"I captured this with my Olympus Pen E-PL1 camera and 17mm 2.8 pancake lens," writes Roderick James. "This was the last day of the Royal Jubilee in the UK, and a giant poster of the Royal family (from the Queen's silver jubilee) was hung across the full width and height of a building along the Thames. I saw this guy with his Union Jack umbrella walking toward the poster, and I couldn't resist grabbing this shot."

Thanks Rod for sharing this image. It's funny, I was just talking about the pancake lens yesterday.

This is our 220th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

TDS member Brandt Ryan talks about the tip, "always look behind you," and how it led to this photo he captured.

"Not long ago I was in San Francisco (first time) and was trying to get some good shots of the Golden Gate during and after sunrise. I had my tripod and composition setup and had been going at it for much of the morning.

"I like the shot--but I really like the fact that I had the awareness to turn around and check out what was happening behind me. The title of the shot, "Awareness," speaks for itself, I think, especially when one reads the story behind the photo :) Cheers to Martin Bailey for the tip, and thanks to you Derrick for a wonderful podcast."

This is our 219th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

TDS member Michel Bricteux was attending a Mexican dance class in Madrid, Spain when he captured this beautiful image.

He mounted a 50mm lens on his Nikon D3X, set the ISO to 1600, then used Aperture Priority mode at f/1.4. The resulting shutter speed was 1/1000th of a second, plenty fast to catch this airborne dance in mid-flight.

This is our 218th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"As you advised in one of the January podcasts, I've started a photo group with some friends who share my passion for photography," writes Michael DeBuhr. "We get together on the last weekend of each month to shoot. Sometime we pick specific styles or subjects (for August we worked on macro), but mostly it's just for fun and an excuse to get out and take some pictures and chat about cameras. Afterwords we post our best shots on Flickr for the rest of the group to see and offer suggestions to improve."

"In this picture, my friend Dave was taking a picture of his wife taking a picture of the bridge, which I found amusing so I took one of him."

Photo by Michael DeBuhr.

This is our 217th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"This image was taken while strolling through Central Park in Manhattan," writes Kevin Miller. "The John Lennon memorial, 'Strawberry Fields,' was dedicated on what would have been his 45th birthday, October 9, 1985, by New York Mayor Ed Koch and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono."

"About 18 years ago, Gary dos Santos started hanging around the memorial and eventually became the self-assigned curator -- decorating the mosaic memorial and giving his Lennon spiel to fans. About 10 years ago, Gary was visited in a dream by the Brother (John Lennon), who told him to keep up his daily efforts at the memorial and that he should be the appointed Mayor of Strawberry Fields."

"This image captures Gary in the middle of his memorial decorating service. Note the title 'Mayor' on his jacket."

Taken with Canon S95, ISO 400, f4.5, 1/125th second, 13mm lens setting based on range of 6mm-22.5mm.

This is our 216th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"Recently, my wife and her two nieces were doing the tourist thing at Ghirardelli Square," writes Gary Henry. "One niece ran up, grabbed me, and said 'you've got to get a shot of this guy over at Kara's Cupcakes.' I had my Nikon D90 w/18-105 hanging on my RS-4 Rapid strap and literally swung it up and grabbed this shot."

This is our 215th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"While I wait for the train to pass," writes Conrado Gonzalez, "why not capture a grab shot?"

What a great argument for having your camera with you. Conrado captured this beautiful image with his Nikon D40, then processed the photo in Lightroom 3.4. (Click on image to get its full impact!) Sometimes those short delays work in our favor...

This is our 214th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"I've been trying to capture a rocket launch from Vandenberg for almost a year now," writes Thomas Emmerich. "I finally got my chance tonight, and it came out pretty good for my first try. I almost missed it by mis-judging the launch angle from Ventura (CA)."

"Rocket Launch" - Grab Shot 213 by Thomas Emmerich. Click on image for larger version.

"I had to move the camera at the last moment and missed the first few seconds of the launch. The hard part about taking these shots is you can't see anything in the viewfinder while setting up, and then once you open the shutter, you can't tell where the rocket is in the frame or if its even in the frame. There are no second chances."

"I used my Canon T2i with a borrowed Canon 17-40mm F4L lens. Settings were F/8 and bulb mode with a infrared remote trigger to start and stop the exposure of 95 seconds. ISO 400. I found tips on photographing rockets at night by doing a Google search for 'Photograph Vandenberg Rocket Launch'".

There was quite a bit of water vapor in the air, which was made visible by the long exposure and the parking lot lights behind me.

This is our 213th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"I started out Sunday evening and took a drive until I found some water," writes Keith Burrows. At just the right moment, I stopped and shot this scene. It's a typical south Florida sunset, which is why I live here!"

"Reflections of a Beautiful Evening" by Keith Burrows. Click on image for larger version.

Keith recorded this beautiful image with his Canon 60D and a 10-22mm lens set wide open. It's a 3-shot HDR, initially processed in Aperture 3 then finished with HDR PRO by Nik.

This is our 212th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"Here's a black-and-white version of a photo I took of Alcatraz while playing tourist with my son during our recent visit to San Francisco for MacWorld," writes Darryl Esakof. "As the harbor cruise circled Alcatraz in the late afternoon with the sun low in the west, some very interesting silhouettes appeared."

"Alcatraz by Darryl Esakof" Click on image for larger version.

Darryl captured the shot with a Canon S95 , ISO 80, 22mm, f4.9, 1/800 sec., then processed it in Aperture 3.

This is our 211th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"While reading Red River's information on their new card paper, I clicked on your link about BOKAH taken in Las Vegas, and enjoyed the image of OOF Lights," writes Ralph Ansel. "During my visit to Las Vegas, I did some photos of lights at the candy factory's decorated cactus garden. I used a Canon 5D MarkII, Canon 24-70mm f2.8 at about f8 in Aperture Priority mode. I adjusted the lens opening to get a 1 to 2 sec. shutter speed and zoomed the lens during the exposure."

Nice shot, Ralph! I think the effect is striking.

Photo by Ralph Ansel.

This is our 210th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"This is an HDR shot with a Canon 60D using a Canon wide-angle 10-22mm at 10mm and the ISO set to 800," writes Keith Burrows. "I used Aperture 3 and HDR Pro plugin by NIK software."

Moonrise, Palm Beach, Florida by Keith Burrows

"This section of beach was lit by giant spotlights from atop the seaside condos behind me. It almost made the water look like it had an underwater pool light illuminating it. I shot quite a few that night and will post them soon on my new photography site.

Keith is an associate Pastor at Acts 2 Worship Center A/G with a passion to capture the wonder & splendor of God's creation.

This is our 209th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"The photo was taken in Lower Antelope Canyon (Utah) and shows the detail of Navajo sandstone," writes Chris Cornelis. "Wind and water have carved out beautiful shapes with amazing texture."

"Lower Antelope Canyon" (Utah) by Chris Cornelis

"When I entered the canyon I was overwhelmed. I started taking photos like crazy, resulting in a lot of mediocre photos and a couple of pretty good ones. I like this one a lot because it captures the essence of what makes the canyon so beautiful (color, shape, texture), and at the same time, it's a very simple image."

This is our 208th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"This an over the shoulder picture of my 11-month old Cristian. He is close to walking, so he spends a lot of time playing at the coffee table for stability."

"I snapped this shot with my Nikon D300s and a 50mm 1.8 lens. It was taken wide open at 1/200 in natural window light at ISO 3200."

"Tiny Hands" by Michael Cortina. Click on image for larger version.

This is our 207th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"We were parked in a small cemetery up in Canada. I was throwing sticks for the dog when a light rain began to fall. I noticed the car window starting to fog up and saw my opportunity to capture an unorthodox portrait. I hope you enjoy this photo."

"Lady in Red" by Jimmy Brown. Click on image for larger version.

This is our 206th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, or even your Android phone just to get a podcast. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show. Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"As winter was getting nearer in Madrid, the last insects were running for their lives," writes Michel Bricteux. "So was this wasp, feeding on cured ham. Note the wasp's tongue between the two mandibules shaped to cut the food."

"Wasp Meal" by Michel Bricteux. Click on image for larger version (Do it! It's worth it.)

Michel captured this compelling image with a Nikon D3X with a Nikon 105mm f/2.8 lens. ISO was set to 320 with a shutter speed of 1/200th.

This is our 205th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

My brother-in-law and I were in downtown Chicago with the rest of our family walking around," writes Doug Peek. "He had his Nikon and I was armed with my Canon."

"We were exploring south on Michigan Avenue late in the afternoon when we passed by this alley. It had such a spectacular lighting pattern that I had to "grab" the shot. A slider here and a slider there in Lightroom, and this is the result."

Thinking on it though, makes it even a more unusual image. The lighting pattern is from the sun reflecting off the mirrored glass from the building on the other side of Michigan Avenue. Not cool enough though. This pattern is unique in that it will only appear during a certain time of year. Sometimes you just have to take the shot when you see it."

Photo by Doug Peek. Click on image for larger version.

This is our 204th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"Several years ago I became friends with the local Hang Glider pilots here on Oahu," writes Tim Tilden. "They launch from a spot on a ridge 1100 ft above the beach. Using trucks, they drive their gliders up to the launch, and since I live nearby, I volunteer to drive the pickups down to the landing zone."

"While they fly, I take pictures. I've become a visual chronicler of many of their flights. I ended up creating a site on Smugmug to allow them to see how good they look!"

"On Halloween Sunday, I was at the Landing Zone taking pictures of their landings, and the landings of the paragliders who use the same LZ. A paraglider pilot alerted me to a parachutist, who was about to jump from a paraglider high above the LZ. Quickly changing to my long zoom, a Tokina 80-400mm, I got this shot moments after her leap from the glider. She landed safely."

Photo by Tim Tilden. Click on image for larger version (whoa!).

This is our 203rd Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

Fire Hose by Matthew Heun, originally uploaded by The Digital Story.

"Every Fall, I invite local firefighters to our campus where they demonstrate hydraulics principles to my Junior mechanical engineering students,'" writes Matthew Heun. "The highlight of the hour is the opportunity for each student to assist a firefighter on the hose. I was shooting for several minutes with the sun at my back. Then, I took a chance to shoot almost directly into the sun and was rewarded for the effort."

"I used my trusty Nikon D50 with its stock 18-55 mm lens at 18 mm, 1/640, f/8. I fitted the lens with a circular polarizing filter to deepen the blue sky and make the water really stand out. I think the structure of the spray is quite striking against the distant clouds."

If you'd like to share a grab shot with the Digital Story community, send it to me with "Grab Shot" in the subject line.

"I looked over and saw that my dog had gotten a hold of my money, then curled up and gone to sleep," writes Em Cohen. "I always keep my camera within reach because these are the types of photo opportunities that I'd hate to miss! She did wake up when I turned on the camera, but she quickly fell back to sleep, allowing me to capture what I was after to begin with :)."

Photo by Em Cohen.

This is our 201st Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"I saw this sign posted at the Veterans Memorial in Pensacola, FL.," writes Mayra Martinez. "It is certainly one of the most original wordings for a city ordinance!"

Mayra captured this image with her Olympus E-3, and a Zuiko 12-60 mm f/2.8-4.0 mm lens (aperture priority, aperture f/4, ISO 100). Click on the image for a larger view.

I should also note that this is our 200th Grab Shot! Wow. If you want to review the collection that began back in 2006, go to our Grab Shots page.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"My dog Daisy is a frequent model for me," writes Gabrielle Rhodes, "but sometimes our sessions go a little long and she gets bored. This week I caught her in the middle of a full yawn."

Photo by Gabrielle Rhodes. Click on image for larger version.

Gabrielle captured The Big Yawn with a Nikon D3000 and a 18-55mm zoom lens. ISO was set to 100, and fill flash was on.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

"This butterfly kept fluttering around us as we walked in Sugar Loaf Ridge State Park, Northern California," writes Christine Barry. "It landed, and I snapped a quick shot which I love."

Christine used her Nikon D5000 set to ISO 200. Exposure was 1.125 at f/5.6

Photo by Christine Barry. Click on image for larger version.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

-

"It was the last day of the 7-day cruise between New York City and Bermuda, known to us as MacMania10," writes Randal Schwartz. "Derrick taught some very good classes on this cruise, but it was ending, and I was worn out. I had just finished shooting the last party of the day, and wandered from the private area for our group over to the bar proper around the corner. I didn't have a tripod with me, but I noticed that my Canon 7D sat nicely on the bar, pointed at the shiny surfaces of what normally passes for a dance floor in the 'Crow's Nest.'"

"I thought it would be interesting to try a nice long exposure here, although not so long that I would get a super-deep depth-of-field from a tiny aperture, so I settled on 2 seconds at ISO 200, which resulted in a f/5.0 aperture. Yes, it was very dark, almost so dark that I couldn't see most of image that this picture revealed."

"I carefully placed the camera on the bar, using the "live view" feature to adjust the frame and focal length. Ever so gently pressing the shutter, I got my 2 second exposure without movement (it took three tries :). I was really pleased with the variety of shapes and colors on the screen, but when I got it back into Aperture the next morning, I was amazed at the depth and range of colors! I was also quite pleased that the sunset in the windows had the perfect brightness level to enhance the picture. The range of colors and amorphous shapes -- even the out-of-focus reflection on the bar right next to the camera -- all add interesting elements to this picture."

Photo by Randal Schwartz. Click on image for larger version.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

-

"Lilly is a 3 year old who just started riding horses," writes Fred Brundick. "The first time she came to the farm, all we heard was 'Aunt Debbie, Aunt Debbie, when can I get on a horse?'"

"She has doubled-up a couple of times with the 8 year old girl who takes lessons on Tish. But I took this picture the first time that Lilly rode Tish by herself. I like Lilly's look of concentration, the pink and purple colors against the blurry green background, and the shine in Tish's coat."

Fred used a Nikon D70s with a Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6 zoom lens. He was in aperture priority mode set to f/8. ISO was 400 resulting in a 1/640th shutter speed.

Photo by Fred Brundick. Click on image for larger version.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

-

"Ukuklele Musician" Grab Shot 195, originally uploaded by The Digital Story.

