Welcome to The Gizmodo Shooting Challenge, where Giz readers get to pit their photographic skills against each other for the admiration of their editors on a dedicated theme each week. This week’s challenge (which closes tomorrow): The Sun
I don’t want to alarm you, but there’s a massive ball of fire, that, in universal terms, is snuggled up right close to the earth. What’s more, it’s been there a while. I think we should study it, and perhaps take some pictures. Just don’t stare at it for too long.
Which is a roundabout way of saying that this week’s shooting challenge is the sun. There’s a lot of scope for shooting the way that the sun affects the earth, from the beauty of a dawn rising to the last few rays of light coming through a window. It can also be a nicely tricky subject to shoot well without blowing your shot out entirely.
Image: gr33n3gg
Please note that we’ve changed the submission rules recently, so make sure you read through them carefully.
1. The work must be your own.
2. Photos need to be taken the week of the contest. No portfolio shots please.
3. Explain (briefly) the photography equipment, settings, technique and story behind shot.
4. Entries must be submitted via the feedback form here; choose “Gizmodo Shooting Challenge” as the contact reason.
5. Don’t forget to attach your image! (at least 800px wide)
6. One submission per person.
Submit your best photo by Tuesday, February 21, 2012, at 10am AEDT through the feedback form (select “Gizmodo Shooting Challenge” in the dropdown box). Save your files as JPGs, and use a FirstnameLastnameSUN.jpg naming convention. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email along with a story of the shot in a few sentences.
And don’t skip this story part because it’s often the most enjoyable part for us all beyond the great photos!
Need Inspiration? Check out the previous Gizmodo Shooting Challenges.
Jack
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:22 AMIf only this challenge started on the Sunday, why Gizmodo why. Now I need to go all the way to Byron Bay and hope that that it’s cloudy and the sun breaks out for 30 seconds again.
Adam
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:25 AM2. Photos need to be taken the week of the contest. No portfolio shots please.
Technically thats the start of the week right?
Dave
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:43 AMi would think wed-tues is the valid period but to be honest i don’t think it would matter that much :P
alex effing
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 11:59 AMWouldn’t this be bad for people’s eyes? I’ve always been told that it’s not a good idea to stare directly at the sun.
Alex Kidman
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:03 PMYou’re free to interpret the brief; as mentioned it’s not just shots directly at the sun, but could also be its effect on other objects, dawn, dusk, etc.
Plus, there’s a difference between staring at the sun yourself and making your camera lens do so :)
olearymo
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:10 PMgosh darn it, i really intended by smarmy passive agressive response for this, not the main timeline. sorry ’bout that.
Shane
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 9:09 PMIt’s worth pointing out that if you have a DSLR with live view turned on, pointing it at the sun for an extended time is likely to burn a hole in your camera’s sensor. It’s like burning an ant with a magnifying glass. The effect is not so bad at sunrise/sunset but it’s still worth avoiding.
Pete
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 7:44 PMYou could take a photo of someone sitting in the shade, a reflection on water, a car sunshade, cracked dirt…
olearymo
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:09 PMstare directly?
“I think we should study it, and perhaps take some pictures”
“study it, and perhaps take some pictures”
“perhaps take some pictures”
“take some pictures”
“pictures”
HunterSBonobo
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:11 PMCan I take a screenshot of Battlefield 3?
Alex
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:33 PMtechnically you can take a photo of that :) but not screen shot :)
Sam D
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 12:50 PMWell, this might give a bit more direction to my next couple of photo shoots I’m doing.
itsjez
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 1:07 AMI have a photo I want to submit but dont have access to a PC as am on holiday. Is there a way to submit a photo from iPhone? The feedback form won’t let me attach anything.
advice dog
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 4:25 PMan old photo that i would love to submit but cant.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jarrardscott/2920792057/in/photostream/
Ideas Guy
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 9:29 PMI have always wondered why don’t you make the shooting challenges a monthly thing and offer prizes to like editors choice and peoples choice winners, also maybe some way of discerning pro photographers from the guys who are lucky to get out on a weekend to take some shots (like me)
Just an idea