Welcome 2014!

First and foremost, I wanted to wish you, dear reader, an Happy New Year. May your wish come true and your endeavors be successful. May you and your loved ones stay healthy.

Celine and I came back  in one piece from our long trip around France (3684km in 4 driving days). We are sick but very happy to have made the journey and discovered the families and the past of each other. We came back as one of the last flights before the snow storm shut down the airports. We scrambled a bit with the luggage: we came in with just one big suitcase slightly under 20kg but came back with close to 46kg due to all various gifts we got. Among the photography gifts in no particular order:

• Celine’s mother printed and framed 4 of our pictures. This one and this one from Celine and this one and this one from me. Thank you Adeline, can’t wait to hang these!
• For my birthday, Celine offered me the 1.4x extender. Can’t wait to try it!
• My father’s old equipment. The sound of the mechanics is astounding, I can’t wait to put a roll in it.
• Arts and photography books for all year long 😉

I wish the best to Celine for this new year and highly believe in her. I hope you will find your way love! I’m glad and proud of your choice of letting PhotoblogChallenges go and hope people will flock to your new site! I hope you will get more time to expand your photographic horizon and do stuff you love.

By Sebastien Grobelny

Macro

Macro is an extreme close-up.
I believe these links deserve a close-up 😉

• Challenges: You can still submit for Best of 50 (12/02 – 12/08), Theme 50 : Winter Holidays, Technique 25: Water from Faucet and Monthly Project 12: Winter on Photoblogchallenges. You can still vote until Sunday too!
• I’m not sure I understand but I have a lot of respect for The Longest Way
• This I understand completely and am in awe. There was not retouching to these pictures. Love the imagination and all the worlds she takes us into.
• Want: I have not seen Akira in a very long time, but I remember well that this lego version of his bike is damn accurate. I’ve been toying with the idea of buying back some Lego for some time and I think what gets me the most is all you can do with it.

 

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #16

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are  Xerraire for Best of 48 (18 Nov – 24 Nov) and Ruimnm for Theme 48 : Begins with “I” or “J”. Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”. Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 48 (18 Nov – 24 Nov): I picked Droddel for a clear cold capture, Mittened Hands because I love the message and the title, Remus for a very controlled black and white with a nice play on the shadows and Shaker for a gorgeous light and sky.

• For Theme 48 – Begins with “I” or “J”: I loved Ruimnm and his jars and “Incas” from Larans (that was by the way a deserved spotlight on Aminus) and am glad they won. For this challenge I had only one pick and did hesitate a long time between Frances and her inquisitive giraffe and Locozoom. I ended up picking Locozoom for his great picture. It was his first submission and I would like to see more.

My pick of the week is Xerraire for her very intimate picture of a gorilla. I love how he seems lost in his thoughts and intelligent. It is in my opinion a great portrait.

By Sebastien Grobelny

Macro

Macro is an extreme close-up.
I believe these links deserve a close-up 😉

• Challenges: You can still submit for Best of 49 (11/25 – 12/01), Theme 49 : Curves Lines, Technique 25: Water from Faucet and Monthly Project 12: Winter on Photoblogchallenges. You can still vote until Sunday too!
• Got no winner for the contest day. I will close it on the 12/14 the latest.
• Ever wondered if we could see climate changes impacts? Have a look over at Gizmodo’s article
• Everybody heard about the Amazon drones…Have you heard about the next step? Rockets?
• Amazing idea and execution: exploding toy cars
• This is not a portrait of Morgan Freeman

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #15

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are Spectrum for Best of 47 (11 Nov – 17 Nov), Shaker for Theme 47 : Rainy and Pictografio for Technique 23 : HDR.Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”. Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 47 (11 Nov – 17 Nov): This week I picked Pictografio with the polish aviation museum. I think it’s a nice architectural shot and being of polish ascent  it spoke to me too. I also picked Rue Du Lavoir for taking us in a factory without anybody. It has a quiet feel to it, almost abandoned. I finally picked up Weib for a very expressive cow with a nice processing.

• For Theme 47 – Rainy:  I’m glad that Shaker, Boxman and Mittened Hands are the 3 big winners this week as they each have a different approach to the theme. I picked Deja for a great action shot, Ellebelle  for the sharp droplets and Xerraire for risking her life in this downpour and still getting a nice shot.

• For Technique 23 – HDR: I do believe that HDR is a big divide in photography. You have those that can’t live without it and those that wouldn’t even consider it.  For me HDR has it’s ups and downs but most importantly it needs to be subtile. That’s the reason why I picked Frances and Shaker. They bring wide range of colors and details.

My pick of the week is Deja for Theme 47 – Rainy. I can really visualize what the experience must have been with the bikes roaring in the mud. This shot takes me in the middle of the action and without the rain it would be a completely different shot.

By Sebastien Grobelny

Macro

Macro is an extreme close-up.
I believe these links deserve a close-up 😉

• Challenges: You can still submit for Best of 48 (11/18 – 11/24), Theme 48 : Begins with “I” or “J”, Technique 24: Colorful Macro and Monthly Project 11: One Hour on Photoblogchallenges. You can still vote until Sunday too!
• Christine suggested Larkspur as an answer for the Buds in Monument Valley contest. Not sure if it’s correct, but being the only answer I will say it’s the closest. Congratulations to her! A new challenge will be released on Friday 11/29 at 10AM with hints given during the day on twitter.
• I love graffiti and timelapse. Here’s a cool combo
• Kurt and Edwige Moses had a great idea. Telling stories with toys! They are featured on Petapixel here
• Learned through the deceased G4 that everything is better with dubstep. Here’s a San Francisco timelapse with dubstep!
• Last week, I showed you the camera rig and a curious tiger…This week it’s a camera rig and curious lions!

