Digital Photography

This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums

Weekly Assignment

This week’s assignment was Headshots. We had head shots of all sorts of creatures, from people to dogs to horses, and everything in between. We managed to pick out a few of our favourite shots from this week, and here are our picks. Our winner this week was i speak in math’s lovely autumn picture. The warm tones and lighting really captured the autumn atmosphere without taking any focus away from the subject herself. Our first runner up was k9mom’s picture, of well, her canine, Frannie. This shot just goes to show that a headshot doesn’t have to be of a person. We thought that this shot had very nice clarity and framing, and she just exuded her personality in the shot. And last, but not least, our final runner up this week was superdewa for the high key picture of her friend’s daughter. We really loved the lighting and expression in this shot.

This week’s assignment is slightly different. The subject is What’s in Your Bag, and this contest has been sponsored by ThinkTank who is going to help pick the winner and give away a camera bag to them. The standard rules still apply: your photo must have been taken between 22 October - 12 November 2008, your post must include “Assignment:What’s in your bag”, and your exif should be in tact. There are a few extra things to note for this week’s assignment though: the judge’s decision is final; the competition is open to anyone, anywhere; the contest runs for 2 weeks instead of 1; and everyone is eligible to play since the winner will be chosen by a third party instead of the moderators. So good luck!

Hot Threads

• Toilet Paper Diffuser: Who doesn’t love DIY Photography projects? Well, we do! So when baldmountain decided to share their toilet paper diffuser, we thought it was worth sharing. Diffusers help make the light softer, and this accomplished that nicely. Just a warning, the flash does get warm, so keep a careful eye on the paper!
• How do you do our print order?? Timeline?: So, you’ve started taking photos for money, and you’ve set up a place online where people can review the photos, but you’re not using that for ordering. So, how do you deal with people who are taking their time in putting in an order. Do you set a deadline for their order? Do you change your ordering process? What are your suggestions on how to setup the order timeline? Come discuss it in our forum.
• Tripod or not?: One of our forum members wants to know if people carry their tripod everywhere that they go. Not just whether they have one or use one, but it ’s just as essential as their camera when they go out shooting. Come and join the discussion in our forum.
• Favourite Photographers: A creative person of any kind is likely to be inspired by another artist’s work. Whether or not you consider yourself an artist, you may still have a favourite photographer. If you do, come share your favourite photographer in our forum thread, and if you don’t, who knows, maybe this thread will inspire you with other people’s work.
• Best batteries for speedlights: If you have a speedlight of any kind, you will have to use batteries. Now, unless you really enjoy spending a lot of money on batteries, you’ll probably wind up wanting to pick up some rechargeable batteries, but what kind are best for your speedlight? Come join the battery discussion in the forum.