Photo Contest: Hot Pics for February

Subscribers to Dave Johnson's Digital Focus newsletter took these shots.

1 of 8

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2/1 Hot Pic: "Black Swallowtail With a Bumble Bee" by Dwayne A. Taylor, Salem, Massachusetts

Dwayne writes: "I was in my backyard butterfly garden trying to capture a black swallowtail, which are generally a bit timid, when one began to relax after some nectaring. Just as I was snapping away, this bee settled in nearby to get some nectar as well."

Dwayne used a Fuji Finepix S5700. Visit the Digital Focus blog for photography advice and the latest Hot Pics.

2/8 Hot Pic: "Lotus" by Maria Recto, Yuma, Arizona

Maria writes: "I took this at Balboa Park's lily pond in San Diego. I used my Nikon D5000 with a telephoto zoom lens. To get the blurred background, I used aperture priority and set the aperture to f/2.8."

2/15 Hot Pic: "Apocalypse" by Bogdan Grigore, Bucharest, Romania

Bogdan writes: "The water, the air, the sky... everything was magic. It was like I was at the end of the world. I was soaking wet, but i stayed and took the picture. This was in Foz de Iguazu, Argentina, and I used my Sony R1. I later edited it by converting the photo to black and white and increasing the contrast."

2/22 Hot Pic: "Touchdown!" by Tim Marshall, Bayonne, New Jersey

Tim says that he got up close to the action to capture this photo with his Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi and a 55mm lens.

2/1 Runner Up: "Fall Morning" by Juris Zars, Bloomfield, Connecticut

Juris shot this from his front walk with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50, using a tripod.

2/8 Runner Up: "The Last Berries" by Kurt Barz, Rigby, Idaho

"I took this photo in Kelly Canyon near Heisse, Idaho. I used a Nikon D300S with a 300mm lens. I then turned it into an HDR photo using Photomatic Pro."

2/15 Runner Up: "Rust In Peace" by Bill Laycock, Kalama, Washington

Bill writes: "I shot this with a Canon EOS 30D near the North Cascade mountains in Washington. I saw an old Chevy sitting in a farmer's field and took this picture from the side of the highway, using a fencepost for support. I added a black and white layer and slowly reduced the opacity until I got the effect I was looking for."