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03/06/2006 09:43:12 AM · #1 |
Question: Have you entered a contest and got slammed where you did not
want to post in another?
I am a beginner that everyone thinks is a pro, I have a good eye and
have been learning non stop for the last three years and need only to
learn flashes and types of it before I start learning it all again from
scratch. I entered a contest about a year ago and it contained this
image
Bigger Version
I was asked how I made the image because others though it was illegally
photoshopped but it was not. It was a long exposure at night where I
walked out of the frame for the last few seconds to give the ghost
effect and Yes it was me in the picture. I got very high scores and
comments telling me that it was one great shot. Others gave me a rock
bottom score and told me that what I did was wrong. I lost miserably
but did not bitch like most of the newbie’s that come in and expect to
get a ribbon when they never noticed all the crap in the background of
the in un-inspiring image (not bitching now, I just want to hear other
stories), and I am not trying to cut anyone down, I still am a
beginner and have the same enthusiasm as I feel most did, I just joined
this site MUCH later.
So I have been here for a long time just looking, and learning. Think
I post about once or twice a month and do not think of entering another
contest and I bet there are lots of others doing the same thing as me.
Anyway thanks for all the great info guys.....
now whats your deal
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03/06/2006 09:52:03 AM · #2 |
I have never received a comment that had the potential to affect my decision to enter future challenges.
There are some here who have felt that way (the forums will have NUMEROUS threads on this topic). I think artists need pretty thick skin because, if you put your stuff out there, it will get criticism. Sometimes the criticism ain't pretty. Not everyone is nice. |
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03/06/2006 10:00:17 AM · #3 |
Well, personally, I don't mind if people slam my picture. Sure it feels bad in a way, but I know that I'm still quite a beginner.
I talk big, but nobody has ever actually accused me of being a pro :).
Does it make my want to not enter another contest if someone slams a pic I felt was good? I don't think so. There's 45000+ members on this website. One person telling me that I suck doesn't amount to a hill o' beans.
I also have made a number of decisions in my personal life that most people don't agree with. (who hasn't?) But it's a big thing for me to realize that I don't need other people's approval to do what is good or right or fun.
I want you to enter more contests and I want to see more of your pictures.
I would never have taken that picture that way.
That must mean that you have an individual vision. If you like it, and you think it says something that ought to be said, put it out there.
Think of all the bands that have a few thousand loyal fans. Or a few hundred. Or a few dozen.
Or their moms buy their CD's but never listen to them cos they sound like crap and their lyrics are mindless.
Does it matter? No. They are having fun and developing themselves in ways that they enjoy.
Who knows, maybe later they will put something really meaningful and powerful out there.
As for your airplane pic, I'd probably have given it a 6. I would have given it a 5 for technical details (simple average because the pic is sharp, has appealing colors and composition, but I don't care much for the pose. It gives it a snapshotty feel.).
I would have given an extra point on the technical for a nicely carried out long exposure (and I would have recognized this without being told as would many at this stage in the game) effect bringing it to 6.
How could it have been improved?
I would say that the pose is everything.
#1 it's too conscious of the camera
#2 it's too touristy
How would I have changed the pose to pull it together?
I would probably have stood at the nose, facing the plane and looked up at it with my hands in my pockets. It seems like a good pose for a ghostly figure.
On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of the military, so I might just have done something as a show of indignation. Hard to say how that would have been interpreted with all the swastika's on the side of that plane.
But that's me.
Hope you can find the time to submit to another challenge some day soon. |
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03/06/2006 10:01:08 AM · #4 |
Well Fred,
I think that shot is pretty damn good IMHO. I can't imagine you getting slammed over it, I know don't have anything bad to say about it. I'd shoot that flying fortress as much as I could if it were near me!
As to thinking about not entering challenges, if anything my sole purpose here is to learn and if I have to annoy all the self proclaimed "pros" (the amazing photogs that give out 1's, 2's 3's etc..) out there while learning then so be it.
