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!