| Author | Thread |
|
|
04/29/2007 11:14:06 AM · #1176 |
Originally posted by colorcarnival:
Are you looking at the talent on this site or the votes you receive in a challenge to make this statement about your ability to be a photographer. I look at your work and I see nothing wrong with what you have there. I see someone who is searching for personal expression and who is using her work to convey emotion and nostalgia. What exactly do you want your photos to "mean"? I look at my photos and some I have tried to convey emotion, others i was experimenting, and a few I was simply recording a moment. Ultimately, it's all about fun for me.
The only way you are not really meant to be a photographer is if you are not enjoying holding the camera, looking thru the viewfinder, pressing the shutter, and looking at what shows up on the screen. I suspect otherwise in your case. ;) |
The votes don't really bother me, it's always nice to get over a 6 of course but mostly I lose interst in the score after a couple of days when it evens out. The photo of mine that I love the most is my lowest scoring one, I knew t would be and just relaxed and enjoyed the week without caring at all where it ended up.
The talent on this site amazes me though and I find myself feeling very mediocre in comparison.I've also been trolling the Flickr "interestingness" shots and that's just depressing, they all so awesome.
The frustration with "meaning" is coming from Uni. I'm finding with limitations with what I can and can't shoot and trying to get the wretched histogram all neatly in the middle with no clipping AND trying to get enough meaning in my shots to be able to ramble on about them ad nauseum that I'm exhausted by it. I question the meaning of everything I shoot and none of it has any meaning at all. Really the only time I'm enjoying it at the moment is when I stomp out the door with my camera in a totally rebellious mood and shoot what I damn well like and make sure I break every rule in the book while I'm there. Those shots I love. The voters hate them, my lecturers hate them, but I love them. I get that I need to learn the technicals and I'm good with that but the ability to get "meaning" in my work totally escapes me.
I'm sorry I've gone off on a misery rant again. Michelle thank you for finding some good in what I'm doing I do appreciate the encouragement. It just seems so damned hard at the moment.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:18:37 AM · #1177 |
 Wildcard, I'm coming late to this particular party, but I have to agree with the others that your portfolio is definitely NOT dull, uninspired and lacking in talent. I was especially impressed by your night shot entry. Keep up the good work and don't let the occasional bastard get you down (but do let them get you angry, since that usually leads to some creative "f*** you" work :) )
On another note, I'm personally happy with my last minute triptych brainstorm yesterday - I learned so much from the exercise. My Kitchenware has risen back to 6, and my Bubbles, while sucky, keeps creeping upward, and may even touch 5.0 before voting is over, if only briefly. I also commented on 23 Kitchenware images, which is a lot for me for a single challenge - part of my effort to try to give back a little to this wonderfully insightful community. I still owe comments to all the TS members who entered Hair and Landscape - that's on my to do list for today.
Not a bad day, really. How's everyone else doing? |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:22:55 AM · #1178 |
Originally posted by Wildcard:
the ability to get "meaning" in my work totally escapes me. |
I don't think art is about meaning. I think it's about connection. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:26:09 AM · #1179 |
Bobbie - yes that must be hard when you are getting critiques from your instructors about photos you love. I've never been thru photography school so i have no idea what to expect there. My best advice is to just grin and bear it and pick up all the technical info that you can. Otherwise, don't give up those rebellion shots. Are any of those in your portfolio now?
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:28:50 AM · #1180 |
Originally posted by krnodil:
On another note, I'm personally happy with my last minute triptych brainstorm yesterday - I learned so much from the exercise. My Kitchenware has risen back to 6, and my Bubbles, while sucky, keeps creeping upward, and may even touch 5.0 before voting is over, if only briefly. I also commented on 23 Kitchenware images, which is a lot for me for a single challenge - part of my effort to try to give back a little to this wonderfully insightful community. I still owe comments to all the TS members who entered Hair and Landscape - that's on my to do list for today.
Not a bad day, really. How's everyone else doing? |
My kitchenware is not doing too bad and I have a comment from  posthumous, thank you! The reaction to my bubbles shot is leaving me speechless and I will have a new personal best when it is over.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:31:31 AM · #1181 |
Originally posted by posthumous:
Originally posted by Wildcard:
the ability to get "meaning" in my work totally escapes me. |
I don't think art is about meaning. I think it's about connection. |
!!!
dear Bobbie, I understand that about meaning and uni.
