Conversations And Amazing Photographs You May Have Missed From Light Stalking

Ok, so this update is a little late…but we can't believe it is June already! And we hope that you are having a great time here with us at Light Stalking because we are.

It is incredible to see how some of you folks have started developing out not only their style but also a more profound passion towards photography! We all live in a hurry, and today we are bringing you everything that you need to know from all the stuff that happened last week!

First things first, we want to apologise for any posting inconveniences you've made have experienced in the last week. We know that it is hard to keep it up with everything that goes around here at your beloved forums, but don't worry, we got you covered.

Here you have the highlights from the general chit chat as well as some beautiful shots from Tersha's latest challenge on Selective Focus. And as you have already guessed it by now, we'll be mentioning some worth-seeing shots from the Shark Tank!

Photo Of The Week – June 03, 2019

Portrait Of A Dragonfly – Lynne Guenther

This week's Photo of The Week is fantastic. A big thank you to Scott Johnson @toadhollow for judging this week. It is always a difficult choice, and we appreciate the thought that has gone into choosing this week's winner.

Here's what Scott had to say about Lynne's beautiful photograph:

Every time I am asked to judge the POTW here at Light Stalking I find myself immersed in all the great shots that everyone posts to the site desperately trying to pick one from the stack as a stand-out shot. With so much great talent and photographs to choose from here, this is no easy task!! But eventually, I must settle on one…

This weeks POTW selection goes to Lynne Guenther with a tight macro shot of a portrait of a dragonfly. I am a massive fan of shallow depth-of-focus as a technique to isolate a subject from its backdrop and the shot I selected for this week is an excellent example of this.

There were several other factors in my decision this week, including the great light that Lynne captured along with the deep contrasts that help to accent all the crisp details in the photograph. As I revisit the photo, I can't help but find myself drawn into the dragonfly's eyes, and I think this is a result of the way the light plays off of them. I found myself wondering if perhaps she someone got this little dragonfly to pose… how do you do that, exactly?

With such a razor-thin depth-of-focus, getting a shot like this with such clarity really exhibits the talent with a camera that Lynne possesses. Congrats, Lynne, great shot!!

A very big thank you to Scott and Lynne for this week's photo of the week.

436th Challenge – Selective Focus

Tersha has done it again with an exciting and creative topic for our 436th Weekend Photography Challenge – Selective Focus.

Here are just a few of the beautiful photographs submitted from our 436th Challenge and what Federico had to say about them!!

Photo by Michael

It is amazing how we can perceive distance thanks to focusing techniques. Here we have two figurines that are pretty close one to the other, yet, we are able to perceive them as pretty distance thanks to a shallow depth of field.

Photo by Click

The word's meaning for “website” has totally changed for me now thanks to this up-side-down twist. I just love how photography can show us so much from the unseen worlds that lie in front of our lives.

Photo by P71

*Photography focusing techniques make everything look really interesting; I can even feel it's slimy skin!*

Photo by Kent DuFault

*What a beautiful composition decision Mate, her eye pierces through the screen into the viewers' eyes.*

What a beautiful and rich texture we have here inside this flower!

Conversations You May Have Missed On The Forums

Oh my, you all need to take a look at what Dorothy has made after reading an insightful guide on creating twirls in photography. I have just seen them and I must say, I'm quite impressed with her results, especially with the first version which is softer than the second one.

And speaking of which, Craig felt really curious about Dorothy's photo and gave the tutorial a read as well. And here are his results, quite groovy it is!

Bruce shared with us a lovely shot of a Cassin's finch, it was taken of course with a long lens, so kudos on keeping it so still mate.

Luis opened quite an interesting debate or inquiry in better terms. He had a doubt about the authenticity of a photograph he saw at FlightRadar 24 (a prestigious site dedicated to commercial flying). There has been debate about photographs' authenticity since the early beginnings, and after reading this thread I'm more aware of how to read a photograph in order to detect is veracity. Take a look at it, you'll be very surprised at how other Light Stalkers have dissected the image while giving it away. We have some really nice photographic forensics here at Light Stalking!

Lynne is on photography fire with her beautiful dragonflies (see the photo of the week above) – and if you loved the dragonfly then take a look at her wonderful photos of fish.

Anne shared with us a cleverly composed shot of a sparrow, it does look like it is meditating indeed. The best part of this shot is the color palette, in my personal opinion of course.

Hey, Scott reappeared! He shared a nice collection of photographs depicting a nice blue Model A from back in the day when Ford was Ford. Things really were built to last in the early twentieth century. I mean, just look at how well preserved is that thing.

Last but not least, Patrick shared with us his first try with some light painting.

Oh, and Craig shared with us a bit of his neurosis.

We'd Love To Hear Your Thoughts

Our beloved Shark Tank is getting better and better as we build a solid community that really appreciates the valuable and positive feedback. After all, there is no other place doing things as we do, at least in terms of critique. This is perhaps the best possible way in which someone can hack photography's learning curve, by getting your work critiqued and also by critiquing your peers.

We know it is hard for you to believe something like this, but it is actually true. We are able to help you out into becoming a better photographer at a reasonable amount of time by doing this. We truly believe in the power of criticism and feedback, and we promote it via The Tank.

Here many of our members have nurtured their own photographic knowledge by giving out elaborated critiques that go way beyond a simple emoji based reactions or “nice shot” comments. Not to mention the “what camera are you using?” ones. By receiving critiques we can find out flaws that weren't easy to spot for us before hearing an objective opinion upon our work.

Here are some of the most interesting shot shared during last week on the Tank:

The Shark Tank is a great place to learn and to discuss, so please read the instructions in order the get a better critique experience. Share your comments, opinions and doubts on any or all of the images above. We also will be delighted to see some of your own images. Don't be shy, critiques are given to photographs and not photographers, so don't be afraid of sharing.

We and many other members will be more than pleased to help you out; after all, we all are in love with photography. Don't skip participating in the newest challenge published by Tersha on Made of Metal.

Please remember to join our friendly photography community if you haven't done already!

Take a spin at our Members Picks from this Last Week a well, here you'll find the best of the best from Light Stalking, curated by our very own members.