Contributors'
Photo Gallery

Seasonal Feature
2011 AUTUMN Photography Challenge

Posted December 21, 2011:
Today the Winter Solstice arrived, meaning that autumn 2011 has officially ended and it's now time to post the best of the best!  During the past few months, many visitors to our site submitted a wide variety of images that they felt captured the essence of fall.  Our Submissions Review Team narrowed the photos down to a select few that you will see below.  We know you'll appreciate these superb photographs and we hope you'll agree that they embody that quintessential autumn feel.  Makes you feel like going for a brisk walk, the scent of freshly fallen leaves in the air and the sound of those leaves crunching under your feet...

**This Autumn Photo Challenge is now CLOSED to new submissions.
(We are now accepting reader submissions for our upcoming 2011-12 WINTER PHOTO CHALLENGE.)
Send your WINTER photo submissions to submissions@freephotocourse.com.

Submission by John Sgro
Hinckley, Ohio

Olympus VG145, 28mm focal length (equivalent); f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 80
© 2011, John Sgro

This was John Sgro's idea of how autumn looks to him and we couldn't agree more.  If this is what the season looks like, bring it on!

The photo is very well composed, using a good sense of negative space (the water is a sort of blank space that allows the eye to take a break from everything else that is going on).  The deck's positioning relative to the lens is perfect, almost inviting us to walk up and take a seat.

The position of the tree with its golden fall foliage is also optimal.  Although it seems centered (not usually a good thing), it's symmetrical balance is thrown-off by the negative space of the water to the left.  The result is a well-composed photograph. 

John did not tell us where he photographed this peaceful scene (maybe he wanted to keep this hidden gem well hidden), but we figure that it's likely in his own stomping ground of Hinckley, Ohio, just south of Cleveland.  There are many backyard ponds around this area, but the larger Hinckley Lake boasts views similar to this, with nice opportunities for daydreaming by the water, cottage living and water sports.

But whether John shot this at Hinckley Lake or elsewhere, one thing's for sure...it sure does look like a beautiful way to spend an autumn day!  Thank you for sending this in John and enjoy your Certificate we've sent you for this photographic accomplishment.

Submissions by Harry Hann, CPAGB
Northern Great Britain

(While we usually restrict image selections to one per contributor for our various seasonal challenges, we decided to post all three submisisons by Harry, given the depth of thought, creative expression, compositional awareness and selection of content shown in each image shown below:)

Nikon D70, 78mm Focal Length; f/7.1, 1/200, ISO 200
© 2007, Harry Hann

Harry sent us these autumn images in November, 2011.  Eighty years young, he eagerly made the jump from traditional film photography to digital some years ago.  His interest in photography began at an early age via his dad's Kodak ‘620 Box Brownie’.  He moved up to a Kodak 127 and after he married, graduated to a folding camera, a darkroom, then joined a camera club!  He saw the craft through 35mm color slides and the various other innovations that followed the photograhpy timeline of the twentieth century.

Harry tells us that through his involvement in the camera club, he became a lecturer & judge for the Northern Counties Photographic Federation (NCPF), eventually becoming secretary of NCPF for a short term.  His designation shown above, the "CPAGB" indicate that he has been granted a Credit certificate by the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain.

In his own words, "Digital photography is now my main interest...I consider myself fortunate in having as my early mentor one “James Lane, ARPS” who gave help, advice & guidance when I was starting out.  He introduced me to our local area in depth and I have always been grateful for that.  His advice in the early days --- Take Two; One as you see the shot first & another when you have considered the scene !  Still good advice in the Digital Age."  We couldn't agree more!

St. Mary’s lighthouse shown above, is a photographer's favourite local landmark near Whitley Bay in Northumberland.  It's also very popular with bird watchers, painters and families.  Harry mentioned that the lighthouse sits on a spit of land that is only accessible by foot at low tide...guess one would have to either watch the clock or spend a while longer than planned!  As far as the photographic skill and technique shown here; it's obvious that Harry's many years of involvement with photography come well into play.  Choosing to photograph this while lit brilliantly by the late afternoon sun, its golden hue bathing the lighthouse so warmly, was key to the success of this photograph.  Luck played a bit of a part with the clouds gathering for a dramatic display to match the churning sea.

It is a postcard-perfect image that looks a bit like a painting and exudes compelling depth.  By the way, in case you're interested, do a Google or Flickr image search using the keywords "St. Mary's Lighthouse Whitley Bay" and you will soon realize that Harry's image is a masterfully composed picture that stands head-and-shoulders above almost everything else you will find.

Hodge Close, near Cumbria, England
Nikon D70
© 2011, Harry Hann

Hodge Close is a massive slate quarry located in the Timberthwaite Valley near Cumbria, Great Britain.  It was operational from the 1800's until the early 1960's.  What has been left over has become popular with hikers, rock climbers and divers.  Harry Hann's picture above captures an aspect of autumn at the quarry that is magical and whimsical, as though it has come straight from the pages of a fantastic fairytale.  The soft willow trees seem to glow from the backlight.  No path or trail in sight; the picture seems to draw one's eye inward to the depths of some unknown soft forest world.

At first glance, you may ask, "Where is the focal point?"  But the trained eye recognizes that the huge tree trunk on the left, the salmon-colored undergrowth sweeping slightly upward to the right and the opening above it helps the eye to move about in a very gentle and inviting manner.  Bravo Harry!

