Nice work on the annual wildlife challenge!

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

The following photos will be published in the Sunday, November 13th edition of the Kitsap Sun.

DEADLINE EXTENDED! Tuesday, October 25th is the final due date!

Okay after a hiatus of photo challenges and so many people telling me much they liked them and how bummed they are that they have been on hiatus I’ve decided to bring them back sporadically…maybe not one a month maybe one every other month or so.

And well it’s September and September has always been our wildlife challenge month…SO your challenge, if you choose to accept it of course, is to show me your BEST wildlife photo.

There is a wide variety of nature right outside of our doors here in Kitsap. So grab your camera (film, digital or even a simple iPhone) and get outside and show me what you see; be it birds, creatures with fur or those slimy snakes and toads hiding in the mud. Maybe you’ve recently been on a whirlwind vacation to Yellowstone this summer and shot a bazillion photos of bison wandering around doing their bison thing, if so show me the best bison of the bunch.

“Stand-Outs” be published in an upcoming edition of the Kitsap Sun.

Per usual you have a few rules/regulations:

My definition of wildlife is: animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and/or sea creatures living in a natural, undomesticated state.

That means unless your cockatoo “Carl” has left the comfort of his cage and has joined the ranks of the local cockatoo flock foraging around Lions Park then I don’t want to see Carl’s photo.

***ALSO I AM NOT COUNTING BUG/INSECTS/SPIDERS as “wildlife”.

I always encourage you to shoot the challenge in the time-frame that it is posted, I will accept any photos of wildlife that you have shot in 2016, but they cannot have been entered for any of the other challenges that we have had.

You may send me a maximum of 5 photos for this challenge, so edit your work down to 5 images MAX shutterbugs.

Entries may be emailed to mreid@kitsapsun.com

A pair of grebes paddle through the reflective waters of the Port Orchard Yacht Club in Port Orchard, Wash. on Thursday, October 22, 2015. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)

(Meegan M. Reid / Kitsap Sun)

A buck deer walks along the Hurricane Hill trail in the Olympic National Park south of Port Angeles, as the morning clouds burn off over the Olympic Mountains. (Larry Steagall / Kitsap Sun)

A deer munches on the tall grass at dusk in East Park near the Bremerton YMCA. (LARRY STEAGALL | KITSAP SUN)

A sea lion and a trio of cormorants hang out on one of the navigational buoys along Bainbridge Island. (MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN)

An eagle is pestered by a raven in Hansville. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)

A small mouse sits in the early morning sunshine in a gravel driveway in Brownsville. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

A finch perches in a budding tree along the shore of Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island. (MEEGAN M. REID/KITSAP SUN)

A bald eagle looks out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca at the Salt Creek Recreation Area in Port Angeles, Wash. on Saturday, July 13, 2013. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)

A coyote stands in a field off Day Rd. on Bainbridge Island Wednesday. LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife officers help a black bear escape from a cage in the Central Cascades as their Karelian bear dogs get ready for the chase on June 10. 2011. (LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)

A male osprey returns to a waiting fledgling with a fish in his talons at their nest on top of one of the lights at Gene Lobe Field at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds on Thursday, July 12, 2012. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)

 

A blue heron is silhouetted against the morning sky as it perches on a piling in the Bremerton Marina. (MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)

 

Evergreen Park Squirrel: Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun

Our previous challenge of weather was a bust, as in I didn’t get enough entries that I could pick enough “stand-outs” to fill a page.

So to those who entered, I thank you and your entries were fabulous! There just weren’t enough of them. Weirdly enough I totally blame that ridiculously nice weather for “ruining” that challenge. 😉

Okay so onward we go and I post this next challenge theme every year at this time, and usually it fails (fails as in I don’t get enough entries for publication).

And gosh darn it I don’t understand why because I see plenty of people out there at these festivals snapping away with their cameras and iphones and filling the KitsapSun instagram feed with #kitsapfestivals.

Now I don’t want to have two month’s in a row of “busted” photo challenges so I have faith that this year is the year that the Festival Fun challenge will be the best one yet !!!

Since the month of May kick starts the summer of festivals,  your challenge, if you choose to accept it of course, is to show me your best photo taken from any of the festivals, events etc. happening in the next 4 weeks. Your photo MUST be taken at an upcoming “festival” OR one that just happened earlier this month (ie. Cinco de Mayo street fair). Don’t show me a blurry photo of a viking from last year (well for that matter don’t show me a blurry photo of anything…ever) I want current photos from THIS YEAR.