"This is an image of Hirai Dai from the 16th Annual Honolulu Festival Friendship Gala held in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Convention Center," writes Ryan Sakamoto. "He is Japan's premier ukuklele musician at 16 years old." More images of the Honolulu Festival can be found at ryansakamoto.com.

Photo by Ryan Sakamoto.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

-

"A local photo group held a 'practice with models' photo shoot," writes Jo-Ann Ash Fairbanks. "I thought the photographers were more interesting than the models, so I spent my evening shooting the shooters."

Photo by Jo-Ann Ash Fairbanks. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This was literally a shot where I grabbed the camera with whatever settings it was on, and snapped away," writes Anthony Zahra.

"I had been taking random shots of my son playing cricket (weird English/Australian sport you guys never understand :) They wear all white, which was tending to blow out in the full sun, so I had a -EV setting when I saw this crow fly overhead. I grabbed the camera, which was sporting the Canon 70-200 f/2.8, and fired off a shot. I liked the silhouette of the bird and softened tree branches against the rich blue sky."

Anthony captured this image with his Canon 40D and a 70-200mm f.2.8L zoom. He was in Shutter Priority mode (from the cricket match) at 1/6400. At ISO 200, the corresponding aperture was f/2.8.

Photo by Anthony Zahra. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

The Digital Story Podcast App is the best way to stream or download weekly TDS podcast episodes. No more syncing your iPhone or iPod Touch just to get a podcast. And there's more! Tap the Extras button for free passes and discounts, the latest blog posts from The Digital Story (audio versions), and the current Grab Shot by our virtual camera club members. Each podcast episode has its own Extras button, too, that contains more goodies such as pro photo tips. And the best part is, The Digital Story Podcast App is your way to help support this show.Download it today!

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"While I was running a digital duplicator at work this morning," writes Jane Hamilton, "I saw this guy parked outside. I grabbed my G9 and shot right through the window. After I looked at the image, I spotted the keys still in the ignition."

As Jane mentioned, she captured the image with a Canon G9, ISO 100, f/4 at 1/100th.

Photo by Jane Hamilton. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I spent four hours Thanksgiving morning walking the National Mall in Washington, DC," writes Rick Brandt. "Among my stops was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I worked my way from the eastern end of the wall to the western end. At the very end of the western wall, where there is only one name, laid a wilting carnation -- an interesting photo opportunity -- I took it. Then I looked up and saw this gentlemen kneeling at the wall -- he was about 50 yards away and I considered swapping lenses -- I had the 24mm-70mm on my 5D, and the 70mm-200mm was in the backpack."

" I really wanted to get closer, but I thought if I took the time to swap lenses, the moment may be gone -- and I didn't think it was appropriate to physically get closer -- so I took several shots from where I was with the lens that I had on the camera. A few seconds later, a threesome of runners (the Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger just finished at the Lincoln Memorial, just up the hill from the wall) passed me, entered the frame and provided what I feel was some sorely needed balance to the composition."

As Rick mentioned, he captured the image with a Canon 5D at 70mm (24mm-70mm). He then post-processed the image with Aperture and Silver Efx Pro.

Photo by Rick Brandt. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I shot this in Berlin during the November anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall," writes Roderick James. "This Mini dealership near what was Checkpoint Charlie had a Mini 'stuck' to the wall. Shot using my Canon G10, 30th sec @ f2.8, ISO 800."

"Usually, I wouldn't consider shooting at ISO 800 on my compact camera, but at least I was able to get the shot. Upon my return from the trip, I downloaded Derrick's podcast (no. 204) which convinced me I was right to 'loosen up' a little."

This is a perfect example of what I discussed in the ISO podcast. At ISO 100, the shutter speed would have been around 1/4 of a second, and the image would have been soft from camera shake.

Photo by Roderick James. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Driving thru a small town in Oklahoma, my wife yells 'there's where you took the photo of the bloomers,'" writes John Badgerow. "I made a quick loop around the block, and shot the scene again with my Nikon D300. Times have changed. Now you can buy bloomers and thongs!

As John mentioned, he used a Nikon D300 with a 16-85mm Nikon lens. ISO was set to 400 in Aperture priority mode: 1/160th at f/10.

Photo by John Badgerow. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I was out in California visiting my mother and sister, and we rode up from Roseville into the Sierras looking for fall scenery," writes TDS member Jim Stocking. "We came back through the Carson Pass, stopping just before the summit at the Red Lake Vista. To our astonishment, a car drove up with a young female eagle that they were releasing back to the wild. Armed with my wife's Canon SD850, which she let me use for the trip, I caught the shot of the bird making its way to freedom after being tossed into the air."

As Jim mentioned, he used a Canon PowerShot SD850 IS set to ISO 100 for this wonderful shot of the eagle being set free. The shutter speed was 1/400 and the aperture was f/8.

Photo by Jim Stocking. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I took this at Spring 2008 Strawberry Music Festival," writes Moira Haines. "We were enjoying a short reprieve from the rainy weekend. It seems that bubbles are more captivating than religion to some, and I enjoyed watching the innocent fascination on the boy's face."

Moira used her Olympus C 770UZ digital camera to capture this captivating scene.

Photo by Moira Haines. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"There's a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time and having your camera with you," writes Mark Castleman." I saw this striking rainbow in the South Park of Colorado, about 10 miles east of Fairplay. I took it with my K10D and a Sigma 17-70mm lens at ISO 100, 1/350 at f/5.6. Yes, it really was that bright; I'm not that good with Photoshop."

Photo by Mark Castleman. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"On our way to the Chicago Diner for dinner," writes Rick Brandt, "we happened to get off at the Wrigley Field stop on Chicago's CTA line. Being a baseball fan and this being the first time I ever saw Wrigley in-person, I was compelled to walk the perimeter of the ballpark and take a few shots. This was several hours after a Saturday afternoon game had ended and there wasn't a whole lot going on. The shots I was getting reflected such--very tourist-like."

"Then I saw this group of sailors heading for the corner. I backed up a bit to frame up the famous sign and leave room for the sailors to walk through the frame, and made the photograph. I recorded the shot with a Canon G9. Post-processed it with Aperture and Nik Software's Viveza and Color Efex Pro."

Photo by Rick Brandt. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I captured this guy at Pilot Mountain State Park North Carolina, while on a business trip," writes Randy Martin. "He was stopping there for some R&R too. However, his trip is a lot longer than mine as he's headed for Mexico."

Randy captured this great image with a Nikon D90, Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6 ED lens. ISO 200, f8, 1/200.

Photo by Randy Martin. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This shot was taken at a local balloon festival," writes Jim Garrett, "an Air Force band was playing and this toddler just came up to the edge of the stage."

Jim captured this flag waving shot with a Pentax K100D with the kit 18-55mm lens -- F5.6, 1/90 sec., ISO 200. He then edited in Picasa using "Focal B&W" tool.

Photo by Jim Garrett. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"The picture was taken at our son's school fete back in June," writes Michael Haley. "It's a very English kind of event -- a great fund raising event for the school put on by the parents. All funds from the event are used to fund school outings for the children."

Michael used a Canon 450D with a Canon EF-S 55mm to 250mm F4 - 5.6 IS lens, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/1250, colourspace RGB Adobe 1998.

Photo by Michael Haley. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I was walking through Chicago's Millennium Park during the early evening," wrote Rick Brandt, "and noticed that just about everyone had a camera (or camera phone) taking photos at the Cloud Gate -- a 110-ton elliptical sculpture that reflects the Chicago skyline and clouds above.

"One photographer in particular caught my eye since her subject was a bride and groom. As the trio wrapped their photo session and headed away from the sculpture, I thought there was an interesting photo in the making -- I just had to get to the spot where I could frame up the subjects with the Cloud Gate behind them. So I took off on my 20-yard dash. With their emotions getting the best of them, the photographer and bride didn't take much notice of me. However, the groom seems to be wondering -- 'Who is this guy running at us?' -- just as I slammed on the brakes and made the exposure. Post-processing done in Aperture with the help of Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software."

Rick captured the image with his Canon G9 set to ISO 80 and f/2.8.

Photo by Rick Brandt. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I took my Canon G9 on a recent trip to New York, my first in fact," writes Michael Cortina. "Even though the weather had been horrendous, I got off the tour bus and did some exploring on foot. That's when I spotted this curious laid-back cat and captured his pose with the G9."

Michael's G9 was set to ISO 200, with a shutter speed of 1/200 at f-4.5.

Photo by Michael Cortina. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Thought I'd submit this shot from Jerusalem's Old City," writes Roderick James. "The sign didn't look out of place in this old market, but seemed jarring in our digital world -- especially since I grabbed this image with my Canon G10."

Roderick set his G10 to ISO 80, 1/80th at f/3.2 for this trip down memory lane.

Photo by Roderick James. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I was trying some low-light candids during a high school graduation last week." writes Joann Wilson. "It was a little frustrating because the graduates looked bored and fidgety much of the time, making it hard to get a group shot where everyone looked alive."

"The fidgeting was a particular problem since the low light forced me to shoot at about 1/15 sec. I was about to pack up and leave when they announced the last thing on the program: a music slideshow with pictures of the graduates through the years. Suddenly they all woke up and sat in rapt still attention for the whole 5 minute slideshow, allowing me to finally get a decent shot."

Joann used her Canon 20D with a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L on a monopod. Settings were: ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/15 sec., and 70mm focal length.

Photo by Joann Wilson. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I stoped in a small town in Texas, turned around and here, and I discovered this not-to-modern dential fixing establishment," wrote John Badgerow. "To capture the shot, I used my Nikon D300. I had been spending the day taking photos of wildflowers, but this was the most fun. I wanted to see the inside of the place, but is was closed for the weekend."

John set his Nikon D300 to Aperture Priority mode at f/5 with an ISO of 400. Zoom lens was set to 48mm.

Photo by John Badgerow. Click on image to zoom to larger size.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

"The weekend of April 18 and 19, the City of Denver 'opened' its doors, allowing public access to selected buildings," writes Paul Leasure. "I had the opportunity to go up in the Daniels & Fisher (D&F) Tower, a distinctive Denver, Colorado landmark. Built as part of the Daniels & Fisher department store in 1910, it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi at the time, at a height of 325 feet (99 m). Modeled after St. Mark's Bell Tower at the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy, the 20-floor clock tower has clock faces on all four sides. This rare shot was taken from the inside of the clock face, with my Nikon D70s at 1/250 at f 8.0."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I am constantly 'jonesing' to photograph action," writes Winston Hendrickson. "Thus I typically find myself in situations where I have to juggle composition, exposure, and the pursuit of the golden moment -- all in real-time. Usually this happens with sports photography, but when I was in Tasmania last year as part of the Adobe Lightroom Adventure, I faced this challenge in the context of commercial fishing."

"The Lightroom Adventure involved 22 photographers trying to visually capture as much of Tasmania as possible in two weeks. During our time in Freycinet (Eastern Tasmania), local lobster fishermen Grant Whalen and Cameron Lucas gave me a chance to see the 'down under' island-state through their eyes. Grant, who has been fishing these waters since he was nine, heads out of port every day at o-dark-hundred; captain of his own boat made entirely from the local Huon Pine."

"At first, I had no idea what the rhythm of the boat would be or what type of shooting constraints I would confront. I quickly learned that both light and position would be ongoing challenges given the tight deck space and the frenetic pace of the work. I had to move constantly (practically after every shot) to stay out of the way as the boat never stopped sailing. Thus light, background and subjects were constantly shifting and difficult to predict."

"I wanted a single shot that captured the exhausting daily work of harvesting and re-planting the 41 heavy wooden traps. Halfway into the seven hour trip, when I was changing my battery in the wheelhouse and Grant popped in to use the radar in order to tune placement of the pots, I got this shot. The bridge was so tight that I had to hold my Canon EOS 40D with a 17-55mm f/2.8 over my head and against the back wall while sprawling out on the pilot’s bench seat. I couldn’t see the viewfinder or LCD so I framed using test shots. Later, in Adobe Lightroom, I compensated for the backlighting with a combination of fill light and local correction brushing (flash was not an option unless I planned to swim home)."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Attention all arachnophobes," warns Ruth Cooper. "What's scarier than an eight-legged spider? A sixteen-legged one!"

"It isn't really, I was just lucky catching this small hairy garden huntsman spider in the process of moulting. I understand that spiders do this mainly at night for their protection, but I guess this fellow just couldn't wait."

"I captured the shot on my hand-held pocket-sized Canon Ixus 800 IS, set on the digital macro setting."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

There are many challenges facing the San Francisco Chronicle. The venerable Bay Area newspaper lost $50 million in 2008, and is on pace to lose even more this year.

Virtual camera club member Jeff Fielding captured this painter memorializing the Chronicle building on canvas. You'll notice that the sky is much more dramatic in the painting, with an overall facelift for the structure. Jeff used his Canon 40D with the zoom set to 17mm. ISO was 100, and exposure was set in Manual mode: 1/50 at f/16 (for plenty of depth of field).

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I visited the WW II Museum in New Orleans while on a business trip last year," writes Rick Brandt, "and saw this gentleman sitting on a bench in front of a Sherman tank on display. I don't know for sure, but it crossed my mind that he may have very well been a veteran. Regardless of whether he is a vet of not — this moment in time does make me consider the sacrifice his generation made for mine and those that followed."

Rick captured this moment with a Canon G9, processed in Aperture with the aid of Nik Software's Silver Efx Pro.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I call this picture Queen Snow because I think it shows my guinea pig, Snow, in a very queenly moment," writes Elizabeth Martin. "I used my Olympus C750UZ to capture her."

Editor's Note: One of the things that Elizabeth did well on this shot, is put the camera down to "pet level." You'll notice that it's right on the ground with Ms. Snow. This is something that I talk about a lot when photographing kids and pets. Nice job!

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Here's a shot I took while attending a City Lights workshop held at dusk in Brisbane, Australia," writes Paul Merrett. "The science fiction looking device shown is a 60m (200 ft) high ferris wheel called The BIg Wheel. We had started shooting it from different angles while the sunlight faded."

"I decided to try a shot of The Big Wheel from much further back. For this version, the white balance was set to Tungsten as a suggestion from the instructor who wanted us to experiment with different settings. Other parameters were, ISO 50, f22, 17-40mm f4L lens set to 17mm, Canon 1D Mark III, tripod and self timer."

