Shooting Challenge R&R Gallery 1

Canon Rebel XSi, 50mm, f/1.8, 1/13 sec, ISO 400. Nothing says R&R like wine by a fire. Remembering the challenge, I set up my tripod in the yard and set the timer for continuous shooting. There were a lot of good shots, but I felt this one best captured the relaxation. -Adam Mosier

Not much to say really, I saw her sunbathing and ran to get my iPhone 4 and commenced annoying her with it. It's unedited (cropped though). -Aman Sandhur

Camera: Canon 40D Lens: Canon 17-40L f/4 Exposure: 1.3sec, 17mm, f/5, ISO640

Relaxing by the fire with my wife roasting some marshmallows for s'mores.

Setup the camera on a tripod with a cheap wireless remote trigger. Pointed it at my wife sitting in front of the fire and took a couple of test exposures. I found it difficult to find the right exposure when trying to photograph fire while also trying to expose other subjects in the frame. Often (not surprisingly) the fire will blow out the photo. After I was satisfied with the test photo we loaded up some marshmallows and started roasting. Took a couple of shots and then sat and enjoyed our s'mores under the stars. -Andrew O'Hoski

This shot was taken after a long day travelling through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and my friend just decided to fall asleep. I couldn't help but get a quick shot of him before he decided to wake up. I took this shot with my Canon 7D, at 1600 ISO, 1/160s and f1.8 in a slightly lighted hotel room. He actually thought the picture was awesome and made it his facebook profile picture! -Andy Dill

Camera: Samsung WP10 (waterproof for 3 meters..) Picture taken 30.8.2010 in Egypt ISO 80 Aperture f/3.6 Shutter speed 1/320 sec Focal length 6.3mm

Picture was taken in Egypt when swimming and snorkeling in the red sea coral reefs trying to avoid all the fishies getting in to the picture. Water temparature was 24C and air tempereature 38C so the most relaxing way to be was just to stay in the salty sea keeping you floating there without any effort. -Antti Saloranta

My birthday was on Sunday, I turned 25, so I celebrated a 2+5 party as a 7 year old. This means that I had a pinata and a ton of candy. This shot was taken with the pinata dumped over my head and a friend's baby as a final decorative piece. The photo was taken with a Canon 780IS camera. -Ari Moshayedi

It is a 5-part HDR image with exposures from -2 to +2 Camera: Canon EOS Rebel XS F-Stop: f/5.6 Exposure time: 1/50 sec. ISO: 200 Focal Length: 33mm

I am so excited with how this turned out. Last period of the school-day, in Science class, I spaced out, started reading Gizmodo and saw the photo contest and it hit me! I was going to fake my way into a wonderful photo! So, I quickly sketched this up, I used a metal deck chair with some spray painted pieces of plywood on it to make it look more, wood like. I grabbed my mom's Nook and newspaper to hide my cheats and quickly whipped up a beverage. The not-too-shabby looking margarita was not all that yummy, comprised of milk, ice, water, and food coloring, it is not close to the refreshing drink that it resembles. Then, my relaxed, Sunday backyard thing was complete. It turned out a lot more put together than I thought and am very pleased! -Ben Shay (aka. Soap Flakes)

Shot with a Canon 5d Mark II and 24-105mm f/4 L lens. Set to 28mm, f/13, 1/200th, iso 200.

I spent my labor day hiking Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes. One of my favorite things to do is to find a nice steep dune and jump as far as I can off the top — after checking my intended landing area for roots and rocks of course. This is one rare situation where falling 30 feet isn't just safe, it's an absolute blast! To catch this shot, I simply set up my camera at the bottom of a steep bluff and got my friend to hold down the shutter while I jumped as far as I could off the top. -Charlie Dwyer

Camera: Canon Rebel XS Lens: Canon 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM II Beer of Choice: Killian's Irish Red Focal Length 28mm FNumber: 3.5 Exposure: 1/8 second ISO 200

3 am Sunday morning beers with an old friend on Labor Day weekend after a long work week. This is the NYC version of one of those infamous Corona commercials- hold the lime. -Chris Buffalino

Canon T2i with Helios 44-4 lens ISO100 1/200s Manual lens so unsure of aperture

Sitting on my friend's back porch this Labor Day Sunday, suddenly we has this amazing sunset so I what shots I could without turning everyone's relaxing day into an organized photoshoot, I took better pictures but this one best fit the theme. -Chris Curl

A couple of my friends and I were hanging out all weekend at Lake Viking, MO. Everyone was catching fish except for my buddy's girlfriend. I just so happened to be on the dock right when she caught her first one, and to catch the confused look on her face when it came to taking the hook out.

