Window Detail from Frost Chapel

The last photo in the series from the NGCC shoot out of my subject:  “Geometry--Square or Rectangle.”  Taken with a lens baby, I wasn’t sure how well this photo represented “Square or Rectangle.”  As it turns out, the winning image was of a fence and a tree. 

For me, participating in this competition was a lot of fun and an important learning experience.  Next time, I’ll “go with my gut” and not get so involved with trying to fit into the subject.

Door from Frost Chapel

Here’s another photo from the NGCC shoot out of my subject:  “Geometry--Square or Rectangle.”  This door image was taken at Frost Chapel.  I eliminated this one from my submissions—I wish I had included it.  Since the competition, I realized that it was probably one of my better photos.  Next time, I’ll ask some other folks for their opinion before I eliminate anything.

Before the competition, I believed that the judging was planning to judge mainly on technical perfection and composition.  So, I was really surprised by weight the judges placed on creativity.  The winning images were very creative and many were highly post-processed.  Winning images included a lot of HD images and at least one infrared-processed photo.

Cross from Frost Chapel

My subject was “Geometry: Square or Rectangle.” This image was taken at Frost Chapel on the mountain campus of Berry College. The chapel was built by students in 1937 and features a heavy wood-beamed ceiling, a flagstone floor, leaded-glass windows, a slate roof and three beautiful stained-glass windows depicting the life of Christ. The chapel is used for special programs and weddings.

Other subjects included: nature--close up; man made--what’s the point; color and light-- silhouettes; and environment--still water.

The biggest obstacle for me during this competition was my messed up lens. I dropped by lens from a streetcar in New Orleans a few months ago. It worked fine until a couple of weeks before the competition—then it started to go bad. I ordered a new one but it didn’t come in before the competition—naturally it came in the day AFTER the competition. So most of my photos—like the photo above--were taken with my lens baby. I love photographing with my lens baby—but was afraid that the selective focus of the lens won’t be up to par in a technical competition.

ROOFTOP, NGCC Shoot Out

On October 23, 2010, I participated in a photo shoot out at Berry College.  The event was hosted by the North Georgia Camera Club and was attended by over 300 photographers.  Photographers were from camera clubs from North Georgia and Tennessee.  The event was held in Rome, Georgia at Berry College—one of my favorite places to photograph.  The photo above is of an old abandoned building on the campus.
The event was great fun! I had a wonderful time traveling around the campus with four other women photographing. I was a team lead for the Sweetwater Camera Club and helped by processing photos for an assigned topic.

The way the event worked was the after everyone was registered and settled in, five different topics were drawn and all 300 photographers went throughout the campus taking photographs of the five subjects.  After photographing for several hours, time was allowed for photo processing. 

Each camera club has to choose ten photos per subject to submit for judging.  Then, the judges choose the best five images from all the camera clubs and prizes were awarded.

The competition was fierce—there were some amazing photographers at the competition. Many of the photos were very creative and technically beautiful.  It was an honor to be in the company of so many great photographers.

As of the end of October, the winning photos aren’t up yet, but keep checking the website to view the winners.