Bruce Hartsell
The Photography Club of Quail Creek announced the winners of the October photo contest on the theme of “Eerie” or “Spooky.”
Shari Rogers won first place with Feed Me. Shari reported her experience: “When you see a topic like Spooky, you think, ‘Let’s see what can I find!’ Off to the Halloween store I went, and there was a wealth of interesting and spooky pics to be had. To me, black and white is a true way to make a shot spooky, and a baby eating spiders was just perfect for this challenge. Hope it doesn’t creep you out!” Shari used her Apple iPhone SE, 3.99 mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec, ISO 160, no flash.
As a frequent winner of these contests, Shari offered the following tips: “Shoot a lot of shots and think about the emotion you want to convey or what the topic is. It’s okay to think outside the box and go outside the established lines. Use the tools you have, and as long as you are happy with the end result, others will be, too!”
Jeff Krueger won second place with A Different Kind of Convent. He said he “heard there was a rather oversized Halloween-decorated front yard at a Quail Creek home,” so he “decided to check it out,” and found that “it was, indeed, a major yard display.” Jeff said, “It was pretty spooky” in the daytime, so he “decided to photograph it in the morning ‘golden hour’ instead of at night in order to get a good rendition of the display elements.” Because of the size of the display, he “chose to shoot from an angle instead of straight on to give the image depth.” He used his Canon R5 MkII with a 24-105mm zoom lens at 30mm, f/9, 1/250 sec.
Jan Hartsell won third place with Diablo, a photo of a wooden mask purchased in Oaxaca several years ago. Jan said she darkened the room, set the mask on a chair with a dark background material, and used a small flashlight to highlight the mask for an eerie glow. She took the photo with her Pixel 2XL cell phone, 4.459 mm, f/1.8, 1/15 sec, ISO 3584, no flash.
The Photography Club of Quail Creek has a monthly photo contest in which members may submit up to three photos taken within the last 13 months and with minimal post-processing. A panel of judges from across the country selects the winners. The club also has a quarterly challenge in which members may submit up to three photos taken within the quarter: Extensive post-processing is allowed, and winners are selected by club member voting.
The club meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m., usually at the Kino Conference Center Mesquite Room. The club also schedules episodic photo field trips and educational meetings. Consult the club’s website at www.pcqc.org as well as the weekday HOA What’s Happening for additional information. Membership is open to all Quail Creek residents.