Minimalism

A simple, sparse, or uncluttered scene can speak volumes.

"The Minimal Elements" - Tim
Similar to Matt's idea (not by design), I focused on a small part of the bigger picture. Taking this picture helped me understand the importance of white balance.
58mm (35mm eq.), f/63.4, 1/100 sec, iso 100

"Fret-Full" - Matt
I wanted to fill the frame with the subject and to portray the minimalism by revealing only a small part of the subject. I think I like the effect. The red stamp (my signature) is just for fun; an idea Mike and I have been toying with.
55mm, f/6.7, 0.67sec, center-weighted, s-mode

"Mushroom" - Cary
The coolest red and yellow mushroom popped up in my yard this week. I liked the color contrast with the grass. When I read the theme for this week, several compositions I've made in the past came to mind, some of which can be seen here, if you're interested. The buzzards shot was taken just this past Saturday. About a dozen of them were swirling in the pre-Kay winds on Saturday morning directly above my house. It didn't seem like a good omen.
E-3 w/ 12-60mm @ 20mm, 1/25 sec @ f/8, ISO 100, RAW processed in ALR2

"black and white" - ryan
I really wish the reflection in the pond would have turned out better.
E500 - 141mm, 1/500s, f4.4, iso800

"Two Rings" - Mike
I had a hard time coming up with a subject for this weeks challenge. Lena suggested that I do this shot. I'm reasonably pleased with the black fabric that I got recently.
195 mm, f/10, 1.6 sec., ISO 200, Matrix, No Flash, Manual

"Windows to the Soul" - Wayne
I wanted to create a high key portrait with the minimal needed detail. My goal was to take away everything extraneous to the subject leaving only lines, curves and a bit of color in the eyes. The photo finished very close to my original vision of the shot and it gave me a good excuse to drag my studio flashes that I bought on EBay out of the closet and play.
Canon 20D 1/250 sec & f/10, ISO 100, RAW processed in ALR2 & PS CS2

Stopped Motion

Open up until you have very short shutter speeds, and suddenly you can stop motion.

"who'll stop the rain" - ryan
I couldn't get Somer to do any cool dives, so I took advantage of the rain on Wednesday to get this shot. I used the onboard flash, so my shutter speed was limited to 1/160.
E500 - 150mm, f/7.1, 1/160, ISO400

"Foiling Motion" - Chris
After a fantastic lunch of hot dogs and soda, I had a few leftover tin-foil wrappers from the aforementioned hot dogs. The thought came to me that they might be used as a "shiny" prop to display this weeks photo technique of stopping motion. Enjoy my floating orb of "foiling motion."
Canono EOS Digital Rebel - 1/800s, F/18, 45mm, ISO-800

"Smoke and Fire" - Cary
A favorite card "game" of mine when younger was called smoke-and-fire. An unsuspecting "opponent" was instructed to say "smoke" for black cards and "fire" for red. Using a stacked deck, you'd show them some smoke and then when they said "fire" at the first red card, you did. I took over 300 shots outside at 5 fps with cards flying everywhere but with the persistent cloudy weather and a very busy week, I wasn't able to stop the action enough in natural light and had to resort to using the flash indoors. 10 demerits for me.
E-3 w/ 12-60mm @ 24mm, 1/250 s @ f/3.4, 100 ISO, -1.7 EV, Manual mode, RAW processed in ALR

"The Save" - Tim
What a catch! I was using Matt's camera with this shot. Makes me a little jealous of the SLR capabilities. The captured motion is worth any scrapes bruises or sore muscles.
70mm, f/4.8, 1/4000s, center-weighted, s-mode

"Dive for it" - Kirk
Nothing quite like reaching out and grabbing the disc before it hits the ground. Sadly, it means you hit the ground.
46mm, ISO 1600, f/5.3, 1/2000s, spot metered, s-mode

"Jumping Jon" - Mike
I had Jon jump off the wall of our patio (about 3 feet high) while I laid on the ground to photograph him from below. Unfortunately, the overcast skies didn't give me enough light and I had to use the flash for Jon to stand out well enough.
18mm, f/10.0, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, matrix, manual

"Dig it" - Matt
That's what we like to see, sacrifice the body for the save.
70mm, f/9.5, 1/4000s, center-weighted, s-mode

Flash

The on-camera flash can add vibrance and pop, accentuate motion, fill in harsh shadows, and add interesting effects if used correctly.

