Your Best Photo of 2018 Assignment Winner Jeff Sullivan - Outdoor Photographer

Your Best Photo of 2018 Assignment Winner Jeff Sullivan - Outdoor Photographer: Congratulations to Jeff Sullivan for winning the recent Your Best Photo of 2018 Assignment with the image, “Golden Hour On the Oregon Coast...

Thank you for the honor Outdoor Photographer Magazine!

 See more of my Best of 2018 images here on my blog.

 Also see more images from my September 2018 trip to Oregon in another post on my blog.

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Congratulations to @jeffsullivanphotography for winning the recent Your Best Photo of 2018 Assignment with the image, Golden Hour on the Oregon Coast. “Sometimes, the most interesting photos we take are from a new location or from a fresh look at a place that we haven't visited in a long time,” says Sullivan. “In 2018, I took a 2,000-mile road trip to revisit some of my favorite places in Oregon. Although I lived in Oregon for years in the 1980s and revisited a lot in the mid to late 2000s, I hadn’t been to some of these places in years. I had a great time on this latest lap, but even with 2-plus weeks it wasn’t enough time, so I’ll just have to go back soon! “My main exposure here was 1/8th of a second at f/16, ISO 200, and that produced a useful result, but HDR processing in Photomatix provided more shadow detail and highlight color, for a better overall result. The images were adjusted in Adobe Lightroom prior to HDR processing, then additional adjustment was conducted afterward as well.” * * * #OPAssignments #Oregon #landscape_lovers #sky_captures #landscapephotography #fantastic_earth #landscape_captures #ic_landscapes #ig_exquisite #ourplanetdaily #landscape #landscapelovers #instanaturelover #welivetoexplore #allnatureshots #specialshots #landscapestyles #nature_perfection

A post shared by Outdoor Photographer Magazine (@outdoorphotomag) on Feb 26, 2019 at 10:30am PST

"Photo of the Day" on MyParkPhotos.com!

On my recent Fall 2007 Western States trip I didn't have a lot of time to edit or upload photos, but one shot that I did upload to MyParkPhotos.com did win "Photo of the Day"!

Since MyParkPhotos features high quality photos from national and state parks, it is one of my favorite resources that enables me to preview places that I'm going to visit. I can see what kinds of views I'll have, and it can help me decide which ones to visit during the critical hours of best morning and evening light. In addition to photos that can be viewed by property, there are often site tips posted by other photographers, and their sharing of their experiences can make me more productive when I arrive.

Here are some other shots of mine that have been honored on MyParkPhotos in recent months:

"Photo of the Year"!

A few moments ago I was building my "Places Visited" links in the right margin of this blog, and as I entered the very last link to my Zion National Park, I saw my "Delicate Veil" shot with an extra award under it: "POTY" - Photo Of The Year!

It's one of only two shots that I have on my own wall at the moment printed at 20" x 30" size, and as good as the online thumbnail or file may look, with the way the light is distributed and with its blend of geometric elegance with natural lines and texture, it seems to look better the bigger I print it. More than the photo, though, the site is unreachable by most people, so although it's in a busy area of Zion National Park, when you get into the small 8 foot round alcove that this 12' waterfall has carved out, you're in an entirely isolated environment, a coccoon of rock and thunderous sound, a private cathedral dedicated to you and your thoughts.

The award doesn't involve a large cash or equipment prize, a book and free site membership (for life!), but the site is populated by many creative, talented, and dedicated photographers, and it's an honor to have my work recognized alongside theirs.

Coincidentally though I was wondering if I would be able to renew my paid membership next month. It may be the best site on the Internet to find quality examples of the shots that I can aspire to find as I visit new places, but without any income, I was thinking of getting on the road again and vacating my apartment to save money. For the second time in a couple of months photography site membership dues have been taken care of, right when I needed to renew. Fate, destiny, divine providence, or just dumb luck, it's one whopper of a coincidence. Perhaps the forces calling me to get on the road are all part of that big picture. I can afford to indulge in hope for at least another month and see where that path leads.

"Active Sole" Blog Nominated for Award!

If you enjoy this site, please follow this link to vote for it! (The site asks for registration and sends a confirmation email to reduce voting fraud. I've received no additional emails and no spam since registering.) Nominees are featured on CoolPhotoBlogs.com, which also helps this site show up in search engine rankings. Thank you for your support!

Second Place: Travel & Place Category of the BetterPhoto Photo contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8/29/2007 Photographer Jeff Sullivan of Granite Bay, CA, has won Second Place for July in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Wednesday.

More than 31100 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.

Sullivan's stunning image, "Morning Lights", garnered top honors after being submitted in the Travel & Place category.

All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com's contest page: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/0707.asp

The contest is conducted each month. Categories include Nature and Landscapes, Animals, People, Elements of Design, Digital Darkroom, Travel and Place, Flowers, Details and Macro, Catch-All, and Monthly Theme. Judging is performed by a panel of professional photographers.

Besides its free, popular photo contest, BetterPhoto.com also offers a variety of services: digital camera reviews, online photo courses, free newsletters, a discussion forum, Web sites for photographers, question-and-answer section, how-to articles, photo galleries, and more.

Photographers can enter this month's contest and learn more about photography at: www.BetterPhoto.com

Fall Photography Contest Winner

In 2006 the Sierra Sun newspaper in Truckee, California ran a Fall photo contest. Places were not awarded but I believe this was the only shot given a full page spread. It's an honor for me to do well in a Fall colors contest among local photographers in the Lake Tahoe area, given the wealth of shooting opportunities and the experience and local knowledge of the people living there.

This shot was taken on an outing to the Mono Lake area, not far from Yosemite's eastern entrance. I was in the Mill Creek drainage, which I had shot before, so I was looking for something different. This spring seemed like a great opportunity to put some motion and bring an element of time into the genre.

You can find basic Fall colors shooting tips in articles all over the Internet: use a polarizing filter to cut glare, underexpose by 1/3 stop to increase saturation, shoot at calm hours of the day, avoid mottled sunlight. What I never see mentioned, but you can notice in a high percentage of Fall colors still life shots (stop reading here if you don't want to notice soemthing quirky about these shots from now on) is that in photos, leaves have only fallen with the bright sides facing up! Surely gravity does not act differently in the Fall, but rather photographers eager to make their shots "just right" are at least arranging leaves, possibly collecting and carrying the best ones around and adding them to their shots. With a little searching you could probably find celebrity leaves, which make a cameo appearance in many different settings. This was one of my experiments with leaf arranging. In fact, I was collecting and carrying leaves for a few dozen yards before I finally found a good setting to photograph them in. To appease my own preference for realism I left a few token leaves "upside down," with their least colorful side up. It's realistic without being a simple stenographic copy of a time and place.