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One Day In The Life of Burlington Photo Contest

Updated on December 15, 2015

An Amazing Day!

The City of Burlington, Ontario has an annual photography contest sponsored by Duncan & Wright Foto Source and the Latow Photographer's Guild. It is unique in that the photos entered must be taken during a designated day and must be within the city limits of Burlington. A maximum of 200 photographers can enter. During the designated day no more than 40 pictures can be taken. From these 40 pictures, two are selected for submittal to the judges. No deletions or post editing is allowed. The contest is generally held on the last Sunday of September or the first Sunday in October.

The day before the contest registrants must bring in their memory card to Duncan & Wright to be reformatted and tagged. The memory cards are returned the day after the contest with up to 40 pictures. Duncan & Wright prints 4 x 6 copies of all of the pictures for the photographer's review. Two pictures are then selected and returned to Duncan & Wright for judging. An awards presentation is given at the Burlington Art Centre the first week of December. All photographers entry pictures are displayed at the Burlington Art Centre during December. This year, the contest will be held on September 28, 2014. The two photos must be chosen and submitted by October 25, 2014. The award ceremony will take place on December 3, 2014.

This lens will explain the thoughts I had about each photograph submitted to the contest between 2008 and 2013. It will also give camera details about each shot.

My 2008 Entry Photographs

"Lady in the Clouds" and "Rooftop Geometry"

My first year in the contest I submitted "Lady in the Clouds" and "Rooftop Geometry". Lady in the Clouds is a photograph of a bronze statue in Spencer Smith Park, along Lake Ontario. The statue is entitled, Lady of the Lakes. I simply love this statue and have photographed it from many angles and different light conditions. I shot this photograph on a rainy day at 8:12 am using a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50. The picture was taken using an ISO = 100, an aperture setting of f/5.6 and shutter speed of 1/250 sec. I was facing east so the back lighting gave me a silhouette of the lovely lady.

Rooftop Geometry, photographed later that morning from the 9th floor terrace of my condominium, is of Village Square, a shopping area in Burlington. I shot the photograph using an ISO = 200, an aperture setting of f/4 and shutter speed of 1/200 sec. The numerous angles and different textures provided an interesting composition for me.

Entry Photography for 2008 - "Lady in the Clouds" and "Rooftop Geometry"

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Lady in the Clouds is a photograph of a bronze statue in Spencer Smith Park, along the lakeshore.Rooftop Geometry is a photograph of Village Square from the 9th floor terrace of my condominium.
Lady in the Clouds is a photograph of a bronze statue in Spencer Smith Park, along the lakeshore.
Lady in the Clouds is a photograph of a bronze statue in Spencer Smith Park, along the lakeshore.
Rooftop Geometry is a photograph of Village Square from the 9th floor terrace of my condominium.
Rooftop Geometry is a photograph of Village Square from the 9th floor terrace of my condominium.

My 2009 Entry Photographs

"Illumination" and "Two Sentinels"

My second year in the contest I submitted "Illumination" and "Two Sentinels". Illumination is a photograph of Spencer's Restaurant at Discovery Landing. I shot the picture at 7:37 pm to capture the interior and exterior lighting of the structure. I used an ISO = 100, an aperture setting of f/11, and a shutter speed of 40 sec. My Panasonic DMC-FZ50 was mounted on a tripod.

Two Sentinels took a Runner Up in the Burlington Category. It is a photograph taken on the pier at the entry to Hamilton Harbour. The graffiti dragon made an interesting and colorful subject against the lighthouse on the opposite side of the entry channel to the harbour. I thought that both the dragon and the lighthouse were patiently watching the large freighters pass through to Hamilton Harbour. The photograph was taken at 5:46 pm to capture the soft light of early evening using an aperture setting of f/11, and a shutter speed of 1/15 sec. My Panasonic DMC-FZ50 was again mounted on a tripod.

Entry Photography for 2009 - "Illumination" and "Two Sentinels"

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Illumination is a photograph of Spencer's Restaurant at Discovery Landing.Two Sentinels shows a retaining wall on a pier with dragon graffiti and a lighthouse on the opposite side of the channel.
Illumination is a photograph of Spencer's Restaurant at Discovery Landing.
Illumination is a photograph of Spencer's Restaurant at Discovery Landing.
Two Sentinels shows a retaining wall on a pier with dragon graffiti and a lighthouse on the opposite side of the channel.
Two Sentinels shows a retaining wall on a pier with dragon graffiti and a lighthouse on the opposite side of the channel.

