This was shot today (the same day this contest was announced…I hope it qualifies!), as I was walking around downtown Chicago I came across this sculpture “Agora” by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. The sculpture is a collection of over 100 headless and armless figures seemingly mingling at the south end of Grant Park. I captured the surreal, etherial mood of these figures on a foggy afternoon using a Nikon D3 and Nikon 17-35 f/2.8.
Shooting info:
Nikon D3; Nikon AF 17-35 f/2.8 @17mm
Aperture priority, Auto ISO, Auto WB; shot at 1/60 sec, f/8, ISO 250.
I played around with the file in PSE, first adding a gaussian blur layer then selectively erasing to further enhance the
surreal mood. Then in Lightroom added some vignetting; then back in Elements, cloned out some background elements, then dialed up the color saturation to take the image even further away from the original literal scene.
– Kip Wilkinson
For this shot i used the Canon T1i with the standard 18-55mm kit lens. I saw this weeks shooting challenge and didn’t think i’d get anything worth submitting. I went out to the green trail behind my house and started taking pictures that i thought would look epic, and eventually came up with this one. The photo is the branches of a tree, with the sun in the background. The lens was set at 41mm, ISO 100. Just as the challenge said to do and went nuts with the post processing! The major change to the photograph that i made was the hue, i though it looked way more epic in red instead of the natural blue!
– Colin Price
This is actually a photo of a framed photo in my livingroom.
I took the original one during my 2009 holidays in the United States,
in Yellowstone National Park, the first day it opened after winter
closure.
I loved visiting this place at this time of year, without the crowds
that usually “spoil” part of the incredible vistas.
We were the only people checked into Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel that
afternoon, with 2 more couples joining later in the evening.
The scene is Canary pool, one of the big hotspring basins in the
Mammoth hot spring area of the park.
This place is hauntingly beautiful in natural light under clear
circumstances already and playing with vibrance/saturation and color
levels make it incredible and alien!
Now these are colors to make any canary see yellow with envy 😉
Camera settings:
Exposure 1/250 at f/18
Focal Length 18mm
ISO 100
Camera model: Canon EOS 350D
Lens: Canon 18-200mm IS F3.5-F5.6
Thanks for the opportunity to enter this competition.
– Krysta Voesenek
Iphone 4 Camera using the Camera+ app (http://campl.us/)
After I took the photo I threw on the HDR filter and after that the “So Emo” filter.
The photo was taken in the Little Cotton Wood Canyon on my way home from Alta Ski Resort in Utah. We had just had a load of snow dumped on us so I was able to enjoy the powder and get a good picture. I saw the mountains against the sky I figured here is my Epic photo and I stopped my car got out and snapped the photo. I took this as part of my Photo of the day series.
– Hayden Taylor
Late Wednesday my wife and I decided to spend the evening in Manhattan. It was cold, overcast and getting dark so we thought maybe the Top of the Rock wouldn’t be so crowded. It was crowded, cold and windy, but the views made it worth it. I dreamed of this post-processing idea after watching a certain movie. The shot was taken with a Fujifilm F200EXR at f3.6 1/150 sec. exposure, and ISO 200.
– Michael Schultz
This is my first submission to the shooting challenge, and really I just picked up photography about a month ago when I bought a Canon T2i. Was hoping for an easier challenge to start with, and wasn’t sure how to go epic scale, but wanted to do something with fire and ice. Used blue food coloring to make blue ice cubes, which I put in a small glass of water and then lit on fire with lighter fluid. Then I went a little crazy in post processing. Canton T2i, 18-55mm kit lens at 30mm, 0.8s at f4.5, ISO 200.
– John McCoey
A Southern Arizona Sunrise.
Saw the sunrise on my way to work and had to stop to take the photos with my Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera. Actually forgot about them for a while (so technically the original photos did not occur before the announcment of the contest). While having the day off, I started going though my photos, and was attempting to make High Dynamic Range photos from those I had attempted to shoot the photos for, using LuminanceHDR. Then I trimmed and touched up the photo using Digital Photo Professional. The result is breath taking surnrise deserving of the title of a Tequila Sunrise.
