Photography Contest.

So...I work for a camera store and Tamron sponsored a employee photo contest.  Not mandatory, but strongly encouraged.  We had to use five specific lenses from their current line up, with photos falling into one of the following themes: People, Nature, Abstract, Close Focus and HDR.

I do not call myself a photographer.  I'm really not that good.  And frankly, I used to love it a lot more than I do now.  But every once in a while I take a shot that rekindles the love.  And sometimes that spurs a new interest.  I am grateful for the contest for relighting a fire that had faded out for a while.

Two twists to the contest: you had to submit one picture using each of the five lenses. And the pictures being submitted had to fit one of the categories.  I guess that doesn't sound much like a twist, until you think that any pictures of people will require a model release.  Pictures of nature generally require good light.  HDR requires special software, know how...and you have to shoot in RAW, which I'm practically allergic to.  Yeah, I realize it sounds like I'm whining.  And, oh, did I.  I went out shooting a bunch of times, only to realize later that nothing I shot fit the categories.  Oh! The frustration!

But here's what I got.  And since there's rarely such a thing as "no particular order", these are presented in the order in which they were taken.

Super Moon over Legacy

Taken with the Tamron 10-24.  And...uh...the 70-300.  It's a composite shot, the moon wasn't really *that* big.  Do I think it'll win?  Hell no.  But it was the only thing I had for that lens.  (remember: we had to enter a picture using each lens)

Ted Goes Golfing

I think we all had or favorites from this contest.  Mine was definitely the 70-300.  That thing is so tack sharp and so fast focusing, I couldn't help but to fall in love with it.  I have a Nikon 80-200 f/2.8.  A fantastic lens to be sure.  But I still covet the 70-300.  In comparison, the Tamron is way faster and lighter and it's easier to deal with it because of the size difference.  I'm not giving up my Nikon lens, but I wouldn't mind having the Tamron to keep it company. 

Ted's Lucky Day

Two things: the version I printed out and turned in had better skin tones.  Also, don't love this, but again, I needed something using this lens - the 17-50 f/2.8.  Fantastic lens, but again, forgot to take pictures that really fit into the categories.   I don't think it's a winner - I'm sure we'll see some really terrific portraits, but this is Ted and that's a genuine smile.  On this day Ted hit two out of the park home runs, had 2 RBIs, threw a kid out at second, got the game ball...and as if all that wasn't enough, he found a $50 bill on the field.  

Walking on Sunshine

Hmmm.  When it comes to lenses, I'm a little bit of a snob.  I've been "raised" to believe that anything that offers this much versatility can't possibly be as good as shorter ranged lenses.  But this was taken with the new 18-270 PZD lens, which is fast, quiet and tiny.  I'm not in love, but I'm definitely in like!  

Bee

60mm.  I literally had to blink back tears several times at work on Thursday.  Contest entries were due on Friday and I didn't have a shot to submit for this lens.  And remember: it's all five or none.  We don't own these lenses, we borrowed them from the store.  In my store, we're all Nikon shooters, so we were all vying for the same five lenses.  This is - no doubt - a sweet and fun lens to shoot.  Because of it's close focusing capabilities the possibilities with it are endless.  I walked to the bank on Thursday morning and noticed these beautiful irises at McDonald's.  I didn't immediately think to come back and shoot them.  3 hours later it finally occurred to be to grab a camera and go shoot it.  I think this might be the definition of serendipity.  I didn't go looking for a bee, I just figured the purple and orange would look cool - heck, I didn't even notice that the stamen was so fuzzy.  I got really lucky with this one - this petal happened to have the best light on it and along came this bee.  I'm crossing my fingers that this one gets recognized.  

We'll see what happens with this.  Frankly, I'm hoping that our store can get the store recognition prize.  With a small store I'm hoping we get some props for 100% participation.