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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> How do I break out of the low 6's?
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 10/11/2008 11:33:27 AM · #1
I cannot break out of the low 6's. My best stuff just cannot get out of the 6.2 - 5.9 range. What do I need to do in order to get my score up?
6.3
6.2
6.2
5.9

10/11/2008 11:44:41 AM · #2
Well I have to say that these scores are pretty GOOD in a free study challenge...! All of those four images are IMHO great! Nicely lit and setup interesting and nice - it is just that those F.S challenges do have some great GREAT images - so try to post as good pictures as these are and get them to fit challenges and you will probably see a higher score and ribbons :o) (having said that, I am not sure about the challenges in the olympicIII - maybe you should stay out of those, there is some strange voting pattern going on there these days :o)
 10/11/2008 11:52:34 AM · #3
Personally i really like all the images you posted. The scores are not bad scores.

But as Ragga2000 says they need to really stand out in Free studies. So maybe if you are doing portrait stuff, try and find more crazy locations, or more thought proking situations. even more dramatic lighting.
 10/11/2008 11:55:19 AM · #4
That's a question that everybody asks. Your work is good, high quality stuff, but each of the things you're showing here is a free study entry. It's incredibly hard to score well in a free study, because you're going up against everybody's best stuff. In a free study, if it isn't both interesting and absolutely stunning, it's not going to get a 6.5.

My suggestion for you would be to keep plugging away. Winning ribbons is kind of like hitting the lottery. Keep throwing enough good entries in, and sooner or later, one of them will hit. Oh, and enter more than just the free studies. For me, the best way to score well is to enter the regular challenges, and nail the challenge topic. Nearly all of my best scores have come from that.
 10/11/2008 11:59:17 AM · #5
If you are in it for the scores, looks like you have 'proof' that images with that particular look are going to pull that range of scores. I think that style has become a bit out of date (at least here), so maybe mix things up a bit and see what happens. Again, if the scores are your concern.
 10/11/2008 12:19:55 PM · #6
It just sort of sucks because I think this is the best that I have in me. I can keep turning out images like these, but artistically this is all that I am about, so I am sort of stuck.
 10/11/2008 12:29:07 PM · #7
What AlexSaberi said. In a nutshell, shoot something interesting. Your photos are very good, but the impulse for most people will be to think, "very good- 6 or 7" and move on. You're close, but your models generally look disinterested IMO. There must be something compelling enough to connect with the viewer, make them stop and really explore the image, and emotion is a biggie with people shots.
 10/11/2008 12:32:01 PM · #8
I was actually happy to hear your comment because dis-interested/bored emotion is what I usually ask them to do at my shoots! So that was good that people are getting it.

So what you are saying is I need to roll with some sort of basic emotion like happy, sad ect... as a way to connect with the voters more?
 10/11/2008 12:34:27 PM · #9
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
It just sort of sucks because I think this is the best that I have in me. I can keep turning out images like these, but artistically this is all that I am about, so I am sort of stuck.


If that's your style and that's what you want to do, do it. I think if you start dicking with it in the hope that you'll pull an extra half point, you will likely find it less fulfilling.
 10/11/2008 12:35:01 PM · #10
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
So what you are saying is I need to roll with some sort of basic emotion like happy, sad ect... as a way to connect with the voters more?

Bingo. If your models are bored, the viewers will be too. If the models look like they're really having fun, then that genuine emotion will carry over to your score.
 10/11/2008 12:35:34 PM · #11
Originally posted by violinist123:

If that's your style and that's what you want to do, do it. I think if you start dicking with it in the hope that you'll pull an extra half point, you will likely find it less fulfilling.


But ribbon glory would bring peace and happiness to my village! I need to bring prosperity to the peeps of 80138!

Message edited by author 2008-10-11 12:40:40.
 10/11/2008 12:44:30 PM · #12
Win a ribbon


10/11/2008 12:47:34 PM · #13
So I just need to take a picture of a Tiger smiling! Piece of cake.
 10/11/2008 12:54:47 PM · #14
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
So I just need to take a picture of a Tiger smiling! Piece of cake.

No, a tiger smiling... underwater!
10/11/2008 12:56:53 PM · #15
I do know of a place where I could make this happen. Tigers freak me out however. Maybe I will stick to bunny rabbits.
 10/11/2008 12:57:39 PM · #16
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
So what you are saying is I need to roll with some sort of basic emotion like happy, sad ect... as a way to connect with the voters more?

Bingo. If your models are bored, the viewers will be too. If the models look like they're really having fun, then that genuine emotion will carry over to your score.


umm piggies don't work either LOLOL

Message edited by author 2008-10-11 12:58:06.
 10/11/2008 01:12:48 PM · #17
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
So what you are saying is I need to roll with some sort of basic emotion like happy, sad ect... as a way to connect with the voters more?