"When I reviewed the shots later in Aperture, I liked this one the most -- even better than the other "correctly white balanced" frames, and better than the faster shutter speed shots that clearly showed the gondolas attached."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I took this shot while attending (for the first time) the 2009 Imaging USA--the annual conference of PPA," writes Paul Leasure. "This shot was taken in the Phoenix Convention Center where this mirror rises approximately 90 feet from its base below the grand atrium."

Paul used a Nikon D70S at 1/80 second at f4.5 and ISO set to 640. The focal length was 24mm.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Here's a shot that I think will raise a smile," writes Steve Cooper. "Taken in Bangkok, Thailand, with my Canon Powershot S5 IS."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"I've heard you should have a connection with your subject," writes Francine Kunkel. "Well that certainly was the case with this praying mantis in my garden. His little head and big eyes followed my movements as I bent and knelt to get the right angle. I almost expected him to smile."

Francine captured this garden portrait with a Canon PowerShot SX10 IS at 1/250 with an aperture of 5.0, and ISO set to 80.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

One of my favorite weeks of the year is in early January when I teach at Macworld in San Francisco. I lead a two-day workshop in Aperture, a Mac Lab for Photoshop CS4, numerous sessions, and joined Rick Smolan on stage for State of the Art of Digital Photography.

What a great place to have a new DSLR to test. At night, when walking back from my last event, I would mount my Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM prime lens and test the limits of the Canon 5D Mark II.

One night I passed by the Yerba Buena water feature behind Moscone North Hall. This is a great place to relax and enjoy the San Francisco skyline after a long day. I've always liked the water feature here, in part for its beauty, and in part for its soothing sound. On Wednesday night, I decided to photograph it.

I set the camera on the ledge in self-timer mode. I kept the ISO low at 200, and used Aperture Priority mode at f/16 to get as much depth of field as possible. The resulting exposure was 10 seconds. I then adjusted the color and tone a bit in Aperture on a MacBook Pro.

After my first week of shooting, I'm very much enjoying the Canon 5D Mark II, and I will miss San Francisco until my next extended stay here.

Photo of Yerba Buena water feature by Derrick Story, Jan. 2009

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: Derrick Story, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story, Canon 5D Mark II

"As I was returning home this morning from exercising my dogs," writes Jane Ruhsenberger, "I noticed this tiny (about 3/4" tall) ice sculpture on top of my garbage can."

Jane used her Canon G9 set to ISO 100 to capture this miniature work of art. The image stabilizer did its job because her shutter speed was 1/6 of a second with an aperture of f/5.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"I liked the look of the almost full moon coming up over the Colorado State Capitol," said Mark Castleman. And it somehow seems quite fitting for the season.

Mark used his Pentax K10D in aperture priority mode set to f/8. He kept the ISO at 100 to control noise, and mounted the camera on a tripod for a tack-sharp shot, even with a 10-second exposure.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"This photo was taken after a race over a muddy track at the fairgrounds in Rocky Ford, Colorado," writes virtual camera club member Eric Simon. "After taking pictures of the horses during the race, I spotted these three returning to be unsaddled and was struck by their three-across-the-track formation."

"The jockeys on each horse were chatting with each other. Even though I might have tried for a wider angle shot (if I'd had a capable lens), I thought focusing on the head and neck of the first horse would make an interesting picture, and I was actually hoping to capture the sort of picture I wound up with. I modified the photo in Photoshop to bring out detail in the shadows and made it a tad warmer to lend a slight golden tone."

Eric captured this image with his Canon XTi with a (non image-stabilized) 70-200mm F/4 lens. The statistics for this shot are as follow: 70mm, F4, 1/1000 exposure, ISO 400, Aperture Priority, center-weighted metering.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"I tend to not grab my camera on the way out the door as often when it's raining as I do when it's beautiful," writes Joe Rodricks. "However yesterday I noticed this drop of water, caught for its eternity, in the grasp of a dormant grape vine. I dashed back into my house and grabbed my D300."

"On it was my default, cheap-but-amazing, Nikon 55-200. I fired off a few shots at f8 to make sure the image was sharp. I wasn't very happy as the minimum focus distance is somewhere around 6 feet. I ran back inside and put on my trusty 50mm f1.8 and set it to f4 to keep it sharp. The difference with the depth of field at f4 with the 50mm over f8 at 55mm was preferable to me, as the wall in the background is only a few feet away."

"There was just something tranquil about the whole thing that made me feel good for having captured it."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"It was just a friendly game of two-on-two volleyball at Huntington Beach," wrote Kevin Miller. "Yet no one likes to lose."

Kevin captured this shot with his Canon 30D. Focal length was 105mm, ISO 400, Aperture Priority mode set to f/8 resulting in a 1/320th sec exposure.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Derrick Story, digital photography, Digital Photography Companion, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"For this girl, I wanted to represent my interpretation of her story," wrote Amber Rossman. By her outfit, she knows she is cooler than the rest of us and she stops for no one... except to light her cigarette (which added to her movie star quality). But the blur the city continued around her. I don't smoke... but i imagine this is what it feels like to give attention to your addiction -- you stop your busy life to get a moment of relief as the world buzzes around you."

"When I posted this shot on Flickr, I was blasted for posting a blury shot that 'appears to be a mistake.' I felt disappointment and maybe embarrased that I posted a silly shot like this -- I liked the framing... the dinginess that provokes the feeling of a big city street... the blur that conveys busy-loud-city vibe."

"Because I seek to learn from experienced photogs, I went to the critic's profile to see what I could learn from his work. Hmmm vindication! His profile exhibits his favorite quote (interestingly enough, his own), "Good photography is a science, Great photography is an accident". Cool."

Derrick's note: Amber had sent in a handful of candidates to be featured on Grab Shots. I'm so glad she stuck to her guns and included this image. I love it. And I'm happy to share it with our virtual camera club.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion.
The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

"After watching this kid first try lifting rather than rolling, then resorting to pushing his prize-found pumpkin at the local pumpkin patch," said Craig Tooley, "I grabbed this shot as a reminder of the passions of youth."

Craig captured this autumn classic with a Nikon D2X in Aperture Priority mode at f/6.3. ISO was 250 and the focal length on the lens was 200mm.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"As an American living abroad I think Oslo, Norway is a great city," writes Lynn Rosentrater. "With only 500,000 residents, it has a small town feeling. Yet, as a European capital, it is very cosmopolitan. Oslo takes center stage every autumn when the Nobel Committee announces the recipient of the annual Peace Prize. After the former Finnish president Martil Ahtisaari was recently awarded the Peace Prize for 2008, I made my way downtown to the Nobel Peace Center to learn more about him and other Nobel laureates."

"One of the permanent exhibits at the center is a virtual garden with motion sensors that trigger presentations of each Nobel laureate's history and philosophy when it is approached by a visitor. The installation hums with life and the glow of the room is intoxicating so I had to try to capture it."

"I snapped this image (one of two in total) as a couple made their way through the sparkling blades of grass. I shot it in RAW using a Nikon D80 with a 50mm lens at ISO 800, f/2.2 and 1/20 sec. After setting a proper white balance using Lightroom, I straightened the image, but have otherwise not done any processing."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"I'm sending this grab shot on the heels of your High Impact post," writes Buck Heim. "The impact here is the same, in that we were both in the middle of the street. The difference being I am dodging a taxi cab while in the middle of the crosswalk. There is no 'how I did it' other than using VR and being struck by the clean shiny scene just after an evening rain."

Buck used his Nikon D200, Nikkor 18-200 VR lens, Exposure: 1/13 at f/3.5, ISO: 400.

Follow me on Twitter

-

"I spotted these statues (and pigeons) at Columbus Circle at the southern end of Central Park, New York," said Rick Brandt. "So I captured this grab shot with my Canon G9."

The ISO was set to 100, shutter speed 1/250th at f/4.

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, Canon G9, Derrick Story, digital photography, Technology, The Digital Story

"A workman checks the skylights embedded in one of four hills of the Living Roof of the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco," writes John Hershey. "As hot air rises from the exhibit floor, the skylights automatically open, functioning as vents. The planted rooftop provides superior insulation for the building below, substantially reducing energy needs. It absorbs 98 percent of the rainwater -- preventing ecosystem pollution, and is planted exclusively with native species."

"I shot this during a reserved preview day a week before the official opening of the new Academy structure."

John used an Canon PoewerShot SX100 IS at ISO 80 to capture this great shot.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"This image was taken in Central Park, New York," said Martin Herrera Soler. "I guess these things only happen in New York? I never got to really know why this couple went o grab a hot dog... perhaps the reception food was not so good?"

Martin captured the newlyweds with a Canon 20D, ISO 400, 1/160 and f5.6.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Follow me on Twitter

-

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"I was rambling around, looking for subjects for the TDS Photo Assignment when I came across this window," said Mark Given. "Odd little storefront building with other flags behind other windows, too. I was struck by the contrast between the 'Americana' montage created by the flag/building/trees reflection, and the concept of a flag behind glass. Is it a patriotic display or a simple curtain, keeping us from seeing inside?"

It certainly is a sign of the times right now in the States. Mark used a Nikon D80 with the lens set to 28mm and the ISO at 400.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"Took my family to the Crayola Musuem in Easton PA," said TDS member Jim Stocking. "I always try to take pictures of signs to identify in a slideshow where a group of pictures were taken."

"The museum has this interesting sign, which I thought would be a candidate for grab shots after I saw the result. The Crayola Museum features a number of hands-on activities with Crayola products along with great activities for children and a demonstration of how the crayons are made."

"I took the picture from the second floor of the parking garage across the street, to flatten the angle looking up at the sign. I used my Canon Rebel XTi with the Canon f/1.4 50 mm lens. Considering that most of the days pictures were to be taken inside, I gave myself the assignment to film the whole day with just the 50mm lens. In this case, I had to crop down on the sign because I could not zoom out to take in the full display. However, I think the tighter shot heighens the sense that the box of crayons is tumbling out from the sky."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"The picture was taken at Deerfield Village, MA," said Joan V. Hall. "I used a Canon 40D and the Canon 85mm 1.8 lens. The shot was captured at F8, 1/60, ISO 100.The only post processing was cropping. I had just attended the New England Camera Clubs photography weekend at U Mass."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"On May 2nd 2008, Madrid was celebrating the bicentennial of Spain's independence gained over Napoleon's troops, thanks to the bravery of fearless insurgents once painted by Goya," wrote Michel Bricteux.

"Although I set out with the idea of covering the military parade, I decided to look backstage for the unexpected, more intimate detail. And there was this little boy, standing at the back of a platoon, dreaming about being part of an invincible army."

Michael captured this wonderful candid with a Nikon D3 - Nikkor 80-200 f/2:8 @ 80mm - f/3:5 - 1/200sec - 400 ISO - NEF format processed with Lightroom 2.0 Beta - Preset: Creative aged photo + Fill light + Highlight recovery + some vignetting.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"While supervising a school trip tp Glasgow's gallery of modern art," said Eric Wyllie, "we visited the Jim lambie installation called Forever Changes. I noticed that my colleague Mr Jewell had an interestingly stripy shirt."

"I pushed the ISO up to 400 as I had to hand hold, and shooting in aperture priority mode on my Canon 350D, I got him to sit. He was unaware of my interest in the shot and just sat very naturally. I think it worked."

Eric captured the shot at 1/80 @ f-5.6 in Aperture Priority mode. No flash was used.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"This is my brother and his girlfriend," writes Robert Gaddy. "With camera in hand, during a lull in conversation, I quickly raised it and took this grab shot just as they began to give me their look of disapproval. My wife said it reminded her of the American Gothic painting."

Robert captured this classic shot with a Canon 30D, ISO 800 in Aperture Priority mode (f-2.8 @ 1/25th sec). His focal length was a relatively close 31mm. Flash was off.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"Saw your post about making the most of scene modes," said Eric Marin, "and had to send some shots from my trip to the Museum of Modern Art in New York."

"As you'd guess, I had my compact Fuji in "museum" mode, and I was pretty happy with these results. This first shot is a ceiling view of a light installation by Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. A large ring in the middle of the room gradually changed colors, and I caught a glimpse of the green end of the cycle."

Eric recorded this beautiful shot at 1/200th @ f-2.8 using the Museum Scene Mode on his FinePix F20. The ISO was set to 200.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, technique, Technology, The Digital Story

"I took this while on a photo outing with the Denver Photographic Society," writes Mark Castleman. "I found the pattern of the old wheels stuck in the ground interesting, and the texture lent itself to something more artistic. I converted the image to B&W in Apple's Aperture and used the red filter to bring out the texture more while increasing the contrast some."

Mark used his Pentax K10D in aperture priority mode, 1/30 @ f/5.6, with the ISO set to 100. His lens focal length was 55mm.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: Aperture, candid, digital photography, grab shot, Pentax, Technology, The Digital Story

"I was listening to your presentation the other week and tried out one of the ways of making a photo stand out," said David Hunt. "This example was to get in close."

"So I looked up my camera manual on how to take macro shots, and came up with this shot of cherry blossoms. Camera was an Lumix DMC-FZ50, f/5 at 1/200, ISO 100."

"I also just received your new book, The Digital Photography Companion, and will be putting in to use right away. Thanks for all the inspiration and insights into photography."

Thank you David, and what a terrific shot. Just as an exercise, compare this image to shots in the past of similar subjects. I think you'll be thrilled with the difference.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, Technology, The Digital Story

"This grab shot was taken on a recent trip to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, Belize," said Neil Martin. This is the most common mode of transportation on the island along with many golf carts and a few van type taxis. Belize is a great place to visit with many photo opportunities from beaches and colorful towns to Mayan ruins and jungle wildlife."

Neil used was a Sony DSC-W90 point and shoot: 1/400 @ f/8 ISO 125.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I shot this with a Canon 30D on my first weekend out with a new 100-400 IS L. Yes, that's right, the same lens that will have me eating rice & beans for the next 6 months after the Visa bill comes in," says Allan Cunningham. "Years from now I know it will seem a trivial price to have paid for all the neat shots I hope to capture. These dog races are events at a winter carnival held every year here in Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada."

