It's Oktoberfest time, or what some may call a far longer, far more lederhosened St. Patrick's Day. And for this week's Shooting Challenge, let's celebrate it by celebrating the lifeblood of Oktoberfest itself: Beer.
The Challenge
Take a photo that features beer in some way. Oktoberfests optional.
The Method
Step one: crack a beer. (You've got to get to know your subject.) Step two: decide if you want to go for a glamor shot or if you'd prefer to catch a beer in the wild. For a glamor shot, look no further than this incredible short on shooting beer with Rob Grimm. If you've never at the patience to explore studio lighting, you've probably never been holding a beer, learning about beer while doing it.
But no matter how you photograph beer, there's one tip you need to know: How do you keep beer foamy? Grimm says to stir the beer with a chopstick (the wood actually reacts with the beer to create delicious foam).
The Example
Our lead shot is from flickr's adambarhan. I dig that the only part of the image that's in full focus appears to be the foam.
The Rules - READ THESE
0. No watermarks. They're so ugly.
1. Submissions need to be your own.
2. Photos must be taken since this contest was announced.
3. Explain, briefly, the equipment, settings, technique and story behind shot.
4. Email submissions to contests@gizmodo.com, not me.
5. Include 970px wide image (200KB or less) AND a native resolution sized shot in email.
6. One submission per person.
7. Use the proper SUBJECT line in your email (more info on that below)
8. You agree to the Standard Contest Rules - though we DO accept non-US resident submissions.
9. If the image contains any material or elements that are not owned by you and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, and/or if any persons appear in the image, you are responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, any and all releases and consents necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the image in the manner set forth in these rules without additional compensation. If any person appearing in any image is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence the signature of a parent or legal guardian is required on each release.
Send your best photo by Monday, September 23rd at 10AM Eastern to contests@gizmodo.com with "Beer" in the subject line. Save your files as JPGs, and use a FirstnameLastnameBeer.jpg (970px wide) and FirstnameLastnameBeerWallpaper.jpg (2560px wide) naming conventions. Include your shooting summary (camera, lens, ISO, etc) in the body of the email along with a story of the shot in a few sentences. And don't skip this story part because it's often the most enjoyable part for us all beyond the shot itself!