Photo Contest

Post by **LovelyLadyLux** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:06 am

Here, the Washington State Department of Agriculture is holding a photo contest. Entries have to be in by end of July. Each person can submit up to 10 entries and they're wanting photos of chickens!

The 'prize' will be that you get your photo made into their 2012 calendar which si going to feature 2 chickens per month.

There are the first 3 photos (and believe me I took way more than THREE pictures) I've narrowed down to. Mostly I'm finding it terrifically difficult to take pictures of chickens without getting down to their level (which means rolling about on the coop floor)

The dog is Molly a wire haired terrier. The chick is a Red Star, hybridized to crank out an extra large egg per day. I have 3 of these little girls to replace my aging ladies. Caught Molly and this baby chick holding a stand off when I was over visiting a gf who also raises chickens.

The white ladies are Leghorns who'd just gone into roost. This was cropped down and I was snapping fast cause I didn't want to get poop'd on.

This last lady is a Golden Laced Wyandotte. She is one of the older ones my gf is replacing with Red Stars.

With the exception of the photo of Molly and the Red Star these other two photos aren't really doing anything for me. Just happened to be what I got when I was there.

Anybody have any suggestions? Creative ideas for background? Costumes? Props? Poses? Stances? Line of sight photo contact?

It is darn hard to get a GOOD photo of a chicken. They're fast and I captured more butts than anything else cause they're always bent over pecking the ground.......

Ideas, critics and helpful hints appreciated!!

Post by **Bearded Brian** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:14 am

Does it state they have to be alive? If not then do a roast chicken with all the trimmings.

How about setting your camera up on a tri-pod on burst mode and ask someone to ' throw' / release the chicken from 3-4 feet off the ground so that you can get it 'in-flight'. You could go for a fast speed to freeze the action or slow to blur it, try panning with the chicken in flight so the bird is kept in focus - the background will be blurred.

Post by **Horus** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 9:27 am

If it were me, I would either go for an extreme close up of the neck, head and eye as these can be interesting and have lots of detail, or try to get to photograph a Cockerel as these tend to strut around quite a lot, especially if they are with Hens.

Post by **Grandad** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:47 pm

difficult to take pictures of chickens without getting down to their level (which means rolling about on the coop floor)

You will just have to go for it LLL, all in the name of art.

But seriously, I agree with Horus because I am a big 'close crop' fan and think it adds impact. But you have still got to get the angle just right for a big WOW! And a cockerel would be better.

I like the three leghorns, soon as I saw it I thought vocal trio.

With a bit of photo montage and a different background they could become 'The Supremes' or 'The Three Degrees'

Have to think outside the box sometimes.