People seem to think my photo is boring.

04/07/2007 06:50:51 PM · #1

It just makes me mad because I find landscape photos very exciting and interesting.
Maybe I'm just wierd.
It sucks because it seems like if you want to succeed on this site, you have to comply with what everyone else tells you to do. Gah. It's just like school. Exactly like school.
"This is okay. It fits the assignment(challenge), but it isn't very exciting." If you want to become excited, vote in a Nude challenge for crying out loud.
Landscape photos are exciting to me.
It's hard to take an ugly landscape photo (to me).
Nature is never boring (to me).
My photo may not be the best, but its perfect to me.
Maybe I should've edited it.
I guess that's what I get for not editing my pictures..
Still!
How could someone vote on a picture just because it wasn't "exciting"?
It wasn't even horridly boring.
It was just at the bottom of the stack and there were alot of other pictures like it. But, I took mine the day the challenge started, so I doubt people could accuse me of copying it..
Agh!
I'm having a bad day.
=(

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

04/07/2007 07:12:42 PM · #2

See you cant succeed on this site. There is nothing to succeed at. The only exception maybe winning a challenge or scoring well.

This place is a channel for learning. Its also a great place to meet people and find out about equipment what works what doesnt. Share photos and stories.

You need to shoot for yourself not this site. You get something you want to put it up against the rest then enter. Ive never scored in the top 50% much less won anything. Ive learned more about photography here then frommy father who was a professional photographer.

Then again my Landscape's are probly "Roadscapes"

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

04/07/2007 07:18:19 PM · #3

We all get very attached to our images. The hardest part is to separate from the image and try and see something in the comments that could help us improve.

Impact is one aspect of an image. All types of images can fall flat in this area. If an image doesn't grab a voter in some way then it will not score well.

Editing isn't everything. However, some fixing can improve the impact of an image tremendously.

Keep shooting what you like and don't let the voters get you down.

EducatedSavage

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

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

04/07/2007 07:55:19 PM · #4

Hey there! I've got a landscape-like (not so wide and sweeping, but, meh) and I got the same comment - and from a baghead, so I giggled. But I figure that it's a landscape! I liked it because it was calm and soothing to look at, so if someone else says it isn't exciting, then I suppose we agree, right? Just that we happen to have different ideas on what attributes are good and which ones aren't.

With regards to having to play the game at DPC, I figure it's a good skill to develop. Even if, in the long run, I learn to disagree with the preferred styles here, it would still be good for me to learn how to do it, especially if I decide to really go for anything involving a portfolio - then I can sprinkle in the DPC-style, 'grab 'em by the balls right off' style amongst the stuff I prefer more. I'll call it variety, then.

That's a bit long - guess I felt like ranting, too? I'm working on my personal worst right now, though (and if you look at my portfolio, I've really done MUCH worse... of course, you can't see my CURRENT entry, so that won't really help). I'm okay with a score in the 4s, I just expected my work photo to forever be at the bottom. Oh well!

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

04/07/2007 08:00:49 PM · #5

I guess I really am here to learn. It's just difficult to learn anything when people say "I dont like your picture." I don't learn a thing other than they don't like my picture. So far they're saying its dark and boring (just like me ;D) and yet if I had submitted something bright and exciting, they'd probably say "It's too wild."
People are never satisfied! D=
And I wouldn't care so much what people say if it didn't matter to me.. I mean, I wan't to go places with my work some day and I'm not going to be very successful if nobody likes my images, you know? >.<

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

04/07/2007 08:03:22 PM · #6

Originally posted by Beautiful-Joe:

Don't use DPC as the only judge of how good your images are. The DPC vision can be a bit skewed from reality.

04/07/2007 08:06:46 PM · #7

The problem is, I want to be critiqued by experienced photographers. My friends don't see alot of good pictures, plus they're prone to un-necessary kindness towards me. All I get from them is "WOW Joey! That's awesome! I wish I could do that!" They don't give me room to improve. The problem is, the majourity of people here just tell me my picture sucks, and that isn't any help either. >.<
I don't know.
I suppose I'm being a baby about it.
Still though it gets on my nerves when I want to improve and nobody will tell me what I can do to make it better.

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

04/07/2007 08:08:05 PM · #8

ANother thing go watch one of them modeling shows. Challenges can be hell and so is the modeling world.

I watched a show called "The Agency" Guy walks into a room with about 80 girls. Had each girl walk up he gave them a reason why their ugly as hell and didnt pick a single girl there. These girls go home some of them cry about how ugly they are while their boyfriend is like WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU because it aint your looks.

