What are Self Assignments and Why Do Them?

We all tend to get in creative ruts sometimes. We start assuming too much about what we can and can't photograph, and about the limits of our equipment, our film, and ourselves. These assignments (hopefully) take you out of your comfort zone and get you photographing things you might not normally shoot. 

The only way to really learn is to do, and the more film you put through your camera the better you'll get.  Plus you get the chance to win some cool stuff.  This months winner will get 20 rolls of the Professional film of their choice courtesy of FujiFilm Professional, a copy of the Paint Shop Power Suite – Photo Edition which includes Paint Shop Pro 8.0, Photo Album 4.0, Paint Shop Xtras 1&2 and Animation Shop couresy of Jasc Software, and new this month a photo vest from Cameras Up Photo Gear..

Runners up will receive 10 rolls of the Professional film of their choice courtesy of FujiFilm Professional, a copy of the Paint Shop Power Suite – Photo Edition which includes Paint Shop Pro 8.0, Photo Album 4.0, Paint Shop Xtras 1&2 and Animation Shop couresy of Jasc Software, and a photo vest from Cameras Up Photo Gear...

Winners please allow four to six weeks to receive your prizes.

This Month - Water

If ever their was a contest that gave you a lot of latitude it is this one.

In this month's contest entries water should be a central element of the image. 

Subjects could be a wading bird, like Mitch's cover shot last month, a flowing stream like the shot at right, a classic boat under sail or a subject as simple as the little guy surf fishing in the image below. Heck it's summer (at least for those readers above the equator). We should all be spending some time around the water. 

As always concentrate on lighting, composition, and cropping in for tight shots to keep your images from feeling cluttered. 

As always we encourage you to experiment. Play around a little. After you take the initial shot that catches your eye try reframing the shot as a wide angle view, then zoom in tight and isolate individual elements within the scene. 

Deadline
August 12th

Film Types
Film or digital, color or black and white.

Lens Types
All

Rules
Each month we pick several photos from the previous month's contest that we think are worthy of publication. Feel free to enter more than one photo. Photos should be submitted by email in JPEG format, and should be no larger than 1400x1400 pixels, 24 bit color (1.4MB). Overly large images will not be reviewed. Panoramic images may exceed 700 pixels in one direction but should not exceed 1.4MB in total file size. 

By entering the contest you are giving us permission to publish the your photo in the magazine, our back issues section, and any reprints of back issues.

Please include the following in your email:

• Name
  email address
  Brand & model of camera
  Brand & focal length of lens
  Brand & speed of film used (or specify digital)
  Scanner and/or scanning method
  How/if the image was manipulated digitally
  The story behind the image
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