Shot with an Olympus Pen E-PL1 with stock 14-42mm lens kit, set on auto but with Grainy Film art filter. No post-touch ups. -Chris Maxwell

Here is Napili Beach on Maui. I didn't want to come home. The water is warm and the sun is hot. Taken with my Nikon D50 with my 18-55 lens. I just walked around the hotels and shore looking for fun photos to take. -Chris Zempel

Shot on a Canon 500D with a 50mm f1.8. ISO 100, 1/2000 at f4.5. It was the only lens I'd brought with me to Co. Kerry for the weekend, for my friend's 21st. I was just after popping over to the car to pick up the camera and was walking back across the beach. I really liked how every identifiable detail of the scenery was lost in the exposure (Take that HDR!).

My white balance was complete shite, so the photo was desaturated and a cream and purple gradient was mapped on to it to warm it up again, but maximise the contrast between light and dark areas. The image was also cropped. -Cian Markey

Canon T2i EF 50mm f/1.8 II f/1.8 1/8 sec ISO 1600

There are few things my wife and I enjoy more on a warm summer night than lounging on our front porch with a bottle of wine, a deck of cards, and our dog. In an attempt to stay consistent with this Challenge's "R&R" theme, not much effort was required to setup this picture; I just put the Gorillapod on the porch stairs and snapped a few quick photos before being beckoned back to our nightly game of Gin Rummy. I took the first few photos with the playing cards in focus but decided to refocus on Shaido to represent the majority of our R&R time spent doting on and playing with her. -Coleman Horton

Sony A500 DSLR 90 mm F/4 1/10 sec ISO 1600 Photoshop - Desaturation and edge blur

As my girlfriend and I were drinking a couple beers watching a movie on the couch Sunday afternoon, I looked back and she had fallen asleep. This was our R&R moment of the weekend, we were so relaxed and just in a state of bliss. I grabbed my camera and took a couple shots. What a wonderful Labor Day weekend. -Curtis Prize

Lumix FZ-35 Telescope tripod F2.8 1/1000 sec. ISO 80 10 second timer

I had the amusing idea of making something similar to an action sequence of me playing outside and interacting with clones of myself. So after taking pictures of myself in certain positions with the camera on a tripod, I edited the images together in Photoshop.

This was taken yesterday resting in a hammock looking at the Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica. Later that night we actually got to see it erupt! Yay vacation! Not looking forward to getting back home to the real world... haha. Shot with Hipstamatic for iPhone (iPhone 4) -Dan Jackson

This is our beagle pup Lucy, she is just about 8 months old, and she is incredibly lazy. There is nothing she likes more than to lay in the sun and have everyone within a mile radius rub her belly. This picture sums up Lucy perfectly in my opinion. Chillin in the back yard, beautiful cool summer day, just waiting for someone to rub her belly. Amen to that! Just snapped a quick picture with our Nikon D3000 in auto mode, nothing fancy. -Dan Owen

Camera: Nikon D3000 Lens: 18-55mm @ f5 ISO: 800

I asked my wife to name the first thing that came to mind when thinking of "R&R" and she suggested a bubble bath and a glass of wine. I ended up liking this particular shot, that captured the wine glass as the primary object of focus, with her toes entering the tub in the blurred background. The glow of the candles gives the entire shot a relaxing warmth. -David G

Taken on a Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18-55mm (kit) lens Aperture priority F3.5 ISO 1600 Shutter 1/25

My wife took this photo of (me and) our dog on a relaxing Friday afternoon. (Sometimes the beach is great, sometimes a swimming pool, but sometimes there's nothing like crashing out on the couch and playing mindless games on your iPhone...) No post production except for a small levels tweak on Photoshop to bring up the white a bit. -David Preston

Nikon Coolpix L110...set to 'portrait' mode...that's it. Had to rest the camera on the railing to get a steady shot.