I was studying literature and they tought us to tear poor books in pieces and analyse, analyse them.
I absolutely agree with don, it is not about meaning, it is about that special connection - with yourself as well!!
please please continue shooting what you love. it may sound like a common advice but it is so important!
do not listen to your lectures and voters! please don't. voting on art is something the most ridiculous i have seen.
everything will be fine, you have a talent, and periods like this one come and go all the time for an artist - it is normal:)
just please listen to yourself. your heart will never mislead you!
:) |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:33:28 AM · #1182 |
Originally posted by colorcarnival:
...The reaction to my bubbles shot is leaving me speechless and I will have a new personal best when it is over. |
How great! I'm happy for you. :) |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:41:59 AM · #1183 |
*Originally posted by krnodil:
Originally posted by colorcarnival:
...The reaction to my bubbles shot is leaving me speechless and I will have a new personal best when it is over. |
How great! I'm happy for you. :) |
Thanks I appreciate that! It's freaking me out tho lol.
And you should do pretty well in kitchenware then - above 6 seems to be the going rate at the moment. Good luck!
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:43:03 AM · #1184 |
i am slowly emerging from a week of flu, and am so behind.
bobbie, what your proefessors are saying can be important to you - not by you copying what they want you to do, but in making you think more deeply about what it is you are doing.
they seem to be somewhat impatient. the growthof meaning in artmaking is slow, as all growth should be. i'm remeinded of a memeber of my class in university.
paul came to university late. he had been a lumberjack in bc for a while, and moved his wife and two kids to the maritimes to be an art student. i guess paul was in his mid-twenties, but compared to we 18 year olds, he had started a little late. he was probably the smart one with that.
i remember his work in the first year. there was obvious skill and talent there, but his didn't really say much. it was just, well, there. not bad, just.. nice. mind you, we were all like that. i suppose we felt we had an excuse, 'cause we were kids.
by the time we were finishing our fourth year, paul's artwork was heartstoppingly, rendingly beautiful. not in the pretty sense, but in the sense that makes you gasp, think, and want to cry with the knowledge you have just gained. paul went from being a pretty good drawer to being one of the best artsists i have known.
so, dont worry about it. you've just started. you have a lifetime.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 11:43:50 AM · #1185 |
my kitchen ware is still going strong, and i can't believe i have over 5 in my thirds. the voters must be generous. it's really not that good a picture.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 12:17:27 PM · #1186 |
Okay, now that I've read what everyone else has said to Bobbie, I'll toss in my thoughts.
The most important thing is what YOU want to get out of photography. Mostly, I want to be able to show my stuff to a few folks and have them go "WOW" or "thought-provoking" or "how'd you do THAT?" But mostly, it's realistic takes on life.
If your art school professors are challenging you to think about your wishes and how to make them a reality, great. But if they're telling you what "great art" is, and insisting that you take only what they think is good, then you should decide what parts to agree with. Hmm. Sounds like my advice on DPC comments. :)
silverfoxx is right - voting on art is a silly exercise, and Don's right that it's about connections. That's why I tend to focus on the top half of the voting charts on my pictures - I'm never going to please everyone, but did I get favorable comments from some? Did I get any favorites?
There are as many opinions about what makes a good photo as there are viewers. I don't particularly like a lot of "art" shots. Heck, silverfoxx just found that out (wink to silverfoxx). I tend to prefer things I can understand very simply. Others, like posthumous and skewsme, and sometimes xianart, and sometimes silverfoxx, go for more obscure, harder-to grasp imagery that leaves me scratching my head.
Who's wrong? Why, no one, of course.
Which brings me back to my original point: what do YOU want?
P.S. Silverfoxx, I chuckled when you mentioned a writing class that overanalyzed everything, because that's what I was thinking of, too. In high school, I was often in this room where various after-school stuff was going on, and I'd hear the writer's workshop discussions. The teacher managed to find references to Jesus in EVERYTHING. I swear, he would've found some connection between the Cat in the Hat and the last supper.
Message edited by author 2007-04-29 13:19:23.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 12:39:32 PM · #1187 |
There was no cat in the hat at the last supper?
