challenge

Challenge - Apr 24 "Old & New"

Challenge – Apr 24 “Old & New”

The Online Challenge brief for February is as follows:

Theme – Old  & New

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

“New” refers to something recent, just made, or just acquired. It has a connotation of freshness and novelty. “Old,” on the other hand, refers to something that has been in existence or in use for a long time. It has a connotation of history, tradition, and experience. You do not need to encompass both Old & New in the same image but you can if you want to.  This is the perfect challenge to get creative!

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events or challenges.
  • No Limit as to when the photo was taken.
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-first name-last name.jpg”  For example Old New-Shiny Rust-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by the Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 23rd April 2024

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images using WeTransfer.com to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Apr24 Challenge

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 26th April 2024

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - Feb 24 "Architectural Photography"

Challenge – Feb 24 “Architectural Photography”

The Online Challenge brief for February is as follows:

Theme – Architectural Photography

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

A challenge for a challenge. Architectural photography is the subgenre of the photography discipline where the primary emphasis is made on capturing photographs of buildings and similar architectural structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate in terms of representations of their subjects. Architectural photographers are usually skilled in the use of specialized techniques and cameras for producing such specialized photography.
For anyone looking to gain some knowhow on this subject please take a look at a Non-Professional point of view: Video
And for some inspiration, this link provides some great shots

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events or challenges.
  • No Limit as to when the photo was taken.
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-firstname-lastname.jpg”  For example Arches-the-the walk-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by the Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 20th February 2024

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images using WeTransfer.com to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Feb24 Challenge

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 23rd Feb 2024

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - "Close Up Insects Etc."

Challenge – “Close Up Insects Etc.”

The Online Challenge brief for December is as follows:

Theme – Close Up of Insects and other small creatures etc.

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

We think that the title really says it all for this theme, don’t you? But nevertheless, it’s still a tricky theme for anyone who has not had the chance or opportunity to take photos of our tiny friends. A few guidelines will be provided for those venturing fro the first time. Watch this space,..

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events.
  • No Limit as to when the photo was taken.
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-firstname-lastname.jpg”  For example Insects–the-bug-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 26th December 2023

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Close Up Insects

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 29th of December 2023

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - "Long Exposure"

Challenge – “Long Exposure”

The Online Challenge brief for October is as follows:

Theme – Long Exposure

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

To define the theme, Long-exposure photography is a technique that involves capturing a single image over an extended period of time. By dialling in a shutter speed that lasts 1/30s, 1s, 10s, or even an hour, it’s possible to render moving subjects as beautiful blurs while keeping stationary subjects tack-sharp. Although it may sound complex, the theory behind long-exposure images is actually fairly simple. By controlling the amount of time the camera sensor “views” the scene, stationary subjects remain the same irrespective of the shutter speed, while subjects in motion start to reveal more movement as the exposure time increases. This enables us to create a wonderful contrast between sharpness and blur, producing images that overflow with senses of dreams and reality combined.

Watch out for more infomration about the scheduling of a workshop on this topic.

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events.
  • 2-year rule does NOT apply
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-firstname-lastname.jpg”  For example Long Exposure-extended-colours-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 24th October 2023

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Long Exposure

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 27th of October 2023

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - "Interesting Doors"

Challenge – “Interesting Doors”

The Online Challenge brief for August is as follows:

Theme – Interesting Doors

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

Firstly, the image will contain the whole door/doorway, not just a part of the door.  The theme is Interesting Doors not interesting parts of a door, there fore we want to see ALL of the door. Other than that key observation, the rest is up to you. Doors can be of any material, Open, Closed etc.  But we’ve put together a few tips that you might want to use when out taking photos of doors.

  1. Point of View
    Take a few steps back and use a lens with a longer focal length. Too many folks get way too close to the subject and use a wide-angle lens to capture the entire door. The issue in this case is distortion caused by the wide angle, which needs to be corrected. Shooting from across a road using a slightly longer lens is much better. There is much less distortion and it helps you better frame the image.
  2. Framing of image
    Frame your image very carefully. ask yourself, “Why are you interested in this door? Is it the door or is it the setting of the door? Could including some of the surrounding wall provide more context and add to the story? You may find that the door itself has little interest but set in its surroundings, it becomes much more interesting. Framing your image to crop out the surroundings may produce a much less interesting image. That said, more is always better and you can still crop the surrounding elements out in post-production if you wish.
  3. Lighting is Everything
    Work in the best light for the door’s location. Shooting doorways in bright conditions is often tempting and often the case, but direct light will cause you a problem. Doors tend to be set back in their frames which then cast shadows. Our eyes may see easily into these shadows, but the camera’s exposure system won’t. The result can be dark ugly shadows that diminish the image. Quite often having the door in the shade or shooting on a cloudy, overcast day will produce better results.
  4. Shoot RAW
    Shoot with the camera in RAW format. If you do find you need to shoot a door with bright light falling on it, if you shoot in RAW format you will have more flexibility to control the highlights and shadows.
  5. Camera Position
    Keep your camera upright. It can be easy to tilt your camera slightly when shooting a door in order to frame the image. Try to avoid this and instead keep the back of the camera parallel to the door. When you tilt the camera you introduce distortion and convergence where the sides of the doors will slope inwards. Use a tripod if you don’t have a steady hand, but you know this already.
  6. Lens Aperture
    Select a mid-range aperture. If you’re shooting with a full-frame camera, f/8.0 to f/12.0 will normally be right. It’s very easy to have too little depth of field and end up with soft edges, especially if you tilt the camera slightly.
  7. Story Telling
    Try to suggest a story with your image. Doors are the barrier between two worlds. There is the outside world that you are part of and there is the world inside which can’t be seen but which you might be able to hint at it. Photographing a door that’s open and allows a glimpse of this other world can send a powerful message.

