Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital photography and imaging, offering clear guidance on complex subjects through his writing, speaking, and training.
The theme for the GreyLearning Photo Contest for April is “Water”. This is intentionally a very broad topic, so feel free to think creatively about this photo contest!
The photographer of the winning image will receive one year of free access to the GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle (a US$149 value).
UPDATE: You can view the winning image and get details about how it was captured here:
We are pleased to announce that photographer Bruce O’Donnell has won the March 2018 GreyLearning Photo Contest with his image “Garden Guest”. As the winning photographer, Bruce will receive the Grand Prize of a Tamron SP 35mm f/1.8 Di VC USD lens with a value of US$599.
“Garden Guest” by Bruce O’Donnell
The theme for the March 2018 photo contest was “Narrow Depth of Field”. Bruce shared the following details about the capture of his image:
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This green anole was photographed in Savannah, Georgia, in my garden. They are quite common in the southeast, and anything that eats bugs is most welcomed in my yard.
To get this shot, I had to approach slowly and even then the anole would jump from one ginger leaf to the other. Finally I was able to get close enough (1.3m) and lay on my back and wait until he peaked over the edge.
With the natural vibrant color of green anoles, the ginger leaf and the sky over head, it made for a rich blend of greens and blues.
The exposure was 1/250th at f/6.7, ISO 400. I used a Canon 5D Mark II with a 70-200 f2.8 L IS II lens at 200mm.
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Congratulations to Bruce O’Donnell for this beautiful winning image. And thank you to Tamron USA for sponsoring the March 2018 edition of the GreyLearning Photo Contest.
The theme for the GreyLearning Photo Contest for March is “Narrow Depth of Field”. This month the contest is sponsored by Tamron USA, and the Grand Prize is a Tamron 35mm f/1.8 lens valued at US$599. Please note that for this contest the winner must reside in the United States.
UPDATE: You can view the winning image and get details about how it was captured here:
We are pleased to present the winning image from the February GreyLearning Photo Contest, which had a theme of “Motion in a Still”. Here is the winning photo by photographer Sharlott Hasty:
Horses Running in Snow by Sharlott Hasty
Here is what Sharlott had to say about capturing this beautiful photo:
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This photo of the horses was taken in February 2017 at a ranch in Northern Wyoming. What an exciting morning when we woke up to eighteen inches of new snow on the ground.
The wranglers were moving 86 horses across the new snow from one pasture to another. This was quite a sight as the horses were stirring up clouds of snow as they ran. The sky was overcast, creating a giant soft box.
It was a very cold but photo-filled morning. I took many pictures of the string of running horses then looked for an image with a group of horses that were without merges.
Details: Nikon D500, Nikkor 18-300 at 52 mm, 1/1250, f8, +1EV because of the snow, ISO 900. Edited in Lightroom CC.
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Congratulations to Sharlott on her great image. As the winner of the February 2018 GreyLearning Photo Contest, Sharlott will receive one year of free access to the full GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle. Stay tuned for future contests and winners!
We received an excellent response to the first GreyLearning Photo Contest, and it was very difficult to select a winner among the many entries we received. In fact, we’ve selected three Honorable Mention images in addition to the Grand Prize winner, because there were so many beautiful images submitted.
Moon in Yellowstone by Mark Lagrange
The Grand Prize image (shown above) was submitted by photographer Mark Lagrange. You can find Mark’s photography page on Facebook here:
Here are the circumstances Mark described in capturing this dramatic image:
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This image was taken in Yellowstone National Park. Seeing the moon and the image potential spurred a heightened sense of pursuit driving rapidly from one ridgeline compositional opportunity to the next! We knew that the compression yielded by a large lens would be just the ticket for this moon, if we could find a good ridgeline that would align with that much lens, and have the moon angle not “get away” from us. We drove from spot to spot, until coming across this one. Stopping the car in the middle of the road in Yellowstone at night is simple. All the tourists are gone by that hour! Seeing the moon’s moment behind this stand, I quickly threw the bean bag on the hood and proceeded to adamantly tell those in the car to “not even breath” as I fired off a few bracketed shots! Adrenaline landscape night shooting with a 600mm… fun stuff!
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The image was captured using a Canon 600/4 IS II lens with a 1.4x teleconverter, using a Canon 1Dx camera body. The exposure was 1/200th of a secong at f/11 with an ISO setting of 2000.
As the Grand Prize winner, Mark will receive one year of free access to the entire GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle.