Exif data
Camera Canon EOS REBEL T2i
Exposure 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture f/8.0
Focal Length 20 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
Orientation Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution 72 dpi
Y-Resolution 72 dpi
Date and Time (Modified) 2011:02:17 07:18:45
Artist John Hays
YCbCr Positioning Co-sited
Copyright Copyright by John E. Hays, 2010
XPKeywords Sunrise February 17 2011
Padding (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2011:02:17 07:18:45
Date and Time (Digitized) 2011:02:17 07:18:45
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Sub Sec Time 36
Sub Sec Time Original 36
Sub Sec Time Digitized 36
Color Space sRGB
Focal Plane X-Resolution 5728.176796 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution 5808.403361 dpi
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Manual
White Balance Auto
Scene Capture Type Standard
Padding (Binary data 2060 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Offset Schema 4070
Macro Mode Normal
Self Timer 2 s
Quality Fine
Canon Flash Mode Off
Continuous Drive Single
Focus Mode AI Focus AF
Record Mode CR2+JPEG
Canon Image Size Large
Easy Mode Manual
Digital Zoom None
Contrast Normal
Saturation Normal
Metering Mode Evaluative
Focus Range Not Known
Canon Exposure Mode Manual
Lens Type Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Long Focal 55 mm
Short Focal 18 mm
Focal Units 1/mm
Max Aperture 3.6
Min Aperture 23
Flash Activity 0
Flash Bits (none)
Zoom Source Width 0
Zoom Target Width 0
Manual Flash Output n/a
Color Tone Normal
SRAWQuality n/a
Focal Plane XSize 226.11 mm
Focal Plane YSize 500.13 mm
Auto ISO 100
Base ISO 200
Measured EV 7.62
Target Aperture 8
Target Exposure Time 1/256
White Balance Auto
Slow Shutter None
Sequence Number 0
Optical Zoom Code n/a
Flash Guide Number 0
Flash Exposure Comp 0
Auto Exposure Bracketing Off
AEBBracket Value 0
Control Mode Camera Local Control
Measured EV2 7.375
Bulb Duration 0
Camera Type EOS High-end
NDFilter Unknown (-1)
Canon Firmware Version Firmware Version 1.0.9
Owner Name John Hays
Serial Number 0722331245
Canon Model ID Unknown (0x80000270)
AFMode Multi-point AF
Num AFPoints 9
Valid AFPoints 9
AFArea Widths 129 129 129 181 222 181 129 129 129
AFArea Heights 172 172 172 117 221 117 172 172 172
AFPoints Selected 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8
Original Decision Data Offset 0
Bracket Mode AEB
Bracket Value 0
Bracket Shot Number 0
Raw Jpg Size Large
WBBracket Mode Off
WBBracket Value AB 0
WBBracket Value GM 0
Live View Shooting Off
Flash Exposure Lock Off
Lens Model EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
Internal Serial Number VA0704443
Dust Removal Data (Binary data 1024 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Tone Curve Standard
Sharpness 3
Sharpness Frequency n/a
Sensor Red Level 0
Sensor Blue Level 0
White Balance Red 0
White Balance Blue 0
Color Temperature 5200
Picture Style Standard
Digital Gain 0
WBShift AB 0
WBShift GM 0
Measured RGGB 565 1024 1024 581
Color Space sRGB
VRDOffset 0
Sensor Width 5344 (152-5335 used)
Sensor Height 3516 (56-3511 used)
Black Mask Left Border 0
Black Mask Top Border 0
Black Mask Right Border 0
Black Mask Bottom Border 0
Peripheral Lighting On
Peripheral Lighting Value 32
Peripheral Lighting Setting On
Exposure Level Increments 1/3 Stop
ISOExpansion Off
Flash Sync Speed Av Auto
Long Exposure Noise Reduction Off
High ISONoise Reduction Off
Highlight Tone Priority Disable
AFAssist Beam Emits
Mirror Lockup Disable
Shutter Button AFOn Button Metering + AF start
Set Button When Shooting Normal (disabled)
LCDDisplay At Power On Display
Add Original Decision Data Off
Compression JPEG (old-style)
– John Hays
Taken on a Canon Rebel T2i with the 18-135mm @ 18mm iso100 f/20 with a 72” exposure time. I couldn’t find my tripod, it was starting to get cold out, and I oh so wish I had a graduated neutral density filter. But with the camera firmly on an ottoman which previously resided in my living room, I started taking long exposure shots of a lake near my house achieving a mirrored effect. Nothing was done in post, except rotating to make it kind of look like a torpedo trail that is underexposed.
