Somerset County Photography Club: Promote appreciation and enjoyment of photography. Meetings at the Bound Brook Memorial Library, 7:00 p.m., second and fourth Tuesdays. http://somersetcountyphotoclub.org
(PREVIOUS) Assigned topics 2014-2015: “Food/Sweets”, “Black & White”, “Black & White Portraits”, “Macro (No Animals or Plants)”, “Ethnic/ Cultural”, “Contradictions”, “Night Scene / Blue Hour”, “Creative / Manipulated in Post-Processing”, “Body Parts”, and “Nature” are described in Assigned Topics for 2014-2015 provided by Arik.
SCPC Assigned Topics 2014/2015
Food/Sweets – The focus of the picture must be any type of food. The food may be a still life subject or the main subject in a story-telling picture (e.g., a picture of a dish or dessert being prepared, with the focus on the food, not the chef).
Black & White – A black and white image containing various shades of grey from black to white is considered to be monochrome photo. A black & white work toned entirely in a single color will remain a monochrome work able to stand in the black & white category (e.g., sepia toned). No additional colors will be allowed in the B&W images (e.g., selective coloring).
Black & White Portraits – Portrait photography displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Headshots, full-body shots, and anything in between of people of all ages, presented in black and white, will be accepted. Environmental portraits that show a person in an environment will also be qualified, but keep the person as the main subject, not the environment. For this competition, only portraits of real people will be accepted (e.g., no photos of animals, sculptures, or pictures of people).
Macro (No Animals or Plants) – Macro photography refers to taking pictures of small things at close range. Any small object, or a small portion of a larger object, can be a subject for macro photography. A good macro photo reveals details and textures in the object that can’t be observed with normal photography or by an undiscerning eye. For our Macro Photography competition, the main subject shown in the image should be 3 inches or smaller. The main subject shown may be a small portion of a larger object. For this competition, only non-living objects will be qualified. Pictures of animals, insects, birds, plants, or any parts of them will not be accepted. Still life objects made of wood are okay.
Ethnic / Cultural – The picture depicts unique traits, such as tradition, ceremony, food, costume, decor, or tools, of a sub-population group. For this competition, the ethnic group may be defined by origin, culture, or religion.
Contradictions – The picture has strong contrasting visual or emotive elements that evoke a feeling of tension, surprise, or interest. For example: old and young, a brown egg in a tray of white eggs, small and large, a person in a business suit standing on the beach with people in bathing suits, and conflicting street signs.
Night Scene / Blue Hour – The blue hour is the time of day when the light takes on a strong blue tone and the sky (even covered with clouds) turns deep blue. The blue hour generally lasts 30 minutes after sunset and just before sunrise. The pictures submitted should capture the unique characteristics of the scene at night or in the blue hour period. The use of artificial light to illuminate a subject in the scene is permitted, but the special mood of night/blue hour conditions must be captured.
Creative / Manipulated in Post-Processing – The picture must be creatively enhanced in post processing to create an interesting, impactful, and unique presentation that could not have been captured by the camera. These pictures are digitally altered, beyond cropping, spot removal, and tone and color adjustment. For this competition, the enhancement must be evident to a viewer who doesn’t know the subject or scene. Adding a moon to a cityscape, removing a building and people from a landscape, or changing a person’s appearance may require extensive Photoshop work, but will not be strong creative manipulations here.
Body Parts – A close capture of a section of the human body, but not a full headshot or portrait. The picture may show a portion of the face or any other body part. It may be emotive (e.g., expression conveyed by the mouth, eye(s), or half face) or an aesthetic composition of body curves, hands, legs, etc. For this competition, clothing and jewelry over the photographed body part are permitted, but the focus of the picture should be the features of that body part, not fashion.
Nature – The picture must depict a natural scene or subject. Human elements shall not be present except on the rare occasion where those elements enhance the nature story. The presence of scientific bands on wild animals is acceptable. Photographs of domesticated animals, mounted specimens and obviously set arrangements are not acceptable. Farm animals are considered to be domesticated and are not acceptable. Any form of image manipulation that misrepresents the true situation or that alters the content of the image is not permitted. Minor cloning to remove small incidental distractions in the image are permitted if the cloning operation is undetectable by the judge. A judge may disqualify any image in which he or she detects evidence of cloning or pasting. Any live plant is acceptable, including hybrid plants and flowers (e.g., roses or water lilies), as long as they are photographed in a natural setting.