Cleveland Creative Challenges

Challenge 6 - One Lens Challenge - Wide Angle

2009-05-02T12:52:00.004-04:00

Ok, I haven't posted any challenges lately, but here's one that's a lot of fun and a great learning experience. Everyone has zoom lenses these days and that can make for some lazy photographers, instead of moving around to frame our subject we stand in one place and zoom our lenses in and out. We miss out on a lot of creative photos that way. By standing in one place and zooming in or out we are only changing the size of the subject in the frame, it doesn't change the relationship between the subject and the background, only when we move the camera position does the relationship between the subject and background change. We need to get out of the habit of just zooming the lens to frame our subject and to heip break that habit, I've come up with the latest challenge:

One Lens Challenge - Wide Angle

Zoo at 12mm

Using only your widest angle lens or setting a zoom lens to its widest angle an not changing it go out and shoot a days worth of photos and you'll be amazed at how creative you can become. You will now have to move closer to your subject to fill the frame and as you move closer look at how the relationship of foreground to background changes, you will try shots from different angles, from up high and down low, you will be more aware of lines, shapes and patterns. It's a lot of fun too and easy on the back cause you're not lugging around a lot of equipment, just your camera and wide angle lens.

Like I said I gave myself this challenge last week and just using a 12mm lens went out and took some photos at the zoo.

Get out there and try it yourself, you'll have a lot of fun and learn how a wide angle lens sees the world.

More Zoo at 12mm Photos

and you can read more about my photo adventures here: Digital Images Blog

Creative Challenge 5 - Still Life

2009-03-03T19:27:00.004-05:00

Ok folks, this next Challenge was suggested by Summer, she says with all this cold weather she's suffering photography withdrawal and suggested a Still Life Challenge. So lets see your most creative Still Life Photos.

You know I don't really have that many Still Life photos but I looked through my Galleries and found this photo taken a few years ago in Bob Kulon's basement during an indoor Studio Lighting shoot. It was set up by my good buddy Tejas, he placed a feather boa around a wooden bird. Bob just shook his head as we took photos of this setup!

Creative Challenge 5 - Pets

2009-02-01T11:23:00.006-05:00

Vicki came up with the next challenge, she says it's always a challenge to get photos of your pets, so the next challenge is..... the Creative Pet Challenge

KING

To see more photos of King, click on his photo.

Everyone is welcome to participate!!!!

Challenge 4 Creative Snow and Ice Photos

2009-01-10T11:29:00.004-05:00

Frozen Brandywine Falls

Frozen Fence

Well there's plenty of ice and snow out there so the next challenge is Creative Ice and Snow Photos. If you're brave enough to venture outside you can get some great shots of the ice and snow, look for patterns like the Frozen Fence photo above, look for interesting shapes formed by the snow drifts, use side lighting to show the texture of the snow, take macro shots of icicles, take scenic winter scenes, anything goes as long as there is ice or snow in the photo. Use your imagination and get out there and shoot!!! Have fun! Everyone is invited to participate.

Challenge 3 Creative Holiday Photos

2008-12-04T19:56:00.008-05:00

Out of Focus Christmas Tree Lights

The next challenge came from a suggestion by Summer, she suggested Christmas Ornaments, but since everyone celebrates the holiday season in their own way, I've decide to make it a Creative Holiday Challenge. Take creative photos of anything to do with the holiday season both indoors or outdoors. Have fun, this Challenge will run through the month of December.

If you'd like to leave a comment, click "comments" below

Thanksgiving Challenge Photos

2008-11-28T09:19:00.009-05:00

Here are some of the photos taken for our second Challenge - Creative Thanksgiving photos. Hover your mouse over the photo for more information. If you've taken photos for this Challenge let me know the link to your photos so everyone can enjoy them. To see more challenge photos go here: Creative Challenge Photo Community or click on the photos below.

Thanksgiving Delight (on a Moose Plate) - photo by Summer

Pie by Candlelight - photo by Vicki

Thanksgiving with Friends - photo by Linda

Taking a Nap after Thanksgiving Dinner - photo by Jen

Beer and Football - photo by Ron

To leave a comment just click on "comments" below.

Creative Challenge 2 Thanksgiving

2008-11-20T20:11:00.005-05:00

Our second Challenge is going to be a special Thanksgiving Themed Challenge.