– David DiFrancesco
I shot this photo at the Indiana Dunes State Park at sunset on Saturday, March 12th. Looking at the photo, you would think it was a lovely, spring evening, but it was actually around 34 degrees, and constant 25mph winds were coming off the lake. Not as epic as an atomic bomb, but I think the birds flying into the sunset was a good catch for this area and time of year.
5D Mark II in manual, Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS @ 24mm f/11 ISO 125, edited in Adobe Lightroom 3.
– Eric Hines
When I first read this shoot challenge I didn’t think I was going to
try. I instead decided to go hiking at a local County Park I had never
been too. After hiking a little ways there was a clearing and what did
I see our local Nuclear Power Plant Sharon Harris off in the distance.
Once I saw the cooling tower I decided I was going to do the
challenge. When I was done hiking I took a ride to find a better spot
to take the picture. I was driving to the other side of the lake when
I found this area of fallen trees. I took the photo with my Fuji S2
Pro and my 55-200mm lens at f22 and 1/125. I then used Photoshop to
generate the explosion and smoke.
– Michael Bailey
Equipment is a Nikon D90 handheld with 18-55mm Nikkor AF-S 3.5-5.6G lens at 45mm focal length.
aperture priority mode:
Aperture: f5.3
Shutter: 1/3 seconds
ISO 200
Auto settings for exposure, white balance set for overcast.
Sunrises during the winter here in Phoenix can be pretty spectacular; especially after an overnight rain. This particular morning was no exception. This was taken at about 6:45 AM in the morning as the sun started peeking up over the horizon. I did some post processing work adding in a red/orange filter to bring out the skyfire.
– Cory Newkirk
These ducks/birds or what ever they are were in my local park having a good ole time. I was watching them play and eat, but when they duck/ bird made this face I had to snap the picture. Now thats EPIC
Camera: Canon Rebel T2i
Lens: EF-S 55-250mm 4/5.6
ISO: 800
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter: 1/1250
Focal Length: 208mm
– Jeffrey Perkins
Camera: Olympus E-520
F-stop: f/5.6
ISO: 800
Exposure: +0.3 step
Focal Length: 14mm
When I saw this competition, I thought of different places in the area that could be seen as “epic”. This spot came to mind because of the size of the building and that it’s covered in stone. I snapped the picture and cropped it in photoshop for a widescreen effect to further emphasize its size.
– Michael Berman
Invasion!
This shot was inspired by the many invasions we have been experiencing as of late, especially the invasions from space.
Everything was compositied in-camera. All smoke, robots, and space invaders were in front of the camera, and Photoshop was only used to clean up the fishing line.
Canon 7D
f/5.6
2 Alien bees with gels
smoke machine
Invaders cut-outs and fishing line
– Steve Strawn
Had given up on this weeks challenge, as I didn’t have enough imagination to think I would have anything EPIC to photograph within reach…..untill this “Vermeer meets Rembrandt in the New World” picture occured.
Going on Spring Break-visit in Fredericksburg with the kids and passed Lyndon B. Johnson State Park, where we stopped for a short visit…..which I guess is pretty obvious;o)
Gave it some HDR and a Golden Age teint in the post production and voilá!
