January entries: when my heart beats

January 4, 2010 First LVCC meeting/competition.
I only participated in Projected Image (Travel&Journalism), skipped the Print competition (Nature and Sequence) as I didn't have anything prepared. Any 1st and 2nd placer will be sent out to compete with the other winning images from 20+ camera clubs in Northern California. The 1st place photographer is entitled to give a short commentary about the winning image.

Travel Basic Projected
1st place: "Inside SFO", San Francisco CA
judge comments: "This is an interesting image, a different perspective inside San Francisco airport. Very nice composition of the art work from the ceiling, the window, and the reflection on the floor. There is no people! I like it and never seen a composition like this of SFO."

my commentary: I was concentrating at first on the art work suspended from the ceiling but the sunset reflection on the floor caught my attention. So, I let my eyes opened with the bigger picture inside SFO. The airport was suprisingly not crowded that day (taken last October on a Monday sunset time) - so I was rushing to capture the sunset reflection on the floor and take advantage of no people in the background. Dead end from the wall behind me, I was lying down on the floor to capture the whole image using my 18-200mm lens.


2nd place: "Overlooking Lake Tahoe From Mt. Tallac", Lake Tahoe CA
judge comments: The rocks, clouds, snow, and blue sky compliment this image. But the rock and Lake Tahoe on the right side is underexposed (dark) - need to brighten that a li'l bit. This must be taken during mid-day when the sun is up and strong but still the image is nice.




Journalism Basic Projected
1st place: "The Participants Of Radium Hot Springs Diving Competition", British Columbia Canada
judge comments: Very nice image. It will draw your eyes from one segment/row to another. I like all the diving shots esp. the center image is very interesting. The maker can also enter this in Sequence category. I also like the water as the canvas background. Very well done.

my commentary: After 7 days hiking in Canadian Rockies, I decided to skip the hike and drive around and check out Radium Hot Springs and get soaked. When we get there, these divers were having a goodtime diving. So I played with my camera to stop the diving motion. I used the pool water as my canvas to stay focus on the theme.

2nd place: "Young Fisherman's Catch Of The Day", Erendira Mexico
judge comments: The boy is very proud of his catch. I would cropped the lower part of the picture because of the shadow, same thing with the half-body man on the left as it is a distraction.


lub-dub...lub-dub...(my heartbeat pounding)...standing on the back while listening to the judge's comments, I always get nervous when I know that I am going to be picked...I knew from the time I've captured my "Inside SFO" and "The Participants Of Radium Hot Springs Diving Competition" they're surely are a winner!

[click on the images to enlarge]