Anybody want to help a new FTR shooter win the SWFA photo contest?

[Erud]

I voted for the Air force guy.....cause, you know.....

Yeah I know, you never have been able to resist a man in uniform. You are who you are, and you know I don't judge you for it. In fact I think you are very brave for coming right out and saying it on a gun forum!

Proud of you buddy!

 

[Boxcar77]

Voted from both email accounts, good luck.

 

[Erud]

Thanks!

 

[GNERGY]

I voted yesterday.
Tarey

 

[snert]

done

 

[Mozella]

If you enjoy entering this photo contest, I have a few tips for next year, even though you asked for votes as opposed to unsolicited comments from some wise guy you never heard of.

What you have here is a nice snapshot, not a photograph. In simple terms, you "take" a snapshot but you "make" a photograph. Here's what comes to mind when I see your entry.

The subject, both your wife and her gun, are quite attractive. You're way ahead of the fat guy with a 3 day beard and a Walmart AR-15. A professional photographer searching for a subject to feature on the cover of a firearms magazine or catalog, would be thrilled to work with your wife. The lighting is also pretty darn good. The diffused lighting you get under a covered firing line is often what photographers try to reproduce artificially. But a bit of fill light might improve things.

The good news is that all you need is a big sheet of white poster board held in such a way as to reflect a little additional light onto your subject; just enough to fill some of the shadows. I would avoid trying flash as a fill light unless you really know what you're doing and have all the proper equipment for off-camera flash. Flash fill in the hands of a non-photographer often times looks too artificial, but reflected natural light is usually effective and attractive. It will help the scope stand out from the background, for example.

The biggest flaw in your contest entry is the very cluttered foreground and background. The foreground problem can be fixed simply by picking up the junk. Move the scope caps, the safe chamber indicator, and even the ammo box out of the frame. Unless you're trying to feature a particular piece of equipment to satisfy a sponsor, get it out of the way. That includes your wife's distracting earpiece.

Her hair looks fine, but hair is always a potential problem, so give it a moment's attention to be sure it looks clean and not out of control. Her clothing is also suitable except that her dark shirt doesn't stand out from the dark mat. Use a lighter mat or a lighter colored shirt.

The background is more problematic if you're taking the photo at an actual range, which it appears you are. But why? Why not set up your model and her equipment in a place where the background isn't so busy? You might consider a simple wall in the background or perhaps an open field where the background is very far away. Use caution if you pose a shooting photograph like this one in a public park across the street from a school.!!!

Another technique is to use a more sophisticated camera with a large aperture lens so that you can throw the background out of focus by shooting with a shallow depth of field. Typically, cell phone cameras tend to put everything in focus. Perhaps you have a friend with a suitable 35mm style digital camera who could help you out. Not everyone has this equipment, but if you have access to a camera with a large aperture lens, try to use it.

Bottom line: I like your snapshot, but I would love the "real photograph" version. Clean up the foreground, get rid of the background clutter, reflect a bit of fill light onto your subject to clean up the shadows, try to throw the background out of focus if you can, and MAKE a carefully posed photograph, don't just take a snapshot. Make these simple, low cost changes and expect to win next year. Good luck.

 

[Erud]

I appreciate the tips, Mozella, will take that into consideration next time. This year it was more of a "Hey, SWFA just sent me an email about a photo contest, do we have anything we can send in?" type of situation.

Either way, I'm happy to get chosen as a finalist. Lots of good prizes all the way down the list. We may not win first, but we'll get something pretty nice!

Thanks for the help everybody!

 

[Preacher]

Did it !!!!!!

 

[LarryDScott]

Just voted.
I'm in favor of everyone
having a 10-50 Sightron,
and if you can win it, MO-BETTER
LDS

 

[wheelgun7360]

Hey Everybody,
Every year, SWFA has a contest where they give away some pretty good prizes for customers who submit photos using products they bought from SWFA. This year, I sent in a pic of my wife shooting her new FTR rifle at Minneapolis Rifle Club, and it got chosen as one of the finalists. This will be her first foray into competitive shooting, and she will be competing in her first match in May. We are currently doing ok in the standings, but it looks like it will be a tight race so we could use a few more votes. First place wins one of the new Sightron 10-50x60 SV scopes that are selling for $2200 - would be a great addition to her rifle as she is getting started this year.

I know this sort of thing can be sort of annoying, but if anyone likes the pic and wants to throw us a vote, I’d really appreciate it! Here’s a link to the finalists, just look for my name and the pic I've attached below. They only allow 1 vote per email address, so to verify that they will send you a confirmation link that you’ll have to click before it actually counts your vote. Feel free to forward it onto other people if you like, I won’t get mad! ;-)

http://swfa.com/ContestEntries.aspx

Thanks a bunch!
Erik Rhode

PS - I got the rifle through a trade on this very forum!

just voted. hope you and her win. allen

 

[Erud]

Thanks guys!

 

[ericbc7]

Good luck!