Taken with my Canon 7D
Focal length 28 mm (36 mm equiv. 44mm)
f/20
1/80 sek
iso 200
;o)
– Annemette Kuhlmann
A lake close to home with a view I would describe as “wasteland”. After it was taken (with me lying on the ground) I quickly found out that dozens of wolf spiders were lurking under the crunchy leaves right below me.
Lightroom made it Epic.
Shot with a Nikon D3000 ISO 100, f/8, 1/250 sec, with a fish-eye/wide angle attachment.
– Leslie Renee
When I set off to west texas this weekend to attend a 2 year old’s birthday party, I figured I wouldn’t be submitting for this challenge. Kids are funny, just not epic. That and the flights were full of dingy grey clouds and flat dusty plains. But on my last of four flights, for about a five minutes, we topped out just above the dense clouds and the sky was just emmaculate. I saw this jet tail coming in the near distance and got my camera ready for about a 10 second window and got this shot. I got home and gave it some spice in photoshop.
Canon 30d, Tamron 10-22mm lens, Focal Length 11mm, ISO 320, 1/500 sec, f/16
– Collin Fleck
f/36 0.4sec ISO100
I wanted to get a long exposed water flow effect for a while now. When I seen this dam I thought I could do it. With it being bright out and the long exposure needed, I had to turn the ISO down and the aperture up. I layered both a black and white and a high saturation effect for the final photo you see here.
– Andrew VandenHeuvel
Hello!
My vision for this challenge was to shoot something alien and rugged, like it was taken in another planet. My husband had just gotten this Lego figure from Star Wars so I borrowed it for the shoot. My lens does not go wider than 28mm so I had lay on the road to get as close as I could and still get a focused shot.
Camera Settings:
100 ISO
f/11
1/125sec
28mm
– Dania Thompson
Go big or go home, said the challenge. I hope this was big enough!
A small tribute to District 9, a great film. Go rent it!
This photo was taken with a Canon T2i, 36mm, f/10, ISO 100.
– Diego Jimenez
Old Alton Bridge
The Old Alton Bridge was built in 1884. I actually used this bridge often until 2001 when a new bridge was built nearby. I took three pictures using the exposure bracketing feature in my camera and combined the photos using Picturenaut 3 HDR software.
I came close to adding some green army men in the foreground and a caption such as “c’mon men, the bridge must fall by sundown”.
Camera: Canon EOS XTi
Lens: Canon 10-22 f3.5-4.5
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 100
f-Stop: 11.0
Speeds: 1/20, 1/80, 1/320
HDR Software: Picturenaut 3
– Robert Allen
I was not sure where I was going with this shot. Soooo I returned to the ice caves to get the frozen water falls, they were melting and there is little left. I was, however, able to get a few good shots. But the problem was they were not “Epic”. Soo I photoshoped them and got this beautiful blue picture that looks like it a cave lit with a black light. I created a mirror image and then used omni blue with a spot light.
This was taken with a Canon EOS T2i, ISO 100 f 3.5 1/800 with a polarized filter.
– Jennifer Bartels
Visiting New York City for the weekend, so I thought I’d get a picture of some of the epic buildings. I was hoping to make it an HDR to capture the cloudy sky, but ran out of time (and my hotel wireless is about to give out).
Taken on a freshly minted Canon T3i (my first SLR) with a kit lens
Aperture priority f3.5
– Kevin Bonham
I was visiting Tatooine this week and I managed to get a picture of a nice sunset.
Nikon D50
70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
110mm|300mm
1/400 sec|1/4000 sec
f/32|f/40
ISO 200
This was what I had planned on doing for the Double Exposure challenge, but it was cloudy that week. Ideally I would have thrown a really thin crescent moon into the mix, but it’s at half right now.
– Quentin Swager
Title: The Gundam’s “Canon”
This past weekend I picked up a new “toy”- a Canon EF 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II USM lens. While most people would regard this as a lens of epic proportions, photographing only the lens would be trivial. So, I thought I’d play on the Canon name and throw in a Gundam figure alongside the lens. This would be the Gundam’s “Canon”. I used Adobe Lightroom to adjust the color temperature to a more bluish light source. I also played with the tone curve, hue and saturation until I was pleased with the result. I shot this with my wide angle lens so that I could achieve the angle I wanted while still keeping both subjects in the frame. Hope you find the picture amusing and interesting!
