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09/05/2002 05:06:49 AM · #26 |
| over 5 is OK so don´t worry and please keep on posting. I´m also stuck in 5,1?? something and are pleased |
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09/05/2002 08:18:48 AM · #27 |
I've added no additional constraints. A good pic is still a good pic, and I'm voting accordingly. But a good candid pic that goes 'above and beyond', well doesnt that seem deserving of a higher score? It does to me. But I'm just one voter :).
As far as the bigger picture, and since people seem to go through this week after week, so clearly it's a problem: if it were up to me, I'd make the challenge instructions a lot more specific in terms of what criteria are most important in any given challenge.
I mean, there's room there in the description for more than 2 or 3 sentences. Seems a shame to not use it :) .. I think it would go a long way towards clearing a lot of this up. Heck, they could even say 'Note that this challenge is purposely vague; even tangential interpretations should be considered on the same footing as more literal ones" or other things like that.
Spelling things out a bit more would be very helpful I think. Words aren't expensive either :)
Originally posted by myqyl:
Originally posted by magnetic9999:
[i]im sure people will flame me for this but this challenge was to get high quality 'candid' shots.
<clip>
to me that excludes <clip> any other just completely random type of picture that doesn't really carry a story.
<Stokes up the fireplace> (kidding)
Actually, I don't see why the "story" connection is being made... The challenge said nothing about "tell a story"... It was to take a "candid" (ie. unposed, unsetup) shot...
I think "Tell a Story" would be an excellent challenge, but that wasn't what was asked for...
The real challenge lately has been trying to figure out what 'additional' constraints will be added to the challenge by the voters... Last week was "Childhood", but many voters decided it was "Happy Childhood" or "MY Childhood"... This week was "Candid", but it's being voted as "Candid People" or "Candid People Telling a Story" or even "Candid People over the age of 18 Telling a Story while Fully Dressed"...
That won't change, and I don't expect it to... It's just part of life in the fast lane...
But that's just me... :)[/i]
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09/05/2002 08:49:35 AM · #28 |
Magnetic.....I don't care if you wrote a MANUAL regarding the challenge topic consisting of actual visual examples...people will vote as they like and justify it as they see fit.
Every week I say this. Why do I say this? Well...one day we can all sit down, have a brew and discuss it :-)
Cater to the average photographer/voter with things like beautiful skies, frozen action water or some trick people have been trained by visual we see every day as the "Good Photography Seal of Approval" and then sneak in some feature or twist that the more experienced can see and VOILA!!! You will do well here.
This isn't a complaint..it's just the formula here. There are different formulas every where you go.
If you were in an art magazine you would take a photo of some abstract that looked like puke twirled in a blender...duotone it and give it a brainy title like "Flip Side Extensionalist in Conjunction No. 19" and win awards there :-)
Its all about the audience. |
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09/05/2002 09:03:47 AM · #29 |
lol hokie.. i think i took that picture once .. oh man the memories frmo that night sure are fuzzzzy ~_~ lol .. but ANYWAY ...
Maybe more detailed challenge descriptions wouldn't help but they definitely couldnt HURT :) ..
Anyway, it hasn't been tried, and I'd like to see it tried, if for no other purpose than a grand socialogical experiment. We can be like real scientists and set our hypothesis to be "this will have no effect on the debate, whining or bitching" and then see if it disproves or proves said hypothesis :) ...
But I hear ya about the formula .. In fact, I think I'm *finally* kind of sort starting to catch onto it ..
..maybe. . barely.. sort of.. :P) |
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09/05/2002 09:22:53 AM · #30 |
Originally posted by magnetic9999:
But I hear ya about the formula .. In fact, I think I'm *finally* kind of sort starting to catch onto it ..
..maybe. . barely.. sort of.. :P)
I am at a point where I am hitting some kinda chord here but I can't say if I was trying to or not.
The sign of a good photojournalist/working copy photographer is if they can provide what the customer wants.
Here the customers are the voters and the folks who do well every week are meeting that audiences demand very well.
Now, is it because that persons style just matches that demand or is it a conscious effort to change your natural style?
In my way of doing things..I don't even know what my style is other than I try to get the technical stuff as good as I can get it. The rest is just messing around and lucking on something.
But I will say that people who cater to a specific audience (wherever that audience may be) and succeed will do well in prostituting..ermmmm..ahem...selling their work >;-D Many a poor photographer never get that right.
