problem with abandoned buildings challenge

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/20/2005 01:20:05 AM · #1

i have seen that many people had problems with photos that didn't show whole buildings, and some people admittedly voted down for this. i was wondering if they also have problems with photos in the People challenge that don't show whole people?

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

04/20/2005 01:22:31 AM · #2

Probably... Heck with 'em... Same voters probably torpedoing any RSP entry that doesn't contain all 3, despite challenge wording that specifically condones the use of any one of the 3 subjects alone.

Robt.

sofapez

Canon EOS-10D

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

04/20/2005 01:30:22 AM · #3

I didn't see it anywhere in the challenge discription that it had to a whole abandoned building.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/20/2005 01:46:08 AM · #4

Originally posted by sofapez:

I didn't see it anywhere in the challenge discription that it had to a whole abandoned building.

Of course not. It's just that a lot of people are very literal. They see "photograph an abandoned building", then they see a shot of, say, a doorway in an abandoned building, and they think "That's a doorway, not a building!" and your score goes south. Notice that only 4 of the top 20 are details, and only 2 of those are interiors. Yet MANY of the best images were of parts of buildings or of interiors, at least IMO.

It might just be a matter of taste. people as a whole may respond better to the whole building within an encironment, I don't know...

Myself, I took NO shots that showed a whole building; for me the soul of decay is in the details, the juztapositions.

Robt.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

04/20/2005 02:23:27 AM · #5

Originally posted by bear_music:

Myself, I took NO shots that showed a whole building; for me the soul of decay is in the details, the juztapositions.

Robt.

Sounds rather like the approach for which I got trampled too : )

sofapez

Canon EOS-10D

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

04/20/2005 02:46:40 AM · #6

I took interiors, but settled on an exterior, whole building with surrounding landscape instead of the closer partial building veiws and still got trampled. I think in the long run it probably didn't make a difference. It didn't make a difference in my voting either.

e301

04/20/2005 03:01:22 AM · #7

Interior shots finshed 5th and 8th - so it's hard to judge by that. What one might terms 'postcard pretty' shots - I mean rather than darker, more foreboding shots - finished 1st, 3rd, 4th - which is a phenomenon contradicted by Aleks's shot finshing 2nd. Exterior shots of part of a building finished 7th, 16th, 18th, 20th ... I suspect that proportion of subject matter to image made little difference, I suspect what mattered was making a shot appeal to the masses.

E

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/20/2005 03:06:15 AM · #8

I thought the blue ribbon shot was stunning! Amazing! Definitely postcard or calendar material. BUT - the building did not look abandoned. I could asume it was, but I place a lot of weight in meeting the challenge and to me that means gearing the shot / subject to the challenge.

As in the RPS challenge, people can take stunning photos that qualify for the challenge in literal terms but not my perception of the spirit of the challenge. That seems to be why we keep seeing the same shots place high over and over regardless of the challenge subject.

Just my thoughts.

Barry

Sony DSC-S85

04/20/2005 07:51:05 AM · #9

After reading the complaints the some people had about the subject of this callenge I too was surprised that there were many good photos that took the subject of abandonment to different levels but were completely passed up by the voters because they didn't see an abandoned building but rather than an abstract of a building.

I have been in three challenges...and frankly very surprised on how badly a place... when I look at my voting statistics I am truely happy that some folks, (not many) get it. I have never made images for the masses and feel if 1 person out of 100 likes what I do I am still doing okay.

So back to the computer to figure out how to use Adobe....

Peace
Barry

buzzmom

Panasonic DMC-FZ20

04/20/2005 08:13:59 AM · #10

im new to this and now i feel like i could be ruining someones chance by the way i vote...i vote on a photo that moves me that draws me in at the same time keeping the challange in mind....then i look at things like clarity...lighting and so on....am i wrong???? if it doesnt grab my attention and emotion first well everything else is well everything else.

LynnS

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO DG Macro for Canon

04/20/2005 08:31:32 AM · #11

Buzzmom -- Dont feel alone... I also vote on emotions, whether first of all I "like" the image or not... then I look at technical aspects. Personally I feel that there is no reason for me to continue with photography if I don't like what I see.

ClubJuggle

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

04/20/2005 08:36:10 AM · #12

Originally posted by jpeters:

It's worth noting that three of the top 10, and 7 of the top 20 entries were parts of buildings. You only got one comment from a voter which even mentions that you only shot part of the building, and tht voter gave you a 9.

I'm not sure I see the problem.

-Terry

eostyles

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

04/20/2005 09:04:34 AM · #13

In my opinion the photos that only show part of the building were much stronger. What made the top four photos so strong wasn' the fact that they show the whole building but because of their wonderful backgrounds.