Allan set his Canon 30D to Aperture Priority mode at f-7.1 with the resulting shutter speed at 1/1000. The ISO was 200.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"My wife and I were visiting Alexandria and one of our stops was a beautiful fort," wrote Howard Lewis. "Alexandria is a great city, and we found the people to be very outgoing and interesting in conversation. They seemed very happy we were there. At this particular location, there were many young people dressed in the most colorful clothing you could imagine. We stopped and talked with some of them, and I was fortunate to be able to photograph some of them. After chatting with these young women, as they were walking away, I took one shot of them so I could remember our meeting and their wonderful clothing."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Now Available! The Digital Photography Companion. The official guide for The Digital Story Virtual Camera Club.

• 25 handy and informative tables for quick reference.
• Metadata listings for every photo in the book
• Dedicated chapter on making printing easy.
• Photo management software guide.
• Many, many inside tips gleaned from years of experience.
• Comprehensive (214 pages), yet fits easily in camera bag.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"After lunch a few blocks from work, I saw this tempting view of the Space Needle and the Monorail," said Hai Vu. "Too bad, I didn't have a camera with me, so my cell phone had to do. I fixed up the image in Lightroom and converted to B&W with a hint of yellow for an old picture look."

Hai Vu used a Sony Ericsson W810 cameraphone to capture this image. I happen to have that phone too, and it takes surprisingly good 2-megapixel images, as this shot will attest. As I've said a hundred times before, the best camera in the world is the one you have with you. Nice shot!

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"It was late afternoon on Cat Island. Atop Mt. Alvernia, the hermitage was perched, under fast-moving clouds," said Jim Austin. "Steps leading up to this monastery were small. Near them was a tomb, where Father Jerome was buried."

"When Father Jerome arrived on Cat Island, he bought the highest hilltop he could see. It was called Comer Hill, and is, in fact, the highest hill in the Bahamas (206 feet) with a 360 degree view of the island."

"Before he died at age 80, Father Jerome hand built this Hermitage out of native rock, and constructed a bell tower, chapel, bedroom, two fireplaces, a cistern, the Stations of the Cross, hand laid steps up a 50 degree incline, and his own tomb. The roman numeral fourteen in this picture represents the tomb of Jesus and the rock at its entrance."

Jim used a Canon Rebel XT with a wide angle lens (10mm) and the ISO set to 100. The aperture was f-8.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Below is a grab shot I took recently at Lee Canyon Ski Resort in the mountains just outside of Las Vegas," said Kevin Miller. "I am sure most of this Fed Ex employee's deliveries were done in the valley below under the relative warmth of the sun, hence the shorts. The uniform definitely seems out of place in the snow."

And yet he pushes on...

Kevin used a Canon 30D, with a 200mm lens set to f/2.8 in Aperture Priority mode. ISO was 100, and shutter speed was 1/2000 of a second.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This pavement stallkeeper in Bangkok Thailand was not quite ready for customers when I spotted him from an elevated pedestrian walkway," said Steve Cooper. "In the busy evening traffic and with rapidly failing light, I had only a moment to catch him alone."

Steve used a Canon PowerShot Pro1 set to 1/40 at f-3.2 to catch the snoozing seller.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I was walking around the beautiful city of Venice, and it was getting toward evening," said Howard A. Lewis. "I was losing the light and came across this square with the old man artist. A number of people were around, and I felt this would make a wonderful image. I had no tripod, so I knew that there would be some 'noise' in the image. But I thought it would look like a painting of the old man painting. I love the woman on the left pointing. When printed it looks exactly as I had anticipated. On canvas at 13"x19" matted and framed, it looks great."

Howard used a Nikon D200 with an 18-200mm zoom set to 38mm. He pushed the ISO up to 1600 to get an exposure of 1/20 at f-3.5 (wide open). He was in Aperture Priority mode.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. We'll try to get it published for you on The Digital Story.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"When I saw the entrance with a neon open sign," said Jay Hunt, "I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots. It seemed so foreboding and beckoning at the same time. There was nothing but this black void after a couple of steps and the eerie light of the sign -- it was like someone from the 'dark side' saying, 'Come in if you dare.' I converted the image to black and white to work with the mysterious mood and to make it seem even more timeless."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"While at the recent Nikon Expo in London, the model got bored waiting round for her session to start," said Matt Newsome. "Inset is the great look she could pull for the camera on demand, whereas I think her expression in this shot is probably the more honest one!"

Matt captured his grab shot with an Apple iPhone in existing light at f-2.8.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances. Next week is a busy one for me in the Bay Area of Northern California. Check out speaking events for Book Passage in Corte Madera and at Macworld in San Francisco.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"The evening the light was amazing," said Alexey Stiop. "I was outside when I noticed the sky turning purple. I rushed in the house to grab my camera. I knew I wouldn’t have enough time to set up my tripod -–every second counts at sunsets. I leaned against the wall trying to stabilize the camera (I also used image stabilized lens) and took a series of shots within 5 minutes. I had my camera (Canon XTi) set in Aperture Priority mode at f/4 and exposed for the sky. I ended up with a number of decently sharp images at 1/5 sec exposure. This one had the peak color."

The Canon XTi was set to ISO 200 and handheld at 1/5th of a second with the zoom at 17mm. Minutes later, the shot was gone...

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This is a shot of Boulder Creek in Boulder, Colorado during a recent snowstorm," said Mark Castleman. "There was hardly any color in the scene to begin with, so converting it to black & white actually brought out the image better. I bracketed the shot from 0ev to +2ev in 0.5ev increments to compensate for the snow throwing off the exposure and +1.0 seemed to look best to me."

Mark used a Pentax K10D, Pentax 18-55mm lens, 1/30. f/9.5, +1.0ev, ISO 100, converted to black & white in Aperture.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I recently captured this shot of these tiny beetles on a 'feverfew daisy' in my garden," said Ruth Cooper. "These flowers which are about 1/2" in diameter, are honey-scented, and are very attractive to insects. These little fellows, (about the size of a pin-head,) apparently weren't about to miss the last drop of nectar!"

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

OK, here's one I can't quite figure out. While traveling back from Southern California on a recent road trip, I encountered this bathroom with not one, but two toilet paper dispensers. One roll was positioned high (about elbow height when standing) and the other the normal low position next to the toilet seat.

I have my theories about this arrangement... but I'll just keep them to myself.

I captured this high/low arrangement with an Apple iPhone under existing light. I could have gone out to the car for my DSLR... but, well, that would have been just too weird.

Photo by Derrick Story

If you want to see one of the reasons why I was driving around in the first place, take a look at this pyrotechnic plane.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I took this shot on a visit to the Budapest Zoo earlier this year," said Ruan Viljoen. "I'm not sure what kind of animals these are, but the couple did put up a very good show! The signs were all in Hungarian which is very different to English or Afrikaans, which are my native languages.

Ruan captured this make-out scene with his Canon 350D using the 28mm - 135mm lens extended all the way to 135mm. Because there was plenty of light, he was able to use ISO 100 and still shoot at 1/250 at f-8.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"On a warm, bright, sunny day in Santa Monica, I was shooting promo shots for Jenna Phillips of Mission Possible when three warmly dressed, umbrella carrying ladies walked right through my set," said Joshua Targownik. "I stood up as they passed and waved them through, but kept my finger on the shutter release. When they were in frame, I snapped a shot and startled all three of them with a loud pop from my studio strobes. They laughed it off and kept going, and it turned out to be one of those photos that I couldn't have planned any better."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Walking back from a favourite photo shooting haunt, I saw these kids collecting crabs in the mud with their dad, whilst their mum looked on from the beach," said SD for Australia. "A few minutes after I walked past, I heard their excited yelps as they ran back to their mother relaxing on the beach ahead of me. I didn't have time to raise the camera to my eye, but rather went 'from the belt,' as I have read about many times in stories of how urban photographers get their best grabs. I just love the blur of the young boys foot, and that, even though you can't see his face , you can tell that he excited to show mum his new pet crab."

Steve captured this grab shot with the ISO set to 400 in Normal Program mode. The settings worked out to be 1/160th @ f-8.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Dia de Patria, Santiago, Chile -- Figured I´d stroll around and find a festival," said Capn Scott. "I ended up in Parque O´Higgins… Yep.. a good old irish name for a spanish park… (though, doesn´t beat the chinese restaurant in David named Don Jose). There had to be over 10,000 people here. And yes, I want one of these."

Capn Scott used a Canon PowerShot G7 ("Didn´t want to break out the 20D in a crowd of 10,000") set to 1/80th at f-4.0 with the zoom on its widest setting (7.4mm).

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"The Bazaar Cemetery is located on the Scenic Byway 177 in the Flint Hills of Kansas," says Jay Hunt. "I couldn't resist grabbing a shot because it seemed so...well... bazaar."

Jay used his Canon PowerShot Pro1 in center-weighted average metering mode with the aperture set to f-2.8. The beautiful cloud-filled sky didn't hurt any either!

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

As part of my PhotoPlus activities, I was invited to the Digital Photo Masters Event last night, which took place on the 22nd floor of the AT&T building on the Avenue of the Americas in NYC. The atmosphere felt very New York trendy to this California boy -- loft with high ceiling, lots of artwork, expensive shoes, dispassionate DJ, and an air of importance.

Among the highbrow activity was a nicely-booted mom with child in tow. It was odd to see a child in this otherwise very adult setting. At one point the child had a clothing malfunction prompting the mom to do what mothers do best... quickly remedy the situation and get back to business.

I set my Canon G9 on the floor and peered down into the LCD monitor to line up this shot. Settings were ISO 400, flash off, 1/8 of a second at f-3.5, image stabilizer on, using Raw capture. Having my camera out and ready to shoot enabled me to capture this grab shot.

Photo by Derrick Story

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I attended my daughter's gymnastic competition last weekend and managed to get some great action shots with the new Canon 70 - 200mm f4 L," said Paul Merrett. "Typically gymnastic halls are dark and make action photography quite a challenge. I was lucky this time as the place was well lit with lot of translucent sheets in the roof."

"I grade my photos according to the usual filters such as composition and aesthetics. Then my wife decimates my gym photos with correct (gymnastic) technique. Comments like "non-pointed toes," "bent back," and "wrong shape" come fast and furious. Plenty of shots I love get demoted because of incorrect gym technique. I can understand. Nobody wants a photo of themselves hitting a tennis ball with the wrong end of the racket! Needless to say, in this photo. My daughters back is correct, feet pointed, etc. (phew) She scored well on this run too."

Paul set his Canon 400D to f4, 1/500, 200mm, ISO 1600 for this terrific shot.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Me, my camera, and my tripod hung out a hotel window above a small canal in Venice, Italy," said Joan Hall. "The camera was a Canon 350 XT with the 17-40mm L Canon lens.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I saw this at a construction site while walking through Downtown New York," said David-Emil Wickström. "It's not too often that you see construction workers dry their clothes in the sun..."

For this texture extravaganza, David used a Nikon D70s and a nikon 18-70 mm zoom lens at a focal length of 70mm. The settings were f/4.5 and 1/400th at ISO 200.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Following in the footsteps of a recent grab shot," says Peter Norby, "I thought I'd throw this one your way, taken out my hotel room window after settling in from a long trip to San Francisco. I'm not sure if I'd want a job where I could take a break with a view like this or not."

Peter used a Canon 30D with a 135mm f/2 L telephoto. The gritty look was created in part by the ISO 1600 setting.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I was walking my son home from pre-school when I saw this cat sitting on a table, alongside a pottery-sculpted cat in a neighbor's front yard," said Neville Jones. "I liked how they struck almost identical poses..."

Neville captured the shot with his Canon 400D and a EF-S 60mm f/2.8 macro lens -- ISO 100, Aperture Priority, f/13 at 1/80th of a second.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Here's a grab shot I took in June while on a walk over the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn," said Jim Stocking. "The bridge divides the human powered traffic into a bike lane and a walking lane. They use pictograms painted on the roadbed to remind you which one is which. I was amused to find a wag had given one of the walkers this cigar to smoke."

Jim captured this grab shot with his Canon PowerShot S80.

Editor's note: I'm not 100% sure that he's smoking a cigar...

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This image is from a series of shots taken in Madrid during a July '07 Novillada, a bullfight involving young and less experienced bullfighters, also called Novillos," said Michel Bricteux. "This is part of their training to become real Toreros. The Novillo, captured here in a moment of extreme levitation under the incredulous bull's stare, actually recovered from his pirouette, got back on his feet and, proud as he was, continued the fight until the end, winning the public's acclamation.

As a passionate amateur photographer living in Spain, I found bullfighting an extremely graphic subject, where ancient tradition mixes with colors, shapes, and movement.

Michel used a Nikon D200 with a 80-200mm f/2.8 lens.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Taken in July in downtown Denver, Colorado at the annual "Piazza del Arte" street fair, where artists spend two days for hours on end to create works of art with chalk on the street -- simply amazing stuff!" says Paul Leasure. "Took the photo in early evening under a nice cloud cover."

Paul used a Nikon D70s with his zoom set to 18mm. The settings were 1/200th at f-7.1.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Forrest fires in Central Oregon are a part of daily life," says Buck Heim. "This person takes a moment to notice just how close this burn is to town, while her teammates focus on marching their Outrigger to the banks of the Deschutes for an afternoon practice."

"There’s not a lot to this shot other than grabbing my camera and firing. I stopped down the lens to get some depth and maybe get the shutter slow enough to pick up some motion."

Buck captured this grab shot with his Nikon D200 and a 50mm lens. The settings were 1/80th at f-11

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Events! See the TDS Event Calendar for photography workshops, speaking engagements, and trade show appearances.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Here's a genuine grab shot," says Steve Cooper. "I didn't have the camera with me and had to race home to get it, hoping that the car would still be looking just as lost as when I first spotted it. Fortunately that was the case."

Steve used a Canon PowerShot Pro1 set to 1/100th at f-3.5. The focal length was 30.5 mm

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Berlin is Germany's largest melting pot, a place that became home to people from all over the world," says Jan Bölsche. "Each year in May, the city celebrates its cultural variety with the "Karneval der Kulturen" (Carnival of Cultures), which takes place in the streets of Kreuzberg, the district with the largest percentage of non-german inhabitants."