Me make good love to you..cheap..cheap...20 dolla
Just kidding...chiiiill.///// |
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09/05/2002 09:54:16 AM · #31 |
you're absolutely right. i see it as there are 2 ways to play the 'dpc game' ...
play to win which means consciously try to modify your style to cater to voters
or
play to get comments and critiques . ie. do what you want for yourself and take what feedback is useful from that ..
either is valid. i mean this is a game after all and you can use it as a 'lab' to accomplish some different objectives. |
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09/05/2002 02:42:41 PM · #32 |
| I agree to that, you would have to sell out, prostitute yourself, and change your style to be recognized in these contests to have a chance at winning. Maybe, just maybe, someone will see beyond their beliefs and see the true meaning of photography. |
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09/05/2002 04:16:07 PM · #33 |
Originally posted by magnetic9999:
you're absolutely right. i see it as there are 2 ways to play the 'dpc game' ...
play to win which means consciously try to modify your style to cater to voters
or
play to get comments and critiques . ie. do what you want for yourself and take what feedback is useful from that ..
either is valid. i mean this is a game after all and you can use it as a 'lab' to accomplish some different objectives.
I don't believe that it's that cut and dried... hmm... modifying style is a key here though... since these are 'challenges', I would suppose that I modify my style about every week. It's rare that a challenge comes up that caters to subjects that I prefer to shoot, or that I would shoot under ordinary circumstances.
I try to apply my technical style to everything, for the most part. I deviate from that occasionally, but not often.
If these challenges were open topics every week, I don't believe that deviating from a style would be an issue at all.
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09/05/2002 04:35:34 PM · #34 |
double post....
* This message has been edited by the author on 9/5/2002 4:35:49 PM. |
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09/05/2002 04:36:25 PM · #35 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I don't believe that it's that cut and dried... hmm... modifying style is a key here though... since these are 'challenges', I would suppose that I modify my style about every week. It's rare that a challenge comes up that caters to subjects that I prefer to shoot, or that I would shoot under ordinary circumstances.
I try to apply my technical style to everything, for the most part. I deviate from that occasionally, but not often.
If these challenges were open topics every week, I don't believe that deviating from a style would be an issue at all.
I agree that each challenge requires varying techniques.
But I also think that there are similar style trends from week to week as well.
What are the odds that a black and white shot will win here unless the challenge is black and white?
I say slim to none.
Check out how many puffy cloud photos do well...even my lone ribbon is a stupid sky shot dominated photo.
And there are other examples....
I am just saying that there are some trends that are at work here..I am sure thats true at any photo site though. |
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09/05/2002 05:18:53 PM · #36 |
I do post here in hopes of doing well though :)
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09/05/2002 05:40:15 PM · #37 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I do post here in hopes of doing well though :)
We know (based on discussions in the forums and critiques) that top photographic work by say..Weston.. could get panned here as badly as any regular joe.
So..does that mean that you would forego developing your technique in the direction of a Weston, Mendelsohn or Tracey Moffatin order to do better here if those styles were panned?
Or any other valid technique outside mainstream pop photography? |
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09/05/2002 05:57:24 PM · #38 |
You know how the last sentence 'sounded' in my head ? Like Carrie Bradshaw in 'Sex and the city' where she says things like 'I wonder, does gender still exist or are we now all the same' ?
Imagine Carrie bradshaw sitting in front of laptop, her voice saying ... "Or any other valid technique outside mainstream pop photography? "
;-)
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09/05/2002 06:02:11 PM · #39 |
Originally posted by lionelm:
You know how the last sentence 'sounded' in my head ? Like Carrie Bradshaw in 'Sex and the city' where she says things like 'I wonder, does gender still exist or are we now all the same' ?
Imagine Carrie bradshaw sitting in front of laptop, her voice saying ... "Or any other valid technique outside mainstream pop photography? "
;-)
:-D One of my favorite shows actually!!
Seriously though...I wonder if pop culture will so control the tides of modern civilization that we all will turn into nothing but ratings on a scale of 1-10..
:-/
Take THAT Carrie Bradshaw!!!! |
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09/05/2002 06:19:09 PM · #40 |
It's already started hokie; openly sence the movie 10.
and think of all those cartoons were some groups mearsure an absurdity with 'olympic' score cards.
And isn't the Survivor shows a countdown-----? |
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09/05/2002 06:30:05 PM · #41 |
Originally posted by aelith:
It's already started hokie; openly sence the movie 10.
and think of all those cartoons were some groups mearsure an absurdity with 'olympic' score cards.
And isn't the Survivor shows a countdown-----?
And David Lettermans Top Ten has gotten even more insipid since he moved to CBS.
