| Author | Thread |
|
|
07/18/2005 08:16:41 AM · #1 |
I'm not the type to complain about my score, I don't even care about that. I just want to say that I do not see how that is a stretch on the challenge topic.
Take a photograph that conveys the idea of family. Your photo need not contain a person.
For many people, soldiers, people who may be away from home (especially in the older days), long-distance friends (before the days of the internet), those two mailboxes have probably stood there for quite a long time -- and if not those two, then two that were just like them. They stand there proud, as a family of their own, on the sidewalk, passed every single day by people just like you and me. They are spit on, kicked, abused, but still go on doing their job. To send a message from one place to the other.
Like I said, I don't care about a score, but come on people some of us really need to start to appreciate stuff and not just look at things so literally.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:18:38 AM · #2 |
Originally posted by deapee:
Like I said, I don't care about a score, but come on people some of us really need to start to appreciate stuff and not just look at things so literally. |
Very well said ! |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:20:38 AM · #3 |
I think that this is one of those great locations that just needs the right 'moment'. This may mean waiting all morning for that one 'just right' person to come along and finish off the photo.
As it is, it looks like it's intended to be sort of a 'portrait' of the mailboxes in which case it's a little too far back and not giving me enough detail for my liking.
Neat idea, though...and I think it should have scored higher. |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:34:14 AM · #4 |
I don't think the image shows a great deal of warmth in general. Might even be a little cold for that challenge. I also believe that people were looking of flesh and bone families, love, comfort, humor...things of that nature. Personifying mailboxes might be a bit of a stretch but that is absolutely your right to depict a family in that way. I didn't enter or vote this Challenge.
"They are spit on, kicked, abused, but still go on doing their job"
BTW, they could always file a complaint with the Human Resources Administration or simply quit and find a job where they would be better appreciated. ;)
Message edited by author 2005-07-18 08:36:56.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:43:22 AM · #5 |
I'm not the type to complain about my score, I don't even care about that. I just want to say that I do not see how that is a stretch on the challenge topic.
Take a photograph that conveys the idea of family. Your photo need not contain a person.
Like I said, I don't care about a score, but come on people some of us really need to start to appreciate stuff and not just look at things so literally. [/quote]
For me it is a good idea and fine picture, but normally if you get creative most critiquer dont find that musing specially the americans :) I under stand them completely living in so narrow world, so just stick to the text as it is written and dont be creative :)
Icerock |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:51:49 AM · #6 |
Sorry...you're right. Like I said I didn't enter the challenge and therfore I didn't read the description. My bad.
In that case I'd give it a higher score.
Still think mailboxes are a stretch.....
Message edited by author 2005-07-18 08:53:44.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 09:35:26 AM · #7 |
| My comment in the challenge is still valid. I came back later when it hit me, letters to loved ones. My lower score on this shot was do to the fact, I hate shots that have cockeyed horizon shots, unless they are something special. So, I voted it lower do to the angle, not the subject. |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 10:17:18 AM · #8 |
| I feel it would have been great to have seen a person putting a letter into the box, instead of just the boxes themselves. |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 05:30:51 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by vtruan:
I hate shots that have cockeyed horizon shots, unless they are something special. |
That's great, and believe me, I'm not defending myself here -- my challenge entries are my freedom of speech, if you will...my opportunity to show the world what I feel, what I see through my eye, and relate that to you through the picture and the title. The camera was not held crooked, however, in this shot. If there is anything 'cockeyed' here, it's distortion and the angle that the camera is from the building. Look at a building from an angle, the lines are not straight.
--
That being said, I would like to point out once again, I am certainly not, in any way, defending myself, or refuting the scorring that I have received. I got a 4.1, and that's that, there's no going back -- like I said, I don't care.
I would, however, like to point out that I don't feel, personally, that the shot deserves a four out of ten. That's absurd. Whether you think it fits the challenge to a T or not, we need to seriously re-consider our motives and voting strategies.
Like I said, I love my score -- heck, I'll take a 3, but I just feel like some people are going to get discouraged to the point that they will not feel like entering anymore challenges...whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know -- you make up your own mind.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 05:55:36 PM · #10 |
I think it's a great photo, but it does take a little thinking to tie in the family aspect. And unfortunately it seems that there are a lot of people who don't really w3ant to think. I think it's great that you didn't go with the typical "family" protrait tpye of shot. Keep up the good work and maybe we'll get some people to start thinking around here.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 06:03:53 PM · #11 |
I don't like it. I find the angle to be distracting more then its worth. As for it being a "stretch" yea I could agree to that statement as well as defend the photo. Yes it is outside the box and yes it does convey an idea of communicating with family and if you know your postal service they have a "family" of products and services available. With that being said it's not a photo I'd hang on a wall. It probably would have score a 5 from me because it did fit the challenge but wasn't an appealing shot IMO. I didn't enter either if that matters.
