Art by Wade

Well, Round 36 of the great photography scavenger hunt is now complete. I am proud to say that I received at least one honorable mention for each of the nine words. Which was a first for me and very exciting! Overall I received eleven honorable mentions (crazy!), one first place and two second place awards from the judges.  I didn't have a theme for this round, but instead just played and had fun. Below are my nine images with the  judges awards. If you would like to join us for the next round,  here is a link to sign up: https://scavengerhunt.photography/scavenger-hunt-signups/ Silence Judge Herb Hahn, 2nd Place Judge Robin Griggs Wood, Honorable Mention Judge Joanna Koziara, Honorable Mention Red/Green Judge Joanna Koziara, 2nd Place Judge Robin Griggs Wood, Honorable Mention Cluttered or Clean (I did Clean) Judge Andi Thomas, Honorable Mention Wide Judge  Herb Hahn,  Honorable Mention Therapy Judge Andi Thomas, Honorable Mention Sign Judge...

One thing that has helped me become a better artist (with my camera) is the Photography Scavenger Hunt . This group of wonderful photographers gets together online every couple of months to share their creations from a list of given Hunt words. The Hunt is currently on round 34 and I have participated since round 2 (It’s hard to stop!). I have met many of these scavengers in person, first local folks then later by going to their yearly meetup. Everyone in the group is passionate about photography and willing to share and help newcomers as well as veterans. A very welcoming group and tons of fun! If you are a photographer of any level you can play along. We use all kinds of cameras from our phone shots to pro cameras. All photographers are welcome! This is the sweetest, goofiest, most helpful group of people around. So don't be shy, you know you want to join us. The Famous "Photography Scavenger Hunt" sign-up will be here before you know it! To never miss a thing - click t...

One of my favorite submissions for the 25th round of the Photography Scavenger Hunt was for the word Pencil. My final image is shown below, but I didn’t actually draw this. I used several Topaz plugins, which I’ll detail for you after the final image. Final Pencil Image Here is the image that I started with, which is a simple macro shot with the pencil balanced on the Hot Wheels car. Initial Photograph The first thing I did was clean up the image in Lightroom. Then I sent it to Topaz’s Glow plugin, where I used the liquid lines filter to make the car look more smooth and give it a little pop. I masked out the pencil, so it would always look real. Here’s that image Second Edited Image Next, I used Topaz Texture plugin to give the whole car a sketched look. I masked out the pencil again. Third Image with the Sketched look applied After that, I sent the image back to Topaz’s Texture plugin and used the black and white sketch filter on just part of the image and masked out the parts I want...

  Besides creating software and database applications for a world class lighting company, I’m also an amateur photographer. Everyone needs something they are passionate about, something that sparks your curiosity and gets you out of bed in the morning. For me, that is photography. When I am taking photographs or editing them later, time just flows and I lose myself in the task. This feeling of being in the zone is a wonderful feeling and can be enjoyed by anyone. Find your passion and hold on! Cheers, Wade About the image: My entry (image above) for Stripes in the Photography Scavenger Hunt  earned me an Honorable Mention from Sandra Parlow. I am honored to be selected out of the 273 images submitted. The image was taken at the NC Art Museum in Raleigh NC. I have taken many photographs of this building and was happy that this recent shot got noticed.