This month's Picture This! call was for "Colorful Carnivals" and readers responded with a wide range of shots from the midway. In many of the pictures you can almost hear the delighted screams of those on the rides and the barkers calling to the crowd to try their luck. Many of the shots were made at night, the time and light being the most complimentary to the...

This month's Picture This! assignment is "Regards to New Orleans," and readers responded with images that show why we should all continue to keep the pressure on to rebuild this most unique of American cities. Think how the home countries would respond should Venice, Paris, or any of the great cities of the world be subject to the tragedy that is New Orleans. As...

Our Picture This! assignment for this month was "Wavin' Old Glory," and readers responded with a host of images that speak to the profound connection we all have with this powerful symbol. Many of the images spoke to the sacrifices of our men and women who have served in defense of our country, something that cannot but remind us of our brave troops serving...

This month's Picture This! assignment was Patterns in Nature. Readers responded with a glorious selection of design, form, and color derived from plants, rocks, and animals. While the debate over so-called "Intelligent Design" and evolution may stir some to emotional rhetoric, there's some respite in simply marveling at and enjoying the visual pleasures...

This month's Picture This! assignment, Found Montage, will not be running. The photographs submitted for Picture This! were sent from our collection point to review a few days before Hurricane Katrina struck and never arrived for review. After extensive efforts at tracing the review package we can only conclude that the package was lost within the chaos of the storm and its...

Our Picture This! assignment for this month was Background Blur, creating a sense of dimension in the photograph by playing a sharp foreground subject off against a blurry, or unsharp background. Readers sent in a wide variety of subjects, from flowers to statues to birds and carnival rides, all using this time-honored technique. Many used telephoto lenses to enhance the shallow...

Telephoto lenses are great for bringing distant objects closer and giving you "tunnel vision" that isolates parts of your personal field of view. They also have an added benefit, a visual trick most commonly called the "stacking effect," where a series of subjects each distant from one another are brought in much closer visual contact. This compression of...