Community Collaborative Project::July

HEY CREATIVES!!  IT’S THAT TIME OF THE MONTH!

Ummm…wait…that came out wrong.  What I meant to say is that it’s time to announce the details on this month’s Community Collaboration Project (CCP for those of you who are hip to acronyms and initialisms).

But First!!

Before we spill the beans about this month’s skill set project, we wanted to give a RIDICULOUSLY LOUD, GINORMOUSLY HUGE thank you to all who have participated in our last couple projects!!  Did we mention we had over 100 images submitted to our Scavenger Hunt??  OVER 100!!  Seriously, give yourselves a round of applause.  I mean, think about it…you took on an ambitious project, rocked it full of creativity, and throughout it all, you continued to make new friends (*cough network cough*) all while becoming stronger photographers.  That’s like a win-win-win…um…win.  Or a win x 4.  Or a win to the 4^th degree?

Anyway, we are so appreciative to have you all on board for these educational, yet fun community projects.  Without all of your continued support, well…there would be a win to the zero power. haha

We look forward to continuing to make these projects bigger and better in order to consistently stretch your creative imagination and skill sets.  So…um…keep spreading the word, mmmkay? 😉

Okay, now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. <insert drum roll, please>

If you’ve been following along on our Facebook and Twitter pages (which is where a lot of the day to day details of these projects get posted.  So, you might want to subscribe.  Just saying!) then you know we asked for suggestions on what YOU GUYS wanted to practice.  After all, we’re here for you!  We mulled over the recommendations we got back, and decided that this month’s skill set would be……..

SILHOUETTES!

Silhouette Barbed Wire

Now, in the coming weeks, Nick and I will be throwing a lot of silhouette how-to’s and guidance your way but for today, we wanted to give you the basics:

● Silhouettes engage the viewer by allowing them to fill in the how’s and why’s of a story.  You’ve created interest by removing detail!

● Silhouettes are created by underexposing the foreground of an image, while properly exposing for a well-lit background.

● There are no details within the silhouette, so make sure to choose a strong subject, with a distinctive outline.  This will help avoid any confusion on the part of the viewer.

● Focusing can be tricky, so you can use one of two strategies.  First, try pre-focusing on the subject, then metering for the light.  Or, you can make use of aperture to create a larger depth of field, so more of the image remains in focus.

● Flashes need not apply!  The idea behind creating a silhouette is to leave the foreground of your image in the dark.  Make sure to turn your flash off.
The project will go from tomorrow, July14th to Sunday July 29th at midnight EST.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join in on the photography fun. If you have a way to capture images – film, dslr, point n shoot, camera phone, pinhole camera, medium format – then this project is for you!  And all of your friends, don’t be stingy with the fun, ok? 😉

As always, the most important part of this project is that you have fun and get creative with it.  We know that last month’s project was extremely ambitious, so this month, we’re giving you a break.  You can submit up to 3 images (that’s only 1 per weekend!  Totally do-able!) but we really want you to focus not just on the technical side of underexposing a foreground, but on the creative side of making a great image.  Focus on making silhouette art.

When you’re ready, send an email to submit@nickexposed.com with “Count me in for Silhouettes” in the subject line. Also include the blog/web address you will want your pictures linked to when we put together the gallery at the end of the month.

We can’t wait to see what you make of this!  So far, you have continued to impress and inspire us…we have faith that this month will be no different. Get those cameras out and make us proud!

Ready?  Annndddd….GO!