Boathouse Row is always a spectacular night time sight in Philly, and here I am with my wife enjoying one of the last few summer nights with her before two little ones come join us (!!) in the next week or so. -Andrew Haas

Camera: Canon T2i Lens: Rokinon 8mm F/3.5 Fisheye Lens Flash: Canon T2i onboard flash Skater: Jacob Vance

Beautiful sky, fresh air, and flying high...Alright, so it's not your typical way to catch some R&R, but what better way to get away from it all then spending labor day weekend on your board? —Jacob Vance catches a lofty kickflip from the pyramid as he gets ready to put it down in the quarterpipe. After this one I'd say it's definitely time for some real R&R Jacob. -Erik Bandy

This photo is shoot with Nikon D60 Camera equipment....this saturday in a beach in Albania in a very relaxing scene when it seems the sun can be kept in our hands....it seems so paceful really to Rest and Relax. -Ervin Habazaj

Olympus E-500 with a Olympus Digital 18-180mm lens, f/3.5, 1.6 seconds, ISO at 100. At 2am, its kind of hard to find a model, so I whipped out a set of models from my collection of Anime characters. This set was the closest I could get to a relaxed and resting situation, so I just worked with what I had at the time. To set up the angle of this particular shot, I placed a WoW box under the camera just so the angle would be a little more 'eye level.' -Eugene Kwok

Camera Brand: Canon Camera Model: Canon EOS 350D DIGITAL Date Taken: 2010:09:03 15:37:36 Exposure Time: 1/400 sec. Aperture Value: 6.92 EV (f/11.0) ISO Speed Rating: 1600 Flash Fired: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode. Metering Mode: Pattern Exposure Programme: Normal programme Focal Length: 18.0 mm

This was taken at Kagyu Samye Ling, a Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Eskdalemuir, Scotland. Across from the reception was a small garden with benches, and in my mind, the benches in the garden seemed a reasonable enough symbol of rest and relaxation — although the rest of the area was just as beautiful and peaceful to wander around. I had to do some editing work in Gimp because I felt that the shot was a wee touch too bright — possibly because of the whiteness of the walls of the nearby buildings. I hope it looks okay now. -Fiona Conn/Theologica

I came across this little guy at the Hopkinton State Fair, NH this weekend. I don't see how this is comfortable but he certainly looked rested and relaxed! -Hannah Nofsinger

Canon 5D Mark!! with 24-105L IS shot at 4.0 bracketed. +2 0 -2. Processed in photoshop CS5, Silver EFX Pro. Our family was all relaxing poolside this weekend, but none of us could do better than this. -Jason Reed

Shooting Summary: Camera: Canon Rebel T1i Lens: Sigma 10mm f/2.8 Shutter Speed: 1/4000sec @ f/2.8 ISO: 100

Me and my wife decided to take our niece to downtown Chicago today. After walking all around Millennium Park and the lakefront, we decided to take a break at the Harris Theater right in the center of Millennium Park. With the niece running around and playing, it doesn't get much more relaxing than this. -Jeff Mezera

For 40 something years my dad has been going on a camping trip with his old scouting buddies. This was my second trip with them and I took this photo around the campfire using a Canon Rebel XT, 2.0s at f/3.5, 1600 ISO, no flash. I thought this was the best example of some real R&R. -Jim Gorski

Camera: Sony NEX-5 Lens: Sony E-Mount 18-55mm Spent the day at Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest in Kentucky. We then proceeded to crash on the picnic blanket. This is my girlfriend and our daughter taking it easy after a looong day. -Joaquin

iPhone 3Gs. Hipstamatic 160 camera app.

After spending an afternoon at the beach and being a part of the chill time, we were walking back to our bikes and about to head home. Just as we were about to hit the bike path the sun was descending and helped give a great retrospective on what a chill day it was on the sand. -Jody Abbott

I used my friends to frame to pool, and with the terrace across the water, and the two chairs just seemed to work for me. Also the contrast between the two people, one leaning forward, the other leaning back, also the essentially opposite clothing, one with a sun dress the other a bikini top. I used a Cannon Rebel XSi, 1/30s, f/22 and ISO 100. -John Barton

My idea of r&r is getting away from everything and enjoying nature, with my camera of course. There was a couple in a sailboat who had the same idea. I took this picture in Fort Fredrick State Park Md.

