Focus on Judging Your Photos!

I want to thank everyone once again for coming out on the 18th, and I hope to see you again soon when we get together for other Photo Walks in our area.

Thirty-four of you have submitted your two photos for consideration in our photo competition. My task now is to pick the one image that - in my judgement - is the best of the best. The maker of that photo will win one local prize, which is a copy of Scott Kelby's latest book - The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3. It was just published. Scott is a prolific author of photography and Photoshop books. I taught him everything he knows - OK, I'm just kidding! His first two volumes are must-have's for your photography library, and I expect this one to be no different.

My final duty will be to submit the wining photo up to the main World-wide Photo Walk site, where in about two short weeks, Scott Kelby himself will have an even more challenging job of looking over the 900 or so local winners from around the world to pick the grand-prize winner and ten honorable mentions. The winners will be announced on August 17th.

I am trying very hard to pick out one image that stands out from the rest. You have made it very hard for me to do this! I am inspired by each and every image that you have submitted for review. All of you have done a remarkable job at effectively capturing particular aspects of the Wilmington Riverfront.

A reminder to go to our Flickr pool where a number of you have posted your Photo Walk images to share with others. This is NOT part of the contest, but a place where we can continue to participate in our little community of photo enthusiasts. Your photos are simply fantastic and inspiring! So check it out; the link is: www.flickr.com/groups/wwpw09-wilmington-de

Finally, several of you have wondered if I took any photos at the Walk. Well, of course I did| I have uploaded them to our Flickr photo pool. Check the link above.

Stay tuned for more information about our winning entry.

Our Own FLICKR Group!

We have a new Flickr Group for our Photo Walk photos! The link is HERE [http://www.flickr.com/groups/wwpw09-wilmington-de] and it's called "Worldwide Photo Walk - 2009 - Wilmington, DE"

Flickr is the photo-sharing website. Anyone who is anyone has a Flickr page! I've been using it for a while for my own purposes, and I think it's a fantastic service! I've joined several other photography groups and it's quite enjoyable and educational.

The purpose of our Flickr group is for you to upload as many images as you want from your Riverfront Photo Walk from last Saturday. This is completely optional and unrelated to your uploading the TWO images you want to enter into the contest.

Our group is a public group - meaning that anyone can view the images. However, membership is by invitation only so I can restrict membership to our group members only -- that is, only our group members can upload images.

In order to participate, here's what you do:

1. If you don't have one already, create a Flickr account. It's free. To learn more, and follow easy instructions, go to www.flickr.com ... also, RC from the home Worldwide Photo Walk organization has sent out emails to everyone explaining all of this. He has created a short video HERE to show you more about how to set up a flickr account. (the link is also on the email he sent out today.) You will upload your Photo Walk photos to your Flickr account first.

2. In order to be able to participate in our Photo Group and discussion, visit the link I gave you above, and follow the prompts to join our group. I will receive an email from your account, and I will activate your membership into the group.

3. Once your membership is activated, you will see our group listed in your account's groups listing. You can then select the Photo Walk images from your Flickr account that you uploaded previously and make them available to our group. You don't actually move them or copy them to the group.

By the way, as an aside, if you have or will have a Flickr account, I suggest that you click on your account settings page and look over all your settings to make sure you are protecting your privacy and copyrights adequately. Notice that you can restrict what your viewers can do with your photos, and you can restrict what resolutions are available for downloads. I have used Flickr to print my photos to Target (about 1 mile from my house), and I am pleased with the results for everyday use.

I hope you take advantage of the Flickr group!

Let me know if you have any questions.

Sandro V Cuccia
Leader, Wilmington Photo Walk
www.DEPhotoWalk.com

IMAGE UPLOADING

Since I've put you through my own style of "information overload" over the past week, you may have missed the information about uploading your two images.

I'm keeping it simple. The complete instructions, complete with video tutorials, are located HERE. [http://worldwidephotowalk.com/uploading-your-photos/]

Prepping your TWO images for upload:

> Do whatever you need to do for your editing of the actual final image.
> Since your image will only be used for display on a web site, you will save at a lower resolution (meaning the height and width in pixels). A good size to send is a maximum of 1000 pixels on the longest side. PPI settings are not relevant to viewing on screen.
> When saving to JPG. Use a quality of at least 10 (or 80%).

Remember ... the deadline is July 25, 11:59 pm EST.

Let me know if you have any questions.

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!

Just One More Day!

Well, tomorrow is our Photo Walk! I hope you are looking forward to this as much as I am! The weather forecast is looking pretty good, and we should have some nice early to mid-morning light for that added depth and dimension to our outdoor photography.

Now, about tomorrow...

At 9 AM, I will be parking my maroon Toyota Highlander SUV in the large parking lot just in front of or adjacent to Joe's Crab Shack. I will be the big, goofy looking guy in a white Photowalk T-Shirt and khaki photographer's vest.

