Awww buttmuffins! Critique away - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

03/26/2005 10:25:00 PM · #1

Just joined and didn't realize the member challenges meant you actually had to be a paying member in order to enter. My genius self reads that after the shoot.

Ah well, lemme know what you think. This was supposed to be for the cemetery challenge.
//naruto.ucdavis.edu/images/20050326/bloodbath01_full.jpg

Message edited by ClubJuggle - Changed large image to link.

love

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

03/26/2005 10:45:34 PM · #2

is this a joke??

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

03/26/2005 10:47:36 PM · #3

No it's not a joke. I saw the challenge topic and thought it'd be pretty unoriginal to run out to a graveyard and shoot headstones.

Message edited by author 2005-03-26 22:53:02.

love

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

03/26/2005 11:10:28 PM · #4

OK then - I would have given it a 3

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

03/26/2005 11:19:16 PM · #5

play nice folks. I'm not sure I would have given it a 3. I like that it isnt just another headstone shot... or that it wouldnt have been. I think its original & I like it. Dunno 'bout the rest of the spcers out here but that's me.
I dont like th dof field in the shot tho. Also, is that bbq sauce? I would pump up the hue there.
Good stuff & welcome to dpc!

fstopopen

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/26/2005 11:26:55 PM · #6

you know what, I have been looking at pictures on this site for over a year now. I have seen all kinds of pictures. Some perfect, some less than perfect. I have read comments and suggestions a many, and let me tell you two things. 1. I love that picture. 2. Don't worry about what the commenters say. Sometimes they can be harsh. Sometimes it helps to get another persons perspective, and I have definaltey improved through comments on my photos. But I have never seen a shot like yours. It is different, and it would be easy to start taking shots like everybody else on this site. I know I have become less innovative, but better technically. Sometimes art isn't all about being perfect. Your shot may have been cooler if your depth of field had been larger. Anyway, welcome here, and I hope you learn a lot. Don't get discouraged by negative feedback. We are here to have fun and learn.

drake

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

03/26/2005 11:34:34 PM · #7

Dude.. yer hard drive is dead...

03/26/2005 11:37:05 PM · #8

Still new to photography but I'm pretty quick to realize that everyone has different tastes and that's what makes it fun. Regardless of positive or negative feedback I'll still shoot for myself because I'd rather not be stuck in the crowd.

As far as the DOF goes I was kinda stuck. I needed to keep the cross ouf of focus in order to hide the staple holding it together, but I didn't have anything wider than 50mm that would focus that close (I didn't want to go any smaller on the proportions). Plus I'm tripod-less at work, hard enough keeping the camera steady. But I can definately see how more DOF would've helped bring the foreground into focus.

Close. It's ketchup. Figure if they use it in movies then I can use it in my own shoots too right?

Anyways thanks for the feedback. Don't worry - I'm pretty thick skinned.

03/26/2005 11:38:23 PM · #9

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Dude.. yer hard drive is dead...

LOL gee you think? =)

Beetle

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/26/2005 11:40:44 PM · #10

Originally posted by virtuamike:

I saw the challenge topic and thought it'd be pretty unoriginal to run out to a graveyard and shoot headstones.

I'm sorry, but I would call that: "accepting the current challenge".

Perhaps pouring ketchup over a dead hard drive is "artistic", but I rather enjoy having to take photos inside the confines of a challenge.
I can always go "outside the box" during free study.

Rooster

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8-4.0 Aspherical for Canon

03/26/2005 11:42:24 PM · #11

lots of stuff you can do on your foto editing program such as cloning out the staple. the dof is too shallow but its your shot & if ya like, you should go with that.
I'm ahppy to hear you are keeping in good spirits with feedback.
peace
rooster

rex

Canon PowerShot SD780

03/26/2005 11:44:26 PM · #12

**it Happens

Message edited by author 2005-03-26 23:45:13.

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

03/26/2005 11:46:12 PM · #13

Originally posted by virtuamike:

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Dude.. yer hard drive is dead...

