Monthly Theme - Zoom In (November 2020)

November already? How did that happen?! Wherever you are in this twilight month of 2020, we hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe and healthy.

We're so grateful to have seen so many beautiful photo submissions again last month, for October's “Seasons” theme. As always, you brought many smiles to our faces and we loved looking through all of your photos. (You can check out all of October's submissions here.)

You can find our 6 fabulous finalists below, but first, we'd like to introduce November's theme, "Zoom In".

We’re talking about paying attention to the details and zooming in on a subject! Whether you’re a macro maverick or are just starting out with some close-ups and clever cropping - this is a challenge everyone can enjoy!

For those of you who are new to this style of photography, you might be wondering what the difference is between zooming in and taking ‘macro’ or ‘micro’ shots? In a nutshell, they’re all techniques which achieve a similar effect - to make something tiny look really big! However, straight-forward zooming in doesn’t always capture the crispness of the super-fine details - think fly eyeballs and hairs on spiders! As for ‘Macro’ v.s. ‘Micro’ - I believe they’re just different terms for Canon and Nikon SLR lenses (respectively).

There will be hundreds of tutorials on YouTube for how to use different smartphones, DSLRs and lenses, but to get you all started, we’ve researched five top tips for perfect photos that get up close:

1. You don’t need to leave the house to find cool subjects!

While many photographers fall in love with macro photography in their backyard (flowers, insects and water droplets are all amazing subjects to play with) there is just as much fun to be had indoors!

Toolboxes, sewing kits and the kitchen, in general, is usually a macro paradise - try experimenting with fruit and veg, herbs and spices, utensils or knick-knacks on shelves. For this cool shot, @pcoulson found inspiration in his wife's tapestry wool!

2. Get steady.

When getting up close to a subject, the tiniest of movements will be exaggerated in your shots. Where possible use a tripod or rest your camera on something sturdy.

We love how @kvphoto has caught a behind the scenes look at a macro shoot in progress!

3. Experiment with depth of field.

Create drama and contrast by making your subject pop against fuzzy surroundings. This is most often achieved by selectively focusing on a feature and adjusting your aperture settings - but be patient as you might need to tweak your shutter speeds to let more/less light in. We love this magical shot by @mzzhope.

4. Try moving your subject, not the camera.

Of course, this depends on whether you’re shooting flying insects or a piece of broccoli. But, if you can create a set up, like @mona65, which allows you to move your subject, it’ll make all the fine tuning of your camera worthwhile - without having to adjust and change it every time you move.

5. Play with composition and focal points.

While it’s important to make sure you have lots of space around the focal point, try playing with your Rule of Thirds composition, or even the angle and location of the focal point on the object. You’ll most likely achieve more abstract shots and surprise yourself with the outcomes.

We love this unique perspective of a lily by @fr1da.

Whatever you decide to get close to - have fun and play! Experimentation and pushing comfort zones makes for some of the most rewarding photography projects.

We can’t wait to check out your entries!

How to enter this month’s theme

When uploading your photos use the tag section (on the edit/organise screen) and insert this week's theme tag: theme-zoomin (all one word).

Entry Guidelines: Photos must be your own and must have been taken and uploaded between Sunday, November 1st and Monday, November 30th. 6 finalists will be chosen in the first couple days of December, then you'll get to vote for the winner!

p.s. Don't worry if you spot tagged photos from a previous theme, when choosing our six finalists we'll use a special algorithm to only filter the images from November 2020.

Vote for a Winner of October's "Seasons" Theme

Thank you to everybody who shared their cute critters and playful puppies with us. We had such a blast looking at every photo and spent hours deciding on our favourites!

We finally managed to shortlist 6 finalists so now it's over to you to vote for the winner of the “Seasons” theme.

To cast your vote, simply reply to this blog post with the number (in digit form) of the photo you would like to see win, before November 14th. We’ll announce the winner in a separate post shortly after!