"I managed to grab this shot using a 450mm equivalent tele lens in aperture priority mode. Having mounted such a long lens on my Sony Alpha 100 got me in trouble a few seconds later though, when a couple of beautiful dancers right in front of me invited me to take their photo being all smiles. All I could do was to shrug in regret and let the moment slip away."

Jan set his A100 to ISO 400. The shutter/aperture settings were 1/500th at f-6.3 with pattern metering mode. No flash.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Got my first DSLR for Father's Day and have been quite trigger happy since," said Daniel Szecket. "It's a Nikon D80 with the 18-55mm lens. I took this picture in the car, on the road, on the way up to Canada to get my children back from the grandparents where they had been staying while we searched for houses in Pittsburgh."

Daniel set his D80 to Aperture Priority (f-3.5) with an ISO of 100. He then loaded the image into Aperture and adjusted the contrast and saturation slightly to give it a bit more drama.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I grabbed this shot, killing time, in the train with a wondurful mixture of cold window light and warm tungsten or halogen," said Chris Wesseling. "Wide open, aperture priority. Focussing so close gives you a lot of room to play with depth of field. Even though in color it's a pretty monochromatic image, I chose a toned B&W to lay even more emphasis on the softness of it all. The hanky, the slumber, the skin, the focus."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Some friends and I were celebrating the 4th of July by exploring an abandoned gold mine here in Alaska," said Erik Halfacre. "The last man was a ways behind us and was carrying a 2 million candlepower spotlight. As I looked over my shoulder after exiting the mine I saw the way the light was illuminating the dense fog, so I set my camera down on the ground in shutter priority mode with the speed set to about 2 seconds and got this shot."

And you nailed it nicely, Erik. Shutter priority mode is handy for these types of shots. You can learn more about it by checking out Podcast 87, Aperture and Shutter Priority.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"If a fly can be a grab shot, why not a cicada," says Doug Barnes. "These things are only around every 17 years. This was taken at a picnic in Wood Dale, IL. Just got a Canon PowerShot A630, and I recently started listening to your podcasts. I have downloaded all your past episodes and am playing catchup. I started out barely knowing anything about the finer aspects of photography and have gotten a lot of great tips so far."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Driving through a small town," said John Badgerow, "my wife firmly instructed me to drive around the block and get out my camera. No further instructions were necessary as to what to do next."

John used a Canon PowerShot A80 in auto mode to capture this striking colorful shot.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This photo was taken at a local park," said Michael Cortina. "I often watch my grandson on my days off and always take my Nikon D50 with me when we go. I am a newbie, but belong to a local camera club. I'm always trying new things to improve my technical skills as well as my creative eye."

"For this shot, I tried to zoom in close and just watched him and he inspired this shot. I was aware of the time of day was not ideal for photography, and the focus wasn't as exact as I would have liked, but when I saw the image printed I really liked it. The info I have is 1/500 - f5.3."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

And you can view more images from our virtual camera club in the Member Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I had just gotten my Chapman Stick back from the manufacturer, and I was taking pictures to put on my blog," said Eric Knapp. I had a bunch of hot lights set up and was using my favorite lens, a Tamron 90mm macro, on my Pentax *ist DS. I was concentrating on the fret work when this fly landed nearby. All I had to do was loosen the tripod and swivel a little to the right to take this shot and a few like it. What are the odds of this happening? I couldn't believe my luck and just had to submit it as a grab shot."

Here are the specs for the shot: Shutter: 1/60th, Aperture: f 6.7, Exposure: Aperture Priority, Focal Length: 90mm, ISO Speed: 800, Metering: Pattern.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"As I walked through Boston's Faneuil Hall Market Place today," said Greg West, "the gentleman who portrays Ben Franklin pulled a cell phone from his cloak and took a call. Whether it was Jefferson, Adams, or Hancock himself, the inopportune interruption was the Cingular costume flaw of this beloved character."

Greg grabbed this shot using a Nikon D200, Nikkor 18-70mm AF-S at f/4.5, 1/320.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I captured this shot a few months ago while taking my wife to work," said Lee Love. "I noticed it was very foggy, so I ran home, grabbed my camera, and went to the end of the street to capture this image."

We'll have to coax the image data out of Lee since it was stripped out of the shot, but you gotta admit, this is a handsome landscape image.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"While walking through one of the universities in Hanoi (Vietnam), this women with incredibly long hair walked by," said David-Emil Wickstrom. "My vietnamese friends urged me to take a picture, so I did."

David used a Nikon D70s in Aperture Priority mode, f/2.8 @ 1/1000th of a second.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I found out about the fire in Griffith Park, California after it was well underway," said Joshua Targownik. "I grabbed all of my gear, which is always packed and charged, and went to the roof of my apartment building. I spend five hours, until well past sunset, shooting and simply looking at the fire, just a few miles away."

"I wanted to capture the color, ferocity, and the size of it all. I waited like a hunter for moments when planes or helicopters flew near the flames. I specifically snapped this one in the middle of a sequence of about five rapid shots."

Joshua captured this compelling image with a Nikon D200, Action Grip head on tripod (allowed him to track aircraft well), 80-400mmVR @ 250mm, 1/60th @ f/5.6, -1ev, ISO 1600.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"We just got back from a day at the beach and Jacque was strolling around camp after her shower," said Buck Heim. "After a great day of taking purposeful pictures, my favorite shot of the day just sort of happened. This shot was also my runner-up for last month’s window to the soul photo assignment."

Buck caught this grab shot of Jacque with a Nikon D200 using the popular 18-200mm VR zoom. The focal length was 170mm. Exposure was 1/20th @ f/8; ISO 100. Good example of how image stabilization can save a grab shot. Normally 1/20 would be way to slow for a handheld telephoto shot.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I took this last November in Chicago on a rainy evening at Millennium Park," said Julianne Fishell. "I used a Canon 30D with the fab Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens. (ISO 1600, 1/60, f5.0)."

"Thanks to your podcast on packing for a trip, I had a a ziploc bag in my camera bag, which I was using to keep my camera dry from the pouring rain. Thanks to you (again!), I've been using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for about a month now and have been rediscovering pictures that I never bothered to look at or process before, this image being one of them. From Lightroom I exported the original RAW to Photoshop as a 16-bit TIFF. I copied it to a second layer and used the Photomatix plug-in to tonemap the image, adding a touch of HDR. Then I did a curves adjustment, layer, and some sharpening."

Thank you Julianne for providing us with your techniques for creating this terrific image...

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Join Derrick Story for a Digital Photography Field Trip in Orlando Florida on May 11. And don't miss his sessions on Camera Raw and Photoshop Lightroom. CRE8 Conference - May 9-11, 2007

"The pic shows Jakob, my elder son," says Paul Vanovertveld. "Spring is already everywhere and naturally the dandelions attracted him. I was lucky to get some good shots."

Paul used a Canon 20D set to Aperture Priority mode (f-5.0), 1/200th sec., ISO 200, lens set to 105mm.

And I think we should take a moment to celebrate our 100th Grab Shot. By all of you sharing your fine work, you've helped create a more interesting destination for all of our virtual camera club members. I'm going to think of some way to further acknowledge this, but for the time being, I want to say "thank you!".

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Join Derrick Story for a Digital Photography Field Trip in Orlando Florida on May 11. And don't miss his sessions on Camera Raw and Photoshop Lightroom. CRE8 Conference - May 9-11, 2007

"A friend and I went out shooting for fun one night," said Thomas M. Loftus. "This bridge, the Veteran's Memorial Bridge, crosses the Missouri River between Sioux City, IA and South Sioux City, NE, suddenly had a blazing backdrop. We were certainly in the right place at the right time. Some minor color adjustments were done and some distracting lights in the background cloned out."

Thomas captured this glorious image with a Canon Rebel XT, kit 18-55mm Lens at 37mm, f/5, 1/15 sec., auto white balance.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Join Derrick Story for a Digital Photography Field Trip in Orlando Florida on May 11. And don't miss his sessions on Camera Raw and Photoshop Lightroom. CRE8 Conference - May 9-11, 2007

"I took this whilst out at the Zoo with my little boy having a fun day out -- as well as looking for shots for this month's photo assignment," said Karl Gartland. "Originally, I was going to submit it for the Texture assignment, but finally decided it worked better as a grab shot. It's a photo of a Rhea who was busy grooming him/her self and not in the bit interested in the crowds of people walking by."

Karl used a Canon EOS 400D (XTi) in Aperture Priority mode (5.6) at 160th of a second with the ISO set to 100. The focal length was 190mm.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

"Here is a photo of my grandson receiving his birthday cake on his fourth birthday," said Rusty Rhodes. "I call it "Absolute Delight"."

"It was taken with my Nikon D200 with an 18-200 VR at 24mm. 1/10 sec f/3.8 ISO 800. I'm usually pretty picky with the sharpness of my photo's, but this is one I wouldn't trade for 10 tack sharp pictures taken 10 seconds later. A "grab shot" indeed. I love this VR lens."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

"I saw this as I was riding north from Denver to Cheyenne on a strangely calm morning" said Mark Castleman. "It's a good reminder to keep your camera with you because you never know when you'll be in the right place at the right time."

Mark used his Pentax K10D with a 100-300mm lens set to 185mm; f-9.5, 1/350th, at ISO 100 for this terrific grab shot.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

"I was at the beach during sunset and walking around looking for interesting people (surfers, runners, kids, fishermen) to silhouette against the setting sun," said Gustavo Fernandez. "I walked by this local group of friends and immediately saw an opportunity. I took the first three images from a distance, and they looked like I was towering over them since the beach slopped upwards and I am 6ft tall. This was the fourth shot where I changed the perspective by getting lower and zooming out on my lens to fill the image with their silhouettes."

Gustavo used a Canon 30D with a 17-85mm lens zoomed out to 75mm. ISO: 400, shutter: 1/250 and aperture: F10. Nice shot!

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"The eclipse was almost over as the moon rose over downtown Denver" said Mark Castleman. "This was taken from Lookout Mountain, just west of Golden, Colorado using a tripod."

Mark set his Pentax K10D to ISO 100 (which is the right setting since his camera was on a tripod. The low ISO helped keep the noise in the sky to a minimum.) The exposure was 1/15th at f-5.6.

Nice job, Mark!

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This is the first photo I ever took with my Nikon D50," said Ken Larson. "I can't remember which lens I was using, but I was looking through my house for something to shoot and my girlfriend's cat, Grim, was sitting there and had just opened his eyes. The flash hit him just right."

"This shot is cropped, but no other editing has been done. I've tried to get another shot like this ever since, but never again."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.

"The little girl is waiting for her mom to get change so they can ride the carousel," says Victor Cenac-Mehedinti. "While she waits, she looks through the bars with anticipation!"

Victor captured this image at the Santa Monica Pier with a Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105 USM L. The ISO was set to 400, shutter speed was 1/100, and aperture was f-4.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.

"Here's my cat having some fun with the USB end of my iPod cable," said Joe Rodricks. "This was taken with my Nikon D50 at f/22.0 with an exposure of 1/60 and a focal length of 80mm in direct sunlight. The cat is on an old wood sign that was turned into a coffee table with a thin sheet of Plexiglas on top, thus the reflection, which made the whole picture very bright."

"While the cat chewing on the cord was impromptu, this was the result of my experimenting with such a bright setting. I'm pretty happy with the results, my iPod cable, not so much."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Add Magic to Your Slideshows -- FotoMagico presentations are so amazing that your audience will be asking how you did it.

"My niece was just leaving from visiting us before heading back to college," said Mark Gale. "As she walked out the door, I stopped her and said there was a beautiful photograph for her to take right behind her. She turned and didn't even see this hawk sitting on our fence until it flew. After my niece left, I grabbed my 30D with a 300 on it, and went to the back yard and crouched. The small birds came back in to the feeder, and I knew the harrier would try again. She dodged in and tried but the small birds once again eluded her. She perched on the fence slightly behind a evergreen chest towards the setting sun."

"After looking at the black and white images, I thought it would be fun to do a selection in Photoshop around the eyes, inverse the selection and then apply the layer style, and that is how I got the above. Just a simple round trip from Aperture to Photoshop and back."

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

"I live in a small apartment in New York City," said Shane Woodall. "This shot was taken with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi on Thanksgiving in my parent's back yard. It was the fist time my dog was able to run on the grass off his leash. As you can see, he rather enjoyed it."

Shane set his Rebel XTi to 1/500 in Shutter Priority mode. ISO 100 and the focal length at 90mm.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

"I recently purchased a Canon Rebel XTi (Merry Christmas to me!)," said Eric Simon, "but owing to the horrible weather here in Denver, I haven'’t had much of a chance to get outside and take pictures (and man am I itching to take pictures!). As a compromise, I’ve been bugging my family by taking pictures of them engaged in various activities (... they’re itching for me to get outside too!) This picture is of my two-year-old daughter, Makenzie, reading a magazine."

"Her mom usually wears her glasses at night, and our daughter has picked up on this fact. Since she obviously doesn’t have prescription glasses to wear, she often puts on her sunglasses to mimick her mom reading. The magazine she is perusing is an issue of Time magazine. She is sitting in her little brown arm chair."

Eric used a Canon Rebel XTi equipped with a Canon 50/1.8 Mk II lens, wide open at ISO 800 using aperture priority and no flash. He converted the shot to black and white in Photoshop 7.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

Cruelles de Ville: "Septegenarians peruse antiques in the market at the Cour Soleya, Nice," says Simon Saunders. "The furs, diamonds and crocodile- and snake-skin accessories are real, as is the blonde hair (although even that may not be their own). I followed these ladies and hid behind an arrangement of clothes to catch them with my Nikon 18-200mm."

"The image screams luxury, and decadance, although what it doesn't convey completely is the warmth of the day; temperatures on the French Riviera in January can reach the high 60s, which is why it's such a popular destination for the wealthy and especially the elderly. So the thick furs are entirely, as they say in those parts, de trop!"

"They are handling crucifixes, I discover later. One points a taloned finger to a selection shown them by the marketeer."
Combien? "How much?"
"This one?" he replies.
Non - touts. "No - all of them."

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

"I took this shot while walking along the river bank one Saturday afternoon," said Carlos Fernandez. "I noticed this cafe worker taking her smoke break on the river bank. She was oblivious to my presence which gave me time to frame up and grab the shot."

