Photo Contest: Hot Pics for April
Subscribers to Dave Johnson's Digital Focus newsletter took these shots.

4/4 Hot Pic: "Jet Over Yosemite" by Graham Turnbull, Ottawa
Graham writes: "Here's one of my favorite recent photos taken at Yosemite Valley. There was no special preparation or planning. I just looked up in the sky, and there it was... zoom, click."
Graham used a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS.
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4/11 Hot Pic: "Spikey Caterpillar" by Dwayne Alan Taylor, Salem, Massachusetts
Dwayne writes: "This is a caterpillar I snapped at the Aruba Butterfly Farm using my Canon EOS XSi. I thought the colors worked very well together; it was the best of the captures that day."
4/18 Hot Pic: "Pastel Winter Park" by Valerie Jennings, New York
Valerie writes: "I took this photo of Central Park after a soft snowfall using my Nikon Coolpix VR ISO 2000."
4/25 Hot Pic: "Warrior Dance," by Ron Lashley, Flora Vista, New Mexico
Ron writes: "I took this photo in Farmington at an Indian dance demonstration which included several tribes like Apache and Navajo. I used a Sony A300 with a shutter speed of 1/160 second; it was somewhat difficult due to the dancer's motion. I used Topaz Remask to remove the background, and then applied Topaz Clean and Simplify along with some hand painting to complete the effect."
4/4 Runner-Up: "Rain Bird" by Steve Shaw, Grants Pass, Oregon
Steve writes: "I used a Canon Rebel T2i to take this photo of a Japanese Maple in our yard. It was right after a rain in the early fall when the tree was beginning to turn red. The light was just right to give the rain drops a sort of cat eye look."
4/11 Runner-Up: "Old Barn" by James Morales, Bakersfield, California
James says: "I took this photo of an old barn in Tehachapi, California, around sunset. I used the HDR technique that I learned from one of your articles and merged the three images with Artizen HDR."
4/18 Runner-Up: "Just After Sunset" by Nathan M. Hess, Newark, New Jersey
Nathan writes: "My roommate pointed out a beautiful sunset, so I grabbed my camera and headed to the roof. I took this shot almost an hour after the sun had disappeared over the horizon using my Olympus E-520."
4/25 "Hiding," by George Fritzsche, Bayport, New York
George writes: "I took this picture while playing with my son. We were playing hide and seek at a local beach on Long Island. I took my camera out and went around the other side of some playground equipment. I got this picture right before my son found me hiding."
George used a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi.
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