bad photography - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/24/2011 03:26:48 AM · #1

In this spirit of sites like Awkward Family Photos and You Are Not A Photographer what if we had a challenge where the goal was to make a bad or cliche photo. Or a bad cliche photo. Brown would become the new blue!

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

05/24/2011 03:41:31 AM · #2

I like it! Thinking about how to take a great bad photo will likely make our top photogs heads explode.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

05/24/2011 04:05:17 AM · #3

yeah...i should have mentioned that it should definitely be advance editing so i can get my selective desat on

aliqui

Nikon D300s

05/24/2011 04:19:09 AM · #4

Originally posted by smardaz:

yeah...i should have mentioned that it should definitely be advance editing so i can get my selective desat on

But the "best" selective desaturation is doable in basic.

bjoern

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

05/24/2011 04:33:02 AM · #5

I think this should be done during carnival or something. A great photo is DNMC ...
News Headlines in that week: Several DPC voters went insane.
Somehow I tend to not second that suggestion :-)

mBastin

Nikon D80

Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Nikon

05/24/2011 04:38:43 AM · #6

I don't have any desire to strive to take a bad photo. I would much rather have a contest topic that would inspire me to improve myself. Purposely taking a bad photo is a lot like the people who try to get a brown ribbon... makes no sense to me at least. Challenges like 'camera phones' and 'whats in your fridge' and contests that appeal to small crowds and while I suppose it can be argued that they lead to unique ideas, they are generally not going to interest the majority of photographers imo.

Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II for Canon

05/24/2011 05:30:30 AM · #7

Originally posted by mBastin:

Yeah, you're probably right. I mean, God forbid we should do something just for the fun of it....

jamesgoss

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

05/24/2011 05:34:05 AM · #8

some of my favorite photos tend to be "bad" photos.

motion blur, out of focus, exposure not-quite-right.... yet, all of the emotion and the passion are captured. I think this challenge would be good in the sense that it puts more emphasis on how a photo feels as opposed to the technical craft of photography.

bohemka

Nikon D700

Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX Aspherical DG HSM for Nikon

05/24/2011 05:59:22 AM · #9

Originally posted by mBastin:

Of course there's what smardaz said, which is always a good thing to remember. But if you need more convincing...

By thinking about the elements that cause a photo to fail, you are also thinking about what you normally do to avoid those elements: the camera settings, the composition, the techniques employed, the processing, etc. It's quite possible that looking at this from another perspective will help you gain insight into what makes your photography work or not.

pixelpig

Sony Alpha a55

Sony DT 1.8/50mm SAM

05/24/2011 07:29:02 AM · #10

Only a skilled, experienced photographer can take a bad picture on purpose. Everybody else is taking a bad picture by accident.

Mike

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD Canon Mount

05/24/2011 07:38:06 AM · #11

i like the idea, but i think the concept might get missed on the voters.

bvy

Sigma DP1x

05/24/2011 07:38:29 AM · #12

Originally posted by pixelpig:

Only a skilled, experienced photographer can take a bad picture on purpose. Everybody else is taking a bad picture by accident.

Well said. And very true.

Apple iPhone 5

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

05/24/2011 07:42:35 AM · #13

Originally posted by pixelpig:

Only a skilled, experienced photographer can take a bad picture on purpose. Everybody else is taking a bad picture by accident.

Actually, everybody else takes good pictures by accident.

blindjustice

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

05/24/2011 08:48:00 AM · #14

a whole bunch of technically "good" photos are lousy art and place really high on this site all the time. Sometimes the technical and artistic combine; other times these rules apply to making a shot have "wow" factor rather than artistic merit; 1. It it moves, stop action it; if theres a fore and background, blur it; if its soft, oversharpen it, and saturate the hell out of it; and if all else fails, drop of water freeze frame or heartfelt portrait of exotic peasant will do the trick.
Damn- I need to learn these tricks!

Message edited by author 2011-05-24 08:48:20.

hahn23

Canon EOS-5D Mark IV

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

05/24/2011 08:58:23 AM · #15

Originally posted by pixelpig:

Only a skilled, experienced photographer can take a bad picture on purpose. Everybody else is taking a bad picture by accident.

I could not have said this better.

05/24/2011 08:21:24 PM · #16

Originally posted by bohemka:

By thinking about the elements that cause a photo to fail, you are also thinking about what you normally do to avoid those elements: the camera settings, the composition, the techniques employed, the processing, etc. It's quite possible that looking at this from another perspective will help you gain insight into what makes your photography work or not.

bingo

05/24/2011 08:43:09 PM · #17

Okay, so what are we, as voters, looking for? Bad, bad photos that have absolutely no redeeming qualities, or 'bad' photos that in spite of their terrible technical applications still have some appeal?

05/24/2011 08:57:40 PM · #18

Originally posted by jomari:

I'm thinking more like hallmarks of "fauxtographers" or "mommytographers" lots of selective desat, weird composition, harsh flash....stuff like that

05/24/2011 09:17:46 PM · #19

And maybe finished off with some lovely 6 tier borders?

05/24/2011 09:20:44 PM · #20

Originally posted by jomari:

And maybe finished off with some lovely 6 tier borders?

yeahhh big, FAT, preferably multicolored borders

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

05/24/2011 09:59:53 PM · #21

Hope we can do expert editing.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

05/24/2011 10:13:41 PM · #22

It would have been great to run this as exclusive challenges, same topic but with minimal and expert editing. Real bad phauxtographers can get a horrible shot without your fancy editing tools!