But…

World Wide Photo Walk Images

Here are a few of my photos from the World Wide Photo Walk on Saturday, July 24.

Click to view larger image, press “N” for next, “P” for previous.

 

Saturday in the (Anza-Borrego Desert State) Park

Here are a few photos from a day trip to Anza Borrego on March 20. Most of these
are first attempts at using the new 100mm macro lens.

Winner of the SDPF Monthly Photo Contest/Challenge

Woo Hoo!

Fame is thrust upon me.

In only my second entry for the online San Diego Photo Forum’s monthy Contest/Challenge I have emerged victorious. For the month of February, 2010, my photo (below) was voted the best of the month. The category was Patterns/Repetition. It’s a heady achievement. My work stood out from over seven other entries (eight to be precise) and received a plurality of votes cast (okay five votes out of 13 cast). My photo raced ahead of the nearest competitors by 1 and 2 votes respectively.

I’m pretty certain that the image won because of the subtle connection of the subject to the cateogory. At first glance, the only repetition in it is the repeated rows of candles that light the prayerful observers face. But on further reflection, one would have to suspect that the subtle message of prayer itself as a patterned/repetitive act was clear to the astute observer/voter from the SDPF.

Wow, am I full of s*** or what.

Okay… in all seriousness this is no BFD – but gratifying anyway. And I think there’s some kind of prize associated with winning. A limited term paid membership on SmugMug.com, which is a non-free competitor to Flickr. Not sure how long the membership is for, but using it will eventually obligate me to stop using it or start paying for it.

Anyway, getting more than just my own vote slightly reduces my guilt at buying a new Canon L-Series 100mm macro lens this week. And it seals the deal for me to purchase a used circular polarizing filter that fits my new lens from one of the forum’s talented members.

Here’s the the winning image (click to enlarge)…

Click here for a link to the forum post that shows the 9 entries for this month. Take a minute to check out the forum. It’s a friendly place…

San Diego Photo Forum Monthly Challenge – Clouds

September 27, 2009 • Escondido CA
Canon EOS 50D • f/9 • 1/200• 17mm • ISO 1600

This is posted here and linked to an entry on San Diego Photo Forum, a community of professional and wannabe photographers. Each month there’s a challenge and contributors to the forum post images based on the monthly theme. This month (December) the theme is “Clouds”. Being the literalist I am, I posted the above image.

As an aside, it looks to me like the monthly entries run the gamut from beautiful professional images to snapshots. The December group is very strong. My work is definately sub-par when comapared to the majority of images on the site. But, hey… I don’t pretend to be any more than an avid amatuer with LOADS to learn. It’s why I do it. It’s what makes it fun.

You can visit the site (and register if you want) at http://www.sdphotoforum.com/.

About the Photography Category

The Photography Category:

I’m not a professional photographer, but I play one in my head.

I’ve been taking pictures as a serious amateur since 1972 when my dad gave me a Minolta SRT-101 SLR for a school trip to Europe. I learned the technical stuff from reading and friends… but mostly from trial and error. I built a darkroom in my garage, joined the school newspaper and yearbook, turned out the lights and developed a passion for photography that has been a consistent part of my life for more than 35 years.

There is an extensive online collection of my photography in the bill’s eye photos area of billbanning.com. Posts here in the Photography category might include:

• Notifications of new images posted at bill’s eye photos
• Single or multiple images of interest and commentary on their content
• Essays inspired by or illuminated by image content
• Other content related to my photography