Photo Contest: Hot Pics for October

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

By Kim Saccio-Kent, PCWorld

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10/3 Hot Pic: "Sentinel" by Philip Gentili, Overland Park, Kansas

Philip says that he created this image by combining a shot of the moon, taken in his front yard with a Canon SX10 IS, with a photo of a dead tree that he shot with an EOS Rebel T2I. He merged the images using Photoshop CS5.

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10/10 Hot Pic: "Crow" by Holly Amber, Plano, Texas

Holly writes: "I chased this poor crow all day long. My camera doesn't have much zoom, so I had to get very close to get this shot. I used a Canon Digital Rebel XS, and then converted it to grayscale in Photoshop. I edited the contrast and brightness levels, cropped and tilted the image so the horizon was straight and symmetrical, and finally added the vignette effect."

10/17 Hot Pic: "Leading the Way" by Barbara Andersen, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Barbara writes: "I shot this in the Naeroyfjord of Norway last month while on a boat tour. We had a small break in the fog and I took some photos while panning my camera on the seagull. I used my Canon PowerShot Digital Elph, a constant companion while on vacation."

10/24 Hot Pic: "Calm Pacific Sunset," by Kyle Doudrick, Tempe, Arizona

Kyle writes: "This is a sunset over the Pacific, off the coast of Washington.I decided to be a bit unorthodox, so I framed the horizon in the middle of the photo and placed the sun in the middle to give the impression of lines leading inward. I underexposed the shot and decreased the color temperature to bring out strong blues, and then adjusted the amber just enough to compensate for the temperature change."

10/31 Hot Pic: "A Bug's Perspective" by Brian Sierfeld, Las Vegas, Nevada

Brian captured this photo with a Canon Rebel T3 and 250mm lens.

10/3 runner-up: "Quince Blossom in Sunlight" by Constance Renda, Little Falls, New York

Constance writes: "I took this photo with a Kodak EasyShare C190. Since I was shooting into the sun, with the quince blossom backlit, I used the camera's flash to fill and brighten the front of the flower."

10/10 runner-up: "Loose and Free" by Ryan Kuster, Potosi, Wisconsin

10/17 runner-up: "Golden Gate Fog" by David Dickenson, Centennial, Colorado

David writes: "I took this shot of San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge with a Nikon S8100 camera using the silhouette setting while moving in traffic out of the front windshield. The fog was just lifting as we approached--you can see that a few of the street lights on the left are still partially covered."

10/24 runner-up: "A Rose," by Forrest York, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Forrest says that he found this flower "while exploring the city of Grand Rapids."

10/31 runner-up: "New Hampshire Rye" by Eric Hoar, Dover, New Hampshire

Eric writes: "I took this photo at the University of New Hampshire's Kingman Farm in Madbury, New Hampshire. I wanted to photograph the lush stalks of grain against the wonderful early evening sky, so I got down low and took several pictures using a Panasonic DMC-ZS5. I then made this image as a panorama from three vertical shots."