Bingo. If your models are bored, the viewers will be too. If the models look like they're really having fun, then that genuine emotion will carry over to your score.


Well this is good advice. I am going to try this with the next free study.
 10/11/2008 02:09:22 PM · #18
I have entered a few FS challenges, and ultimately get squashed like a grape... you really are competing against the best-of-the-best there. I feel many FS top 20 are Pros who are too busy for the weekly challenges but enter their best shots into the free study. Based on this, getting 6's in a FS are really very strong photos considering the fierce competition.
 10/11/2008 02:27:19 PM · #19
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
I was actually happy to hear your comment because dis-interested/bored emotion is what I usually ask them to do at my shoots! So that was good that people are getting it.

So what you are saying is I need to roll with some sort of basic emotion like happy, sad ect... as a way to connect with the voters more?


I think that is exactly it. Dis-interested/bored, is about the same as apathy. While there is a time and place for apathy, it also communicates through to the viewer. When I'm apathetic, I'm not likely to vote high. If the model didn't care, maybe the photographer didn't care, if the photographer didn't care, why do I care? Strong visceral feelings, on either end of the spectrum tend to get higher votes.

10/11/2008 02:30:27 PM · #20
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
It just sort of sucks because I think this is the best that I have in me. I can keep turning out images like these, but artistically this is all that I am about, so I am sort of stuck.

Yeah, well your "sorta stuck" is somewhere many would like to be.

You have 2 choices in any challenge, particularly in a free study:
Go for the score or go for yourself.
A score here is NOT representative of the real world. You could take images that don't score well here on DPC and yet when hanging in a gallery or similar, would get rave reviews, partly due to the audience viewing them and presentation hanging on a wall. Many images that were raved about in the real world, the best of in magazines, publications, etc. wouldn't score well on DPC. Some of the world's best wouldn't score well in a challenge here, yet would commands obnoxiously high prices in a sale and would forever be archived in the list of some of the best pictures around.

Find what moves YOU and submit those is my opinion. I used to be concerned about nothing but the score, but when I shifted to what moved me, it all changed. When the two become one in the same, getting a great score AND one that really moves you, it's just icing. The guy in your mirror is the one you need to please. If you feel a shot of yours is worthy of a 7.8, then that is what it is, especially when you hold it in front of you after your pc is switched off, and can say "I really love this shot".
 10/11/2008 02:39:16 PM · #21
I think the people who have gotten really good, really fast, either had a natural talent that came out easily one it was activated, or they spent a lot of time examining and reproducing the things that do well here. Others, like myself, have been struggling and learning one little trick at a time. I think my photography has gotten much better, but my average score doesn't reflect it. (Maybe if I quit with the shoehorns I could exceed a 5.3 average?)

So, I guess the point is to not take any advice from me regarding your original question!
 10/11/2008 03:02:54 PM · #22
JulietNN, about your piggy. Have you forgotten about the lipstick?
 10/11/2008 03:14:12 PM · #23
Originally posted by ambaker:
Originally posted by Jason_Cross:
I was actually happy to hear your comment because dis-interested/bored emotion is what I usually ask them to do at my shoots! So that was good that people are getting it.

So what you are saying is I need to roll with some sort of basic emotion like happy, sad ect... as a way to connect with the voters more?


I think that is exactly it. Dis-interested/bored, is about the same as apathy. While there is a time and place for apathy, it also communicates through to the viewer. When I'm apathetic, I'm not likely to vote high. If the model didn't care, maybe the photographer didn't care, if the photographer didn't care, why do I care? Strong visceral feelings, on either end of the spectrum tend to get higher votes.


But I guess your statement would mean that in order to score well I need to display other emotions that are less abstract. Funny, Happy, Sad, Pain ect... I am going to try this because I think it will equal a higher score.

The fact that I tell my models and bands to act as if they don't care is my attempt at making the photo not look as if it was this staged production and to give it a real life feeling. People don't just run around town all happy ect, but most of the time people look bored out of their minds. Except for Art. He probably is giggling every where he goes.

What I am hearing is that I need to give people something that they don't see all of the time. Happy people running on a purple beach being chased by a smiling tiger with a beautiful flower on its back that is being molested by a bee. Which is cool, I am not being sarcastic. I want a higher score, so I am going to shoot my shots with a bit more pieces of flare and try and bring out these more common emotions. Don't get me wrong, I like some of the shots that I do, and I am not going to change that but to get into the 7's I am going to have to break out of my comfort zone and shoot different.
10/11/2008 03:30:18 PM · #24
Originally posted by tnun:
JulietNN, about your piggy. Have you forgotten about the lipstick?


That would be scalvert's little piglet heheheheheheh
 10/11/2008 03:41:54 PM · #25
Jason, ignore all their advice. All you have to do is learn to shoot water drops. ;)
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