Summer Challenge Winners!

Summer is coming to an end, fall will be here before we know it. School, jeans, hoodies, leaves everywhere, and my favorite thing about fall-cross country. I digress, I am not a die-hard football fan like a lot of people. :)

As promised, we are posting the winners today! We have two winner's,  Emily Ruth from Borrowing Photographs, and Rebecca from Rebecca Howsley Photography. Congratulations, ladies! :) Check out the winner's blogs and their posts to see the pictures that won! :)

I would like to apologize for not having any challenges this month. That is entirely my fault, and while I was indeed extremely busy, I have no real excuse.

With our summer challenge over and September right around the corner, I am not sure what we will be doing this fall. Currently, I think the plan is to take a break from challenges for awhile. Do you have any special requests for what you would like to see on the blog?


Have a lovely rest of summer :)
-Emily

Summer Challenge: Light

If you're reading this, then I am gone, far far away at camp! :) I've scheduled this post for my absence, but due to my very full computer, and the fact I'm leaving in less than 15 minutes for camp, I don't have time to put a picture in the post. :(

Summer has awesome lighting, in my opinion. Winter, just not so much. Maybe it's the longer days. :) You get to have two weeks to take the perfect picture showing off light. I'm excited to see what people come up with.

Rules: 1.The picture you submit must be taken by you between July 18th and July 25th 2012. The Linky will close Wednesday July the 25th, so make sure you link up before then. ;)
2. You may only enter one picture per contest, if you have more than one in your post, please specify which one you are entering.
3. If at all possible, list settings used to take it. (Camera, lens, date taken, time (even if vague, early afternoon, late evening, etc), ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.) You can find most of this info in the properties of your picture if you forget what settings you used.
4. Editing is allowed, if you choose to edit, please tell us what you did to edit your picture! :)
5. If you don't have a blog, but would like others to see your photo, email me (my email can be found on the 'About Us' page) and we will post it/link it up for you! 


-Emily
Photography, Baking, & My Life

Summer Challenge: Weather

As I'm sure many of you know, America has been lacking rain this summer. 26 states are experiencing drought. Mine hasn't seen rain for way to long. Everything is dying, we're under a state wide burning ban, and I know it's like this in many other states too.

Tonight it started storming. I love thunderstorms, and I am really thankful for this one, we desperately needed rain. It's so cool to see how God has sent us rain after all this dryness.

So, even if you don't have rain where you live, we'd love to see a picture interpreting your weather.

Rules: 1.The picture you submit must be taken by you between July 18th and July 25th 2012. The Linky will close Wednesday July the 25th, so make sure you link up before then. ;)
2. You may only enter one picture per contest, if you have more than one in your post, please specify which one you are entering.
3. If at all possible, list settings used to take it. (Camera, lens, date taken, time (even if vague, early afternoon, late evening, etc), ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.) You can find most of this info in the properties of your picture if you forget what settings you used.
4. Editing is allowed, if you choose to edit, please tell us what you did to edit your picture! :)
5. If you don't have a blog, but would like others to see your photo, email me (my email can be found on the 'About Us' page) and we will post it/link it up for you! 

Taken: Evening July 18, 2012
Canon EOS Rebel T2i
18-55mm kit lens
ISO 3200
f/5.6
GIMP: levels

Have a good week!
-Emily

Summer Challenge: Projects

Along with summer comes projects, whether big or small, at least one usually finds a way to squeeze it's self in there. If we really stop to think about it, then we realize how many 'projects' we are doing at once!

I'm doing the project 365 (366, I suppose, since it is a leap year! ;), so that could count. I just finished a mile streak, where I ran or walked one mile everyday from Memorial Day to the 4th of July. I'm working on countless 4-H projects.

Be creative and share with us an exciting project from your week! :)

 Rules: 1.The picture you submit must be taken by you between July 11th and July 18th 2012. The Linky will close Wednesday July the 18th, so make sure you link up before then. ;)
2. You may only enter one picture per contest, if you have more than one in your post, please specify which one you are entering.
3. If at all possible, list settings used to take it. (Camera, lens, date taken, time (even if vague, early afternoon, late evening, etc), ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.) You can find most of this info in the properties of your picture if you forget what settings you used.
4. Editing is allowed, if you choose to edit, please tell us what you did to edit your picture! :)
5. If you don't have a blog, but would like others to see your photo, email me (my email can be found on the 'About Us' page) and we will post it/link it up for you! 

Canon EOS Rebel T2i
18-55mm kit lens
taken 10:41am
ISO: 100
Shutter: 1/90
f/3.5

I've been meaning to turn this yellow desk-my school desk that someone gave us last fall-into a fair project ever since we got it. 

After doing school on it for a whole grade, the yellow isn't all that bad, in fact, I kinda don't mind it. But alas, I'd already signed up for a 'refurbished furniture', and I had a great idea. I'm going to turn this into a gray and purple desk, that is part chalkboard!

I'm really excited for this project. I painted three coats of what I thought was white primer on the other day. Then my mom kindly informed me that it was paint. Not primer. So now I get to sand it all, primer it with real primer, and then continue on with my paint job! :)

-Emily

Summer Challenge: Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July! This part of our summer challenge centers around that day many years ago, in 1776 when America declared independence from Great Britain.

I am so thankful for our country, especially the freedom we have. Many countries don't have the same freedom as us, and it is hard to imagine what it would be like with out it.

So, how about sharing a picture of what you did this year to celebrate?  We watched fireworks, like we normally do, I was really excited to take pictures of them for the first time with my Canon T2i!