This picture was taken with my Canon XS in aperture priority mode. I used an 18mm focal length (wide angle lens) to show the scale of nature vs the sailboat. It was shot with an ISO of 100 at 1/400th of a second at f/8. I also used a circular polarizer to darken the blues in the sky and cut the glare coming off the water. -John Chapman

Nikon D3s Tamron 17-35mm f2.8-4.0 ISO 200

Madeline Ritchie enjoys the 3.5 hour ride on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail Road Train traveling from Silverton Colorado. -John Sturr

Camera: Nikon D90 Lens: 50mm f/1.8 Exposure: 1/4000 sec ISO: 320

I took a long walk on Sullivan's Island to reflect on the past year and also wind down from a long day. This photo is actually #363 of my 365 project, and I'm happy to share it with you as I feel that photography forces me to slow down and really think about how and what I see in the world and I believe this photo expresses that calmness that takes over when I get into that zone. -Joseph Nienstedt

Canon EOS Rebel xt Manual Exposure f/29 1.6 sec ISO 200 28mm (Quantary 70-300mm)

At the tail end of my family's San Diego vacation, we decided to check out Sunset Cliffs to watch the sun setting of course. After I finished shooting some pics of the sunset I wanted to take advantage of the perfect lighting so I looked around for a few more shots. I noticed a family relaxing off in the distance and they became my subjects for this weeks shooting challenge. -Juan Limtiaco

It might not be exactly what you were looking for, but every Labor Day weekend, Rowdy & Reveling Nerds descend upon Atlanta for Dragon*Con, the sci-fi, fantasy, comic book, anime, gaming etc. "nerdy-gras". Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, they all come out for the crazy-fun, wacky parade. There is SO much great stuff to see at the parade, it was hard to pick just one, but I liked the colors and the beautifully made cardboard box costumes in this one. This parade is THE Labor Day event for our family!! Photo taken with Nikon D50 with zoom lens- on auto setting. -Julie Roden

"A Quarter Of A Century Later, Labor Day Should Feel The Same...If You Can Remember What It's Like To Be Six"

EVO 4G with Android 2.2 Lens: Default Photo Editing App: Vignette using Lo-fi Effects & auto ISO (200ish) Technique: (light leaks, film grain, x-tra vignette) Location: GPS latitude: 39.591087 GPS longitude: -104.814415 Listening: to "The Only One" by Kevin Devine 2010

Though this child-as-a-subject shot should automatically warrant the cliche tag, I would argue this...it is more ironic that a rather feisty six-year-old could represent relaxation in such a way that opposed my manic moment...to frantically navigate away from twitter into my camera app before he ran off again. Then, I realized I should be laying right next to him, staring at the clouds through thae canopy of leaves...and set the phone down! -Kelli Trainer

I'm from Hilo, Hawaii (one of the rainiest towns in the world) and on Labor Day weekend my friends and I decided to take a trip to the other side of the island (Kona -the dryer side of the island-) to relax and get away from the rain. When we were waiting for a table at Outback I realized that I had just enough time to snap some shots of my friends relaxing after a long drive over. So I ran back to my car and got my camera, I got back just in time to catch my friend looking out at the sunset. (Picture taken with a Canon 40d camera, with a Sigma 50 mm 1:1.4 lens at 1/640 sec at 2.0 F-Stop and ISO 100) -Kelsey Ito

I took this shot with a Canon ESO 20D at a 25 mm focal length, using f/14.0, ISO 400, and a 1/400 shutter speed. Kirby's first time at the lake was stressful. He had a leisurely kayak ride with my husband, until he dove headfirst into the water and had to be rescued. While pugs are generally professional resters and relaxers, this photo captures the purest form of rest and relaxation after a near-death experience. -Lindsay Arvin