I am all for light hearted rating things. Its when we get to the "Ratings drive all that is Holy" stuff when I wonder.
But..even God had his Top Ten things us humans shouldn't do >:-D
* This message has been edited by the author on 9/5/2002 6:29:39 PM. |
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09/05/2002 06:33:02 PM · #42 |
What are the odds that a black and white shot will win here unless the challenge is black and white?
I don't know about everybody else but the only two tens I gave this week were black and white pictures. There was three other colored ones that had minor flaws that I gave 9's too. I hope everybody gave those three tens because they deserved it but that is the way I vote. All five of them where exceptional, especially for candid |
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09/05/2002 06:36:16 PM · #43 |
Originally posted by hokie:
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
[i]I do post here in hopes of doing well though :)
We know (based on discussions in the forums and critiques) that top photographic work by say..Weston.. could get panned here as badly as any regular joe.
So..does that mean that you would forego developing your technique in the direction of a Weston, Mendelsohn or Tracey Moffatin order to do better here if those styles were panned?
Or any other valid technique outside mainstream pop photography?[/i]
I have no idea... I'm a novice photographer and I have been into photography for less than 3 years and only about 18 months for digital. I don't really have a style and I'm not particularly pursuing a style of my own.
Apparently, I look at DPC in a different light. It's a Digital Photography Contest to me. I have a competitive nature about me, and I post photos here hoping that they will score well.
If I had a 'style' of my own, and did not want to deviate much from that style, DPC would not be a place for me. If I had a style, how often would these challenge topics lend themselves to my style? Probably rarely...
Maybe DPC will help me develop a style of my own someday. I don't aspire to be a professional photographer, and I don't aspire to be an Edward Weston. Pursuing those goals is not my intention. If, by chance, I ever make a series of photographs that become hysterically popular in the global art community, the so be it. If I never make a photo that an art critic would give a second glance, then so be it :)
I'm not an artist and have never claimed to be. DPC is helping me develop some ideas of things that I may like to pursue in the future though. Some of these challenges have opened my eyes to styles and subjects that I probably would have never considered before. Candid, for instance, is way outside of the realms of anything I have ever tried in the past. Knowing that, I did something totally off the wall for it. I did not change any style that I may have.. I just simply tried something new and different for me.
When I post photos here, I do not post them solely for the purpose of feedback. There are too many other places I can do that. I post my work here for the feedback and to see how I stack up against the other participants in the context of the challenge. Photosig, photocritiqe.net, usenet newsgroups... all sources of instant feedback.
If I do ever develop a style, god forbid if I should ever limit myself to it. I would hate the thoughts of not being able to execute a particular photo because I couldn't fit it within my 'style' :)
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09/05/2002 06:51:30 PM · #44 |
i am kind of the opposite. i actually am "looking for my style! that is why DPC is helping me so much--making me go out and try something new each week and while i learn something each time about all different aspects....i am also learning about what i like to take pictures of the most and also what sort of things i am better at. but i am only getting there by trying a little of everything. i think that even though i want to be good enough at photography to be able to take a great shot of whatever, i think that the best photographers, artists, what have you, have worked on building a particulr style that is THEM, wheter it be Mapplethorpe, Renoir or Warhol. whether a small or large percent of the population likes them is irrelevant--they still are true to themselves in that they have their own style and have perfected it. by the way john, you are an artist and you do have a sort of style--at least when you take a certain type of picture. if not, how could i have guessed your picture several times? i think that is a GOOD thing--not bad.
* This message has been edited by the author on 9/5/2002 6:51:46 PM. |
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09/05/2002 06:51:44 PM · #45 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
If I do ever develop a style, god forbid if I should ever limit myself to it. I would hate the thoughts of not being able to execute a particular photo because I couldn't fit it within my 'style' :)
Style, technique, perspective or whatever you want to call a persons individuality..you can't break from it..it is what makes you who you are.
You already fit the challenges within your 'style'..you can't help it really. Maybe you just haven't distilled your 'style' enough for you to clearly discern it yet.
I don't think Weston or other artists woke up one day and consciously said they would be who they were..They just were who they were and formed their photography around them.
And I agree, we may have very different expectations at this site, as we all do in a way I suspect.
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09/05/2002 08:19:05 PM · #46 |
Originally posted by hokie:
...Seriously though...I wonder if pop culture will so control the tides of modern civilization that we all will turn into nothing but ratings on a scale of 1-10..
:-/
Fortunately, BBspot posts a Top 11 list, so complete uniformity is yet to be realized... |
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