52Frames Water Photo Trending

Yes, it happened again! My water photo for the challenge this week was trending on the 52Frames website. The album opens on Tuesday every week, and I have been checking the website daily to see what photos have been selected. My entry usually shows up on Wednesday late morning or early afternoon and stays posted for about 10-12 hours. And it drifts from the top to the bottom theee photos that are highlighted. Ever since April one of my fellow framers told me that she saw my photo and ever since then I have been paying attention. I still don’t know what the criteria is that is used to select these rotating images out of the 2500-3000 that are submitted every week from across the globe. I’m very happy it does show up - it’s a special perk! I’m hoping one of these days one of my images gets selected for a top 52 again or is highlighted on the instagram thread. That hasn’t happened for a while. All I know is that I love creating composite images - which technically is more of a project than just an edited photo. It’s sort of become a signature element over this last year. I have learned a lot of new techniques and look forward to the weekly challenges. Let’s hope the trend continues! 

52 Frames Water Weekly Photo Challenge

The subject for the 52Frames photo challenge this week was “water.” I wanted to do something that was more involved than I had originally thought. It started with a photo of the pond at the Smithsonian American Indian Museum. Then I placed that image on my iPad behind a bowl of water to get a distorted look. Then I turned it in to a long exposure shot. But that wasn’t enough. To bring it to life a Pyrex container filled with water, oil and dishwashing detergent - to create bubbles - was placed on top of the iPad with the converted image. The final composite was created with two layers. The top was made fifty per cent transparent and the lower layer was more defined and less intense in color and more moody. My husband liked this image best. There were a few alternatives from the Lyndon Johnson memorial grove, a rainy day shot of the building across our condo, and some leaves in the neighborhood park. One of those was actually liked more on instagram. But to be true to my desire to actually create a project we preferred this one. I love editing the images more than taking the photos. Sometimes it all comes together. I hope this is one of those times.   

52Frames Water Photo Challenge

The photo challenge this week was “water.” So we spent a lot of time in the neighborhood parks that somehow connect to the mighty Potomac River. Our morning walks took us to Riverbend Park, Scott’s Run, and Difficult Stream. I ended up using a panoramic image from Riverbend Park. As usual my niche is composite photos with painting. So the images of a turtle that was taken in the visitor center and a fisherman that was taken on the banks of the river were added in. Then a fish was painted in and the reflections of the fisherman, pole and line were added. The image was then cropped to size to showcase the clouds dancing on the water. There were also some lovely real water photos that were taken. Of note was the interesting steppers that allow you to cross the river without getting your feet wet. What we learned from these first time visits to the nature trails was that we really prefer the flat walking surfaces of the urban jungle to the rocks, uneven and severe inclines of the parks. Seeing people is preferred to desolate places. At the end of the week we walked along constitution gardens by the Lincoln memorial. That’s more like our style. 

52Frames Water Photo Challenge

Water was the subject for the 52Frames photo challenge this week. The water droplets on the leaves and the sidewalk and the water views in the neighborhood park were interesting. Then we took a ride to the Tidal Basin and walked along the WWII memorial and Lincoln memorial waterworks. We stopped by the renovated Korean War Memorial and then by the Constitution Gardens pond. It was a beautiful day for clouds and blue sky reflections. I had picked out a few favorites. In spite of that we took another ride to Roosevelt Island for a morning walk the next day. There were plenty of opportunities there as well - bridges, kayakers, and the Potomac River from several angles. But what caught my eye was an old water fountain that was situated along the trail. I don’t think I would drink from it. In fact it took several tries to even get it going. I can’t say it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken but it was a lot different than all the other ones taken earlier in the week. I’m sure it won’t win a prize or be recognized as a great entry. But sometimes I like to submit an image that looks like one of a kind - rather than the same ideas many others might have like ponds and rivers. If nothing else the photo challenges give us a reason to get out of the house. That’s the best part of it. 

52Frames Water Challenge

I’ve been participating in the 52Frames weekly photo challenge for 10 weeks. I don’t consider myself a photographer; rather, I love taking photos. I used to have a Sony camera before the iPhone came around. Since then, the iPhone is all I use - primarily for this photo blog, and now for the weekly photo challenges. Last week was “water” so we decided to drive out to Great Falls in Virginia to see if anything would work. In the meantime I tried to get creative using a water bottle and sunlight; looking in to the water of the wall vase, and the usual park streams and leaves. I really wanted to get a photo at the Capitol reflecting pool but the city was choked off from any traffic due to the inauguration. I ended up selecting one of the four Great Falls options because I loved the color of the water and the frothy waves that looked like tire treads. This week is “horizon.” Because it’s icy and snowy today we will need to wait until tomorrow to search for something that’s interesting. Once the photos are posted to the website people can comment on them. It’s another way to pass the time as we remain cooped up in the house. It’s a great excuse for a ride in to DC, or anywhere else.