Canon XSi Exposure 0.6s f/14

The dog is my 9mo old Alaskan Malamute, Izzy. She spent most of yesterday running around with an aunt's puppy and is therefore, extremely tired (still) today. Her life is clearly rough, and she needs to relax. She had plopped down like this, I grabbed my camera, and she got up and moved to the other side of the room, only to come back and do it again in less than a minute and I was still laying on the floor waiting for her, so I was able to grab it. :) -Lori Fredericks

This is a picture of my friend sleeping at school. He just looks so peaceful.... Anyways, this was taken by my XTi with a 50mm 1.8 lens at f/1.8, ISO 100 1/100 shutter speed. We actually used this for a spanish project discussing the effects of sleep deprivation. It was fun. -Lucas Lim

Samsung Nx10 and 50-200mm Lens. Lens at 88mm, f/5.6, 1/80, iso 800 The photo was taken at Burlington this weekend on a quick vacation with my girlfriend, on this labor day weekend. Decided Lake Champlain should be a great area to captures the essence of rest and relaxation. But what I've discovered is the best way to relate the subject was not the lake itself, but the people looking at it. So there you have it. Relaxation, on a lovely weekend, while peoples gathers to look at a fantastic sunset. A perfect way to end a perfect day. -Marc-André Archambault

Canon Powershot SX200IS. ISO 100. My feet in the Aegean Sea. -Mark Farinas

Canon XSi 10-22 mm @ 17mm ISO 400 1/60 sec f 4.0

While other people were out relaxing during their labor day weekend, my friends and I were studying all weekend long. Here's a shot of my buddy as he performs a physics experiment. -Mark Lee

"End of the Day"

The most relaxing thing I can do is go for a bike ride. I tried to capture what it feels like at the end of the day after having been out on the bike for most of the day where the only thing I had to worry about was picking up miles.

Fuji s100fs / F2.8 / 3s / 7.1mm fl / ISO 100 Illuminated with a portable spotlight (thus the long exposure) -Mike Case

With a large music festival and video game convention in town, relaxation for me meant escaping the crowds and sound. This is a random couple (and seagull) who had the same idea, watching the setting sun finally break through a cloudy day. I used Camera RAW for the fire sky. Shot was taken with a Nikon D90 and 11-16mm Tokina @ f18, 1/80, ISO 160, 11mm. -Nick Sprankle

Camera: Canon 1000D (Rebel XS) on Aperture Priority mode Aperture: f/3.5 Shutter: 1/4000 sec. ISO: 400 Lens: 18-55mm @ 18mm

Just my dog and I relaxing in the yard. The foot was a mistake, but no photo of a dog is complete without his best friend! -Ninad

Lumix FZ-35 Telescope tripod F2.8 1/1000 sec. ISO 80 10 second timer

I had the amusing idea of making something similar to an action sequence of me playing outside and interacting with clones of myself. So after taking pictures of myself in certain positions with the camera on a tripod, I edited the images together in Photoshop. -Peter Glitsch

It was taken with a Nikon D60 w/ a 35mm prime set at ISO200, 1/250s, and f/5.6.

A lot of New Yorkers leave the city for the long weekend, but I found myself here. And what better way to relax than to toss a frisbee with friends in Central Park and lie down in the grass afterwards? My friend Chris was lying there next to me and just looked so happy I had to take a picture of him, and this was the result. -Emily Turner

Shot with a Nikon D50 using a Sigma 70-300mm @ 195 mm, ISO 200, 1/240s, f5

I was out chopping wood at our family cabin in Northern Minnesota when I noticed our neighbor relaxing with his dog "Jazz" at the end of his dock. Jazz had been launching himself off the end of the dock all day so I can understand why he's looking so sleepy! I tweaked the exposure a little in Photoshop and landed on this shot. -Rick Walstrom

Nikon D90/F-stop @ 2.5/ Shutter 2 secs/ Focal Length 50 50mm Lens Poker Table Guitar Sibling Fire Pajamas