My 2010 Entry Photographs

"A Windy Day" and "Starry Night"

"A Windy Day" won Best of Show for 2010. It was a study in levitation. I placed the model on top of a slight hill in Spencer Smith Park and shot the picture while lying on the ground. The photo shoot was cancelled in the morning because of rain. I took the picture at 1:34 pm on a windy afternoon. The umbrella was torn apart on my third shot. Luckily, the damaged umbrella added to the feeling of soaring with the wind. The shot was taken using an ISO = 100, an aperture setting of f/9, and a shutter speed of 1/320 sec using my Panasonic DMC-FZ50 camera.

The "Starry Night" photograph was taken along the lakeshore walkway in Spencer Smith Park. "Starry Night" was shot using a long exposure and a Cokin P-056 8 star filter. The shot was taken with an ISO = 100, an aperture setting of f/11 and shutter speed of 5 sec, again, using my Panasonic digital camera. I liked the repetition of the lights in the photo and feeling of depth from the diminishing size of the light poles.

Entry Photography for 2010 - "A Windy Day" and "Starry Night"

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"A Windy Day" won Best of Show."Starry Night" is a photograph of the lighting along the Spencer Smith Park lakeshore walkway.
"A Windy Day" won Best of Show.
"A Windy Day" won Best of Show.
"Starry Night" is a photograph of the lighting along the Spencer Smith Park lakeshore walkway.
"Starry Night" is a photograph of the lighting along the Spencer Smith Park lakeshore walkway.

My 2011 Entry Photographs

"Never On Sunday" and "Not As It A-piers"

"Never On Sunday" was a result of a study of blurred motion. It was a cold 4 C morning when I asked my model to dance in front of the no corkage sign bare footed and in a skimpy dress. I shot the photograph using an ISO = 100, an aperture setting of f/13, and shutter speed of 0.4 sec. I used a delayed flash to fill in shadows and stop the motion after some blur was created. The photograph was taken using a Nikon D5000.

"Not As It A-piers" is a photograph of the construction of the Burlington pier taken from the Spencer Smith Park lakeshore walkway. The play on words in the title is due to the original construction completion date of the summer of 2007. I took the photograph at 7:05 am to capture the street light illumination on the lakeshore walkway and back lighting on the pier. The shot was taken using an ISO = 100, aperture setting of f/20, and shutter speed of 6 sec using my Nikon D5000.

Entry Photography for 2011 - "Never On Sunday" and "Not As It A-piers"

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Blurred motion of a dancer with scarf.Burlington Pier from lakeshore walkway in early morning light.
Blurred motion of a dancer with scarf.
Blurred motion of a dancer with scarf.
Burlington Pier from lakeshore walkway in early morning light.
Burlington Pier from lakeshore walkway in early morning light.

My 2012 Entry Photographs

"Perpetual Motion" and "Dew Drop By The Park"

Perpetual Motion was a continuation of my study of blurred motion. The day before the contest I went to Spencer Smith Park to select the location for the shooting. I wanted the location to be near street lighting so that I could get a golden glow on the concrete pillar and chain that runs along the walkway. I placed my tripod in a location that would allow me to fill the screen with a jogger while allowing some sky and sidewalk in the composition. I also wanted to have the concrete pillar located at about the one-third point in the photo. I noted the exact tripod location before leaving. On Sunday, I arrived at Spencer Smith Park with my model just before 7:00 am. Sunrise was at 7:20 am. I set up the equipment at the same location and waited a few minutes for the light to increase. I took a total of 6 pictures as my model jogged along the waterfront walkway. My 55mm to 200mm Nikkor lens was set to 95 mm with an aperture setting of f/4.5. The shutter speed was set to 0.3 sec to obtain the blur of motion.

"Dew Drop By The Park" won Best of Show for 2012! It is a continuation of my water droplet photography. The technique is explained in my Squidoo lens "how-to-do-water-drop-photography". I used a photograph of the Discovery Landing Observatory in Spencer Smith Park lit up at night. A white plastic trash can was used to support a glass plate, which was used to support the water droplets. The photograph was placed in the trash can on top of eight CD cases to provide the proper distance between the photograph and glass. The larger water droplets were created using an eye dropper; the smaller ones using a syringe.

I used a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod, which allowed me to change the center column to a horizontal position. A 4-way focusing rail was connected directly to my tripod and my Nikon D5000 was connected to the top of the focusing rail. The Nikon was equipped with an 85 mm micro-Nikkor lens and an extension tube. The photograph was taken at an aperture of f/40 and shutter speed of 30 sec. During the exposure I used an LED ring light to add light to the photograph. This was done by slowly moving the light around the outside of the plastic trash can. The light created a white glow on the inside of the trash can providing diffuse lighting.

Entry Photography For 2012 - "Perpetual Motion" and "Dew Drop By The Park"

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Blurred Motion of a jogger in "Perpetual Motion".Discovery Landing lit at night as seen through water droplets in "Dew Drop By The Park" won Best of Show.
Blurred Motion of a jogger in "Perpetual Motion".
Blurred Motion of a jogger in "Perpetual Motion".
Discovery Landing lit at night as seen through water droplets in "Dew Drop By The Park" won Best of Show.
Discovery Landing lit at night as seen through water droplets in "Dew Drop By The Park" won Best of Show.

My 2013 Entry Photographs

"Urgency" and "Vibrant Sunday"

For 2013 I wanted one of my entry's to represent a public service in the Burlington community. Paramedics working out of EMS vehicles is an important one that receives little recognition. I contacted the Region of Halton and received permission to photograph one of their EMS vehicles. The Region put out the word and had two paramedics volunteer their time for the photo shoot. The model used in 2010 for the "Gone With The Wind" photo volunteered her time to be the patient. I titled the entry "Urgency".

I wanted to take the photograph just after sundown so that the lights on the ambulance would provide most of the lighting. I used a tripod to get a very sharp image of the EMS vehicle and asked the paramedics to move toward the vehicle with the stretcher during the shot. I wanted to add blur to give the sense of urgency when dealing with a citizen with a serious medical condition so the camera speed was set to 0.4 seconds. For the exposure, the camera was set at an ISO of 200, and an aperture of f/4. The focal length was 24 mm.

The second photograph of St. Lukes Church was taken late morning on an overcast day. The brilliant colour of the foliage provided a wonderful frame for the church. I, again, used a tripod and remote shutter release to get a crisp photo. The ISO was 100 and the exposure was set at f/16 at 0.3 sec. The focal length was 45 mm. I entitled this photograph "Vibrant Sunday".

The awards ceremony was on December 4, 2013 at the Burlington Art Centre. I did not win any awards this year. However, I am already brainstorming about subjects for next year's contest.

Entry Photography For 2013 - "Urgency" and "Vibrant Sunday"

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Paramedics moving a critically ill patient to the EMS vehicle.St. Lukes Church in downtown Burlington, Ontario.
Paramedics moving a critically ill patient to the EMS vehicle.
Paramedics moving a critically ill patient to the EMS vehicle.
St. Lukes Church in downtown Burlington, Ontario.
St. Lukes Church in downtown Burlington, Ontario.

My 2014 Entry Photographs

"My Three Suns" and "Dawn"

"My Three Suns" was created by taking multiple exposures at 10 minute intervals. The photograph was taken with a Nikon D5100 with a Nikkor 18 - 300mm lens. The focal length was 58mm. An aperture of f29 was used to get star points on the sun. The exposure of each shot was 1/400 sec.

"Dawn" was taken just before sunrise. The Nikkor 18 - 300m lens was set at 65mm. The exposure was 30 sec at f22.


My Three Suns
My Three Suns
Dawn
Dawn

My 2015 Entry Photographs

"Blue Hour" and "Reflection"

I took "Blue Hour" picture just before sunrise on the Sunday morning of the contest. I had taken practice shots in the morning, during the late day and the evening. I found that the morning was the best time because there were no cars parked on the street at the end of the columns, and the building exterior lights were on. The 30 second exposure brought out the blue light coming through the overcast sky and illuminated the columns a brilliant blue.

For the "Reflection" photograph I asked a friend to model for me and dress up in western cowgirl clothes. For the backdrop, I chose Montana's Restaurant with it's western style architecture. I positioned my model next to a window on the side of the building facing the setting sun. The picture was composed so that it picked up the model's reflection in the window. The model was posed with her head down as if in reflection. I used an off-camera flash with a gold gel to the model's right, and a 24 inch gold reflector on her lower left to soften the shadow from her hat.

My photograph, "Reflection" won Runner Up in the People Category.



"Blue Hour"
"Blue Hour"
"Reflection"
"Reflection"
working

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