Picture This

Our Picture This! assignment this month was all about cityscapes and how we associate a city with the grandeur of its buildings and how the architecture defines its space. Yes, cities have millions of stories within them, but when you step back and view it from a distance it's about its profile and the face it presents to the world. Readers responded with mostly idealized...

Our Picture This! assignment for this month is "I Can See For Miles," a request for the long view of things made from a high vantage point, or at least one that allowed the eye to see toward the horizon. We looked for scale and leading lines, as well as locales that inspired awe and wonder. Readers responded with many images from the American West, the land of the...

Our Picture This! assignment for this month was Water's Edge. Interesting photographs often result from considering the edge, whether that be the edge of an idea, a territory, light and dark, or, our assignment, where land meets water. The potential for reflection, contrast, mirroring, and interplay of weather systems all come into play. Readers sent in pictures from...

Black and white has always been a very expressive photographic medium. When digital came along it was all RGB, all the time. But black and white was always there, although in some cases it took some skill in image editing to get it right. Increasingly, digital cameras feature a Monochrome mode, many including "filter" effects that emulate the tonal interpretation as if...

The Golden Hour
Our Picture This! assignment this month was the "Golden Hour," the magical time of day when the slanting rays of the sun illuminate the world in a most special way. The light is filled with red and amber colors, all due to the way the light is changed as it skims the surface of the earth right before sunset. Those colors always...

Geological Wonders
Our Picture This! assignment this month was Geological Wonders, the amazing forms and patterns of the natural world. While we rightfully admire the design concepts and executions of engineers and artists, they are in many ways little match (indeed are often humble imitations) of what a walk in a canyon or valley will provide.

Double Exposure
Our Picture This! assignment for this month was Double Exposure. The challenge was to create multiple exposure images that combined various images in a way that enhanced the storytelling or created a new reality. Readers responded with a host of imaginative pictures that spoke to the newfound visual freedom of in camera and software and...