There are an amazing bunch of people here that will help you grow and give you honest and wonderful feedback. Sometimes you just have to look through (excuse my language here) all the bullshit to see it. So just like strangeghost said, you need to thicken up that skin man and give'em hell!
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03/06/2006 11:28:45 AM · #5 |
Depends what you enter the challenges for. If it is for the winning, try to avoid original thinking when making the shot. Take a shot with lighted glass, liquid splashes, water drops on flower petals, cheesy sunset scenes, try to cram as much colour as you can in your picture, and, above all, keep it extremely sharp (god forbid you to experiment with blurry images and grain!), etc. - if done technically well, this is almost guaranteed to get a high placement. People are suckers for this, and can see dozens of such shots a day without getting tired or bored. There are exceptions, of course, and usually in the top 10 or so you have at least a few really decent shots. There are some decent portraits here sometimes. But rarely was it the case that my favourite image of a challenge ended in the top 3.
I, at first, thought that, since this was the site for photographers, expected voters to have an open mind and interest for unusual. My very first challenge tought me otherwise: they wer lazy and unwilling to think. The majority on this site, as everywhere else, represents mediocrity, and wants "wow" pictures. They were brought up by the mainstream western culture, that tries to make the people brain dead, with expectable, controlable expectations (one can take adantage of that!). If you try to do something unusual, you will get lots of scores below 5 and few comments. But the few people who try to get the idea often make the day for me. So, I intend to continue participating, for the sake of the few who at least try to get it.
Sorry for a rantish response, but you asked for stories, so here you go. :) |
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03/06/2006 11:39:58 AM · #6 |
hey man, if you don't want to enter then don't. there are people who don't like the work of the most famous photographers. you are gonna get crappy scores. and if you look at yourself as a 'beginner that most think is a pro' ....I get the impression you think people should regard your images as a professional caliber... if they're that good then go start making money off your photography and don't even worry about what all these goofballs here think.... I mean it's only a public forum for people to say why they don't like your photo or why they do. I would have voted that photo a 5.
Technically it's ok, but it just doesn't do a thing for me. There's no story, it's just an airplane and a dude with some ghosting trick to make it interesting, and that fails to me, because there is still no impact.
the deal is that not everyone is gonna slobber at your photos even though they 'think you are a pro'
I can understand when people are curious about why they did badly, but beyond that you can't expect more. |
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03/06/2006 11:54:22 AM · #7 |
| I don't have a story but i do have a question how long of an exposure did you use in the plane picture I'm new and these type of photos really interest me. Thanks for everything |
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03/06/2006 12:16:48 PM · #8 |
| I have a picture that's getting torn up in a challege right now, that I have a request to buy the print through my PBase by someone who's fairly famous in his own right (not a photographer). If I said who, some of you would know who it was, and be like, "Awww you gotta be full of crap. How'd he find YOUR PBase?" Easy. Through a message board link. Actually, first he asked if the person in the picture is single. I enjoyed telling him NO way too much, but he still wants the print because he likes the picture. |
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03/06/2006 12:19:20 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by ragamuffingirl:
I have a picture that's getting torn up in a challege right now, that I have a request to buy the print through my PBase by someone who's fairly famous in his own right (not a photographer). If I said who, some of you would know who it was, and be like, "Awww you gotta be full of crap. How'd he find YOUR PBase?" Easy. Through a message board link. Actually, first he asked if the person in the picture is single. I enjoyed telling him NO way too much, but he still wants the print because he likes the picture. |
Okay, you know you can't write something like this and then not say who the person was. Come on -- give it up.
Message edited by author 2006-03-06 12:23:50.
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03/06/2006 12:23:45 PM · #10 |
Where did you enter it? Not here apparently, so it's fine to rant here about this (or other photographic subjects) but if some other site/contest is the issue, then either mention them or skip the whole subject. As your post reads now, it infers that DPCrs are ripping at you - and that is not the case.