Carlos captured with a Nikon D80 at F5.6, 1/125, ISO 200, auto white balance, and 135mm focal length. Then converted the image to black and white.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

"I took this shot while waiting in line for the keynote address by Steve Jobs at Macworld Expo," said Kevin Miller. "I got in line at 4am for the 9am presentation. Many had arrived earlier than I, in order to get a spot at the keynote. This faithful follower took a break in the middle of the anticipation."

Kevin captured this moment with a Canon 30D, 24-105mm f4.0 lens, f4.0, 1/125, ISO=800, Expodisc for custom white balance.

If you want to see more pictures from Macworld related events, take a look at this gallery I've posted.

Technorati Tags: digital photography, The Digital Story

"Here is a shot that my wife captured of me and the kids celebrating after I opened the new 20” iMac," said Ernie Hagenow. "This was our family gift for Christmas. Our oldest son was so happy he had tears of joy."

"The motion blur was recorded because this was the ninth shot in a row and the flash fell behind in recharging."

"I look forward of going to the next level in my digital photography with the iMac and Aperture. My kids love Photo Booth, and as you see it in the background the M-Audio keyboard has been used a lot in GarageBand."

This fun grab shot was captured with a Canon EOS 30D set to ISO 200, shutter speed was 1/13th and aperture at f-3.5, exposure compensation +1/3. And yes, the flash didn't fire.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

It's true, there will be no podcast for this last week of 2006. But don't be sad, I'll have plenty of interesting posts on the web site to keep you busy. Plus, you still have a few days to finish up your photo assignment for December, pool of light. I'll be back on the air on Jan. 2 with a brand new podcast to kick off 2007.

As for today's grab shot, it was captured by Christopher Thompson. He recorded this great image while taking pictures for friends. Here's what Christopher had to say about it...

"I snapped this pic while taking Christmas photographs for a good friend's family. The four kids were pretty wound up and excited about getting dressed until it was time to settle down and sit still. Once I had set up the lighting, I stayed put and started framing up the kids while checking exposure."

"It's funny how adults have preconceived ideas about how things should go. The parents apologized to me for putting up with the wild ones, but I found that if I just kept patient, opportunities would present themselves. The kids make all the magic happen; I just try to capture a bit of it on film er flash card. You might say this was an unhappy accident."

"The Lighting set up consisted of a Lowel Omni-Light 500 Watt Focusing Flood Light as the key, a Photoflex 22" Silver LiteDisc as the fill, and a Lowel Pro 150 Watt as hair light. All lights borrowed from school. As for the camera... Canon: EOS 30D, ISO: 400, Exposure: 1/60 s at F/2.8, Exposure Mode: Manual, Lens: EF50mm f/1.4 USM, Shot in Raw + small jpg, color corrected and sharpened Photoshop CS2, Mac OS X 10.4.8, Powerbook G4"

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

The tradition is that Denver was the first city to embrace outdoor lighting in a big way, and the City & County Building is a wonderful example of this," says Mark Castleman. "It's become a holiday tradition to come down to see the lights, and there is often a line of cars, buses and carriages passing by on Bannock St at night."

"I really wanted to get both the building and a feeling of the people coming down to see it, and that's why I did such a long exposure so that the cars (and carriages) going by would render as streaks of light. (The -0.5 ev compensation was because I am still getting used to the K10 and forgot to reset it.) I did a little straightening of the image in Aperture, but other than that I left it alone. The building stays lit until the 1st of January, and then it is also lit for the duration of the National Western Stock Show staring on the 6th."

Mark used a Pentax K 10D in shutter priority mode at 6 seconds. The ISO was set to 100.

Note from Derrick

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone in the Digital Story virtual camera club a happy holiday season. Knowing many of you has helped make my 2006 a wonderful year. Peace on Earth...

"I was on the Huntington Beach Pier recently when I spotted this bird flying by with something in its mouth, so I grabbed a few shots," said Allen Rockwell. "When I got home, I was able to see that it was carrying a whole cracker and was being careful not to crush it."

"It's shots like this that justify the cost of the Canon 100-400mm IS L lens!"

Allen used a Canon EOS 30D, exposure set to 1/500th @ f/8, focal length: 350 mm, ISO: 100

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This came about during an early morning commute when, for a change, I decided to take the ferry across the Potomac River rather than the bridge," said Alan Bushnell. "As I was leaving home (in the dark), I noticed my camera bag next to the door and grabbed it just for kicks. I'd done that a few times before, but never got the chance to use it."

When I arrived at the ferry, it was still quite dark and the combination of a recent snow with the water gave the whole river a nice low fog. I took this shot while standing next to my car on the ferry in the middle of the river. The shutter speed was a low 1/8th of second so the image stabilization on my lens was a lifesaver."

Allen used a Canon 20D, 70-200 f/2.8IS, with the ISO set to 400, 1/8 sec at f/7.1.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

"I woke up at 4 am one morning and couldn't get back to sleep," said Jeremey Barrett. "So I made my way to earliest-opening coffee shop here in town, which is on Sugar Land's town square, and took my camera bag and tripod. This was taken around 6:30 am, and I really liked the balance of light from the sun just coming up and all the Christmas lights."

Jeremey used a Canon EOS 10D at ISO 100, set to 4 seconds at f-8. Since he was using a tripod, he was able to keep the ISO setting low thereby minimizing image noise.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

"We were going on a cruise for spring break and had hired a limo to go from the airport to Long Beach," said Neil Martin. "We had time to spare, so the driver took us for a tour of L.A. and one stop was the Santa Monica pier. After walking the pier and loading back into the limo, I spotted this gentleman and grabbed the shot out the window."

"I liked the color contrast between the Coke machine in the laundromat window and the Pepsi bottle on his bike. Back home, I used Photoshop Elements to isolate and intensify the two colors. By selecting the brush tool on the color setting and working carefully, I eliminated all the other colors."

Neil used a Fuji Fine Pix S602 Zoom set to f/2.8, 1/80 sec. at 200 ISO.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

"I captured this grab shot on a trip we took last September to Italy," said Nicole Wijnands. "We were in Venice just sitting down for a break. I looked back at the bridge and saw this guy relaxing in the sun. I knew I had to get the shot! I quickly got out my camera with the telezoom attached and got it."

Nicole's Canon 350D was set to ISO 800 (she just got out of a museum), 1/4000 at f/10, focal length 200mm on Canon EF 75-300mm F/4-5.6 USM III

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I recently went to the Detroit Zoo and had a chance to experience their new "Australian Outback" exhibit," said Brian C Davenport. "It's a pretty cool concept. Just you and the animals... no walls, no cages per se. You are in the exhibit with only a roped off path for you to follow. The animals come and go as they please and even stop to stare at the visitors. One even decided to take a little nap on the visitor path. This big fellow seemed interested in the big black "eye" I was pointing at him."

Brian used a Canon DRebel XT, Canon EF 75-300 at 300mm, ISO 400, AP mode at f/8 and shutter was at 1/125th of a second.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

"My son and I were canoeing around the islands at Charleston Lake Provincial Park," said Andre Campeau, "when we came up to this northern water snake basking in the morning sun."

Andre used a Nikon D70 with a 55-200 Sigma zoom at ISO 200 to capture this wonderful grab shot.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

You're Not Ken Burns -- But FotoMagico slideshows are so good that people will believe that he helped you.

At a recent live fire training for my fire department, we burned three old dilapidated barns for a farmer," said Wade Moline. "As senior training officer, it is my responsibility to ensure that firefighters are being trained to meet state and federal standards."

"For later critique of these training exercises I take pictures of everything I can and the photos are great to incorporate into Keynote and present to the firefighters so that they can see what they did right and what they did wrong as well as use them for classroom training."

"After this training session, I downloaded all the pictures and as I was going through them, this one caught my eye. The firefighter may look like he is in the fire, and to some he looks like he actually is on fire, when he is really behind the barn pushing in the remains of a wall. The waves of heat rising from the fire appear to make a "glass" effect."

Wade used a Canon EOS D60, shot at ISO 400, f 5.6, shutter speed 1/640, 176 mm.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I was just returning to my car just after day break because the rain was getting harder," said Mark Gale. "I noticed a small bird fluttering through the bare branches of a bush. I stopped where I was and set down my tripod. I then hunkered down to see what the excitement was all about. Seconds later this hawk dove in and missed the bird who could move around in the smaller parts of the bush. Tired and not so happy that she missed breakfast, she sat on this fence post for a couple of seconds before the hunt began again."

Mark captured this grab shot with a Canon 30D with EF 300mm lens plus a 1.4x extender at ISO 800 at 1/125th of a second.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

ExpoDisc Custom White Balance -- Simply Better Color. Simply Better Pictures. Visit www.expodisc.com

"I took my camera to the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita Springs, FL," said Paul Tomlinson. "I was attempting to get down low (per one of Derrick's podcasts) to get a different angle on the subjects. I was dismayed that many of the images were out of focus, but darn it if these athletes aren't tremendously fast."

Paul captured this shot with a Fuji S2 Pro using the Nikkor 80-200mm F2.8 at 200mm, F4, and 1/750 at ISO 100.

As an aside (from Paul), if you have an interest in adopting a retired athlete, please visit: www.naplesfortmyersdogs.com/adopt.html

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"The juxtaposition of the two sets of people struck me as a photo op," said Landon Michaelson. "White collar and blue collar. The bird added the final touch."

"The couple stopped here briefly, as did I, then the moment was gone."

Landon used a Nikon D200 with a 85mm 1.8 at f/4, and a polarizer and ND filter to keep shutter speeds in check in the bright sunlight, as he was shooting wide open for awhile. The shutter speed was 1/50 second. Landon thought f/2 was too shallow and would lose the fishermen, so he switched to f/4 and grabbed this shot. You can see more of Landon's work at Best Kept Secret Photography.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"My wife has always wanted to see where the Woodstock Festival was held," said Jim Stocking. "The two of us, along with my brother and his wife and daughter, made a pilgrimage out there on a day that began as rainy and overcast. By the time we got there, however, the sun was breaking through and we saw a beautiful rainbow."

"I took the picture with my Canon S80 using program mode with white balance set to cloudy, then I checked the histogram to make sure the exposure did not clip at either end. I used the Curves adjustment in Photoshop to tweak up the image, trying to darken the rainbow and lighten the landscape."

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I grabbed this shot at the Getty Center in Los Angeles," said Julianne Fishell. "My son was tired, and his feet hurt, so he collapsed on the bench while the rest of us looked at the paintings. I took a quick shot of him with my camera because I liked the way the empty room looked. I didn't realize until I uploaded the photo that his tie dyed shirt matched the colors of the gallery, and his state of collapse mimicked the position of the nude in the painting behind him."

Julianne used a Canon 30D with the Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens. ISO 1000, shutter speed 1/80, aperture f/4.0. There was no flash allowed, so she had to use the super high ISO. She had the camera on shutter priority and had been snapping shots around the interior of the museum to try out her lens, which was brand new at the time.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"It was only after the Lamborghini Diablo sped past that I saw that it had SIN as the license plate," said Andrew Burke... "and a beautiful blond passenger!"

Andrew captured this grab shot with his brand new Nikon D50 camera at 1250th of a second, f4.5, using the 70-300 lens at 135mm.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"While eating lunch at a port-side fish restaurant in Acco/Acres (near Haifa, Israel)," said Yuval Yeret, "I noticed some local boys jumping from the old city walls into the water. I switched into continuous-shot mode and tried to grab some interesting shots. This was in the afternoon (15:06 to be exact), and since we were in daylight savings time, the sun was already on its way down. We had significant backlighting there, which makes this an almost total shilouette. It adds to the shot I think."

"I think the best of the bunch is this one, capturing the act of takeoff..."

Yuval used a a Nikon D80 and a Nikkor 18-200 VR lens set to 135mm. ISO 250 in aperture priority mode.

If you have a candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I captured this moment after a troup of beach-goers had staked out their spot, set up their chairs, and immediately left to take a walk," said Francine Kunkel. "Left on their own at the empty beach, I thought the chairs truly had a wonderful, peaceful view of the ocean."

Francine captured this shot with a Canon Powershot 2 IS, f4 at 1/1000, at a Northern California beach.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I took this shot from the Golden Gate Bridge on a Friday bike ride," said Brad Immanuel. "Two jets, F-18s, I think, were flying formation around the bay. They flew toward the east side of the bridge and then over it while I checked the view out. I had a lot of trouble getting my Digital Rebel to auto-focus, and by the time I got a shot off, they were right overhead. So it's a hastily composed image, but I think the tower, planes, and glare all play well. I turned up the color in Aperture."

Actually, Brad, this might be an instance when the shot you could get was the best composition. Brad recorded this photo with his Digital Rebel XT set to ISO 400.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Snatched this picture while in Milan," said Jennifer Tofani. I was thinking of it for the circle assignment, but it is really a grab shot even though it has all the circles. I just couldn't believe the blue arrow pointing to this guy with a video camera and on the phone. What a world."

Jennifer used a Nikon D200 in RAW mode, 1/130 at f/4.5. The ISO was set to 100. Focal Length was 70mm on the 18 -70 mm Nikon lens.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"On my way back home from work, I stopped my bike and shot few pictures of three birds flying after that deltaplano (no idea what you call it in english)," said Nish. "They took him for the Chief! They kept flying wing to wing for almost 10 minutes."

Nish captured this shot with a Canon PowerShot A530, 1/400th at f-5.5.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"This shot was taken on an early summer day in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado," said Scott Elias. "As you can tell the coyote is still a bit scruffy from his winter coat."

"It was a gray, overcast day so we decided to do a shorter trail from the Bear Lake Trailhead up to Dream Lake. Since rain (or snow!) was a possibility, I decided not to bring my Digital Rebel on the hike. All I had was my trusty old Canon G1."

"Good thing, too, since as soon as we got to Dream Lake (only a mile from the trailhead) it started to thunder. We practically ran back down the trail to get back in the truck and decided it would be best to head into Estes Park for lunch and a nap. On the way down from Bear Lake, this guy wandered lazily onto the road in front of us. Since I didn't have a long zoom, I had to get pretty close for a decent shot. I stepped out of the truck keeping the door open between me and the coyote, steadied the camera in the window frame, and squeezed off this shot before he bolted back into the forest."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I'm drawn to texture wherever I travel," said Jane Lang. "This shot was taken at the Rockport harbor in Maine. The situation started out less than pleasant. The keys got locked in the car, and while we were waiting for the key savior to arrive, I roamed off with my trusty Canon Rebel XT and came upon this groovy metal ramp leading down (low tide) to a dock. I was struck by the geometric form and its unexpected presence in this haven of natural beauty."