Take creative photos of anything related to Thanksgiving - family gatherings, football, parades, pilgrims, traditions and decorations, feasts and food.....

Be Creative and Have Fun!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first Challenge, if anyone has suggestions for future challenges please post a comment with your suggestions

Happy Thanksgiving!

Creative Challenge Photos

2008-11-18T21:02:00.005-05:00

The response to the Creative Challenges has been great so far, lots of people like the idea and are making suggestions for future Challenges.

Here are some of the photos taken so far for the first Challenge, this one is from Summer

Rain drops on my living room window reflecting the evil grim reaper halloween decoration that is overdue in being put away for the year!!!

Here's one from David

Linda took this one

Here's one of mine:

Ant eyed view - what an ant might see looking up from the floor. Taken with a 10.5 fisheye lens.

Go to this link to see more photos Cleveland Creative Challenges Gallery

Cleveland Creative Challenges

2008-11-15T11:51:00.018-05:00

Hello Fellow Photographers,

Well the colder weather is starting to set in, but that doesn't mean we have to put our cameras away until spring. I don't want my camera sitting around collecting dust and and I'm sure you don't either, so I've come up with a way we can all be creative with our cameras all winter long. What I've done is I've created a website called......

Cleveland Creative Challenges

What is Cleveland Creative Challenges?

It's a photography site where we get our creative juices flowing, where we can learn to be more creative, by using different lenses and angles of view and different lighting in a creative way.

We will do this by having either Monthly or Bi-weekly Creative Challenges that will stimulate our Photographic Imagination.

Here's an example of a Creative Challenge - when most photographers go to the Zoo, they pull out a 300 or 400mm lens or telephoto zoom lens to photograph the animals, well that's cool and you can get some great animal photos that way, but how creative were you? A more creative approach might be "Go to the Zoo and only use your widest angle lens" For example if you have a 12-24mm zoom, set it to 12mm and take all your zoo shots at that focal length, you'll be surprised at how creative you can get by using only one focal length and you'll be learning a lot about the field of view and the depth of field you can get with a wide angle lens. And instead of standing in one spot and zooming in, you'll actually have to move closer or farther away or up or down to get the framing and angle of view that you want.

Who will come up with the Creative Challenges - everybody!!!! If you have ideas for a challenge email me or post a comment on the site.

Everyone is invited to participate, you don't have to live in Ohio or Cleveland, you can even live in Pittsburgh (yeah even Steeler fans) so if you have friends across the country that are photographers let them know about the site.

We want to see your photos!!!! This is a photography site so we want to see the photos everyone comes up with on the Creative Challenges. How many times do you go out shooting with a group of photographers and never see anyone else's photos? I think it's great to go on a shoot and see the photos of my fellow photographer's cause everyone see's things in their own way.

So after you take your photos we need a way to see them, there are a lot of great photo sharing sites on the Internet, some are free, some cheap and some expensive and some even let you sell your photos. Photo Sharing sites are also great for sharing photos with friends and relatives that live across the country. Here are some photo sharing sites you may want to check out, most of them offer a free trial period:

Smugmug Great site, I and many of my friends use this one, three different levels of membership. Click on the link and click on "Try It" you'll get a 14 day free trial and save $5 when you sign up.

Zenfolio Another great photo sharing site

Flicker A lot of people use this one

Betterphoto - has free basic accounts also offers photo classes

So once you take your photos for the Creative Challenges post them on your site and let us know where we can see them.

Since a lot of people I know use Smugmug, I've also created a Smugmug photo community called Cleveland Creative Challenges where Smugmug users can associate their galleries with the community so all our galleries are in one spot for people to check out. I've put a sample gallery in the community for everyone to see. Note you do not have to be a member of Smugmug to view the community, it's open to everyone. You do have to have a Smugmug account to associate your galleries with the community however. Smugmug members can go to the link below and click on "join community"

Go here to see the Cleveland Creative Challenges Community Galleries

If you post your photos on other sites give us the link to you galleries and we'll go there to view them.

Creative Cleveland Challenges is meant to be fun and is not a competition, it's a place where we get our creative juices flowing and challenge ourselves to be more creative with our photography.

