Simple... yet perfect

What do you think?  Should either of these be in the running for the "natural framing
photo competition?

A Sign of Spring

This month's photo competition is "A Sign of Spring."  I decided to go the flower route... not sure how original that idea is, but I'm trying to decide which one to enter.  Any favorites?

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

The Drake Hotel

These shots were my back up for the "Show Me a Sign" photo competition.  What do you think?  Did I make the wrong choice?  The black and whites are really growing on me... (you might recognize recognize it from one of the best films ever - My Best Friend's Wedding - such a great movie.  It was also featured in Wicker Park, Mission Impossible, What Women Want, and Risky Business)

Zooming the Chicago Theater

Set up my tripod the other night and played around with zooming the Chicago marquee.  I liked #2 the best and ended up entering it in Chicagoland's Digital Photography's "Show Me a Sign" photo competition.  Voting is open for another week or two, but it's not looking good for me.  Regardless, I was pretty pleased with this shot. 

Happiness Competition Follow Up

I didn't win the I Heart Faces April Photo Challenge, but here is who did, check out Laura Nelson's blog to follow her work.

First Place: Laura Nelson

Amy wrote: I adored Laura’s photo for the “Happiness” theme. I felt instantly drawn into this couple’s love story. The connection between the two of them seems so authentic and strong and the girl looks so vulnerably happy! The bright red dress as the only dash of color made this photo stand out in a unique way. The photo is so subtle and yet so bold all at the same time. The lighting, composition and post-processing are also terrific! Looking at this image makes me feel happy all the way to my toes.

Happiness

Entering this adorable shot of Avery, Anna, and Alex into this month's I Heart Faces April Photo Challenge.  This month's theme is "Happiness" and although I don't get to see these little ladies very often, they certainly bring a smile to my face every time I'm back in Des Moines.

February's Photo Contest Winner

February's Photo Theme was "Altered Sense of Reality."  I did not enter this one (Photoshop isn't my forte), but the photo that I voted for got first place.  It was so great, I had to share.

Zipper Railroad
Photo by: Sonny

Books

Continuing on with the book theme, I was going to enter another photography competition that had the required subject of books (and you have to include at least one person).  Well, I unfortunately didn't make the entry deadline, but I was fairly happy with the shot I got.  But maybe it was for the best that I didn't make the deadline, as ALL of the entries were of adorable little children reading their books... what do you think, how does Eric stack up with the little ones? ha

Follow up to January's Photo Competition

Well, I didn't win January's Photo Competition - nor did I expect to, but it was fun to just get my feet wet and see how the other photographers tackled the same subject.

Here is a screen shot of January's winner - "Raindrop at Dusk" by Lorette Dodt.  Pretty impressive, I will definitely have to continue working on my macro photography.

Up Close and Personal

Photography Goal for 2012: Enter more photography contests.

Well, the Chicagoland Digital Photography Meetup Group holds a photo contest each month.  Somewhere between 50-100 people typically enter a photo for each month's competition.

This deadline kind of snuck up on me, but I got one entered within a half hour of the deadline, nothing like waiting til last minute, right?

This month's theme was Up Close and Personal.  My entry is titled: Mommy's Juice.

This photo is obviously of the top of a wine bottle.  This particular bottle is one I purchase in Galena (a getaway city in Illinois known for its wineries) a couple months ago and I need to get around to drinking it!  I once heard a friend's daughter refer to wine as her "mommy's juice" ha so I had to go with it for the title.  Not 100% happy with my entry for this month, but you got to start somewhere, right?