The official winning shot for Alien Skin Software’s April Photo of the Month is listed below. As a quick reminder, the monthly photo-sharing theme was Anticipation.
Judge
Jaime Ibarra joined us this month as our guest judge. We selected the top shots from the group and compared notes with Jaime on which one should take the title for submissions from April 2016.
Winner
Congratulations to Paula Bell!
When discussing the winning image, Jaime said, “This shot is really nice. I like opposing juxtaposition in artworks, which this image portrays nicely. The background appears rainy and tree-filled, so it suggests a cool location near a waterfall. I immediately think that kids would be ecstatic and bubbly about a scene like that, but the child’s somber expression says otherwise. Why is she so serious? That makes my mind fill in narration gaps in the image, which gets me thinking. I’m immediately drawn into a story. I love that aspect of the photo. Well done!”
Paula routinely shares great-looking photos in the Exposure Users group on Facebook. As the monthly winner, she gets a bunch of goodies, including a little promotion on the blog. Here’s a little more about her.
How did you get into photography?
During my third year of graphic design school, where we still used darkrooms!
How would you describe your style?
I don’t think I have a set style. I typically edit based on the lighting and mood of every shoot.
What piece of equipment would you most like to get your hands on?
I would love to try shooting with an 85mm Petzval lens. I love the idea of working with a fully manual lens and the bokeh it produces is unbelievable.
How do you stay current with industry trends/happenings?
I do lots of web surfing, reading, and I learn from tutorials to keep current. And, of course, I put in lots of practice.
How has Alien Skin’s software changed how you process your photos?
I love Exposure! The ability to save my own custom presets allows me to edit my work beautifully and it’s easily repeatable. The possibilities of working with this software are endless!
Learn more about her on Facebook.
Prizes
Photo of the Month award winners receive a few swanky items from Alien Skin Software. They get one of our super soft American Apparel t-shirts, a laser-engraved 16GB thumb drive loaded with all of our photography software, and best of all they are featured here on the blog.
Monthly Theme
The monthly photo-sharing theme for May is Abundant. If you’d like to enter, get your best choice shot for the topic posted before the 1st of June. Stay connected with all of the happenings in the Exposure and Snap Art Users groups over on Facebook. The announcement posts are pinned at the top of the groups on the first of each month. Unless of course I forget, then they may come a bit later.
Runner Ups
There are plenty more top choice shots, some of them are listed below. Congratulations to everyone who submitted last month. These are bangin’!
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There is quite a bit of a stretch on most of these photos being called “anticipation” photos. Decent photos but for many of them there was nothing anticipatory about them.
Agreed. The monthly theme is more of a fun suggestion than it is a law. We’d love to see more participation incorporating them, of course.