Also I’m using the term “festival” pretty loosely. Snap something great during a Memorial Day ceremony- yep that counts as a “festival” in my book.

There are plenty of things going on in our area and heck you don’t even have to attend any of these listed below  because I am sure there is multitude of other events going on across the water in the big city as well:

May 14th  Gig Harbor Beer Festival

May 18-22nd Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival

May 20-22nd  Poulsbo Viking Festival

May 21st Bremerton Armed Forces Day Parade

May 28-29th Kitsap Harbor Festival

May 28th Gig Harbor Street Scramble

May 28th Port Orchard Seagull Calling Festival

May 30th Memorial Day

June 4-5th Port Gamble June Faire

(anything shot at an festival that already happened this month, ie. Cinco de Mayo, Star Wars Day etc. is also fair game)

So grab that camera or phone as you are heading out to watch a parade, trying on various styles of viking horns or taking the kids to ride the carnival rides.

I am using the term “festival” pretty loosely here, any type of event that has a festive feel with a lot of people attending counts as a festival to me.

DEADLINE IS MONDAY JUNE 6th!

Entries may be uploaded via the “Upload Kitsap Frames Photo Challenges here.” link over on the right hand side of this page or you may email them to me if you prefer : mreid@kitsapsun.com.

Stand-outs will be chosen and published in an upcoming print edition of the Kitsap Sun.

Here are a few from our archives from a few of the festivals listed to get you in the spirit of festival photography:

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:

Alright this challenge should be quite easy and very open to interpretation.

That’s right in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day next month, your challenge, if you choose to accept it of course, is to show my your best photograph capturing “Green”.

Yes we live in the EverGREEN State and yes plants, trees, grass and moss are green. But if you are going to show me a picture of those things you better make it the best photo of trees/moss/leaves I have seen in a while.

The object of these challenges is to get people out there being creative and giving them a chance to showcase their photography while building onto their existing photo skills. So get creative, don’t just scroll through the images you’ve taken of trees in the last four years on your phone and enter one of those- get out there and make some new photographs.

Be creative! The only “rule” you have to follow is that green must make a somewhat major part of or a key point of focus in you image.

And yes even green an be interpreted in other ways besides just the color, I’m of course looking for the color here but who am I to impede on someone’s creativity and out-of-the-box thinking?

Deadline for images will be Monday, March 14th.

Feel free to email me your entries (mreid@kitsapsun.con) or you can upload them to the Upload Photo Challenge Pix link to the right of this page.

I encourage you to shoot your challenge entry during the time frame that it is posted but I will accept older photos (begrudgingly).

Stand-outs will be chosen and published in the Kitsap Sun.

Here are some examples of Green from my archives:

Usually choosing stand-outs for these challenges takes a lot of time because of the sheer volume of images that are sent in and have to be scrutinized…but that was not the case for this portrait challenge.

Which is fine because I knew when I posted this challenge that it would not be very popular because every year I try to get people excited about taking pictures of people and every year I fail.

Photographing people is tough. It can be uncomfortable for both the photographer and the subject. Plus, the majority of people in this world seem to not like getting their picture taken. I am of course basing this assumption on my day-to-day photojournalist life of hearing people say, “I hate having my picture taken!”

That being said, and extra big “thank you” goes out to those who tried their hands at portraits this time around. I really enjoyed seeing the different subject’s you captured and the different shooting styles.

Remember, there are no winners or losers, I just pick a few photos and ramble on about why I like them and why they “stand-out” above the others to me.

The following photos will be published in the Kitsap Sun print edition on February 14th.

Skagit River Eagle Guide by Jack C. Harpel

While I wish I could see a bit more of this subject’s environment (ie river or boat) to add to the context of the image, I still think it is a lovely shot and what is shown tells the story of the subject just fine. I also enjoy the slightly off-center composition of the colorfully clad guide and how he’s looking out of the frame.

Angel Abby by Emily Holt

This photo really drives home the point that all you need for a nice portrait is some nice light, a willing subject, strong composition and the ability to wrangle those three things neatly into one frame.  Emily showcased this subject just beautifully.