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events.
  • 2-year does NOT apply
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-first name-lastname.jpg”  For example Interesting-Doors-Come-in-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 22nd August 2023

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Interesting Doors

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 25th of August 2023

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - "Street Art"

Challenge – “Street Art”

The Online Challenge brief for June is as follows:

Theme – Street Art

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

Street Art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms “independent art”, “post-graffiti” or “neo-graffiti”.

Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graffiti into a more commercial form of art, as one of the main differences now lies with the messaging it normally portrays. Street art is often meant to provoke thought rather than rejection among the general audience by making its purpose more evident than that of graffiti. The issue of permission has also come at the heart of street art, as graffiti is usually done illegally, whereas street art can nowadays be the product of an agreement or even sometimes a commission.

Street art is normally vibrant with colour but some artworks may also look just as good if portrayed in black and white, this is something that you’ll have to decide for yourself. When taking photos of street art. you’ll normally find that good examples are often in busy places (more people passing by means more exposure), so when you take your photo, be patient or even find a way of incorporating that into your image.
Also, be sure to give yourself time to explore various angles and points of view for your shot and at different times of day may also be worthwhile thinking about.

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events.
  • 2-year rule applies
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-firstname-lastname.jpg”  For example Street Art-coloured bricks-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 27rd June 2023

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Abstract

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 30th of June 2023

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - "Abstract"

Challenge – “Abstract”

The Online Challenge brief for April is as follows:

Theme – Abstract 

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

Abstract photography, sometimes called non-objective, experimental or conceptual photography, is a means of depicting a visual image that does not have an immediate association with the object world and that has been created through the use of photographic equipment, processes or materials.
A quick test to establish if an image can be considered abstract is; If you look at a photo and there’s a voice inside you that says ‘What is it?’….Then you’re probably looking at an abstract photograph.

Here are a few points you can take into consideration ahead of creating an Abstract photograph.

Key elements of a good Abstract Photo

  • Simplicity
  • Composition
  • Angle of View
  • Lighting
  • Harmony
  • Mystery

Also, for beginners may also like to contemplate these points too:

  1. Start with everyday objects
  2. Use elements of design to your advantage
  3. Go macro
  4. Shoot through objects
  5. Capture motion
  6. Practice the art of subtraction
  7. Customize your lighting
  8. Experiment with different shooting styles
  9. Post-process your images

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events.
  • 2-year rule applies
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-firstname-lastname.jpg”  For example Astract-the unknown-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 25th April 2023

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Abstract

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 28th of April 2023

We look forward to seeing your entries.

Challenge - "Flowers"

Challenge – “Flowers”

The Online Challenge brief for February is as follows:

Theme – Flowers

 

Entries for this theme will depict images that fall under the following description.

Flowers are naturally photogenic in themselves. They normally provide a wonderful abundance of colours, textures, and shapes. Flower and plant photography celebrates their natural beauty and is often a great way to improve your photography skills.

Here are a few items you can put together ahead of your first floral photo adventure.
  • Your Phone.  – As we saw in last month’s exhibition, mobile phones are more than capable of doing the job. It’s always with you, and if you have one made within the last four or five years, it will take amazing photos of flowers.
  • Your Camera – A DSLR camera and lens will give you more options for creating flower photography at the professional level. A 50mm or 85mm lens with wide apertures helps create magical blurry backgrounds due to the shallow depth of field.
  • Your Tripod – A tripod will assist in eliminating camera shake to make your flower images sharper. A cable release will allow you to step away from your equipment while you take your shots. Maybe try a long exposure, leaving the shot open for a few seconds to some movement that makes the flower look like a painting.
  • A Reflector – This is a favourite tool for flower photography, especially outside. It’s handy for filling in shadows. Normally you’ll be getting a lot of low angles and shadows, and a reflector will help to redirect the sunlight.
  • A Macro Lens – Not essential but really does allow you to go the extra mile and show the wonderful intricacies of petals and pollen.

A few tips to get great shots

  • Choose your focal point
  • Think about colour in advance
  • What are the details the particular flower or plant has?
  • Enhance patterns or textures
  • Don’t be afraid of the close-ups.
  • As always, the composition is key
  • Try different times of the day.

Rules

  • Photos must be your work and not previously exhibited or displayed in APG events.
  • 2-year rule applies
  • Photos can be colour, black & white or any monochrome colour.
  • Photos must be at least 1800px on the longest edge and can be in Landscape or Portrait formats.
  • Maximum of Two Images per Member.
  • Entitle your image “Exhibition-name-image-title-firstname-lastname.jpg”  For example Flowers-The Marigold-joe-blogs.jpg

Order of Merit

  • All Images Submitted for this Challenge will accrue (1 – One) Merit point each.
  • The top 3 images (selected by Guest Judge) will accrue (5 – Five) Merit Points each.

Deadline for Entries

  • The deadline for entries is 17:00 on Tuesday 21st February 2023

How to Submit your Entries

  • Please send your images to the following e-mail “membership(at)algarvephotographersgroup.org”
    with the Subject: Flowers

Exhibition Go-Live

  • The Online Gallery will be published at 19:00 on Friday 24th of February 2023

We look forward to seeing your entries.