Camera: Canon 5DII
Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L
Light sources: LED booklight behind the lens and an LED flashlight off to the right with a t-shirt acting as a filter
Shot was taken at 16mm, ISO 200, f/6.3, 30-sec exposure
– Alex Stevenson
The Stare
Canon 7D, Canon 50mm 1.4 lens, 1/200, iso 320
This picture was taken at a St. Baldricks event to raises money for a cure for caner. I was hired to photograph the event and the participants while they shaved thier heads to raise money for cancer patients. This man was in the audience watching people get there hair shaved off , and I happen to turn around at the audience. I snap this picture of him as this little girl was looking at him making the picture even more epic! For the technique, I was sitting on the ground in front of the stage when i took this picture. It taken from a low angle that intensifies the perspective of the look. Then I added the black in white in post to make it even more intense!
I snap this pose on 03/13/11 around 3pm
The Epic Stare
Brought to you by me
– Brian Tom
Shot with a Nikon D5000 using the kit lens, bracketing for the lighting changes, and a flimsy tripod.
With my first submission, I was hoping to capture a timeless scene from my city. A sunset over the Miami skyline is a very familiar view to every south floridian who doesn’t live on the beach and gets to catch the glimpsing sun from the Julia Tuttle causeway on the way home.
Thanks for giving us amateurs good reason to keep picking up our cameras!
– Diego Barrera
Shot with a Canon EOS 10D, Canon 28-200mm, 1/750, f/5.6, ISO 100.
Just an average trip down to Fossil Creek near Strawberry, AZ, where we were doing some cliff jumping. Next thing I know, there are some kayakers looking to do some fall runs. Well, I just happened to find myself with my camera and one thing led to another. So there I was, taking pictures of these guys and gal kayaking off the falls.
– James Shaeffer
I took this photo with my HTC Evo on camera 360 using the visual storm effect. The clouds looked crazy while I was eating at this pizza place called Cavalli’s pizzeria so I had to take a picture of them. Best pizza place ever, only place i go to now.
– Dan Jarvis
Canon T1i, f/36, exposure 1/640sec, ISO-100 Focal length 55m
I had all but given up on this challenge, I didn’t get to go out & find anything epic, so I had to improvise & create an illusion of epicness. I had all but given up when I started fiddling with a flashlight. I figured a very fast shutter speed & small aperture could yield something. I wasn’t sure where I was going with it at first but it turned into this. It’s an LED flashlight with 3 spheres on the front. I made some exposure adjustments in photoshop & cleaned up around the spheres. Perhaps if you forget for a moment it’s the front of a flashlight, it may look epic.
– Javier Valencia
I took these shots while ballooning on Saturday, and made an HDR picture with them. I was out with another pilot who was checking out his friends new envelope (balloony part). I decided to try my hand at a quick HDR, but didn’t have a tripod so I had to use the ground to steady it. I may have gone overboard at the tonemapping step, but I like it that way! I also got a flight that day. I used the Canon T2i with a Tamron 10-24mm lens at 11mm, at f/3.5 and shutter speeds of 1/100, 1/400, and 1/1600 using AEB.
– Brandon Ray
Enclosed you will find my entry’s for the Epic Shooting Challenge…
Title: “Front Loader #3” Timelight Picture Study with Highway Flares & Sparklers… Time Exposure on Film… No Digital Manipulation… Images come out of the Camera as they appear…
Camera: Nikon FM2 35mm lens B
Film: Fuji Chrome Velvia 50
This image is the result of Drawing and Painting with light during a prolonged exposure. The camera was on a tripod and the shutter was held open with a cable release.
I then jumped into the scene and ran around the Front Loader tracing it with Highway Flares. The bucket was filled with sparklers. Total Time of the exposure was 40 minutes…
All the Best…G
– Gary Stubelick