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #14

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are Ruimnm for Best of 46 (04 Nov – 10 Nov) and Shaker for Theme 46 : Birds.Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”. Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 46 (04 Nov – 10 Nov): Loved the creative shot from Ruimnm and the calm beauty from Wanderungen. I picked Harmonie for her dizzying optical illusion, Pictografio for great textures and colors in these details and Twiggy for once more a wonderful light.

• For Theme 46 – Birds:  I love the look of Shaker’s owl and Weib storks reminded me of my Alsace where I grew up. I picked up Boxman for a funny pictures of chicken with their heads out, Shiju Sugunan for a truly exotic bird (red-naped ibis), SteveF325 for a cinematic shock, very Hitchcock-like and Xerraire for a great portrait of a kookaburra

With a week full of birds, my pick of the week had to be one of them. I was split between several but finally set my heart on Ellebelle‘s lonely bird. I love the framing and the fact that this lonely cutie seems to be chirping.

By Sebastien Grobelny

Macro

Macro is an extreme close-up.
I believe these links deserve a close-up 😉

• Challenges: You can still submit for Best of 47 (11/11 – 11/17), Theme 47 : Rainy, Technique 24: Colorful Macro and Monthly Project 11: One Hour on Photoblogchallenges. You can still vote until Sunday too!
• Still no winner for the question in Buds in Monument Valley. Next will I will issue you a new challenge.
• Last week was mostly off for me: one day of work, beach and leisure with Celine and 2 photography seminars. On Wednesday  was Better Photographic Composition – Beyond the Rule of Thirds at B&H Event Space and on Thursday was Shoot like a pro with Scott Kelby at Javits Center
• Saw this on Gizmodo: You can browse some of the Smithsonian based on colors
• The new bike from Kawasaki is insane. Comfort mode looks ridiculous though
• Ad of the week : For FootLocker Tyson gives Evander his ear back!
• Fascinating article with robot and tigers! Curiosity…Kitty…
• If you follow me you know that I like birds. I’m delighted that Theme 46 was all about birds and you can still vote for your favorites until Sunday. Below is one of the recent bird pictures I discovered on 500px

  Crested tit by Neil Burton

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #13

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are Spectrum for Best of 45 (28 Oct – 03 Nov), Maboe for Theme 45 : Yellow Petals, Klaus Neuner for Technique 22 : People in B&W and Rue Du Lavoir for Monthly Project 10 : Fall. Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”.

Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 45 (28 Oct – 03 Nov): I loved the cute birds from Vaido and the simplicity from Twiggy. I picked Mittened Hands for a very dynamic composition, Rue du Lavoir for a majestic paper lion rendition,  Shaker for a splendid light and a shell full of potential and promises and finally Tede for an acrobatic snail.

• For Theme 45 – Yellow Petals:  I picked Ben for a delicate yellow flower, Larans for inviting us to a such intimate moment of life and Vaido for an outstanding flower very well displayed.

• For Technique 22 – People in B&W :  I loved the joyfulness of the winning baby from Klaus Neuner. I picked the very focused in-action portrait from Deja and this intimate stolen moment from Rue Du Lavoir. Wish I could be able to capture such happiness.

• For Montly Project 10 – Fall: I picked Harmonie for a great range of fall colors and Shaker for the variety of his fall subjects

My pick of the week is Shaker for Best of 45 (28 Oct – 03 Nov). I really like the light in this shot and the details, but more than anything I like how this shot is a starting point for a bigger story. Is it high tide? Low Tide? Is the shell hiding or emerging?

By Sebastien Grobelny

Photoblog Challenges : Results #12

This week on Photoblogchallenges, the winners are Gumnut for Best of 44 (21 Oct – 27 Oct) and Deja for Theme 44 : Subjects of Phobias. Congratulations!

Celine and I are permanent guest judges and since the middle of the year we switched the roles a little. She has to pick one favorite from the winning pictures and I have to pick several “non-winners”.

Each week I will try to shed some light on some of my choices.

• For Best of 44 (21 Oct – 27 Oct): I loved the majesty of Gumnut’s peacock and the stunning lights of Ben and Thorgun. I picked Harmonie for her beautiful feeling of autumn.

• For Theme 44 – Subjects of Phobias: I’d like to start by saying that I’m pretty scared about the pictures submitted for this, as it basically means that most of you were inches from these spiders and snakes and cockroach for instance. I really liked Monica as her spider seems to be dancing and Ben for a stinging shot but I picked in the end Larans that showed the Eiffel tower and reached me what acrophobia is in the same picture

My pick of the week is Remus for Best of 44 (21 Oct – 27 Oct). Not only is it a beautiful light painting shot but it’s a shot that celebrate Remus 9 years of photoblogging. 9 years is a really impressive number. Congratulations and many more to you Remus!

By Sebastien Grobelny