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Featured in Weekly Theme Challenges June 11, 2012.
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Third Place in the “Still Life” challenge in All Things Photographic group September 27, 2010.
Third Place in the “Still Life” challenge in Freedom to Shine group May 24, 2010.
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Top Ten in the “We Want Games You Play!” challenge in Bits and Pieces Group November 28, 2009.
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Second Place in the “Games People Play” challenge in 12 Great Features – Challenge Themes Only June 14, 2009.
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1178 views on March 1, 2010

Image taken with the Nikon D40x, using the 18-135mm lens. Used the tripod, shutter speed 6, aperture f/22, exposure -.67, iso 800. No flash.

Of everything I’ve done, this is one of my all time favorites. This was created for a “challenge” at another photo site … and came in second place out of … well, a bunch … but that’s not why it’s my favorite. This was done not long after I got my Nikon D40x … which I realize isn’t a wildly sophisticated camera, but which was a giant leap forward to me after my little Olympus C-5000 zoom. There were many new features on the Nikon that I was hopelessly confused about, but I was very fortunate to have a dear friend, AndreiSky, who kindly helped me understand the mysteries of the aperture. The set up for this image was an adventure in flashlights, darkness, kitchen stools, sofa pillows and the dreaded tripod. Not to mention my beautiful antique mahjong set … for which I finally found a use since I have no idea how to play mahjong.

Using a tripod, the aperture was f/22.0, shutter speed 6, exposure -0.67, one-chip color, pattern metering, and iso 800. The mah jong set was arranged on the dining room table with the main light source being a high-powered flashlight propped on a sofa pillow on top of a kitchen stool. Taken in the dark of night, lol, not sure what time.