For fellow GPS geeks, here are the coordinates:
39°44'3.2"N , 75°33'38.9"W

Did you check out the Riverfront Map at the Wilmington Riverfront website? [www.riverfrontwilm.com] When you get to the home page of the site, just to the right you will see a link to a printable (PDF) map. I recommend you print out a copy and bring it with you to the Walk.

OUR SCHEDULE ...

> Arrive around 9 AM to get your gear ready
> Gather around at 9:15 for last-minute announcements
> Everyone fans out to photograph the area. There is no set plan or route as the location is fairly compact. Consult the Riverfront map (see links above).
> The Photo Walk officially ends at 11:15 AM at the Riverfront Market (next to Harry's - it's on the map.)
> There will be no formalities at the end of the walk, but we'll have an informal Chimp and Chew at the Market. There you can purchase food and beverages (and produce and other goodies) and we all meet in the upstairs dining area. (The place is like a mall food court). I am told that it's not crowded at all there on Saturdays, so there should be plenty of seating.

MY ROLE AS YOUR WALK LEADER ...

It has been a pleasure organizing a local walk for the Wilmington, Delaware area. Unless I get pummeled and harassed by my fellow walkers, I plan to lead more of these (the downside is that I can't be eligible to win the prizes, but then again I never win anything). I already have some ideas for venues at future walks.

My job tomorrow is simply this: to facilitate the gathering of like-minded photography enthusiasts for a social photo shoot. Once you arrive on site, you are more-or-less on your own, but I still urge you to form small groups and share your knowledge and photography.

I will spend my time tracking down the groups throughout the morning (as long as I can keep up), and offering any advice I can. I will also be photographing YOU photographing! I may even do a video, even though I am a still photographer. We'll use these for future walks.

FINALLY ...

At the Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk website, there is a new post featuring an excellent article by photographer Laurie Excell (isn't that a great surname ... makes me think of Microsoft for some reason!). Her article gives you one last inspirational message with some great ideas on themes for your photography tomorrow.

See you tomorrow!

Sandro V Cuccia
Leader, Wilmington Photo Walk
www.DEPhotoWalk.com

Top Ten Last-Minute Photo Tips To Help You Get the Most From Our Wilmington Photo Walk

Here are my top-ten last-minute tips to help you get the most from our Wilmington Photo Walk on Saturday:

1. Prepare Your Gear!

There's nothing worse than showing up for a shoot and realizing that you forgot something critical. Similarly - and this happened to me a lot - you do your on-location shoot, then get home ready to review your images, and you realize that you had a wrong setting on the camera. Examples of this would be -- the autofocus mode, the metering mode, the white balance, and others.

It's a good idea to prepare everything the night before, get a good night's sleep, and before you take off in the morning, do one last check of things.

I prepared for my photography students a handy checklist modeled after my own. I think you may find it helpful, too - whether you tend to travel with lots of camera gear or you like to keep it simple. I have a PDF version of my checklist that you may download directly by clicking on this link.

2. No SLR? Not-a-problem?

You certainly CAN do a photo shoot and win contests with a "point-and-shoot" camera and even a cellphone camera. Those of us who need tip 1 above and use lengthy checklists might be gadget geeks and have all the latest gear, but that DOES NOT assure success as a photographer! Remember, if you grasp the basic concepts of photography -- composition, exposure, and light -- you can and will make incredible images! Think of this: "it's not the violin, it's the violinist!"

3. Keep Things Simple!

As I mentioned in a previous post, there is nothing wrong with limiting your gear to one camera and one lens. When I do this on a particular shoot or trip, it forces me to be more methodical with my photography. It helps to really get down-and-dirty with the particular camera or lens and really understand how to get the most out of it.

4. Give Yourself an Assignment - and Stick To It!

When going out for a Photo Walk, an interesting approach might be to have a particular goal or theme for the shoot. Some examples: Photographing people (how about just photographing the other participants), local architecture, angles, wide-angle photography, HDR (High Dynamic Range photography), depth-of-field manipulation for selective focus, certain compositional elements (eg; circles, leading lines, etc.), or a particular color. Giving yourself such assignments can often get you out of the photographic doldrums!

5. Take lots of pictures!

There is no excuse for not taking tons of photos with today's digital cameras! These little computers with lenses allow us to capture boatloads of images at no cost. The instant feedback we get on the LCD display is one of the greatest learning tools around. It opens up many doors to creativity and experimentation. You can't fully grasp the concepts of photography without lots of practice, so go out there and shoot like a nut! Study your images during the shoot and afterwards at the computer. Analyze the metadata from your camera so you understand how the settings (aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc) you selected affected the resulting image.

6. Make Friends; "Network."

We photographers are a geeky bunch. We love to get together to talk photo gear, the old darkroom days, get into Nikon vs Canon debates, and show each other our best images. A Photo Walk is a great opportunity to meet like-minded enthusiasts who share this passion called photography. So bring your smiles and your business cards! Get to know your fellow walkers, and join us for our "Chimp and Chew" after the walk. [If you never heard that term - Chimp - and how it relates to photography, ask me at the Walk].

