This is something we wouldn’t usually do, but I’ve really enjoyed chatting with Patrick over the last few weeks. So I decided to get some of our great Photoshop talent together and then put our thinking caps on to see what would could come up with for FStoppers January 2011 Photoshop contest.

To give you a big of background, Patrick had been shooting some basketball shots with the new Pocket Wizard TT remotes for Nikon bodies. Here is the video of his shoot.

Here is the original image that we had to work with.

The direction for our concept was to have the following characteristics.

1. Warehouse styled arena with a few friends watching some dunks
2. Exaggerate the leap of the subject
3. Keep some of the features of the original image
4. Must have a cheerleader (of course!)

And here is what we came up with.

Here is our guide on how we went about the edit.

1. Find suitable background with fitting perspective.
2. Mask the basketball player/hoop/floor/steps, and…
   

Queensland newspaper Summer Festival of Photography competition.

The newspaper began the festival at the beginning of summer (November 2009) with a series of contestable categories such as “Summer Holidays”, “Water“. The final category is “Your Choice” and closes on February 1.

For some categories the paper received more than 1200 entries and the quality of many shots has made it difficult for judges to choose a winner and limit the award honours. Top entrants have their image mounted in a frame while the best 50 entries from each category go into the Hall of Fame and the winner receives a Summer Festival of Photography certificate.

All the images are meant to celebrate Queensland and the state’s amateur photographers have revealed much of Queensland’s wild, crawling, beautiful and watery sides.

Winner of the Creature…

If you want to celebrate your great travel images, consider entry into Intrepid’s annual Travel Photography Competition.

Intrepid, Lonely Planet Images and Kathmandu have announced their annual competition yet again in 2010 with entries closing on 30 June. The competition is open to anyone, both pro and amateur, to submit photos that embody the travelling spirit. Categories include real life experiences, landscapes, icons and families. Winners receive prizes such as Kathmandu Travel Gear vouchers, Lonely Planet titles and Intrepid tours.

Previous winners include David Lazar’s prayer image in Egypt and Sudip Roychoudhury’s photograph of women washing in India.

The esteemed Pulitzer Prize for newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition are awarded semi annually and this year the deadline for submitting entries to the journalism competition is February 1, 2010.

If you have had any journalism published in an eligible newspaper or news site in 2009 you can submit for the US$10,000 prize.

The 2009 Breaking News Photography award went to Patrick Farrell of the Miami Herald for his coverage of the humanitarian disaster in Haiti after a hurricane and lethal storms struck the Caribbean nation.

The New York Times for his coverage of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

DiverPhotoGuide.com and Wetpixel.com in association with 4TH ANNUAL DEEP INDONESIA INTERNATIONAL UNDERWATER PHOTO COMPETITION with over 35,000 dollars worth of prizes that include photography equipment, diving gear, and premium dive travel packages. In March 2010, a Deep Indonesia Expo will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the winning photographs will be exhibited.

Underwater photographers will compete in different categories including a category on conservation and marine environment. Those interested must register at the contest rules give further details.

One of last year’s winning photographs by Gabriele Donati.

Experience Section. These include hot air ballooning, romantic getaway packages, sailing charters and motorbike rentals.

The previous winner from the competition was Birrurung Marr of Melbourne.

In anticipation of Australia Day 2010, the Australia Day Council of New South Wales has organized a photography competition intended to capture what it means to be a living Australian. Entitled ‘Living Australian 2010 Online Photography Campaign,’ the competition is open to all  Australian citizens who are in Australia or abroad and foreigners who have long term visas in Australia like residents, workers and students. The competition has four categories: My Landscape, My Life, My Sport and My Heroes.

Both professional and amateur photographers can join. contest website.

Entries like this one are published in the online gallery.

The winners of the 2009 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were announced in Sydney on November 27 and images from the finalists in the five photographic categories will tour to Brisbane, Newcastle and Perth in 2010.

With emotive, celebratory and evocative images of daily life, sports and spot news both in Australia and around the world; photographs depicted an array of events and topics from Victoria’s terrible bushfires to the glory of the Olympic Games and the loss and pain in refuge camps in Congo.

The Nikon sponsored awards include daily life, sport, news, photographic essay and the coveted award for Press Photographer of the Year. This went to Renee Nowytarger from The Australia for her body of work that features an exhausted Malcolm Turnbull.

Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the year:
Renee Nowytarger, The Australian

Daily Life / Feature Photography:
Kirk Gilmour, Illawarra Mercury & The Sydney Morning Herald: Batten Down the Boogie Boards

Sport Photography:
…

Gain recognition as an underwater photographer. Compete with other underwater photographers from all over the world. Join the contest rules provide further details. The proceeds of the competition will go to the education of the recreational diver community, promotion of oceanic and environmental protection and support for oceanic and environmental charities.

Previous winner of the DAVID DOUBILET AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY, Leafy Sea Dragon, Cal Mero, Victoria, Australia

The HP Climate Change Photography Contest is a chance for photographers to document climate changes within their own environment. The contest has been significantly timed with the Climate Change talks in Copenhagen and submissions are due by December 31, 2009.

Hewlett Packard is running the competition in association with Sanctuary Asia and WWF-India and wants photographers to document the droughts, floods and natural disasters that are becoming more commonplace around the world.

They seek striking images that tell the story of the challenges and solutions of climate change and send a message to the world that will bring about conscious local and global change. The best 100 entries win subscriptions to Sanctuary Asia magazine.

HP employs 300,000 people in 170 countries and seeks to minimize its global footprint and find low-carbon solutions for its customers.