Before we went, I looked up some tips for firework shooting, and the best ones that stuck with me were, of course use a tripod, and shooting in BULB. Have a very high F stop, and low aperture. Many people also suggested shooting in RAW, but I didn't, and I'm still satisfied with my results.

It might seem hard to know what tripod to buy, and I still don't know what tripod I want some day. Right now I shoot my night pictures off of a really cheap tripod I found in our basement. It has a $2.99 Goodwill sticker on it.
That might seem really horrible of me to some of you reading this, but it's what I have, and it sure holds my camera a lot better than my hands! :)
I found that setting my f stop the highest it could go (38), and shooting in BULB, from 30-50 seconds gave me the best pictures.

Alright, on to the rules, and then I'll share my picture!
 Rules: 1.The picture you submit must be taken by you between July 1th and July 11th 2012. The Linky will close Wednesday July the 11th, so make sure you link up before then. ;)
2. You may only enter one picture per contest, if you have more than one in your post, please specify which one you are entering.
3. If at all possible, list settings used to take it. (Camera, lens, date taken, time (even if vague, early afternoon, late evening, etc), ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.) You can find most of this info in the properties of your picture if you forget what settings you used.
4. Editing is allowed, if you choose to edit, please tell us what you did to edit your picture! :)
5. If you don't have a blog, but would like others to see your photo, email me (my email can be found on the 'About Us' page) and we will post it/link it up for you!

ISO: 100
f/38
15 second exposure
July 3, 2012 9:24pm
Canon Rebel EOS T2i
18-55mm kit lens
cheap tripod from goodwill
Edited in GIMP: Contrast, Levels, and Unsharp Mask

My favorite thing about this picture is the blob of color in the bottom, that was one of the coolest fireworks I've ever seen. :)

Please note, that your picture for this contest can be taken between July 1 and July 11. That's from Sunday to a Wednesday. The reason being, not everyone watches fireworks or parades, has parties, etc. ON the fourth, we watched fireworks on the third.... :)

Can't wait to see what your fourth looks like!
-Emily

Photography, Baking, and My Life

Summer Challenge: Family

Happy Beginning of Summer! Today is officially the first day of summer. 90 degrees and sunny, it totally has been feeling like the season this week! :) This week's theme is 'family'. You can share a picture of your whole family, or just part of it. I know how hard it is to get everyone all together! ;)

 Rules: 1.The picture you submit must be taken by you between June 20th and July 4th 2012. The Linky will close Wednesday July the 4th, so make sure you link up before then. ;)
2. You may only enter one picture per contest, if you have more than one in your post, please specify which one you are entering.
3. If at all possible, list settings used to take it. (Camera, lens, date taken, time (even if vague, early afternoon, late evening, etc), ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.) You can find most of this info in the properties of your picture if you forget what settings you used.
4. Editing is allowed, if you choose to edit, please tell us what you did to edit your picture! :)
5. If you don't have a blog, but would like others to see your photo, email me (my email can be found on the 'About Us' page) and we will post it/link it up for you!

Here's my entry:

Edit: Levels in GIMP. Taken at 7:48pm ISO: 400 Shutter Speed: 1/60 Aperture: f/3.5 Canon EOS Rebel T2i w/18-55mm Kit lens

 Meet three of my eight siblings, Paige, Pete, and Daniel. Paige is right above me, and the boys are right under me, in age order. We were going on a walk just before dark...we had fun taking silly pictures. :)

Who would you like to introduce us to from your family?

-Emily
Photography, Baking, and My Life

Grab our new challenge button and share it on your blog!

<div align="center"><a href="http://4photographersadventure.blogspot.com/" title="The Three Photographer's Adventure"><img src="http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/181824_392359540822828_281043113_n.jpg" alt="The Three Photographer's Adventure" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Summer Challenge: Summer Drinks

What drinks are you loving this summer? A certain juice, soda, or just plain water? Smoothies, slushies, or ever-delicious frappes? ;)

Whatever you favor to cool your self down with on a hot summer day is, we would love to see a picture of it. 

How the challenge works:
Each week over the summer (June 6th through August 22) we will have a different theme that relates to summer.
At the end of August, we will judge all the pictures entered, and give awards. We haven't decided for sure on the awards, but we will have some along the lines of 'most themes entered', 'best over all picture', and such like that.
If you have any suggestions for themes, we would love your input. Also if you have any award suggestions please let us know. :)

Rules:

1.The picture you submit must be taken by you between June 6th and June 13th 2012. The Linky will close Wednesday June the 13th, so make sure you link up before then. ;)

2. You may only enter one picture per contest, if you have more than one in your post, please specify which one you are entering.

3. If at all possible, list settings used to take it. (Camera, lens, date taken, time (even if vague, early afternoon, late evening, etc), ISO, shutter speed, and aperture.) You can find most of this info in the properties of your picture if you forget what settings you used.

4. Editing is allowed, if you choose to edit, please tell us what you did to edit your picture! :)

5. If you don't have a blog, but would like others to see your photo, email us (our emails can be found on the 'About Us' page) and we will post it/link it up for you!

Here's my entry:

Edit: Levels and contrast in GIMP. Taken at 8:48am
ISO: 100 Shutter Speed: 1/180  Aperture: f/5.6
Canon EOS Rebel T2i w/18-55mm Kit lens

This summer I discovered flavored water. It is super easy to make, put some fruit in a jar and smash it a little, then fill the jar completely with ice, fill with water, cover and refrigerate 12-24 hours. Pour through a sieve before serving.

It is a healthy alternative to juice or kool-aid, and I love it! :)

-Emily
Photography, Baking, and My Life

Due to the lack of entries, we will be extending this theme another week! :)