occasional "One Night Stand" challenge set me on a path of saying "I'm going to learn all my camera has to offer" and it's limitless. I will say after two years now with my camera in use (it sat on a shelf for one year prior--like china on a shelf), I do know its limitations and will most likely upgrade within a year or so when I can find the funds, but the glass is the key. Lower end dslr's have some problems with higher speeds I think, and as I like to take moving subjects like birds, I'm thinking that new glass is going to be essential, but I may go for a more advanced camera base--not sure if it will be full-framed, but I'm leaning that way. Good luck!
Thanks all! You are all such an inspiration to me. As @grammyn knows I was a hesitant artist, but the challenges/themes here give everyone a chance to explore, and that I have! I have told many folks about this website and I always say it is the "nicest place on the world wide web" -- I have done so much with your support, and my day is always a good one when I can travel across the globe, learn a new technique/camera setting, figure out what acronyms mean (RAW, SOOC, etc), see birds of the world, witness blooms, investigate abstract images, watch changes of seasons, discover cultural events, and find constant amazement in squirrels!
(I actually challenged myself to the same thing this year. Our local society's year runs from September-September, so I'm only in my third month as a member. It's really fun and great experience!)