June Photo Contest Winner

NickerTown is proud to announce the winner for the June Photo Contest. The Grand Prize winner is Ellen Kauffman for her photo titled “Horses”. Ellen selected a $25 Gift Card from Amazon.com for her prize. She shot this photo with a Canon 40D and 28-135 lens. Ellen says “the horses always come running when they hear the grain bucket!” and it really paid off that she had her camera with her when they did.

As we continue to find, it was difficult to select a Grand Prize winner because there were many fantastic photos submitted. You can see Ellen’s photo; as well as the other finalists; in the winners gallery in the Photo Contest link above.

We hope you will join in the fun and add your photos. The July photo contest that is already underway.

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

Taking photos around the barn

As we promised, here is a little more information on taking photos around the barn. In the example below, we wanted to balance the light that was being provided by the large open ended arena, which is coming in from camera left, with a bit of flash to proper illuminate Dusty (isn’t he a good looking boy). If we hadn’t given him a little flash, the right side of his face would have been completely lost in shadow. If you look at his right eye (on the left), you will notice the catchlight which is a reflection of the large open door at the end of the isle (about 30’ away). You might also notice that you don’t see a catchlight from the on camera flash because we balanced the available light with the flash. One other thing to note about this photo of Dusty is the beautiful rim light that shows up on the edges of his ears. The distance between Dusty and the camera is about 10’.

Here is the EXIF data for this photo:

When taking photos around your barn, take some time and look for places where you can get some nice natural light and if needed, don’t be afraid to pop that flash out and give your photos some extra pop. Before ending this blog entry, take a look below at the photos we posted on June 17th. The photo of the girl with the horse that has the bridle was shot with natural light (same light, same door that provided the light for Dusty) and NO flash. That photo was just taken from the opposite direction (looking into the barn).

We hope you find this info useful… and be sure to share your photos in the Photo Contest.

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

Judges Notes for Photo Contest

This is just a quick note…

We’ve been a little remiss… We always try to give some feedback to the finalists photos selected each month in the NickerTown Photo Contest. Well, we just added the notes for the April and May finalists in the forums section. We will try to be better about adding the notes more quickly in the coming months.

By the way – you know, today is the last day to enter the Photo Contest for the month of June. If you wish to participate in the June Photo Contest, you have until midnight tonight (Central US time) to add your photos. We’ll be closing down the June contest and opening the July one.

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

May Photo Contest Winners

NickerTown is proud to announce the winner for the May Photo Contest. The Grand Prize winner is Stephanie Smith for her photo titled “Grey Draft Horse”. Stephanie selected a $25 Gift Card from Amazon.com for her prize and says about her photo – “This photo is of my neighbors draft horse.  He is so friendly and loves to “pose” for the camera.”

There were many fantastic photos submitted in May and as usual, it was difficult to choose a winner. You can see Stephanie’s photo; as well as the other finalists; in the winners gallery.

We hope you will join in the fun and add your photos. The June photo contest is underway and photos are being accepted.

Thanks for stopping by,
The NickerTown Staff

March Photo Contest Results

The NickerTown Photo Contest for March 2010 was a fantastic success and we are proud to announce the winner and winning photo. The judges had an extremely difficult time selecting the finalists and choosing the winning photo this month because there were many fabulous photos entered. In the final selection, the winning photo chosen was “Evening Light” by Lou Stine.  

I was just killing time one evening while waiting for water troughs to fill, taking advantage of the beautiful evening light. I captured this photo of our Belgian stud as he was getting ready for a nibble on some hay.” ~ Lou Stine

We think you will agree that the photo is simply beautiful. The judges comments included notes on how the photo was prepared and presented. The photo shows an interesting perspective and warm tones that just draw the viewers into the photo. The sweeping mane of the horse adds a subtle softness and lovely contrast. The textures displayed in the photo and the added border “seal the deal” and make this the winning photo.  Great photo Lou!

 You can see a larger version of “Evening Light” along with the other finalists in the special album in the Gallery.

For submitting the winning photo, Lou receives a $25 Gift Card from Amazon. For your chance to win the April photo contest, visit the NickerTown Photo Contest. Create an account for yourself  and then add your photos.

Thanks for visiting NickerTown!