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

04/20/2005 09:06:58 AM · #14

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

oh, i'm not complaining about how i did (this was actually my second highest rated photograph) and i don't think everyone disliked the "parts of buildings" photographs. but i saw on other people's comments and on other threads that some people felt like having only part of a building didn't fit the challenge of taking a picture of a building. it just seemed illogical to me because everybody (i think) considers a face to be a picture of a person, or flower petals to be a picture of a flower, etc.

i do feel that everyone's photos were rated fairly and that the winners deserved to win.

coolhar

04/20/2005 09:48:00 AM · #15

Personally, I have a lot more problem with the B&W shots in a challenge where the details spoke about colors - "Residential or commercial, rural or urban, abandoned buildings often have unique textures, colors and character. Show us a great photograph of a building that is no longer in use." But there were lots of B&W entries and two finished in the top ten. And I feel that most of the interior shots didn't meet the challenge as well as the ones that showed only part of a building's exterior.

Disclaimer: My entry was a color partial exterior.

notonline

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/20/2005 09:59:10 AM · #16

Originally posted by coolhar:

Your Pic above My Pic Right. I see very little difference between what you decided to shot and what I shot

.
To VERY good take on ONE challenge and mine is B&W. This is the original unedited and think it wouldn't have done as well if it wasn't B&W.

So why was color so important??? I honestly don't think it was necessary for my photo and was more affective in B&W. To pick on am image for being B&W is just ignorant.

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 10:01:39.

glad2badad

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic

04/20/2005 10:26:13 AM · #17

Mine was B/W and voting covered a wide range - some loved it (nice comments), some didn't (see the 1 & 2's)...

Honestly, I totally missed the 'colors' comment in the challenge details, although I wouldn't have changed it - I saw the textures and character. To do mine in color (had camera set to B/W) would have come out almost the same (primarily white building with lots of black/grey on a rainy overcast day).

coolhar

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

04/20/2005 11:07:54 AM · #18

Originally posted by notonline:

... To pick on am image for being B&W is just ignorant. ...

Ignorant of what?

I think it is a matter of reading the challenge details and "While voting, users are asked to keep in highest consideration the topic of the challenge and base their rating accordingly." We each do that for ourselves so the results are not going to be the same for every one.

In voting this challenge "pick(ing) on an image for being B&W" was my way of applying the details as the rule asks us to do. In most cases it meant minus one point, not an automatic vote of one or two. Outside of challenges it is a matter of taste.

ReallyColorBlind

Canon EOS-70D

Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM

04/20/2005 11:20:30 AM · #19

Originally posted by jpeters:

I think the issue is that some people work hard to really match their photo to the theme. Example: You work for a newspaper and are asked to go shoot photos of a baseball game for tomorrows paper. I can pretty much bet that if you come back with pictures of a bat, or a baseball, or a glove, they probably are not going to make it into the paper. When there is a subject at hand, there are some expectations by others for you to represent that subject the way they believe it should be represented.

Personally, I was one of those that expected to see some type of building. When I didn't, the photo didn't meet my expectations and probably got scored a little lower. Please don't get me wrong though, some of the window and door shots were very good. But don't chastise me or others because we didn't think they deserved our top scores.

04/20/2005 12:23:00 PM · #20

Originally posted by ReallyColorBlind:

Originally posted by jpeters:
i have seen that many people had problems with photos that didn't show whole buildings, and some people admittedly voted down for this. i was wondering if they also have problems with photos in the People challenge that don't show whole people?

I think the issue is that some people work hard to really match their photo to the theme. Example: You work for a newspaper and are asked to go shoot photos of a baseball game for tomorrows paper. I can pretty much bet that if you come back with pictures of a bat, or a baseball, or a glove, they probably are not going to make it into the paper. When there is a subject at hand, there are some expectations by others for you to represent that subject the way they believe it should be represented.

Personally, I was one of those that expected to see some type of building. When I didn't, the photo didn't meet my expectations and probably got scored a little lower. Please don't get me wrong though, some of the window and door shots were very good. But don't chastise me or others because we didn't think they deserved our top scores.

i didn't mean to chastise or accuse people of anything, i just really didn't understand their perspective. my way of thinking is that a picture of part of a subject is still a picture of the subject, and i just wanted a little bit of an insight into the motives of those with other perspectives.

i agree with your baseball game analogy (that those photos would not be printed) as well, but i think this was a little different. if you look at the photo of a broken window with decrepit surroundings it is obviously an abandoned building. A picture of a glove is obviously not a picture of a baseball game. And if you want to get really picky, neither is a picture of the guy in centerfield, he is only part of the game.

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 12:23:41.

Chinabun

Canon PowerShot SD990 IS

04/20/2005 12:27:13 PM · #21

i dont understand how the top three winners recieved votes of 1, 2, and 3's???? thats just stupid. there werent many but what kind of moron would think they deserved a one.