Green is a color that’s so ubiquitous that it often goes unnoticed or overlooked.
In the song “It’s Not Easy Being Green” Kermit the Frog laments “… it seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things. And people tend to pass you over. …”
This month green is going to get its due because it’s the subject for the July edition of the Readers Photo Challenge.
There are plenty of sources of greenery to photograph. From verdant lawns and leaves on trees in one’s own backyard to fields, vineyards and orchards in the farmland throughout Stockton and San Joaquin County green is the color of the Central Valley.
When you were a child, your parents probably urged you to eat your green fruits and vegetables. Now you can photograph them, too. Broccoli, grapes, Granny Smith apples and spinach are all as close as your grocery store.
But you don’t have to limit yourself to the natural world. There are plenty of man-made things you can use, from traffic lights to automobiles to articles of clothing.
One way to photograph the color green is to surround something that’s green with a contrasting or complementing color. For instance you could have a green leaf set against the blue of a cloudless sky, a green bell pepper placed on a bright red table cloth or an asparagus spear on a yellow plate.
The opposite can make for an equally compelling image.
A yellow rose set against the green leaves of the rest of the bush, a blue ball on a bed of green grass or a ripe red tomato partially wrapped in a green napkin. These examples and more can all make for great subjects. The limit is your own imagination.
Of course you can also shoot an image that’s nothing but shades of green. Emerald, forest, lime, olive and more comprise the wide spectrum of verdant colors. Subjects can range from the leaves and branches in a forest, water drops on a lawn or a close up of peas in a pod.
Kermit goes on to sing “And green can be cool and friendly-like, And green can be big like an ocean, Or important like a mountain, Or tall like a tree,” making it worthy of your time and effort to take photos of.
How to enter the Readers Photo Challenge:
1. Photos have to be taken between July 1 and July 15.
2. Include your name (first and last), hometown, the kind of device you used and where it was taken (eg.: John Doe of Stockton, Canon 5D Mk IV. Victory Park, Stockton).
3. If there is a recognizable person or persons in the photo please identify them (name, age, hometown) and describe what is going on in the photo. Please indicate if and how they are related to you (friend, mother, father, daughter, son, etc). For example: “My son John Jr. wears a green hat under an oak tree at Victory Park in Stockton.”
4. Please feel free to include any interesting anecdotes or stories on how you took the picture.
5. The number of photos is limited to 10.
6. Entries can be emailed to coto@recordnet.com. The preferred format is jpeg. Type “Green” in the subject line.
7. The deadline for submission is July 15. Top picks will be published in the July 21 Record. An online gallery of all the photos on the same day at recordnet.com.
8. First, second and third top picks will receive 16×20, 11×14 and 8×10 prints, respectively, by UlmerPhoto in Stockton. Additionally, first place will receive a $25 gift card to a local restaurant.