Readers Photo Challenge assignment: 'Tis the season for your best winter pictures
This month’s Readers Photo Challenge assignment is “winter.” While winter doesn’t officially start until Dec. 21, the weather and trappings of the season start around now.
Cold and rainy weather is the hallmark of winter in the Central Valley, and so far we’re right on track for a wet season. Look for photos of things like rain drops clinging to leaves, branches or even windows. Try photographing people trying to stay dry by carrying umbrellas or wearing coats overhead.
On cold days, look for people bundled up. When you combine the cold with precipitation at the higher elevations you get snow. A dusting of the white stuff can add just the right touch to a landscape. People also have fun in snow by building snowmen or sledding.
High school and college basketball is a winter sport. It’s a sport that you don’t necessarily need exotic equipment to shoot. Use a fast shutter speed (1/500th of a second) to freeze the action. You may have to use a high ISO (3200 or higher) to compensate for most dimly lit gyms, but most cameras should be able to handle it. Try to position yourself near the basket as that’s where most of the action happens.
Of course winter is the holiday season and there are several to choose from. Both Hanukkah and Kwanzaa have candle ceremonies that are interesting to photograph. New Year’s Day has a few traditions that can be photographed. The final countdown to 2023 where revelers pop confetti and champagne corks and kiss at the stroke of midnight might make for great photos. There are neighborhood polar plunges on Jan. 1 in which people dive into ice cold waters. Then there’s the 800-lb. Gorilla of holidays: Christmas. From sitting on Santa’s lap to opening presents on Christmas Day, there are a myriad of things you can shoot. Try to capture the joy and emotion of the season.
Finally, with Christmas comes the holiday lights. There are some quite stupendous displays of holiday spirit around town, and we all know of that one house that you can see from space. It will behoove you to use a tripod when shooting these lights. Try to slightly overexpose the lights to capture their colorful glow.
So there are a number of things that you can photograph to capture winter. Whatever you decide to do, it's a sure thing that ’tis the season for photographs.
How to enter
1. Photos have to be taken between Dec. 1 and Jan 3.
2. Include your name (first and last), hometown, the kind of device you used, how you got your photo and where it was taken (e.g.: John Doe of Stockton, Canon 5D Mk III. The University of the Pacific, Stockton).
3. If there is a recognizable person or persons in the photo, please identify them (name, age, hometown) and describe what is going on in the photo. Please indicate if and how they are related to you (friend, mother, father, daughter, son, etc.). For example: “My daughter Janie Doe, 12, sits under a maple tree at the University of the Pacific in Stockton.”
4. Please feel free to include any interesting anecdotes or stories on how you took the picture.
5. The number of photos is limited to 10.
6. Entries can be emailed to coto@recordnet.com. The preferred format is jpeg. Type “Fall” in the subject line.
7. The deadline for submission is Jan 3. Top picks will be in the Jan. 10 Record and posted to the Record’s Facebook page. An online gallery of all the photos on the same day at recordnet.com.
Record photographer Clifford Oto has photographed Stockton and San Joaquin County for more than 38 years. He can be reached at coto@recordnet.com or on Instagram @Recordnet. Follow his blog at recordnet.com/otoblog. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Photographing winter is Recordnet.com December Readers Photo Challenge