Honorable Mention Awards
In addition to the Grand Prize image shown above, we selected three images for Honorable Mention. Here are those three images, with notes about the capture from the photographer:
International Space Station and the Moon by Tim Gray
The above image shows the transit of the International Space Station across the moon, captured by Tim Gray. Tim Gray is a team member of the Professional Photography Group and assistant teacher for The Photography Classroom, both based in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Tim explained the circumstances as follows:
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I took this on October 6, 2017 at Catawba, South Carolina using my Canon 7D M-II, Tamron 150-600mm, Manfrotto tripod, and shutter cable release. I shot in Manual mode at f/8.0 and 1/500 sec and set the telephoto to 500mm to avoid any distortion, but knowing I would have to enlarge in post. Since the duration of the transit was only 1.2 seconds, I was using High-speed continuous mode shutter release. While transit finder told me down to the hundredth of a second when it would occur, I was unsure how accurate my phone or watch was, so I started shooting about a minute early.
Holding binoculars with one hand and the shutter release with another, I could barely keep the moon in sight let alone see any details so I kept the shutter running for about 2 ½ minutes not knowing if the transit had happened.
After going home and downloading the photos into Lightroom (all 1,415 photos), I had to wait just a little while (just a little) for Lightroom to make the standard previews. I opened the first one in loupe view and ran through them by mashing down right arrow key. I didn’t see the transit so I went to bed thinking I had somehow blown it.
Next morning, armed with a cup of coffee, I went through each photo one at a time and found the station on the 566th photo. Then it was just a matter of stacking the 11 shots into Photoshop, aligning & applying masks, B/W adjustments, etc.
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Moon with Half Dome by Martin Pothier
The image above featuring the moon above Half Dome in Yosemite Valley was captured by Martin Pothier. Martin described the photo as follows:
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This image was taken with a Hasselblad. I had plans to visit :Yosemite a week after the full moon. I captured the moon in my sisters yard in Foresthill, Ca. and removed the film back. At yosemite, after composing for Half Dome, I put that film back, back on the camera and make the second exposure. That miight be rather difficult to do with today’s digital!
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Eclipse Sequence by Marion Vaisman
The above image showing the progression of a full lunar eclipse with a sequence of captures was captured by photographer Marion Vaisman. Marion explained the image as follows:
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The images of the moon were created during the last fool moon eclipse visible in North America, using a Nikon D4 camera with the Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens, on a tripod. I was correcting manually for the position of the moon prior to each image capture, which were every 15 to 20 minutes. I used a 5-frame bracketed burst including during the total eclipse phase, when the sequence of bursts were obtained more frequently to ensure capturing the “Blood Moon” color. The best images were selected from each phase and composited in Photoshop as seen here. It was a lot of fun specially since the eclipse occurred between 2:30 and 5:15 AM Eastern Time.
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Congratulations again to the Grand Prize and Honorable Mention winners! And thank you to all of the photographers who submitted great images to the “Shoot for the Moon” GreyLearning Photo Contest.
While the new version 7.2 update to Adobe Lightroom Classic CC might technically count as a “minor” update, there are a few new features that I think can add a major benefit to your workflow.
You can check out the top new features of the Lightroom 7.2 update in the latest episode of Tim Grey TV here:
Don’t forget to subscribe to the Tim Grey TV channel on YouTube to ensure you see all of the latest updates!
We have published a new course in the GreyLearning library focused on showing you the many ways you can share your photos using both the Photoshop Elements Organizer and the Photoshop Elements Editor.
The course is called “Photoshop Elements: Sharing Photos”, and it includes lessons that guide you through the process of exporting copies of your photos, sending images easily via email, creating a calendar featuring your photos, and much more.
The “Photoshop Elements: Sharing Photos” course is included in the “Mastering Photoshop Elements” bundle of courses available through GreyLearning. In addition, you can purchase “Sharing Photos” as a standalone course here:
The theme for the GreyLearning Photo Contest for February is “Motion in a Still”. Any still photograph that depicts motion in some way can be entered, and the winner will win a free year of access to the full GreyLearning Ultimate Bundle.
UPDATE: You can see the winning image for the “Motion in a Still” photo contest here:
Copyright registration in the United States could suddenly be getting a lot more expensive for photographers.
A tip of the cap to the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) for spreading the word about a change in policy at the United States Copyright Office that could make it considerably more expensive for photographers to file their images for copyright protection.
Effective February 20, 2018, submissions to the US Copyright Office will be limited to 750 images. Previously there had been no limit, which meant photographers could effectively submit a virtually unlimited number of photos in a single batch, paying only a single fee.
Now, the $55 registration fee will only cover submissions of up to 750 images, which could cause the total cost to go up significantly for photographers who want to submit a large number of images.
If you have a large number of photos you’ve not yet registered with the US Copyright Office, you may want to hurry up and get your images submitted before February 20, 2018.
You can read the details of the new application process (including a link to a PDF document with the final rule that implements the change in submission guidelines) on the US Copyright Office website here:
We have published a new course in the GreyLearning library focused on helping you truly understand the various organizational features in the Photoshop Elements Organizer. The course, called “Photoshop Elements: Organizing Photos”, will enable you to define (and follow) a workflow that helps you manage your photos with confidence.
The “Photoshop Elements: Organizing Photos” course is included in the “Mastering Photoshop Elements” course, which you can find on the GreyLearning website here:
