Keep up the great work and remember to submit next week by NOON FRIDAY.

This week’s finalists for the following categories are:

Animal
Nicholas Dargus
“9 Weeks and Growing”

Creative
Mike Sansano
“Canalfest”

Music
Yuki Noda
“This Hollywood Life”

Honourable Mention
Marina Degteva
“Molly”

Great shots! There was some tough competition and it was very difficult for us to pick – so we had a few judges working this week. (Including the new head of our studio … puppy – Maya)

Keep up the great work and remember to submit this weeks photos by NOON FRIDAY.

This week’s finalists for the following categories are:

Animal
Yuki Noda
“Yawning Cat”

Creative
Missy Mandel
“Untitled”
 

Music
Marina Degteva
“School of Rock”

Expose your talent!

Presents: The 2nd Semi-Annual

PHOTO 101 Grads: Photography Contest & Exhibit

Over the past couple of years, we have seen some amazing talent come through the doors here at GTA Photography Classes.  Last year in November we had our first ever PHOTO 101 Grads Exhibit.  It was a huge success and the talent was amazing!  As a way to promote your hard work and keep you shooting throughout the year, we are holding our 2nd semi-annual Photography Contest & Exhibit.  This is a chance for you (and for us) to really show off your work to your classmates, family and friends.

HOW IT WORKS:
Starting today, we will be accepting photo submissions to be exhibited at the GTA Photography Classes Studio throughout the CONTACT FESTIVAL in the month of May.
We will be having our Opening Exhibit on Thursday May 6, 2010 at 7pm.

EACH WEEK between now and the Exhibit, THREE (one per theme) photos will be selected from all eligible entries to qualify as finalists for the exhibit.
All finalists will be updated weekly on our blog and grand prize winners will be announced at the Exhibit in May.

RULES:

• Each week leading up to the Exhibit, submissions will be due by Friday at NOON.
• We will announce any finalists by the following Monday.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE:

• Each participant must have taken part in PHOTO 101 or equivalent private lessons with GTA Photography Classes.
• Any year is eligible.
• As many of our students are off travelling at the moment, we will allow entries from anywhere in the world!  (Yes!  That includes Vancouver, Australia, Costa Rica, Pakistan and any other fancy places you guys are lucky enough to be!)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

• All students must submit their work online via email to contest@gtaphotographyclasses.com
• Digital files are required and must be no longer than 1000 pixels on the longest side and saved as JPGs.  Files cannot exceed 4 MB per file.
• Please clearly indicate which theme you are submitting which image to and label your images with their titles.
• The same students can enter in multiple weeks; however, each student can submit up to a maximum of 3 images in total per week.

THEMES:

We will be judging the images in the following 3 categories:

1. Creative (very open category, just your chance to get super creative!)

2. Music

3. Animals

PRIZES

We will be picking a winner in each category along with some honorable mentions at the Exhibit.

Yes there will be prizes!! And we won’t disappoint!

Each finalist that gets exhibited at the final exhibit will receive an 8×12 print of their submission.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions regarding submissions or the competition, please feel free to contact us at contest@gtaphotographyclasses.com

Finalists will be exhibited at the GTA Photography Classes Studio on

THURS MAY 6th, 2010 @ 7pm
(Winners will be announced at 8:30pm)

(All winners and honorable mentions will be announced at the exhibit as well as featured on our website: www.gtaphotographyclasses.com)

Please RSVP for your attendance at the Exhibit By April 15th, 2010

Good Luck!!

PHOTO 101 REQUIREMENTS: Digital SLR / Film SLR / or any camera that will allow you to shoot in manual mode (”M”).
MORE ADVANCED CLASSES: Digital SLR is required.

DSLR (”Digital Single Lens Reflex”) – key features :

• They allow you to interchange lenses for different purposes (longer zooms, macro photography, etc) These lenses are also much higher quality and will produce sharper images.
• They have a larger image sensor and therefore produce higher quality images.
• Allow you creative control.  You can change settings such as aperture / shutter speed to create a desired effect.  Things like; blurring backgrounds or freezing action become possible!  But this is why you take the course, to learn these techniques and how you can use the settings in these cameras to get a desired effect!

Examples of some good DSLR starter cameras:

Canon (Rebel XS, XSI, T1I)
Nikon (D3000, D5000, D90)

TIPS when purchasing an SLR camera

• First and foremost, get an understanding of what you will be using it for.  Are you planning on taking a lot of pictures of your new born baby? Or are you planning on starting a career in wedding photography?  You have to understand what you want from your camera before you can pick the right one.
• Do your homework: understand the key features before you approach the aggressive salesman.
• A great website to go and read about camera reviews and to do comparisons:
  http://www.dpreview.com/

TIPS to save some bucks:

• Look for a discontinued model.  Camera stores will heavily discount models that are being replaced in the near future.  If you hear that they are coming out with a new Canon Rebel XTxx for example,  take a look at the old models; they are likely discounted.
• In my opinion, this is the best time to buy a camera.  I have bought cameras below suppliers cost because they were heavily focused on getting rid of them.
• Don’t be fooled by more megapixels!  You are fine with 8!  You don’t need 24!!!  If you are comparing 2 models and the main difference is 2 extra megapixels!  Not required, buy yourself a better lens instead, much more bang for your buck!
• Once you have settled on the model – call around a few different stores for the best price.  Most of them will price match.  Stores to consider:  Downtown Camera, Henry’s, Black’s, Vistek, Best Buy

Good luck on your purchase!! It is a great investment and the skills you learn will last a life time.

New website just launched!  Take a look at all the new features:

• Forum :  we launched a new forum to create another avenue for our students to stay involved following their classes.  Please check it out and introduce yourself to get things started!
• Extensive FAQ page : get all your questions answered
• Nifty slideshow playing just some of our students amazing photography
• More functionality : allowing us to introduce new classes and workshops.  Stay tuned for many new classes in 2010!

What do you guys think?  Leave some comments and let us know your thoughts!