So whadda think? Is this a good idea? Email me with comments and suggestions or post comments on the Cleveland Creative Challenges site by clicking on the "comments" link under the posts. To keep up to date you can also subscribe to the posts by clicking the "Subscribe to posts button on the site.

Well since I came up with this, I guess I better come up with the first Challenge so since the weather looks pretty gloomy this week here it is:

Creative Challenge I - Creative Photos around your House

1. Use any lens and lighting to take creative photos around your house, you can use a macro to take closeups of familiar objects, wide angles or fisheyes to take photos of the rooms of your house from different angles, creative shots of rain on the windows.... Be Creative!!!!

I hope a lot you will participate and post photos, a lot of the Challenges you can do on your own and some of them we might go out on group shoots for the challenges, whatever you do, don't put your camera away for the winter, get out there and shoot!!!!

The next Challenge will be in about two weeks. Or how about we have a special Thanksgivng Themed Challenge, that could be intersesting!!!

Once again the link for the site is Cleveland Creative Challenges

This Weekend's Weather at Triangle Lake Bog

2008-11-14T18:41:00.004-05:00

Unfortunately the weather doesn't look good for this Sunday's shoot at Triangle Lake Bog, so I'm probably not going head out to Triangle Lake Bog this weekend. You can check the weather forecast here: Triangle Lake Bog Weather

Tamaracks, Triangle Lake & Kent Bogs

2008-11-09T10:39:00.020-05:00

The next shoot is scheduled on Sunday 11/16/2008 at Triangle Lake Bog we will be taking photos of the Tamarack trees. As you can see from the photos above Tamarack trees needles turn gold in the autumn before they fall off for the winter.

I'm not sure what the conditions of the Tamaracks will be on the 16th, hopefully we won't be too late, the photos in the slide show were taken on 11/5/06 at the Kent Bog and Herrick Fen. Even if we are too late, at least you'll get to explore the Bogs and go back at different times of the year.

Here is a description of Triangle Lake Bog from the ODNR website:

Main Feature:
One of the best examples of a kettle lake bog in Ohio containing carnivorous plants, tamarack and a floating sphagnum mat.

Triangle Lake Bog is one of the finest and least disturbed sphagnum kettle-hole bogs in Ohio. The vegetational zone surrounding this glacial kettle lake follows the classic pattern of boreal bogs.

A floating sphagnum mat with swamp loosestrife, leatherleaf and tamaracks surrounds the dark acidic waters of the bog lake.

Significant species found here include northern pitcher-plant, round-leaved sundew, leatherleaf, highbush blueberry, large cranberry, poison sumac and catberry.

For directions to Triangle Lake Bog from your location go here: Triangle Lake Bog Directions

Triangle Lake Bog GPS coordinates: Latitude 41.1235 Longitude -81.2631

Other places to take photos of Tamarack trees are the nearby Kent Bog or Herrick Fen near Streetsboro. In fact all of the photos above were taken either at the Kent Bog or Herrick Fen.

Kent Bog Directions

Kent Bog GPS coordinates: Latitude 41.1299 Longitude -81.3538

Herrick Fen Directions

Herrick Fen GPS coordinates : Latitude 41.2140 Longitude -81.3712

Hope to see everyone there, but if you can't make it on the 16th, try and make it out to the bogs at your convienience, there's a lot of interesting plants to photograph at various times of the year.

Triangle Lake Photos These were taken in late June 2007.

Photo Tip: to see when any of the photos were taken go to the gallery and hover your mouse over the large photo on the right side of the screen and click the Photo Info button. This is a great way to know when to get to a photo location. For example when I went to West Virginia on vacation. I searched other peoples photos on Smugmug for Seneca Rocks and clicked on their "Photo Info" button and that told me that the best light on Seneca Rocks was late in the afternoon, so I knew not to waste my time going there early in the morning.

Blue Hen Falls

2008-11-08T11:55:00.011-05:00

Well it looks like the opportunities to get some Fall Color shots are over for this year, a few of us went out last weekend and got some shots of Blue Hen Falls.

