The world looks different upside down...and it's not always just that it looks upside down. Things look...different...sometimes even weightless. And 86 photos from this week's Shooting Challenge celebrate that phenomenon, without the head rush.
Lead Shot - Spacicle
When I first saw the icicles in front of my house I was thinking stalagmites for this upside down challenge, but then I got bored and started trying to capture droplets. When I looked through the shots of the droplets I really liked the inverted views in the droplets, which of course were inverted again to right side up for this challenge. I really liked the view in the droplet on this one, since you can see the sun, other icicles, and the mountains in the background. I wanted to draw more attention to this so I used Picasa focal B&W, and am very pleased with the results. Taken with my Canon PowerShot S95 at f/4, 1/1600 sec, ISO-100.
- Lysle Turnbeaugh
Still Life
Was waiting on a friend to finish up in the ER and had to take a smoke (they make us go offsite for that). Just happened to have my camera in the truck in anticipation of getting a shuttle Discovery "final flight" pic later in the day. Water in the Banana River Lagoon doesn't normally stay this smooth for very long so I managed to snap this one literally seconds before the wind spoiled the reflection.
Looking south from a boat launch with a pier on either side. Camera body is an inch above the water (using live view). Nikon D5000 in auto, Nikkor AF-S VR 16-85mm @ 16mm f11 ISO 200 and flipped with PS elements.
- Paul Hamrick
The Force
I have a feeling that most of the photos were going to be of some landscape viewed off the reflection of a lake. Which is fine, they make amazing photos, but I wanted to do something different. I struggled for a while trying to decide what to take a picture of. In the end I let the force guide me. The orb is a blown glass float, that I spent way to much money learning how to make. I lit it from the back with a bike light to make it glow. Then I balanced Luke on top of it. Shot with a Canon T2i, 18-55mm lens (set at 45mm), ISO 200, f/16, 1.3 sec exposure.
- Ben Hugeback
Rocket Booster
I wanted to photograph something that naturally moves in an up or down direction (like objects falling, shadows, balloons, etc.) so I could attempt to capture them from an alien angle. I think my final decision to use the candle flame had something to do with the fact that I've been freezing all week and I was really attracted to the warm glow of it. Canon PowerShot SD1400IS, 1/30, f/2.8, ISO: 125
- Emily Wells
Smile!
When I saw your latest shooting challenge I immediately thought of my 5-year old Beagle. He spends a good majority of his life upside down. Why? I'm not sure. I remember being a kid and looking at the house upside down and wondering what it would be like to walk around on the ceiling. Pondering the various levels of difficulty as I traversed from room to room. I wonder if my dog is thinking the same thing. Either way, here is the shot. I had my Rebel SLR packed away so I had to shoot this with my Sony DSC-T900. Shot at f/3.5, 1/8 sec, ISO 1600.
- Ben Rogers
Eau Gallie
A quiet Sunday morning on (or is it under?) the Eau Gallie river. Fujifilm s100fs : 1/400" : F5.3 : ISO100 : 101.5mm
- Mike Case
Trapeze Artist
For 2 years now I have been taking lessons and photographing the folks at the Detroit Flyhouse and we love playing upside-down on trapeze's, silks, and lyras more than anything! When I photograph the members and students, I like to find fun angles to shoot them from since it's not your typical portrait and laying on my back or crouching down to the floor has created a lot of amazing images. For this contest, I asked Micha, the head of the Flyhouse to play above me as I lay on the ground and shoot her many contorted and crazy moves. This one just said it all! She's cool as a cucumber even with her arms torqued all the way around the wrong way and the wood ceiling contrasts her wonderfully! I used a Canon 50D with Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 lens F/ 2.8 ISO 800 SS: 1/50
- Cheryl Willard
Decanter
Model was hanging against an interior divider wall, and after many practices was able to pour water from the carafe into the glass. Dying the water red produced the best images as it provided the best focal point/attraction. Took a lot of team-work to execute: someone to assist/brace/support the model, someone to pass the model the carafe and glass, and someone to actually trigger the shutter. Only a crop, minor levels/color balance, and touch ups done in Lightroom and Photoshop. Bottoms up! Shooting Summary: Canon EOS Rebel T2i, 41mm, 1/50 sec at f / 4.0, ISO 3200, EF28-135mm USM lens
- Jerry Duke
Centerpiece
I wanted to feel like I was standing on the ceiling. I used f4.0 1/15sec. and ISO1600.
- Andrew Vanden Heuvel
Lantern Statues
Equipment: Nikon D80, Nikkor 24mm/f2.8D, ISO 200, @f/11 with a tripod.
Story: I was actually going down to the Hong Kong Victoria Harbor planning to try out some HDR photography. But when I saw the Chinese lantern display doorway nearby the harbor, I thought it'd fit this challenge quite well. Cropped and removed some background lights in Photoshop.
This is my first attempt for the Photo Challenge, hope you like it =)
- Chendi Liao
Happy Hour
I missed the bokeh challenge a few week ago since my 50mm f/1.4 lens hadn't arrived yet so I thought I would do a shot that payed homage to both challenges. I placed a martini glass on top of my granite counter top (which reflected the base and stem very nicely), and pulled out a piece of black poster board that had varying hole sizes cut out in front of a lamp without a shade. To get the yellow tint in the light, I mixed some mustard and water in a frosted glass mug and placed it between the light and the poster board behind it.
In Lightroom, I adjusted contrast and yellow highlights a touch and then flipped the picture. I did some experimenting with the angle of rotation and found that placing it off axis a little was a more appealing than turning the shot 180 degrees. Hope you like. Canon T1i, Canon 50mm prime lens, f/1.4, ISO: 400, 1/15s.
- Giani Waghelstein
Sidewalk
As I was walking around my school, I noticed how cool the patch of snow looked. I turned my camera upside down and took the pretty picture. Canon Rebel T2i, EF-S 18-55mm 3.5/5.6, Aperture: 3.5, ISO: 800, 1/500
- Jeffrey Perkins
Winner - Street View
I took this shot in an alley off of Melrose Ave, in Los Angeles. I thought this was cool how the reflection of the landscape and the man walking looked? Kinda looks like a painting? Thanks for looking at my picture. I hope that this picture will help inspire children and adults all over the world to get out and explore their creative talents! Leica M9, Noctilux .95, ISO 160, 1/2000, F4
- James Hale
I worried this week might be a bit too esoteric, but apparently I'm not the only one who spent ages 3-13 looking at the world upside down. See all of the participating photos in the gallery below, or check out the full size shots on flickr.
Mark Wilson is the founder of photography blog Life, Panoramic as well as Philanthroper, a daily deal site for nonprofits.