Jane used a Canon Rebel XT set to 1/250th at f-13. ISO 400 and focal length at 34mm.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Our annual family vacation took us to Traverse City, Michigan. We have been going to this location for many years, but this year we decided to take a day trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore," said Brian C. Davenport.

"There were many photo ops here... almost too many. This shot keeps drawing me back. It's a photo from the Lake Michigan overlook, 450 feet above the lake. There's a small trail that leads down to the lake for brave souls who want to endure the hike. It takes about 15 minutes to get down to the lake, but about an hour climb back up... not for the faint of heart or unprepared hiker -- very steep incline. There were many warning signs around to that effect."

"As you can guess... there were many that were unprepared. Most ended up crawling on their hands and knees to make it back up. Those specks you see... are people trying to climb the dune."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Five years ago, my youngest son and I were in Washington state on vacation" said Kevin Miller. "We received a call early in the morning from a friend back home in Las Vegas regarding the attack on the Twin Towers."

"To remember the events of five years ago, a local mortuary set up a memorial here in Las Vegas. A flag was posted for each victim from September 11, 2001. Accompanying each flag was a small plaque with the victim's name and in many cases, personal information is given as well."

"For those of us who are visual, to see a flag for each of the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attack is very impressive."

Photo taken with Canon 30D, Canon 24-105mm f4.0 L series lens set at 105mm. Exposure was f11.0 at 1/200 second with -.67 exposure compensation using aperture priority at ISO 100. Shot in RAW, processed in CS2.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

Brian Davenport writes, "I have a request and a grab shot (kind of... actually, it really is a "grab" shot). My "The Digital Story" keychain really takes a beating, and it has malfunctioned. The click don't click... it sticks."

"Now I know I'm abusive to the poor thing. I carry alot of keys for my job. Any chance of another one? I am including evidence as a grab shot. Thanks for the great site and show."

My reply, "Hey Brian, would love to send you a replacement. And thanks for sharing your work with The Digital Story virtual camera club."

BTW folks, I hope to send out the next batch of keychains next week. Keep on shooting and submitting! (and Happy Friday).

Technorati Tags: candid, grab shot, The Digital Story

"After 30 years of traveling around the world, I went back to Italy" said Nish. "My new job is to shoot pictures of people putting their heads in the mouth of the shark. This shark is next to a big aquarium full of real sharks. I've never been a photographer, and started listening to Derrick's digital story podcast, and now I am totally addicted to it."

"During work, I use an Olympus Camedia in program mode," Nish continues. "This shot of my girlfriend was taken with my Nikon Coolpix 5200. In the last 3 months, I've taken more then 3000 pictures of people going into the shark. I try to be creative, finding new ways to place people inside. Lots of fun and actually good money."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"Over a year ago I stumbled upon this wall in an old manufacturing section of town and took a shot of it," said Brett Stoddart. "Every time I looked at the picture, I would imagine it broken up into sections with more detail in each. I finally made it back to where the original was taken, and recomposed the shot with emphasis on the grease handprint against the whiteness of the wall and the peeling red paint. Needless to say, I have been so much happier with this and other 'revisited' images of 'the red wall.'

Brett used a Canon 20D in Aperture Priority mode at f-5.6. The ISO was set to 400. The focal length was 140mm.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I grabbed this photo only the other day on my balcony after a awful rainy night," said Emil Trollklint. "This flower had landed on the wood floor, and its shape and colour attracted my eye. I captured the scene with my Canon A620 set to 1/60 of a second at f-2.8."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"After getting my first camera phone, my initial thought was, 'well it's a novel idea but not very useful,'" said Harold Thompson.

"One day while waiting for our dinner to come, I took the camera out and begin to pan around to see what might be within range. The colors of the catsup and hot sauce bottles on our table sort of popped. So I took a grab shot, and to my surprise, it wasn't too bad. My next step was to bring it into Photoshop and experiment."

"The final adjustments were pretty simple. I duplicated the background layer, applied a posterize effect, around 6 or 7, and then applied the ink outlines filter on another layer. You can also adjust the exposure which is sometimes necessary with camera phones. Lighting is really a big deal with these little guys."

The camera phone used is a Samsung SCH-a670 with a resolution of: VGA (640 x 480)

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I love your idea of grab shots," said Matthew Kuperus Heun. "I, too, like photographing what I see around me. One of my photography goals is to never disturb what I'm shooting, whether is people, landscape, animals, whatever. While I do few posed portraits, I'm constantly challenging myself to improve my photographer's eye."

"The attached photo is my submission for a Grab Shot. I had my little Canon A75 point and shoot with me during our block party last week. The fire department was doing a demonstration for the kids, letting them control the hoses. To cool off, the kids were playing in the spray. I walked around for a shot backlit by the evening sun streaming between two houses, just as my neighbor was walking out of the spray. I love the effect!"

One of the things that I want to point out here is that Matt walked around the subject to find this great angle. I discussed this and other techniques in my "10 Tips for Great Field Photography". By doing so, you'll often find an even better composition, as demonstrated here by Matt.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot, The Digital Story

"I shot this as I was going into an exhibit at our local zoo," said Harold Thompson. "I was suddenly struck by the irony of the sign and had to grab the thought. I usually focus on the wildlife, but this time the sign caught my attention. I used a Nikon FM with a 50mm 1.8 Nikkor Lens at f 5.6 125/sec."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot

"This is a shot I took of the New York Botanical Garden Conservatory last month here in the Bronx" said Eric Marin. "The framing of the photo reminded me of some sort of alien landscape from a Star Wars movie, and I just loved the way the blue gradient of the sky contrasted with the white dome."

Eric used a Casio QV-R40 in program mode to compose this artistic shot.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot

"I was at my sister's cottage and this butterfly landed near me," said Eric Knapp. "I was holding my camera and I quickly turned and took a shot. However, in the camera's display the butterfly was too small and too dark. Then I remembered two of Derrick's tips on taking better pictures. The first tip was "fill flash," and the second was "move closer." So I climbed inside the electric deer fence and popped up the flash on my Pentax *ist DS. The butterfly held still for a few more seconds and I took this shot at 1/180 sec., f 5.6, at 55mm, with the flash on. The ISO was set to 200."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot

"While traveling in central Arkansas," said Jan Blanchard, "I was exploring a beautiful botanical garden and happened upon this scene. I wondered if the koi were attracted by the food or by the orange shirt on the little boy. The matching vibrant colors certainly attracted this photographer's eye."

Jan captured this scene with her Canon Digital Rebel set to 1/50 of a second at f-5.6. Her ISO was 100.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography, grab shot

I grabbed this shot while taking architecture pictures for my company," said Chris Glass. We just built a new restaurant, and I was the 'go to' guy for capturing the images."

"While taking all the required wide-angle standard shots, my eye kept going to the bar area in the restaurant. It had frosted glass shelves with neon lights backlighting everything inside. The blue through the bottles was amazing, so when I had a chance, I crawled with my camera and tripod under the boxes to get to the bar shelves, set up the camera, and snapped this shot."

"It was taken with a Nikon D50 with a 50mm f/1.8 (my favorite lens BTW) at 1/100th of a sec with the white balance set to "tungsten". This has become my new favorite picture for my computer background!"

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"This shot of my clunky electric stove top (just outta photo school -- I can't afford a nice gas one yet) was shot with my D200 and my old manual nikon 70-150mm series E zoom (yes it actaully meters on the D200)" said Rob Sackyta. "The exposure was a whopping 15 seconds @ f-5.6 in RAW, and surprisingly, not a whole lot of noise.

"I used Nikon Capture 4 tethered to My Macbook Pro, so I wouldn't pass out from the heat, as I actually had all four coils going at once. Capture runs pretty slow on the Intel side, but it still has great advantages, especially when shooting product shots."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"My family went to a local airshow with friends," said Andrew Mein. "It was a long day and we were all getting tired. As we walked round some of the static exhibits our friend's son just sat down in the middle of the hangar. I managed to grab the camera and got this great shot."

Andrew used a Fuji Finepix 602Z. ISO 200, 1/49 sec F/2.8 to capture this sit-in by his son.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I rented a Nikon SB-800 flash and took a bunch of shots of my two sons to test the unit," said Matt Jorgensen. "After about 10 minutes, they were getting pretty sick of me and the camera. I think this shot sums up my youngest son's thoughts (the older son is collapsed on the couch in disgust)."

Here are the shooting details: Camera: Nikon D70, Shutter: 1/60 sec, Aperture: f/3.5, ISO: 100, Focal Length: 18mm, Flash: SB-800.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"A true grab shot," said Landon Michaelson. "We were on our way out of town and a storm was sweeping across the valley. Just before the rain hit, I snapped three photos out the windshield of the car (I was the passenger) with camera at the ready ;-)"

"I stitched them together, gave it a crop and a curves adjustment. It became an eye catcher. Setting sun was behind that bank of clouds. Appears somewhat composited, but was actually how it looked. The technical term is Mammatus clouds, so the title for this shot is "Mammatus Indigestus" (bowels of the storm) -- it's just a mashed together title and play on words for what it looked like to me."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"This is one of my favorite portraits of my son," said Frank Blanco. "His team had won the baseball game that day, and I had promised him lunch at a restaurant. He ordered, among other things, a chocolate shake. I think it made him even happier than winning the game."

Frank used a Nikon D100 set to ISO 200. The flash was turned off and the camera was in Aperture Priority mode @ f-5.6. Shutter speed was 1/20th.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"The Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress is a temple of knowledge," says Tom Bridge, "but photography is generally prohibited. I did managed to sneak this one shot of the ceiling, and I thought it was particularly cool."

Tom used a Canon PowerShot S410 in Program mode (1/50th @ f-2.8)

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

I've been to Cancun a couple of times recently," said Brian Davenport, "and really love the excursions. I always find something to photograph down there."

Brian used a Canon Digital Rebel XT, Sigma 18-200 3.5-6.3 DC lens, f8 @ 1/40, ISO 100, tripod mounted.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"A few months ago, I was at a model airplane meet in the Los Angeles area," said Allen Rockwell. "All of the radio controlled models were turbine powered. I was impressed by their realism. Here's one that I captured on a landing approach."

The photo was taken with a Canon 30D and a 100-400mm IS lens at 400mm. Processing was in Apple Aperture, Photomatix Pro (for HDR processing), and Photoshop CS2.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"While at Samys Camera (in LA) testing a Nikon D200," said Jennifer Tofani, "one of the store guards spotted me taking pictures and started mugging. The old koot was great. I love the bomb squad emblem on his shirt."

The D200 was set at ISO 200, Aperture Priority mode at f-4.8, and shutter speed of 1/1500 of a second.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I recently visited my parents and had my camera just in case," said Kevin Miller. "I found Mandy reasonably cooperative and took these while lying on the floor. My dad saw me spread out on the hall floor and thought perhaps I had had a heart attack."

Kevin was just fine... he's a photographer. He used a Canon 30D, F4.0, 1/60, ISO 200, with flash.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

"Recently I grabbed my camera and my 3 1/2 old and went to the park," said Phillip Resuggan. "We stopped at a ball field where I 'grabbed' this shot. I was going to a 'timeless' kinda look. There was nothing wrong with the original image... just having fun."

Phillip captured the original image with a Nikon D200, ISO 800, 1/2000 @ f-5.3. He then processed the picture in Adobe Photoshop CS2 for the Mac.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"Since listening to your Metering Mode Podcast #21, I've been experimenting with using different modes, especially the spot metering option," said Alan Amundsen. "A couple of weeks ago I was visiting some friends who had a small suspension bridge on their property crossing over a creek. I climbed down and wanted to get a shot of the bridge from underneath, but was having problems with both the sky above and trees on the far side of the bridge being blown out by the late afternoon sun. I kept reducing the exposure compensation down until it was at -1 2/3 steps, set the shutter speed at 1/250, and used spot metering on the side of the bridge."

"Was I ever surprised at the results. Not only did I get a shot of a suspension bridge, but it also appears to be suspended in space since everything else was blacked out. The focal length was 28mm and the resulting aperture was f-3.5. This picture was taken with my Canon PowerShot S2 IS with which I've been having a lot of fun since last November."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

I was driving down Highway 101 in Northern California when I spotted this abandoned gas station off the side of the road. I needed a break, so I pulled off and went exploring. The light was diffused from the overhead clouds that were also producing rain. I surveyed the scene for a few minutes, then pulled out my Canon 5D with its 24-105 lens and started working the shot.

I had just paid $3.35 a gallon for my compact Saturn, and I was thinking about how we were nearing the end of an era -- the petroleum fuel era. Funny that minutes later I stumbled upon this shot that echoed my thoughts.

I captured the image in RAW mode, 1/60th @ f-4.5, ISO 400. I then converted it to B&W in Adobe Photoshop. Image by Derrick Story.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I love Athletics Day. Rarely in the school year is there an event where can you can capture such a large spectrum of colors and people in a sunlit environment," said Michelle Kong. "Granted, considering the fact that it was a compulsory school event, and the fact it turned out cold and rainy, there were a few sour faces among the crowd. However, it's hard not to have a good time when you're with so many of your friends around you..."

Michelle captured this grab shot of her friend with coffee in hand using existing light and a Nikon D70. The ISO was set to 500 with an exposure of 1/160th @ f-5.6. She got nice a close and used a focal length of 24mm.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"Spring is really beautiful here in Italy," says Jennifer Tofani. "We get these April showers rolling in. This afternoon after one such shower, a friend called to give me a tip that a full rainbow had formed. I grabbed the camera and shot away at whatever the camera was set at. A few moments later it faded away."

Jen used a Nikon D70, RAW, Auto Exposure Mode (1/320 ay f/9), ISO 200, Focal Length 18mm.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"Had a 7-hour layover in Amsterdam, so I took a train downtown and started looking for pictures with no sense of direction or purpose," said Muyi Abifarin. "The first picture I saw was a black and red bike parked under a black and red sign by what seemed to be a closed bar. I took about three hand held shots at about 6:45 AM, right before the city was awake."