For Labor Day Weekend my family and I headed up to the Appalachian Mountains where we have a camping spot right on the West Branch of the Delaware River. Mama dukes and Dad headed out for the last beer run of the night before we started what would be a sloppy weekend. While they were gone my brother and I decided to start break out the ol' GIT-TAR, sit on the stacks of firewood and just chill out next to a blazing hot fire. My tri-pod ended up breaking so I rested my Nikon D90 w/ 50mm lens on the poker table and want to get a pretty detailed picture of him in what was a pitch black night, albeit, starry night. I turned the Exposure time up to 2 seconds, set the F-stop at 2.5, rested it on the table and snapped as he was playing Dust In The Wind. The picture was set to shoot in RAW format so no photo altering was needed. -Rocco Fiandaca

The Gear: Nikon D90, 18-200 VR-II The Shot: 36mm, f/5.0, 1/25th sec, ISO1600 The Story: Setting - The Seekonk Speedway annual end-of-summer Thrill Show. Not far from Boston, but beyond the suburbs lies the Action Track of the East. When you're in the crowd, you don't care about the project deadlines, how the economy is doing, or whether you left the oven on at home. You have one thing on your mind: watching cars get ****ed up. Go ahead, embrace your inner red neck. Cheer when the pools of fluid that have collected on the track throughout the night begin to ignite from the sparks of the car that lost a front tire; Cheer when that bumper that's been dragged around the track finally lets go; Cheer when there's one car left, rocking back and forth as the checkered flag drops. Just cheer - you don't have a care in the world. -Ryan Powers

I used a Nikon d5000 on aperture priority, with f/18 and 1/30 shutter. Color correction done in iPhoto and Photoshop. I spent Labor Day hanging out by the pool in Orange County, California. Swimsuit + Chucks + gin margaritas = my idea of some R&R. -Sarah Emerson

The shot was taken during a fishing trip to Silver Lake in Mammoth, CA. The adults were sitting back enjoying the beautiful weather and a couple of the kids decided that they wanted to splash around in the cool lake water. Of course the scene ended with both of them wet, and one of them crying. However, I didn't think those shots were very relaxing. Equipment: Nikon D3000, 35mm f1.8 DX lens. Settings: f2.2, ISO 200. -Sean Yoshimoto

Shot was taken with a Nikon D40 and the nikkor 18-55mm bundled lens. The photo was taken on a late morning while doing some R&R with a buddy (pictured) at work on the Friday before labor day weekend and we were relaxing the best we could at work. I used ISO 400 and f/3.8 with .4 shutter speed at 22mm. Did some minor editing in iPhoto to bring out some of the colors I was looking for. -Shawn Takatsu

Nikon D300 AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor 18-200mm ISO 400 200mm f/7.1 1/800 Sunday 9/5/10 12:52PM PST

This little guy looked so relaxed hanging out in the Santa Cruz harbor for everyone to see. I thought "that's the life", just floating in the water like that without a care in the world. -Ulrika Friesen

Canon 5D MKII Lens: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 Shutter: 1/50 ISO 100 f/9.0 @ 24mm

Lazy Saturday at LBI in NJ. My friends have grown accustomed to me behind a camera so I sort of disappear and insert myself between conversations which is a great way to capture candid shots. Shot low at sitting level to feel part of the conversation. I try not to overshoot as the constant clicks makes people feel more self conscious so part of the fun is anticipating peoples movements/reactions. Used a B&W polarizer for cloud/sky contrast. -Warren Chow

Although it may appear to be, this photo is not quite from "a day at the spa". My wife was in labor on Saturday and I took this while she was resting in the labor&delivery room bath. The irony of the weekly theme and the act of labor seems quite appropriate for this contest. Taken with a Canon 5D and 85mm f/1.8 USM lens. ISO 400, f/2 at 1/80 sec, no flash just natural daylight. This is of course submitted with her permission and in honor of our newborn son, Theo! -Wesley Duffee-Braun

Sony DSLR, f/8, 100 ISO, aperture 4.64 Flying a kite with my Dad and brother at the park, turned out to be quite relaxing, once you lay down on top of the baseball diamond fence that is. I took this shot lying down in the grass behind the baseball diamond to get just the right angle. It was fun rolling around in the grass taking shots from such a low angle. -Bronwyn

ISO 200 F5.0 1/1000

This is a photo I took of my 5 year old daughter, Brooklyn, that I took on Labor Day while we were relaxing on Pensacola Beach. I snapped this photo when she laid down on the sand to take a rest after playing in the water. -Corey Floyd