And this quote in my profile, from a fellow DPCr, has a lot of truth to it:
"I personally receive a negative comment more seriously than I do a positive comment. Reason, most people tell you how great your work is even if it isn't true. They think they are offering encouragement to a budding artist, when in reality they are doing just the opposite. They are encouraging the artist to continue producing bad art. Maybe you seek only compliments, and that's fine, me, I seek honesty; I can handle the truth. " - Byron Gates, Jr.
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03/06/2006 12:35:53 PM · #11 |
Thank you for all the comments.... My XT is going back to Canon because
the Warranty is about to run out and yesterday the flash stopped
opening. It is like the button is not being pushed at all. This will
give me more time to read on flashes.
The B-17 shot was a 13 second exposure and I walked 90 degrees to the
left of frame about 10 seconds into the picture. It was taken with my
old Olympus C-4000 using the timer. I later have done a few with my
new camera and some were in very low light conditions. This one of me
was in an abandoned roller rink with no light. It was a 69 second
exposure.
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03/06/2006 01:01:57 PM · #12 |
| You worry too much. I generally do not care what the people are thinking about some pictures I took. I like them and that is good enough. In my opinion, scores are meaningless to some extents. |
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03/06/2006 01:07:32 PM · #13 |
| maybe bunch of Nazis did't like the Stuka-killer aircraft and your photo got slammed. I would give it 9. |
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03/29/2006 10:07:00 AM · #14 |
Wow..... This is weird as hell!!!!
I was running a very high temperature of 104+ and was home sick when I
wrote this. It seems that the heat on the brain is not too good. I was
sick for about a week and then my kids got sick...then wifie. The
doctor still does not know what the hell it was and just said it was a
bug that was going around.
Prof_Fate, You are 100% right. I have not entered any contests on
this site and do not feel I need to. I read the forums all the time
and post where I feel I have something constructive to add.
My rant was directed towards a person on another forum on another
photography web site I use. It was good in its time for me and I got
the basics on Photography and the understanding on how to put
everything together from it. Then I came here! The stuff you guys
have done and posted and explained and on and on, Has made me a MUCH
better photographer. I look at everything differently.
As for the people that sent me E-Mails, Thank you very much. It was
amazing that some of you took so much time to make me see thing
differently, and it helped. I had no idea where the emails were
coming from since I thought I was posting on a different site.
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03/29/2006 10:52:49 AM · #15 |
I received a comment on an image that I likely took way too personally and it did affect my desire to enter additional challenges. In fact, it made me more cautious about taking additional images of the subject. I feel anger about it but mostly about the way I handled it. I allowed that person to dictate what I should photograph.
You cant make photographs that will appeal to every single person that views them. If someone slams you then take what you can from the input in order to learn and progress and file away the rest. If your photography can only survive with external validation then perhaps you should adjust your subjects and style to accomodate the masses. If your photography is a means for you to express yourself then do so. If someone doesnt like it then that is their issue and not yours. You cant control other people's feelings just like they shouldnt control yours. |
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03/29/2006 03:40:34 PM · #16 |
I just finished in the top twenty in the low key challenge. I was given nine votes that were 1's. This happened just after a .5 second shutter speed was awarded the blue ribbon in another challenge that was very specific about using a shutter speed of "exactly" two seconds. Both situations are very hard to swallow.
For me the reward of photography comes from doing the work. I'm learning when I compete it changes my perspective and fairness becomes a major factor in my having a positive experience on DPC. People that vote with a punitive intent because they disagree with the subject in the photo really drive me nuts. Voters should be evaluating the artistic merit and technical skills utilized to produce the image (IMO) and offering constructive feedback that will help the photographer learn and grow.
For me photography is about connecting with the subject, capturing the moment and hopefully finding some inner peace and happiness as new possibilities emerge along the way . Since that dynamic changes when I cross a line and enter a photograph into a competition, I am choosing not to enter any challenges until I can regain a more healthy perspective when competing.
edit for spelling
Message edited by author 2006-03-29 15:41:28. |
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