I then got nervous because I was by myself in an alley holding an expensive camera, passport, and boarding pass with a couple of men I had seen earlier approaching. Wish I could have taken a few more frames without the two pillars in front.

Muyi captured the picture with a Canon 20D and Tamron 28-75mm lens. The camera was set to f/4.5, 1/100sec, and ISO 200.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"My cousins and I were 'cup stacking' in the backyard," said Charles Zablan. "I captured this shot of my cousin ripping one of the cups from our massive 15 foot tall stack. I loved the motion effect on the cups and the reaction on my aunt's face as she was startled by the loud crash of about 300 cups."

Charles used a Canon 20D with a 50mm lens set to f-1.8 in Aperture Priority mode -- ISO 400 with the flash on. The shutter speed was set to 1/15th of a second. (This set-up sounds very familiar Charles!)

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"While on a recent trip to County Donegal, Ireland," said Stuart Murchison. "I took this shot in a tiny local pub in the middle of nowhere with musical instruments for the customers to play. While we were there, there was a family entertaining the punters. The two daughters played fiddle and accordion, while the father (pictured) gave his best rendition of Johnny Cash's Walk the Line. Shot on Nikon D70 F4.5 0.8s ISO 800 with slow sinc flash."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

Updated 4-20-06

"I shot this photo this past weekend during a thunderstorm," said Dan Polly. The lightning show was awesome, so I took a chance, grabbed my camera, and came away with this shot. The whole storm was very surreal, and this picture seemed to capture that feeling."

Dan used a Nikon D70 in Aperture Priority set to f-8 ("I'm a sucker for this mode!" he says). The ISO was 200, focal length 13mm, and the exposure was a whopping 25 seconds. This is the best way to catch lightning, by leaving the shutter open for a while. You can also go the other way and set the shutter to 30 seconds in Shutter Priority mode.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"A neighbor of mine, whom I've never met, often sits in this swing and watches the world go by," said Charlie Solomon. "Only when I got a little closer (one day when he wasn't there) did I realize that he's got all these gnomes (and maybe an angel) set up as though they're paying attention to him, maybe as if he's holding court with his advisors, the gnomes."

Charlie used a Canon PowerShot S2 IS set to 1/60 at f-4 to capture this grab shot.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I was out at the Starnberger See, which is a large lake close to Munich," said Oliver Breidenbach. "And there was a woman selling easter eggs that she had painted herself. I was attracted to the colors in this composition."

Oliver used a Panasonic DMZ-FZ30 in program mode with the ISO set to 80 and the flash turned off.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I was in Venice Italy earlier this year," said Allen Rockwell. "After taking several hundred photos of canals, gondolas, and Venetian architecture, I was sitting in my hotel room at the Danieli looking out the window at all the interesting people walking by below. I thought maybe I should go down there and take some people pix."

"My partner was taking a nap, so I slapped on the long zoom lens and headed down. I captured these dear old ladies sitting at a sidewalk cafe on the grand canal, and could not help noticing the lady's wild orange hat and tinted sunglasses. Her animated personality was as vibrant as her chapeau. Her friend looked on enjoying the show."

Alan captured this grab shot with a Canon 20D and an EF 100-400 IS telephoto lens. Settings were f5, 1/250th, ISO 400, and 250mm focal length.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"This cormorant was photographed in Everglades National Park a couple of weeks ago," said Frank Blanco. "I used a 100-300 zoom to blur out the background. The bird was resting on the side of a 'tourist' trial enjoying the South Florida sun and was not phased by the people passing by only inches away. The cormorant reminds me of an elderly, retired lady living on South Beach... you know the one I mean... who always wears those tacky sunglasses."

Frank used a Nikon D100 set to 1/80th of a second at f-9 (Aperture Priority mode), ISO 200.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

Lori Matthiesen was hiking at a location in Ocean Shores, WA that was supposed to be good for bird watching. But instead of finding fowl, she found this great sign, which cracked her up.

Lori used a Canon 20D, ISO 200, 1/250th @ f-5.6. The flash was turned off.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"This shipwreck occurred in Ocean Shores, WA," said Jordan Matthiesen. "I took the photo early in the morning on the day of the wreck. We were told that the captain had fallen asleep at the wheel and the ship crashed into the rocks. He made it out OK, but what a terrible loss!"

Jordan captured this shot with a Canon 20D. The ISO was set to 400 with the camera in shutter priority mode, 1/200th of a second. The focal length was set to 22mm.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

Jan captured this shot with a Sony DSC T3.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

Here's a section of a full panorama that Seth Grad photographed on the roof of his office in downtown Atlanta. He stitched the shots together using Pixtra. His lens was set to 18mm (1.5x sensor), and he used a tripod.

"Another useful tip for shooting panoramics (especially at night)," says Seth, "is to use exposure lock or manual settings for exposure. If you have the time, you can spot meter a few areas of the scene and pick one exposure. Be careful not to use a very bright or dark area. Then, using exposure lock or manual settings, make sure the same exposure is used throughout the scene."

To get a feel for the breadth of his panorama, here's the full length of the image:

Great work Seth!

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: digital photography

"I love night shots," said Oliver Breidenbach. "Recently, we had a surprise snow storm resulting in the heaviest snow since the beginning of weather records [in Germany]. I had to wade through 2 feet of snow to get out of the house and onto the street to make these shots with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30. Looking at these pictures help me remember the feelings that I had when I shot them."

Oliver recorded the shot with a 4-second exposure at f-6.3 with the ISO set at 80.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"This shot shows the intact facade of "Palast der Republik" (Palace of the Republic), an historical artifact of East German's socialistic past," said Jan Boelsche. "A few weeks ago they started to tear down the golden brown chunk of glass at the shores of river Spree, right in the heart of Berlin. Not an easy task to do -- its original architects warned the city council about the possible impact on the static balance of the whole area due to missing pressure on the underground, which consists mainly of water and sand. The girl is just disembarking from a sightseeing boat located at the landing stage opposite to the palace."

Shot with a Sony DSC T3. You can see more of Jan's work on his flickr page.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"We were staying at my brother and sister-in-laws cottage fast asleep. My oldest son woke us up about 3am saying there was a creature running around," said Rob Ternowski. "After chasing it, the 'creature' was spotted behind some plastic in a unfinished wall. It turned out to be this squirrel that we nick named Peanut."

"Peanut was caught in a live trap the next night. Seems he could not resist the allure of the peanut butter! He was released but was back again. Come to find out, my brother in law had been feeding him for a while now and had not told his wife..."

This picture was taken with a HP 618.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

Jennifer Tofani spotted this guard one morning while traveling in India. " I was fascinated by his pose and the relaxed stance of his slender form," said Jen. "He moved a second latter so I didn't get a chance to work the scene further."

This brings up a good shooting tip. When you spot an interesting subject, take the shot immediately, even if it isn't the perfect composition. Then, once you get the first shot, you can work the scene more if the subject allows you to. Often, everything will change before you get the opportunity to take another frame, as in this case with Jen's shot. Fortunately for her, the first shot is terrific!

Camera data: Nikon D70, File Format Shot: RAW (I am really hooked on RAW,so many great options!), 1/80s at f/8, Shutter Priority, ISO: 200, Focal Length -- 70mm, Lens -- 18.0 - 70.0 mm f/3.5-4.5.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I was shooting field hockey (boy, that is hard, timing is crucial, but I guess practice makes perfect. I do think an IS lens will help tough...)," says Maarten Sneep. "On the next field someone was playing with his dog. Again, more timing challenges, but I think I got this one. The dog was waiting for the ball to be thrown, and the anticipation is what I really like in the picture."

Maarten used a Canon EOS 350D, Sigma 55-200mm zoom @ 200mm, set at ISO 400, f/7.1, and 1/1600. (Automatic action program mode, just getting the shot during a sporting activity is enough work for me right now...)

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I was attending the Philadelphia Auto Show when I noticed these cups filling the space underneath the escalator at the Pennsylvania Convention Center," said Manley Walker. "I silently wondered if my kitchen would look like this one day."

Manley captured this shot with his point-and-shoot Casio Exilim Z750, set to "autopilot," but with the flash turned off. Good tip here about the flash, because with it on, the shot would not have been nearly as effective. He would have had a hot spot somewhere in the middle trailing off to darkness. Nice job!

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid

"This wonderfully brilliant January morning along the Sonoma Coast brought out the usual suspects - surfers, bodyboarders, beachcombers, families, dogs," said Francine Kunkel.

"And this gentleman! Notice the wetsuit under his shorts. He appeared suddenly and walked with determination and a constant eye on the rolling surf. I watched him walk his bike along the shoreline and disappear into the distance. I am not sure if this was his mode of transportation or if he planned to take the bike in the ocean."

Shot with a Canon PowerShot S2 IS on program mode (f4.0 @ 1/600, 72mm).

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, digital photography

"I took this photo out the window of a moving car with my Nikon D50, using the stock 18-55mm lens at 38mm," said Phil Sager. It really shows how things are done just a little bit differently in India.

This was also the day I finally started to appreciate my new Digital SLR. I am used to traveling with my faithful Canon Elf 230 (it had been run over by a taxi an keeps on clicking), and I was seriously annoyed with the weight of the SLR until I got the shots I took that day. The lens options and the speed at which it can operate make it worth the trouble of lugging it around."

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

"I was walking in Downtown Berkeley the other day with my camera," said Chris Kresser. "The man in the photo asked me for spare change. When I turned to look at him, I was deeply struck by the story told in his eyes. He agreed to have his photograph taken."

"Afterwards, I gave him some change from my pocket. 'I guess that was my first modeling job,' he said. Two days later I returned with an 8 X 10 print of this shot and handed it to him. His whole face lit up and he began showing it to everyone on the street."

Chris used a Canon Digital Rebel XT in program mode. The ISO was set to 100. He captured it with existing light with no flash (1/25 @ f-5.6). One thing that Chris did that I really appreciate is that he made a print and gave it to his subject. This type of follow through builds good will, for all photographers.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, image, photography

"I was walking in the little Sardinian town of San Sperate, well known for its "murales" or wall paintings and came across this scene outside a coffee shop," said Nina Contini Melis. "Several people playng chess at a table in the courtyard, who seemed to be perfectly in proportion to the painted scene on the side of the coffee shop. I decided to turn it into BW because I liked it better that way."

Nina used a Nikon 70S to capture this interesting juxtaposition shot.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

Here's a shot that will put a smile on your face for the New Year...

"When this wonderful snow began falling, my husband and I decided to go out into it," said Jennifer Tofani. "I with my still camera and he with his DV camcorder. When we came back, I took cover under the awning, but he continued shooting out in the elements. I looked over at him and couldn't help but smiling at what I saw."

Jennifer used a Nikon D70 in manual exposure mode. She exposed the scene at 1/30 sec and f/11 with her zoom lens (70-210mm) set at 70mm.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

"My wife and I were on our way from from a weekend in Estes Park, Colorado," wrote Brad Bumgarner. "My wife noticed a bunch of cars parked along the side of the road, and being curious, we pulled over to see what was going on. It was the middle of December, and we had spent the weekend heading into the Rocky Mountain National park looking for wildlife to photograph. Alas, we finally found them -- on the golf course! Apparently moose can't read..."

Brad captured this image with a Minolta DiMage 7i, 1/80 shutter, f6.7, ISO 100.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, image, photography

"While vacationing in the Florida Keys last week," said Craig Lee, "I spotted this sign. I pulled over and shot it through the windshield. It's actually the "Islander Resort" in Islamorada, but the sign was under repair -- probably from damage from Hurricane Wilma. I drove by again the next day and workers from the sign company were back repairing their repair."

Fortunately Craig had his camera with him before the final fix was made.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, image, photography

"While visiting my daughter (and armed with my Powershot S45,)" said Jim Stocking, "I decided to take advantage of some things I learned from the podcast. The result is this still of my grandson in RAW mode pushing the ISO to 400 for an available light shot. To avoid blur, I mounted my camera on a UltraPod II and set it on the floor. I like that he doesn't need expensive toys to entertain himself. It reminds me of the Mastercard ads: priceless"

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

While exploring Hawaii, Jan Blanchard spotted this official sign at the end of a lava flow. She pulled out her Canon Digital Rebel (with 18-55mm zoom) and captured the shot in Program mode. She dialed down exposure compensation -2/3 of a stop to keep from overexposing the dark flow of the lava.

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

Brad Immanuel captured this shot of his son in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, during the De Young Museum construction. He used his Canon Rebel XT, which is the camera Brad carries on his weekly family bike rides. The camera was set in Program mode at ISO 400. The EF 18-55mm lens was extended all the way to 55mm. Brad didn't report if they actually brought any sand home...

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

While exploring Sitka National Historic Park in Alaska, Randal Schwartz spotted this squirrel having a bite to eat. He quickly pulled out his Nikon CoolPix 5700, extended the 8X optical zoom all the way, and captured the moment. By setting his ISO to 400, Randal had a fast enough shutter speed to avoid camera shake and record this crisp image.

If you have an interesting candid you'd like to share, take a look at our Submissions page, then send us your Grab Shot. If we publish it, you'll receive an ultra cool custom carabineer keychain.

Technorati Tags: candid, photography, technique

Jonathan Diener went fishing but came home with a Moose...

"I was on my way home from a fishing trip in Ontario, Canada," writes Jonathan Diener, "when I thought I should get my Nikon Coolpix 4300 out in case I saw any scenic opportunities during the 9-hour drive. Just as I did, this moose walked out of the woods along the road. I stopped, opened my car door, snapped this shot, then the moose turned around and disappeared back into the forest. BTW, he was much bigger than he looks in this shot."

I don't know... he looks pretty big here to me...

Technorati Tags: candid, image, photography

Sometimes you're just so "tired" that you need a nap...

While visiting friends in Asheville, NC, Ginny Brady spotted their pet kitty Samantha taking a cat nap on the tire of their truck. She grabbed this quick shot and titled it, "Samantha's Truck Stop."

Technorati Tags: candid, photography

This friendly horse just kept coming closer and closer...