No offense and I hope this helps.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 06:08:30 PM · #12 |
David,
I when vote, I wish I had more time to view them for a long time, but I don't. Yours was one a the few that went back over to see what your were saying. The slanting of the building is what I ment by cockeyed. It looks(maybe an illusion) to be slanting to the right. To me a close up of the mail boxes or as some stated a hand dropping a letter may have been etter. I understand your point of asking, I been wondering my self for many challenges why so many low scores on desent shots. Van |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 06:10:53 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by deapee:
Take a photograph that conveys the idea of family. Your photo need not contain a person.
To send a message from one place to the other.
Like I said, I don't care about a score, but come on people some of us really need to start to appreciate stuff and not just look at things so literally. |
I voted high for the bunnies and ducks because they were great photos and I felt they represented the concept of family. I didn't vote this one very high because it just didn't say "family" to me. I felt that the title implied that the mailboxes were together -- like they were the family. I'm all for out of the box thinking but that was stretching it way to far. Out of the box can be good, but you always take the chance that your viewer won't understand what you're thinking.
or.....
Maybe I just had a deprived childhood where no one send me mail by post so I just didn't get it. |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 06:14:34 PM · #14 |
I don't see any more connection with 'family' between two ducks than between two mailboxes. Maybe I'm stupid, I don't know. Oh well...just let this thread sink to the bottom now...it's a moot point anymore around here.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 06:26:15 PM · #15 |
If one studies the nuances of a good photograph it will almost always give back to the viewer. The problem with the format of scoring a challenge is that not many are studying anything. I would venture a guess that at the outside, a voter has his/her mind made up within 3 seconds of first viewing a photograph as to what score they will render to an image while in a scoring frenzy. There are speed parameters that must be used to score 300-400 photographs. A successful winning photo here must be a "gut-grabber" with all the familiar hallmarks that each one of 400 voters have already laid out in their minds. We all do it. Sometimes more time is given to those intially high scoring shots when voters return for a second look. This is usually the "art appreciation" portion of the business. So, realize score is not the prime measurement of abilities here. It is when a photograph is displayed in the forums, perused via portfolio or reviewed from "favorites" lists, that time is amply afforded in order to lean into a photograph here on this site. Keep your chin up and keep shooting!
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:18:19 PM · #16 |
People who felt it was a stretch for the topic are probably too young to remember what communication was like before the internet. They just don't know any better.
I understood the connection to the theme, didn't mind the tilt, and scored it rather high.
It is a good picture, but it is more genuine than flawless. The dpc voters probably would have liked it better if you could have found two freshly painted mailboxes, leveled it, cropped out the gritty foreground, and then run a moderate to heavy NeatImage on it. IMHO, it deserved a higher score than 4.1, I'd say more like a 5.1 or better.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:21:55 PM · #17 |
[quote=debitipton]
I voted high for the bunnies and ducks [/quote=debitipton]
There's your answer David;) |
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:25:11 PM · #18 |
For the record I voted 10 on this and got the connection right away. Sorry others didn't. Some people must have that reinforced type of tape on their boxes.
Message edited by author 2005-07-18 20:27:31.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 08:39:58 PM · #19 |
I got the "family" connection right away. Nice sentiment and idea. Unfortunately for me personally, the shot just didn't do much for me. I didn't get the "Apply for a US Passport sign in the window, the mailboxes were too far away to be a "portrait" of them, the angle didn't seem to support the overall theme to me, and the lighting was too harsh. For the record, I gave it a 4 and I stand by it.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 09:06:19 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by SJCarter:
I got the "family" connection right away. Nice sentiment and idea. Unfortunately for me personally, the shot just didn't do much for me. I didn't get the "Apply for a US Passport sign in the window, the mailboxes were too far away to be a "portrait" of them, the angle didn't seem to support the overall theme to me, and the lighting was too harsh. For the record, I gave it a 4 and I stand by it. |
Never even saw the sign in the window - the mailboxes riveted me and got me right away. On all passes all I saw was the boxes and knew what he was after. I rarely, and I mean rarely, see my family. I get postcards now and then, never emails or phone calls. Maybe it is that connection that makes it work for me.
|
|
|
|
07/18/2005 09:44:11 PM · #21 |
It is & was a great idea and a unique entry. I really appreciate the sentiment too. The sign in the window really bothered me, as I kept trying to figure out what the photog was trying to say by including it. I usually assume that everything in the shot is there for the purpose of supporting the overall message/theme of the image and I couldn't make the connection with the other elements in the shot. Essentially, I thought that the execution wasn't all that it could have been. Nothing personal at all meant against deapee either - he has some beautiful shots in his porfolio and obviously has a lot of talent. We all have off days! ;-)
(Some of us more than others! ME! LOL)
|
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/30/2025 04:35:22 AM EDT.