Firethorn, Pyracantha plant
Olympus E-P1, 14/42 Lens
© 2011, Harry Hann

Harry Hann's third and final Autumn submission was, again, too beautiful for us not to publish.  The brilliant yellow fruit contrasts so strikingly against the glossy green leaves and dark background in this scene.  A shallow depth of field allows the autumn fruit to take center stage, while the background blurs increasingly into a gentle bokeh.  We also like how the berries fall slightly to the left, leaving room for some negative space on the bottom right.  There seems to be some confusion as to whether the fruit of the Pyracantha is edible, but regardless, it does make for a spectacular fall picture!

Kudos to Harry for his part in making our Autumn 2011 Photo Challenge so interesting and beautiful!

Submission by Jim Johnstone
Toronto, Canada

Smoke Tree Leaf Cluster
Nikon D3X, 90mm Macro Lens; f/4.8, 1/200, ISO 200
© 2011, J. Johnstone

We couldn't help notice the connection between Harry's yellow fruit image and this yellow leaf cluster shown above in Jim Johnstone's smoke tree picture.  Jim, who hails from the Greater Toronto Area of Canada, said he spotted this shot in a local park while on an unrelated shoot.  He realized that the sun backlighting the leaves, combined with subtle shadows and the character of the distressed fall leaves, would make for an interesting seasonal shot.  We like the fact that this image is uncluttered by other leaf clusters and captures, in a very simple way, something that says "autumn" to different people.

Good work on this image Jim and keep pressin' the shutter!

Submissions by Linda May 
Pennsylvania, US

Bald Faced Hornet Nest in Katsura Tree
Fuji HS20 exr, 98 mm focal length; f/9.0, 1/92, ISO 640

Bald Faced Hornet Nest in Autumn
Fuji HS20 exr, 105mm focal length; f/7.1, 1/125, ISO 250

While the pictures above don't both exactly fit the autumn theme, we were very impressed with the content in general and with the way that this contributor's images compared the same unusual object through a progression of two distinct seasons.  Linda, who lives in the North East, explained that it wasn't until the beginning of September 2011 when this huge bald faced hornet nest made its appearance through an opening in the leaves of her backyard Katsura tree.

She explained, "I can't believe that I spent almost the entire summer gardening, grilling, sunning, eating and basically living underneath that very scary hornet nest!!!  Thank God I didn't get stung.  The strange thing is that I really didn't notice any more hornets or wasps this year than any other - in fact, it seemed like we had less this year - strange huh?"

Linda did what any good backyard photographer would do; she documented the unusual sight with her camera while it was still summer.  Best yet, when most of the leaves had turned yellow and fallen in October, she took yet another picture of the massive orb.  This time, she was able to show how the hornets had woven their nest completely around a number of branches, thus becoming part of the tree.

Although it's not what we would consider 'artistic' photography, Linda's photos, seen together, show how an object can reveal itself in different ways through the progression of the seasons.  Thank you for letting us "into your backyard" to experience something that most people never have the opportunity to see!




We appreciate the many pictures sent in by our readers for this Autumn Photo Challenge.  We do try to show the best of the best.  If you sent an image that was not selected, please try again for one of our future seasonal challenges, our Great Cities Exposed exhibit or for our regular Contributor's Gallery.

Send us your "best of the best" and if it's good enough, we'll post it for the world to see!
If our Submissions Team decides to post your image it means something special is going on with your photography.  You have the pride of knowing that your photography is at a higher level.  Best of all, you can show your posted work to friends and family - you can also put-up a link to this page up on your Facebook, Flickr or other sharing site!

SHOW OFF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENT TO YOUR FRIENDS!  Contributors with a photographic work that is accepted and posted in any of our Challenges, Themes or regular Contributor's Gallery will receive a special certificate by e-mail.  In a way, it's a bit like winning a photo contest where your work can be seen by the world!

Please read our Contributor's Gallery Guidelines and Terms of Use before submitting or using this gallery.
SUBMISSIONS - Click HERE or send ONE of your best images to: submissions@freephotocourse.com
(By submitting a photo, you release all rights to www.FreePhotoCourse.comfor the purposes of storage, adjustment, display and transmission.  Please name your image according to how you want your name to appear.  ie. "David S." as opposed to "David Smith".) 

LINKS TO OUR FEATURES:

HOME     PHOTO TIPS INDEX      FULL COURSE INDEX      "HOW TO" INDEX      PHOTO FORUM

SITE SEARCH    CONTRIBUTOR'S GALLERY    CAMERA & GEAR STORE    FREE DIGITAL IMAGES
 
GREAT CITIES EXPOSED SERIES            TOP PHOTOGRAPHER PROFILES       PHOTOGRAPHY RESOURCES

© FreePhotoCourse.com.  All rights reserved.  Reproduction, storage, copying, publishing, manipulation, digitizing or selling of any of the text or photos on this website is strictly prohibited.  Under no circumstances shall any part of the content on this website be plagiarized or referenced as the work of an author or photographer.  Re-selling of any of the content on this site is strictly prohibited. 

Browse, learn, purchase and explore with confidence. 
Certified  virus-free, malware-free, spyware-free, scam-free and spam-free.

Associate-Sponsor Disclosure        Content Download & Terms of Use        Privacy Policy         Contact Us        Contributor's Gallery Terms of Use        Forum Terms of Use