::Google+ Weekly Photography Theme Recognition –
“Our Planet”::

From last week’s Google+ PAC Community weekly “Our Planet” photography theme challenge, the judges have chosen to highlight Martin Dohnal!

For the G+ Weekly Photography Theme Recognition, Martin reports that he made this striking picture in the “Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa” and said, “… every now and then I turn all the HDR knobs to 11 and decide I like it.” We love it!!

Martin used his Canon 550D/T2i camera, hand held, to make this picture. He used 3 exposures for this HDR version.

Martin is originally from Prague, Czech Republic, but is now based in Phoenix, Arizona. He told us that he’s a “hobbyist with too much gear, avid landscape photographer since I travel quite a bit. Shooting became a more serious hobby when I realized the best souvenirs from my trips around the world are the photos i bring back home.”

Martin’s web presence can be found at: 500px.com/plawa and of course on Google+.

Congratulations Martin Dohnal on the G+ Weekly Photography Theme Recognition! Take a moment to congratulate him and add him to your circle of photographers.

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::Facebook PAC Group — Creative “Saving Planet Earth” Theme Recognition ::

For last week’s Facebook Group Creative Theme, “Saving Planet Earth” our judges have chosen to highlight Dean Andersen’s excellent picture!

Congratulations, Dean!

Love the reflection capture in the solar collector, as well as the overall composition. Nice job!

Dean shot this picture with his Nikon D7000.

His settings are reported as:

ISO 100
Shutter Speed 1/320s
Aperture f/9
Focal length 42mm

When asked about the back story for this picture, Dean shared, “I was drawn to the solar collector since I work in the general area near I-10 and the Salt River. I had seen the project for a while but this afternoon they had the dish in a position away from the sun for maintenance. It’s a great reminder to have a camera with you when you see something interesting.”

Dean is a hobbyist photographer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. He reports that he started in photography “… because I had kids but I have grown to love it for more than just the documentary possibilities.”

More of Dean’s photography can be found at: splendidsilence.zenfolio.com

Dean is an active member of our PAC Group on FB, and we really appreciate his participation in the Weekly Photography Theme Recognition!  Thanks for sharing your pictures with us, Dean!

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::Facebook PAC Group — Technical “Panning” Photography Theme Recognition::

For last week’s Technical “Panning” theme on our PAC Facebook Group, our judges selected Will Patterson’s outstanding picture he took at a recent NASCAR race in Phoenix, Arizona. Congratulations, Will!!

This is an excellent example of the use of the technique of panning. The tack-sharp car with the streaked background gives an incredible sense of movement and speed to this image!

Will made this picture with his Canon 1D X
His settings for this picture are as follows:
ISO 100
Shutter Speed 1/100s
Aperture f/16
Focal Length 145mm.

When asked about the back story for this picture, and about his photography in general, Will, a semi-professional photographer, wrote:

This photo was taken at the spring NASCAR race in Phoenix this year. My dad is a race artist and does live paintings in victory circle. I was there to help him this year, and of course I had to bring my camera like I usually do. After helping him set up I walked around the pit lane and got a bunch of photos. I was trying to get some of the cars on track but the were usually shrouded by the pit lane wall in the foreground, and this was the one with the least amount of wall in it. I like how the fans on the other side of the fence are blurred out in particular with this shot. It was actually a little difficult to get a “clean” shot of the car coming down the front stretch because there were so many people and other objects in the foreground, I had to find a small window where I could pick up the car in my viewfinder coming off the last turn, and fire off a few shots when it went through this clearing I was shooting through.

I am mainly a motorsports photographer and have been shooting cars since about 2005. I was the team photographer for Michael Shank Racing  at this year’s Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January. It was a huge honor and although it was a lot of work, the entire weekend was like a dream come true. It was my first major shoot for a team and it went really well. They were last year’s winners so there was some pressure there to get some good photos out to the masses. I will be working with them more later this year at other events and really am looking forward to it.

I am also a wedding photographer and have been shooting weddings since about 2005 as well. It started out as being an assistant photographer for someone where I grew up in Rochester, NY, but it soon turned into me covering the whole day by myself, which soon turned into me starting my own business shooting weddings and races.

Will moved to the Phoenix area in early April and says he is, “… looking forward to the new venue and getting my business going again once I get settled in. I really like the area and there seems to be a lot of fantastic photo ops!”

You can find more of Will’s pictures on his website:  www.willp-photo.com.  He’s also very active in our PAC FB group! Congratulations, Will, on your PAC recognition! We love your photos and look forward to seeing more of them in the Weekly Photography Theme Recognition!

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Please comment on this post to show our three PAC Weekly Photography Theme Recognition winners some love!

Also, don’t forget to take some time to check out the other awesome themed photos, on Google+ and on Facebook, and get inspired to go out and shoot!

To be considered for this PAC challenge, simply check the calendar  for the weekly photo assignments.

• Photos submitted for the Google+ Community Weekly Theme must be shot during the assignment week—no archived photos.
  • Hash tag #PACWeekly.
• Photos submitted for the Facebook Group 3-day Themes may be archived, or shot during the run of the theme.
• Post your BEST three shots each week based on the current theme.
• Any details you can add to your post, such as: camera used, settings, caption, and/or a brief story of your subject, will also be considered a plus!

The winning photographers will have their photos published here on the PAC blog for all to enjoy!
To learn more about our Amazing Photo community check out our website here: www.PhotoAdvClub.com (Open to all States and Countries!)

~ Sarah Hales
on behalf of the PAC Community Leaders