Blue Hen Falls is a small waterfall fed by Spring Creek and is located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Blue Hen Falls Photos

Blue Hen Falls Slideshow

2008-11-01T07:45:00.005-04:00

The Last Gasp of Autumn Shoot at Blue Hen Falls

Gonna check out Blue Hen Falls and Sylvan Pond this Sunday 11/2/o8 if you'd like to join me I'll be there around 8am. Weather is supposed to be good.

Return to the Reformatory

2008-07-12T10:40:00.004-04:00

I'm going back to the Mansfield Reformatory for another Photo Shoot with Neoshoots. Should be a lot of fun, lots of interesting things to photograph. To see last years photos go here.

Seneca Rocks

2008-06-12T12:50:00.007-04:00

Seneca Rocks is another great place to check out in WV, if you're a rock climber you can even climb Seneca Rocks.

There's also a 1.3 mile trail that you can hike to get to an observation area. It rises about 1000 feet. You cross this bridge to get to the Trail.

Did you know...

2008-06-11T11:58:00.008-04:00

...that during WWII Dolly Sods was used for target practice, there may still be some live Bombs up there!!!

The Road to Dolly Sods

2008-06-08T08:32:00.006-04:00

Well after enjoying two days at the Blackwater Falls lodge I then moved on to the Canaan Valley State Park and stayed in the lodge there. I got there early on Tuesday and then went out to explore Dolly Sods. The ride to get to Dolly Sods was a thrill a minute, you take Laneville Road to get there. Laneville Road starts out as a paved two lane road but soon turns into a narrow gravel mountain forest road with no guard rails. I kept hoping nobody was coming down the mountain as I was going up cause there wasn't much room for two cars on the road. Here's a terrain map of the area. Click on "View Larger Map" to see more detail and the route.

View Larger Map

Once you get to Dolly Sods you travel down FR75 (Forest Road 75) Here's a view of FR75 from my car:

And here's a scenic view:

Blackwater Falls Update

2008-06-06T21:00:00.005-04:00

Ok I'm back home and now it's time to update everyone on my trip. The first two days were spent at Blackwater Falls State Park. The ride there was very scenic too. Here's a photo I took at an overlook in Maryland. (click on the photos to see a larger size)

The park is beautiful with lots of waterfalls and hiking trails. As stated before when I got to the lodge it stated to rain, but it soon stopped and I was able to get some great shots of the falls, Here's one of the first ones I took, you have to walk down about 219 steps to get to where the person with the umbrella is standing. There is also another trail on the other side of the river that gives you another view of the falls. By the way the falls get their amber color from tannic acid in the water.

Now that I'm back home I'm gonna try and update the blog daily with more about my trip. I have hundreds of photos that I have to process and I'll be posting the photos on my smugmug site. Stay tuned for more info on Blackwater Falls, Canaan Valley, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks.

Finally an update!!!!

2008-06-04T09:31:00.004-04:00

Well I'm finally able to update my Blog, having a great time so far, taking lots of photos.

Here's a summary of whats happened so far, I left Cleveland around 7:30am on Sunday, and took about 5 hours and 9 minutes to get to the Blackwater Lodge. It was nice and sunny the whole way, but wouldn't you know it as soon as I got to the Lodge it started to rain!!!! Well the rain stopped and I ventured out to check out Blackwater Falls, I've been to busy to process many photos but here's a self portrait of me at Blackwater Falls.

Getting ready to leave...

2008-05-31T14:37:00.005-04:00

Well, it's Saturday afternoon, and I'm still not packed yet, hey I'm a guy and we always wait to the last minute!!! I'm getting my camera stuff ready, charging batteries for the camera and GPS. Don't want to get lost in the West Virginia wilderness ya know. Well better go start packing, here's a video I found on the internet of Blackwater Falls:

Blackwater Falls

2008-05-29T20:39:00.016-04:00

Bright and early on Sunday June 1st, I will leave for Blackwater Falls State park in West Virginia. I will be staying at the Lodge in the state park for two nights before heading south to the Canaan Valley for another three nights before heading home. Things I plan on seeing while I'm there are Dolly Sods, Seneca Rocks and Spruce Knob.

As you can see from the map Blackwater Falls is located in north east West Virginia. It's about a 5 hour drive from Cleveland.

View Larger Map

As you can see the Blackwater River flows through a deep canyon:

View Larger Map

Well that's what I plan on doing on my vacation, I will be posting photos on my Smugmug site.