Here in the PNW the weather keeps life interesting.

Sure it might rain for 4 months straight but you just better watch out because Mother Nature might just throw a 70 degree sunny day in the middle of that 4 month rain stretch just to keep you on your toes.

Co-photojournalist Larry Steagall and I have a love/hate relationship with the ever present need for a “weather art” for the next day’s paper.

Our conversations with our editor  usually go something like this, “Sigh, okay yes there are umbrellas outside because it is of course raining but we’ve already ran 5 umbrella shots this week… ” Or, “Alright I’ll hit every park and beach in the county AGAIN today to illustrate this so-called warm-weather you speak of I mean it’s only 50 degrees out right now but yeah I’m sure someone will be sunbathing at 10 am…”

And yes while we drag our feet, grumble and occasionally roll our eyes , we do love them deep down inside because weather art is always good art, the hunt for that photo is always fulfilling and people love the weather- I mean it is the first thing my parent’s talk about when they call me from Michigan and I’m assuming that my parents aren’t the only weather junkies out there.

Oh and let’s not forget storms! Storms of course give us great visuals from flooding to trees down to the ever present rainbow after the storm.

Okay enough rambling, your challenge this month, if you choose to except it of course, is to show me your best weather shot.

Be it an umbrella toting person, a sunbather, a tree down with power crews working among the lines – if the image tells the story about the weather at that moment/day well that is a challenge entry right there.

And don’t forget to think about the details ( galoshes, sunscreen, sunglasses, puddles, umbrellas of course, inner tubes, beach blankets, flip flops etc etc. ) as well as the overall scene of the image. Does that make sense?

Sure this challenge is open to interpretation and all “out of the box” creative interpretations and execution of images is always encouraged.

You can email your entries to mreid@kitsapsun.com or use the handy Upload Photo Challenge Pix link at the right side of this page. Please make sure your real life name is somewhere in the upload fields or in your email to me.

Remember, I ENCOURAGE you to shoot the photo in the week that the challenge is assigned but of course will begrudgingly accept photos taken earlier this year.

Deadline for photos will be Monday, May 2nd.

Those chosen as “Stand-outs” will be published in the Kitsap Sun on the following Sunday.

Here are a few photographs telling the story of “weather” from our archives to get you thinking:

Nice work on the Reflection challenge! As usual it was so nice to see so many different subjects and shooting styles showcased.

Finding and utilizing reflections to help tell a story is something photojournalist Larry Steagall and I use daily as we traverse the county capturing photographs for the paper.

If we are in a subject’s house, and there is a mirror on the wall or a very shiny appliance in the kitchen, you better believe we will try to use that in our photograph every time.

Of course many times the image just doesn’t work and doesn’t make our final edit but seeking out those reflections is just one of the many tools of the trade that we use as we attempt to capture dynamic “out of the box” images on a daily basis.

Remember there aren’t any winners or losers, I just pick a few images and ramble on about why they “stand-out” to me for various reasons.

The following images will be published in the Sunday, April 10th. edition of the Kitsap Sun:

Reflect by Eli Pantenbburg

I absolutely love this creative photographer selfie by Eli. What could have just been a ho-hum shot of a reflection of the person taking the photo was stepped up to a very visually interesting image with the help of a few angled mirrors held be a  pair of co-subjects. The photo editor in me would suggest cropping tighter on the mirror subjects and getting rid of the garbage can and light pole though.

Ramp It Up! by Jeremy Lowe

I really like how Jeremy submitted this image upside down (he did so on purpose I promise) because truthfully there are a lot of times when a really crisp reflection image just begs to be rotated just to see if the the reflection could pass for the actual object or scene. I admit that at first glance I didn’t even realize it was upside down until I studied it closer and saw the slight ripples in the water. Rotation is a unique way of image presentation that works well for this shot.

The details and color of this macro droplet splash image are just amazing!

Blossom Reflection by Travis Tyler

This beautiful shot has wonderful composition with the grass running right through the middle of the frame making the whole frame just perfectly symmetrical both vertically and horizontally. I also really like how the reflection half of the image has a slightly darker mood to it because of  the  hue of clouds reflected in the water as well as how the pink of  the blossoms are lost in the silhouette.

Wading Plover by Jack C. Harpel

The composition of this little wader is really nice with the rocks at the top of the frame and the rocks breaking up the reflection toward the bottom. I also think Jack is well aware that I am a giant “bird nerd” which is why he’s always finding a creative and beautiful way to photograph birds so that they fit into each month’s challenge theme…it’s as if he knows that I can’t resist “oooing” and “ahhhing” over those little feathered friends every month.

Slow news days with very few photo options have had me driving around the county a lot these past few weeks as I search for photos for the print edition.

And there are a few places I keep going back to trying to get the perfect shot, or AT LEAST an interesting shot and each one of those I keep going back to seems to be a reflection of some sort.

Now I’m not going to tell you where I have been lurking about because frankly I don’t want you to steal my photos 😉 BUT if one of you snaps the photo I’ve been stalking, well let’s just say it will be an automatic stand-out.

So your challenge, if you choose to accept it of course, is to show me your best shot utilizing a reflection.

Mirrors aren’t the only place you can find reflections, there are reflections in puddles, panes of glass, shiny table surfaces, sunglasses, your cereal spoon etc. Just look around you they are everywhere.

You can email your entries to mreid@kitsapsun.com or use the handy Upload Photo Challenge Pix link at the right side of this page. Please make sure your real life name is somewhere in the upload fields or in your email to me.

Remember, I ENCOURAGE you to shoot the photo in the week that the challenge is assigned but of course will begrudgingly accept photos taken earlier this year.

Deadline for photos will be Monday, April 4th. For real, I checked my calendar multiple times to make sure I got this challenge due date right, not like the last time, 

Those chosen as “Stand-outs” will be published in the Kitsap Sun on the following Sunday.

Here are a few photographs utilizing reflections from our archives to get you thinking:

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***To recap: Every month I will post a new photography “challenge” to help build on all of our current photography skills and to encourage everyone to get out and get shooting (cameras not guns). While I encourage you to shoot the challenge in the week that it is assigned, I will however accept entries taken prior to the challenge assignment date.

When you’ve got your favorite shot, login to the Kitsap Sun Your Media Site (if you don’t already have a login, you can quickly set it one up) or click the “Kitsap Frames Photo Challenge Entries” button over there on the right side of the page and upload your image to the Kitsap Frames Photo Challenge Channel (the channels run along the left hand side of the page, again if you can’t seem to get it into the channel just upload it normally and send me an email and I’ll move it).

Again, so so many apologies for having the wrong photo due date for this challenge. I have no idea how I got that wrong on my calendar but it happened and if you had the most amazing entry that I never got to see before the page went to press please still send it along. I’ll do a blog and FB post of the “late but not really late since Meegan really screwed up” entries.

The following photos will be published in the March 14th. edition of the Kitsap Sun: