Writer, Photographer,
Pen Enthusiast.
Random quote of the day...
Some editors are failed writers, but so are most writers.
- T.S. Eliot
Jillangill’s Take on Long Beach and Nature
I can’t believe Summer’s already over! I mostly sat around for the second half of it, and it STILL seems like it flew by. I’m trying to make the most of all my opportunities to shoot, so without further ado here are some of my favorite shots from last week’s Long Beach/Rancho Palos Verdes expedition. We shot a CSULB’s Japanese Garden, and then at Rancho Palos Verdes’ Wayfarers Chapel. Both were lovely and fun, and of course, picturesque!
From the Japanese Garden:
The View from Wayfarers Chapel:
Long Beach Port Pipes:
You can see the whole set here
Today’s contest is through an organization called The Nature Conservancy, with a prize being exposure through inclusion in their 2011 calendar. The parameters for the contest were images of wildlife and habitats. I realized I don’t do too much shooting in those categories directly, but they’re definitely some of my interests. Here are the two I chose to enter:
I entered this into another contest earlier this month, but I think it’s also good for this one. 
I had to re-do the wing construction because in my ongoing efforts to purge anything unnecessary from my computer so it will actually run (booooo), I somehow permanently deleted the doctored image.
This one, you probably know, has always been one of my favorites. Incidentally, this one and the image above were taken during the same trip up north to Santa Maria.
Jillangill’s Patterns and Lines
First things first: my pal and resident computer genius Matt got my Etsy mini to appear on the site (thumbnail pics to the right). Hooray!
Next up, I finally finished editing my favorite pictures from the Redlands/Riverside shooting day, and you can find the Flickr set here. My favorite images of the day are this one from the Redlands Morey Mansion:
…and this one from the Mission Inn in Riverside:
Last item of business: today’s contest! The theme of the contest is Patterns and Lines, with each entrant limited to two submissions. The winner gets some sort of Photoshop bundle…? Anyway, here’s what I chose:
What I Like About this Photo:
I took this at Huntington Gardens several months ago. It’s a grouping of cacti, which don’t normally look all that interesting to me. I cropped this close and chose BW processing because I like how that makes the image look a little more abstract. I really like the lines and textures in this image, and I think this has a very clean feel to it. As for the pattern aspect of the competition, I do see some patterns in there as well…they’re just a bit more hidden.
What I Like About this Photo:
I took this when we went to go see the new World of Color show at Disney California Adventure. The show is AMAZING, and I’m pretty sure my camera didn’t leave my face for the vast majority of it. My favorite effect with the water and color was the straight-up shots into the air. This looks other-worldly to me, and in a way reminds me of northern lights (especially if you just look at the top half). So I really like the lines and feathered color here, but I also like the bottom border of spectators. Different heights, some with a camera, and different densities of the silhouettes. My favorite people in the shot are at the bottom right…the guy with the kid on his shoulders, and he’s holding out her arms. This shot more than anything else I took that night exemplifies the feeling of wonder that Disney never fails to deliver.
Jillangill’s Summer Candids
Yesterday I got to go out shooting all afternoon with my good pal Ryan DeLapp! We shot at 4 different locations in Redlands/Riverside (I’ll bet you didn’t know there was anything photogenic there, right??) and I have about 600 photos to wade through and edit today. Here’s hoping my hard drive hangs on another day.
Today’s contest is through a company called Joby, which makes the Gorillapod and its accessories. The category was “Summer Candids,” and while you can enter up to three, I only chose two. Since I’m mainly a landscape photographer, I don’t typically have/keep a ton of photos around that have people in them. I always feel weird taking pictures of people I don’t know, like they’re going to run after me and yell at me or something. Is that weird? Anyway, this contest chooses 5 winners who each get $100 worth of Joby gear. These are the two images I chose:
What I Like About this Photo:
I took this while walking around Balboa Island during Memorial Day weekend. This woman was by herself, just gazing off into the sea, and I wondered what she was thinking about. This image has been processed with Photomatix (HDR), which gives her a little glow and adds texture to the water. I do like the slightly dreamy feel of the image, and I like the woman’s messy hair. I also like the colors; a lot of pastels here.
What I Like About this Photo:
I took this during a separate beach trip last year…might’ve been Exodus’ beach day at Crystal Cove last September. When I do take pictures of people, I tend to gravitate toward choosing a single subject instead of many. Maybe it’s because I’m more interested in a person’s singular behavior than their interactions with others (I’m definitely an introvert). This little girl was ADORABLE and just running from the water when the waves came in, trying not to lose her ball. Movement and reflections are always nice in an image, and my only regret with this one is that I had to crop out most of her reflection because including it would’ve meant having other things/people in the frame I didn’t want.
Here’s where you come in! These contest entries are located here and here. If you go to the pages and click on “Like,” it will help me win! Yay!
Jillangill’s Orange and Composition
Greetings! Today I entered two free contests through a site I’m relatively new to, called ViewBug. It seems to be along the same lines as Flickr–a photo-sharing site–but with paid membership to ViewBug you gain access to all sorts of other perks and more contests. I’ll have to wait and see if it’s worth it to pay for this site, right now I’m just a free member.
So, the two contests I joined are for gear, cash, and discounts on the site’s membership. The first contest had the category “Orange,” and this is what I came up with to enter:
I took this near Pismo Beach when we went up north last December to visit Jeremy’s uncles and our ex-dog. There was an amazing colony of more than 12,000 Monarch butterflies, and I got some unbelievable shots. I don’t think I realized when I was taking this picture that the butterfly was actually landing and was sort of hovering with wings outstretched. Lucky capture! Also, when I opened the image up to color-isolate, I realized the backs of both wings and the center of the right had some tears and damage. I used Gimp’s clone tool to rebuild parts of the wings, so hopefully you can’t tell which parts are fake. 
The other contest I entered had the category “Composition,” where you were supposed to choose a photo with your best use of framing, main subject location, image balance, and DoF. I looked at the photos submitted so far and didn’t see a lot of consistency; it looked like people just put in whatever they wanted. So, I did the same. I chose one of my favorites and threw it in there:
I took this at Mission San Juan Capistrano this year. I HDR’d it for maximum texture and really like how stormy it makes the photo feel. I have it the signature Jill Tilt to get everything I wanted in the shot and make the hallway seem a little more interesting. I think the tilt gives it a kind of unsettled feel and adds to the haunted look of it. I do think it’s got good balance and interest. The color version is one of my very favorites.
All for now!
Jillangill’s Cities and Scapes
Good morning! Today’s contest entry was with a company called cPhotoZine, and the theme was Cities and Scapes. It’s a little open to interpretation, but basically they want to see cities or landscapes, or both. The prize is for gear, as this is just a small-ish monthly contest type of deal. This is the photo I chose as my entry:
What I Like About this Photo:
There are a few things going on in this photo that really appeal to me. I went with the BW and cropped the photo pretty close so the focus is on the three elements I thought were most interesting: the hill, the hikers, and the buildings. I took a few versions of this shot, but this one is my favorite because while each hiker has a different stance from the torso up, their legs are in almost the same position. I was also far enough away from them that they all kinda look like unisex stick figures. To me, it seems like a good mix of uniformity and difference, especially with the uneven space and elevation intervals between them. I don’t think I’d like this photo nearly as much if you couldn’t see the LA skyline buildings fading into the background. I love the contrast between the rolling hill and the choppy heights of the buildings. It seems like these are two things you don’t normally see together–business and wilderness–but really, our world can be a lot more compact than we think it is.