Now these women are attractive i mean the kind you wouldnt think twice about just looks wise. But in the modeling world good looks dont get you very far. Its not about good looks its about selling a product.

Challenges can be the same way. They had an Ansel Adams challenge. He is a famous photographer someone entered an ACTUAL Ansel Adams Picture and it scored 11th.

//www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=152852

Kinda bad when your own photo cant place a top 10 in your own challenge.

These challenges arent the real world and in any place when ur up gaianst 150-700 people at a time your ods arent great.

Message edited by author 2007-04-07 20:11:05.

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

04/07/2007 08:08:26 PM · #9

Landscapes do very well on this site more than anything else, IMO. Like with any other subject, it's best to submit ones that are very colorful, sharp, have great clarity and are smooth (i.e. lots of noise reduction) if you want to improve your score.

Edited for clarity.

Edited to add: Or buy photomatix and run tone mapping over it. Even if it's done poorly chances are it'll still improve your score. :)

Message edited by author 2007-04-07 20:12:03.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

04/07/2007 08:11:31 PM · #10

It's all about eye candy.

TechnoShroom

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

04/07/2007 08:14:11 PM · #11

Originally posted by Beautiful-Joe:

The problem is, I want to be critiqued by experienced photographers.

Give photosig or photo.net a try.

04/07/2007 08:14:15 PM · #12

I didn't edit my picture at all, so there was none of that, but I didn't have any complaints about editing at all. Just that a certain part of it was a little dark. Some people implied that the darkness looked good, though. It seemed the main problem was that it was a boring picture.

04/07/2007 08:16:31 PM · #13

Originally posted by Beautiful-Joe:

A little editing can take Crap and turn it into VIVID Crap.

Versus

So a little editing could take a Great Photo and turn it into Eye Candy.

04/07/2007 08:22:27 PM · #14

I know. I didn't have a photo editing program though. A nice gentleman on the Q&A introduced me to Gimp, though, so I have that. I'm still getting used to it though. I'm afraid if I used it on a submission I'd massacre the photo. XD

04/07/2007 08:24:46 PM · #15

Originally posted by Beautiful-Joe:

Well if you want a little one on one some of us are around im not that great but u can see my Vivid Technique lol. I can reinstall GIMP.

A simpler program but not as a capable is Paint.NET its good for all basic editing (Auto Levels, Sharpen and Blur, Curves, Hue and Saturation yada yada) but you have to grab the plugins from the web if u want photoshop like filters.

Do you have aim yahoo or msn?

Message edited by author 2007-04-07 20:26:13.

04/07/2007 08:26:43 PM · #16

I have aim and msn.
Aim is joeyxsunshine and Msn is joeyxcreative@hotmail.com

I wonder how many adds I'll get from posting that.. *Shudders*..

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS II USM Lens

04/07/2007 08:30:02 PM · #17

Paint.NET

Message edited by author 2007-04-07 20:32:48.

Elaine

Canon EOS R5

04/07/2007 08:30:14 PM · #18

This was my January Free Study entry:

It's not a landscape, but I really like it. It scored a 5.5816 and ended up in 287th place. I entered it in my camera club competition and it won. It is now included in a club exhibition that was part of a downtown art walk, and someone enquired about buying it (don't know if he will or not, but at least he asked!)

My point is that this shot is not DPCish, but has done well in other places. I'm not sure I would have gotten that shot without everything I have learned in my time here at DPC. So while I would love a ribbon, I have learned to be content with average scores, a gain in knowledge, and success in other venues.

04/07/2007 08:38:09 PM · #19

My image is scoring 4.7612 so far.
I actually didn't think it'd do that good.
It dropped since this morning though.
It was like.. 4.8995 or something..

Buckeye_Fan

04/07/2007 09:01:53 PM · #20

Originally posted by Beautiful-Joe:

My image is scoring 4.7612 so far.
I actually didn't think it'd do that good.
It dropped since this morning though.
It was like.. 4.8995 or something..

Joe....give it time darlin. I've been photographing "stuff" for 25 years. Since I was a kid. Off and on through the years but I didn't start to take it seriously until about 5 years ago. I had been a film photographer then turned to digital. I don't consider myself a pro at all, mid experienced amature heading to pro but I have a ways to go. I just got my first dslr about 10 months and I still have alot to learn. Post some of your photos and lets see what you have. There's alot of people here on DPC that can help where you need help.

Peace,

g