LOL gee you think? =)

In all reality, this would not have scored well overall. Being outside the box doesn't create 'mass appeal' that is required to do well in a challenge. You have to bang the voter over the head with the challenge topic, and this photo, no matter how artistic or innovative it may be, doesn't do that.

03/26/2005 11:50:55 PM · #14

Originally posted by Beetle:

Originally posted by virtuamike:
I saw the challenge topic and thought it'd be pretty unoriginal to run out to a graveyard and shoot headstones.

I'm sorry, but I would call that: "accepting the current challenge".

Perhaps pouring ketchup over a dead hard drive is "artistic", but I rather enjoy having to take photos inside the confines of a challenge.
I can always go "outside the box" during free study.

So challenge dictates location? Am I really so far out of the box that it'd be considered off topic? Just trying to gauge how far those confines can be pushed.

Beetle

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/26/2005 11:53:11 PM · #15

my take is this: whilst working on dpc photos, I welcome having to think inside a challenge topic. Instead of pushing the boundaries, instead of seeing how far away from it I can get, I like trying to take the best possible photo within the rules.

03/26/2005 11:54:53 PM · #16

Originally posted by jmsetzler:

Originally posted by virtuamike:

Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Dude.. yer hard drive is dead...

LOL gee you think? =)

In all reality, this would not have scored well overall. Being outside the box doesn't create 'mass appeal' that is required to do well in a challenge. You have to bang the voter over the head with the challenge topic, and this photo, no matter how artistic or innovative it may be, doesn't do that.

Good point on mass appeal, that's one thing I didn't consider.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, keep it coming.

fstopopen

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/26/2005 11:55:01 PM · #17

you can push as hard as you want, but the votes won't be there. Yes, the voters do have to be smashed over the head with the topic. But I have lots of shots that I love and I am proud of that were voted low, and some of my top 10 finishes I wouldn't even print for myself. I sometimes submit something I know will not do well because I am proud of it, and often the comments help me think of other ways to improve.

drake

Beetle

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

03/26/2005 11:58:04 PM · #18

Mike, earlier on you said this:

Originally posted by virtuamike:

Regardless of positive or negative feedback I'll still shoot for myself because I'd rather not be stuck in the crowd.

I don't quite get that...... if you don't want to be "stuck in a crowd", why join it in the first place?

Following a challenge is a skill, too.

ace flyman

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

03/26/2005 11:59:43 PM · #19

I go out of the box a lot of the time. If you do, you need flawless execution and some luck. I've missed several times. In advance editing, you could had a tac sharp image, go back and blur the cross, saturated the red blood to look more real. But dude, its out there for this challenge. My bio says it all..."Its in the eye of the be holder"

03/26/2005 11:59:52 PM · #20

Originally posted by Beetle:

But that's what made Maverick so hot in Top Gun!

All kidding aside, I can understand where you're coming from and I'll definately keep it in mind for the next challenge topic.

RayEthier

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

03/27/2005 12:01:02 AM · #21

The choice is yours...........they have guidelines,, which are open for interpretation. Should, as you did in this instance, opt to stretch the boundaries, then you may receive scores that you don't like.

Stated succinctly, this photo is NOT remotely associated to a cemetary, ergo would not in my opinion have met the requirements of the challenge. This factor, coupled with the DOF problem and the general feel of the photo would have garnered a score of 3 in my books.

I am but one man with one vote,,, but am I free to do with my vote as I please, just as you are free to produce and submit whatever image you like.

Just a thought.

Ray

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

03/27/2005 12:05:17 AM · #22

In my year of experience in this community, I find that those who stay in, around, near, adjacent to, and/or fairly close to the box in question are those who score higher. Going outside the box a bit too far is going to be rewarded by the voting populus with scores that make grown men cry. It's not a bad thing to think outside said box, but your scores will suffer. If the score is not important and you take pictures to please yourself, then I'm rambling and this doesn't matter.

By the way, buttmuffins is now my new word of the evening. I almost spit out my diet coke when I read that! ;o)

03/27/2005 12:06:31 AM · #23

Originally posted by RayEthier:

I appreciate honest thoughtful feedback so thanks. I take it the hit n miss style of photography isn't going to win the popular vote.