7. Respect People and Property.

Although we will be photographing in a public area, please be mindful of the people around you. Be particularly careful if you choose to photograph strangers, and especially children. You will find that most people do not object to being photographed - particularly if you approach them and tell them that they have an interesting look. Ask if they wouldn't mind photographing them for your own photographic education. Remember that if you want to use images of people for publication and/or commercial use, you will need to obtain a signed release from them. A nice gesture would be to offer to mail them a copy of the photo.

As for property, one pet peave of mine is when photographers move objects (chairs, tables, trash cans, etc) to clean up a scene for a photo, and then don't replace the items back in their original places. Please be certain to leave a scene as you found it. Some property might require a release for photography as well. I don't think we need to worry about this for Saturday's shoot, but just keep it in mind.

Finally, if you do shoot around the Wilmington train station, be aware that while there may be no official rule against photographing trains and train stations, it can still be a touchy security issue for some security personnel. My suggestion to you is that it is not worth getting into a debate or confrontation over with the authorities.

8. Learn From Others <> Share Your Knowledge With Others.

Get to know the photographers you will shooting with. Share techniques, tips, perspectives on the scenes at hand.

9. Stay Safe!

Be aware of your surroundings as you walk around concentrating on the little monitor on the back of your camera. You don't want to end up in the Christina River! Stay out of restricted areas while participating in the Photo Walk. Finally, stay hydrated! Bring water, and protect yourself adequately from the sun rays by using sun screen and wearing a hat.

10. Have Fun!

As with any other activity you engage in, if you don't have a good time with photography, then think about getting out of it and trying something else to give you satisfaction and a way to temporarily escape from life's pressures. Let's face it, unless you do photography professionally, you're engaging in photography because you are passionate about it. Learn by your mistakes, take things in stride, relax and enjoy this wonderful pass-time!

As always, let me know if you have any questions!

About Submitting Your Photo Walk Images

I try hard not to put you into information overload ... but, please read this email in its entirety, it's chock-full-o good stuff... and, it's important, too!

The organizers of the Worldwide Photo Walk have issued an important deadline for you to note regarding your photography entries.

I know what you're thinking: "What photography entries? Sandro never told me anything about photography entries!"

When you go out to shoot photos at the Riverfront on Saturday, you will have an opportunity to put all your photographic juices to work and produce some spectacular images. Once you get back to the comfort of your digital darkroom, you will pick TWO of your best images from the Photo Walk, and you will submit them to our own local Wilmington Photo Walk competition. You will do this by uploading your TWO images to our city page. You are give two methods for uploading your images: either via a special Adobe Lightroom plug-in, or by direct upload via browser to our site.

The exact instructions are available via this link. (http://worldwidephotowalk.com/uploading-your-photos/). Be sure to scroll down all the way to make sure you see everything on that page. Everything you need to know - including a couple of video-based tutorials - is on this page. Please be sure to review the procedures as YOUR DEADLINE to submit your two picks is JULY 26, 11:59PM EST. I am told by the organizers that each of you should be receiving an email from them informing you of this important deadline.

Of course, I will send you reminders after our Walk, but don't wait until the last minute to go through your photos, choose your TWO winning entries, and submit them to the site. No entries will be accepted after the above deadline!

In case you are wondering... I, your fearless leader, am NOT eligible to submit entries to the contest! My reward will be to know that all of you (and your photography) have derived considerable benefit from our event, and that you have had fun and met new friends!

My final duty will be to pick ONE winning entry from our own Wilmington contestants. That winning entry will earn one or more small-scale prizes. More importantly, I will submit that one winning entry to the world-wide photo contest, where it will compete against the winners from each of the other 913 Photo Walks. For this contest, there will be one huge grand-prize winner worth over $11,700 and a ten honorable mentions valued at over $1600. These will be announced on August 17.

Remember, you CANNOT win a prize if you don't enter!! For those of you new to photographic competition, you should never feel that your photography is "not worthy" or "not good enough" to be considered. I hope I don't hear that from any one of my Walkers!!

Before closing today, I urge you to log into your Photo Walk account, using the username you chose when you signed up, to make sure everything is working. You log in by going to the main site (www.worldwidephotowalk.com). Scroll down a bit to where you see the login link. Remember, the name of our Photo Walk is wilmington-de-usa. After logging in, you will go into your "Dashboard" where you may find updated information from the organizers for you. Check each day this week.

TO SUMMARIZE:
1. You will submit your TWO best photos from the Wilmington Photo Walk using one of two methods: via a special Adobe Lightroom plug-in or via a direct upload via your browser.
2. Full uploading instructions (and the Lightroom plug-in) are available here.
3. Your TWO photo entries must be submitted by 11:59PM EST July 26. No Exceptions!
4. I will choose one winning entry out of our 50 potential contestants. There will be one prize for our Wilmington winner.
5. I will submit that winning entry to the world-wide competition
6. The Grand Prize and ten Honorable Mention winners will be announced on August 17.
7. Verify that your log-in works, and check daily for any updates from the organizers.
8. You may receive additional email notifications from the organizers.

Let me know if you have any questions!

More tomorrow...