It Was a Glorious Walk! (And now for the real work!)

What a super time we all had at our very first Wilmington Photo Walk! The weather was perfect, the camaraderie was great, and our Leader was delightful! In many ways, the fact that the Wilmington Riverfront was not crowded with (other) visitors was a plus and actually contributed to a relaxing event. I observed many of our Walkers just taking their time and putting lots of thought into their photography. (Now that I think of it, if I were eligible to win a $11K prize, I'd be pretty darn methodical, too!)

And ... the chimping was fast and furious!

Our "Chimp and Chew" session was lots of fun. I enjoyed meeting everyone and talking about our common passion. I saw lots of business card pumping! The Riverfront Marketplace was a perfect spot, and we had the entire mezzanine to ourselves.

Now, the hard part begins ... looking over your hundreds of images; deciding which two to submit because they're ALL good.

I'll speak for myself and tell you that in general, I shoot 80/20. Eighty percent are culled out; the rest are keepers. This is why I tell people to TAKE LOTS OF SHOTS of each subject. Try different angles, different orientation, different focal lengths, closer, farther away, try selective focus through aperture settings, etc.

When reviewing your images, don't go crazy selecting your good and best ones. Delete with impunity! At the very least, move your discards off your computer and onto DVD.

Additionally, I urge my students to really understand and work with the three components of Exposure - Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO. That and correct metering will minimize your time post-processing at the computer! The idea put simply: get it right in-camera and minimize digital editing.

One final suggestion; choose the two images that are YOUR favorites.

Having said that, there are certain elements I look for in a winning photograph:

1. Does the image have a theme? Does it tell a story? Is your message clear? For example, even if you take a picture of the diagonal patterns on the boardwalk, that is your theme. Don't ruin it by framing poorly and having distracting elements within the frame.

2. Does the image focus attention on the subject? How are you using certain elements of composition to help my eyes go immediately to the subject? For example, we had lots of "S-Curves" at the Riverfront. The S-curve is a classic element of composition and can be used successfully to lead the viewer's eye. Framing techniques and selective focus are other techniques to try.

3. Does the image simplify? Distracting objects within the frame are definite no-nos. Get into the habit of examining every bit of your frame when shooting, especially the edges. Watch out for clutter (unless, of course, clutter is part of your theme), and things that don't belong.

So, fire up the 'puter, backup your files, and let the culling begin!