Originally posted by xianart:
my kitchen ware is still going strong, and i can't believe i have over 5 in my thirds. the voters must be generous. it's really not that good a picture. |
Me too!!
I'm even running the risk, if the voters remain so generous, of having 5 5+ entries on the bounce. This, of course, means that I had to abandon my over-ambitious and quite probably illegal tryptich project for something more likely to extend the run. Oh dear. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 01:08:04 PM · #1188 |
Jeffrey, I only quibble with one thing you said
Originally posted by levyj423:
There are as many opinions about what makes a good photo as there are viewers. ......
Who's right? Why, no one, of course. |
I think perhaps everyone is right. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 01:16:24 PM · #1189 |
well for the second week in a row i have a 6+ picture
Votes: 154
Views: 218
Avg Vote: 6.4221
Comments: 5
im entering in tryptic too, its been a long time since ive entered this much...yes, thats sad i know.
and i think your right juli, everyone is right in their own thinking ")
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 01:18:20 PM · #1190 |
Originally posted by JuliBoc:
Jeffrey, I only quibble with one thing you said
Originally posted by levyj423:
There are as many opinions about what makes a good photo as there are viewers. ......
Who's right? Why, no one, of course. |
I think perhaps everyone is right. |
Yep! I'll edit to "Who's wrong" :)
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 01:18:37 PM · #1191 |
but some animals are more right than others... I mean people...
I have entered a photo into the triptych challenge. I really love it, and it could be a new milestone for me, a risk I've never taken before. I'll explain after the challenge. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 01:28:53 PM · #1192 |
| I just uploaded tryptych. It sucks but i enjoyed takeing it so much i just had to enter it anyway. ( you will see why after the challenge) and it looks like i am going to get a pb in my kitchenwares. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 01:35:46 PM · #1193 |
Originally posted by posthumous:
but some animals are more right than others... I mean people...
I have entered a photo into the triptych challenge. I really love it, and it could be a new milestone for me, a risk I've never taken before. I'll explain after the challenge. |
Now THAT'S what is so great. :) Taking risks just to see what happens.
And it's Team Suck that gives me the (courage?) (inspiration?) (challenge?) to look for new ideas and processing techniques. For example, I'm dying to know what you all think of this one shot I processed in a different way from my norm. I can't share it yet because I might be entering it as part of triptych or in the free study.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 02:14:45 PM · #1194 |
Yikes - spend 7 hours on a train and the place goes haywire with discussions and scores and stuff!
I feel a bit left out on the art part - I are not an artist, don't see or think or edit like one, never studied art. So I've not much to offer to those discussions.
I don't have any 6's going at the moment, and sadly my Thirds will not even be a Personal Brown (though it is safely under 5 and will remain there). My triptych is not artistic, nor does it have a message of any kind, nor will it be well received by the masses. But on the plus side, it is submitted, and I do look forward to seeing what the rest of you more inspired and more inspiring people have been up to!
And thanks for letting an engineer with a simple desire to "take pitchers" hang with youse guys... :-) |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 02:31:58 PM · #1195 |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 02:34:55 PM · #1196 |
i agree with karen. you, my dear deb, create art. whether you view yourself as an artist is up to you, but i do.
so there.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 02:38:35 PM · #1197 |
and i agree with Karen and Christian:)
dear Deb, you are a great artist.
|
|
|
|
04/29/2007 02:48:31 PM · #1198 |
colorcarnival Thank you for your comments on my lake at the cabin pic in my portfolio. I think I'm still trying to find my style ;)
Message edited by author 2007-04-29 14:51:33. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 02:50:24 PM · #1199 |
| You guys are a hoot! I really don't see myself as an artist but I'll let you see me that way if you wish. I only wish I had more knowledge to contribute to some of the discussions. I'll see stuff I really like (Louis and xianart come to mind, but most certainly not limited to those two) and I'm simply not able to express "why" I like it - I just know I like it. I figure a bit of formal training would help, but then again, it might hurt, too. As it is, going through life blissfully ignorant to why I should or shouldn't like something because of factors x, y, and/or z has worked quite well thus far. |
|
|
|
04/29/2007 03:05:31 PM · #1200 |
| Did you say you're an engineer? If it works, don't fix it. |
|