"bashful" - ryan
I took this on a gloomy day after the rain. I used the flash to try to provide some more contrast for the statue. I didn't happen to see any ghost.
71mm, f/10, 1/125sec, iso800, -1.0 flash comp

"rolling - Kirk"
I often use the fill flash to brighten shadows on bright days, so I decided to play with the rear curtain flash. It just happened that while I was messing around Ella started rolling around reaching toward the camera.
40mm, f/5, 1/3sec, center-weighted, p-mode, rear curtain flash (-0.7 flash comp)

"The Very Hungry Argiope Aurantia" - Cary
Also called the "Writing Spider" because of the zig-zag pattern they make in the center of their webs (maybe it's how they pass the time when they are bored), we have several that have taken up residence around the house in front of our windows. I'm all for bugs that eat bugs that would like to eat me. With the rain, the flash illuminated tiny water drops on the web and gave some interest to the empty spaces in the image. I also took some second-curtain flash shots of my kids but we've already got several good ones this week.
E-3 w/ 12-60mm @ 60mm, f/11 @ 1/125 sec, ISO 100, RAW processed in ALR

"Takeoff" - Matt
I realized that Caleb had never flown a paper airplane before. Once he figured out how to do it, he was hooked.
18mm, f/8, 1/15sec, center-weighted, m-mode, rear curtain flash (-1 flash comp)

"Ghosts in the Living Room" - Mike
I was trying to experiment with the flash and motion and discovered that with the right settings, the kids looked like ghosts. They thought it was really cool, so I set up the tripod to stop the background from getting blurred. Not a great composition, but a fun effect.
28 mm, f/4.5, 1.0 sec, ISO 200, rear curtain flash (+1 flash compensation)

Low Key Photography

Opposing high key photos are low key photos. In low key photos the tone is darker, and the controlling color is usually black. There will be lots of dark areas in the picture. It is very common for low key photos to give special attention to contour lines, emphasizing them with highlights.

"Facade" - Matt
Put on a mask and it can change who you are. That's what I wanted to show. I tried some profile shots and ended up with a number of decent ones. Then I decided that I wanted to try something different than the normal low key photos; push the category a bit. I haven't determined yet whether I like this photo or not, but it's certainly different - just like I was hoping.
42mm, f/5.6, 0.67sec, spot metered, m-mode

"Midnight Drive" - Tim
This was my last ditch effort before going to bed. My other ideas did not work so well. This turned out alright. Contrary to my initial thoughts, the lighting was really hard to get right. I think I need a little more practice. I also should have used a tripod.
76 mm (35mm equivalent), f/4.0, 1/6 sec, ISO 400, No Flash

"brass rules" - Kirk
When I heard what this weeks challenge was, I immediately thought of my trombone that I have not really used since high school. I tried to make a black box to limit relfections and gave up too soon. On the camera display I could not see any odd reflections and I thought I was golden. But when I looked on the computer I noticed a few oddities that I would have liked to eliminate, but I had taken down my makeshift box and didn't want to recreate it.
18 mm, f/13.0, 30 sec, No Flash, ISO 200, manual mode

"pancakes" - ryan
I messed around with some setups, but didn't get anything better than this picture I took in the big easy over the weekend.
84 mm, f/4.0, 1/400 sec, No Flash, ISO 1600

"Low Key Luna" - Cary
I fought with reflections on a small, glossy black marble vase and even devised a rather interesting "black box" in which to shoot it with no really obvious reflections (see some examples here)... but I still liked this shot of our cat, Luna, the best. She's a very cooperative model when she's been scratched and fed. She has the softest fur I've ever felt on a cat, by the way.
E-3 w/ 12-60mm @ 40mm, 2 sec @ f/11, ISO 100, -2 EV, RAW processed in ALR

"Midnight Troll" - Mike
I spotted this little troll by a fire when I was out for a midnight stroll. Trolls don't like the sun and can only be out at night or they will turn to stone. As such, they lend themselves well to low key photography. Just don't try it around the larger ones when they're hungry!
55 mm, f/13, 5.0 sec, No Flash, ISO 400, Manual