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12/23/2011 05:10:58 PM · #26 |
I agree with this! DPC has shown me different types of photography and one way or another i have explored many of those avenues. I'm still exploring!! Still, I'm amazed with how much i've grown on here. I'm pleased!
First sp!
Two of my favorites that has recieved first and second.
 
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12/23/2011 08:42:28 PM · #27 |
@ alohadave
That I can a) identify a DPC "style", and b) shoot it with any degree of success, illustrates how much I've learned here. But as my teammates will verify, I shoot more to please myself than to please voters. The fact that both those things seem to be happening simultaneously to some of my images recently is just gravy.
Besides, I am still exploring all sorts of photography styles and experimenting with many different techniques, most of which I discovered by looking at the work of so many varied artists here. The fact that I could contact any one such individual and ask for guidance to try that technique is one of the many reasons I feel I've progressed as quickly as I have. And the incredibly varied (and sometimes incredibly odd...) challenges keep me shooting for stuff I would never otherwise have contemplated. Through this process I've discovered that portraiture is my true passion.
I visit and participate on other sites, but the community is here. Plus, a similar education at a formal school would have cost me $$$$ :-) |
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12/23/2011 08:59:37 PM · #28 |
Made any difference??? OMG This place is priceless on lessons learned (can't believe I'm actually gonna put it up) but.. here is my first entry (and I was oh so proud of it) 
I have soaked up by Osmosis and lots and lots of comments and me pestering folk!!
and my slightly over a year later BLUE....
Now to continue to learn... Thanks Everyone for all the encouragement and help!! |
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12/23/2011 09:03:38 PM · #29 |
Very first entry
Last one...
I see no difference... start to finish, the same :o\ |
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12/24/2011 12:04:43 AM · #30 |
Originally posted by yakatme:
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
So this was what Yakatme was getting at, in his typically blunt and mildly abrasive manner :-)
R. |
"Typically", huh? I didn't realize that I am typically.........well, as I type this I'm rethinking my reply. I suppose I am often blunt and I can live with abrasive as long as it's considered mild.
Anyway, I did immediately start laughing when I read this. Point taken and I'll try to be a little more tactful and patient. |
If it means anything, I didn't take it as blunt or abrasive. I didn't get any particular tone from your post.
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12/24/2011 12:32:23 AM · #31 |
My first submission here:
 6.2792
My last submission here:
 5.7288
I am making improvements in reverse. LOL
To answer the question....DPC has made a huge difference in my photography. |
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12/24/2011 01:10:16 AM · #32 |
| Haha! But you were one of those rare breeds that got it pretty right from the start. Even the mighty have an off day :-) |
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12/24/2011 03:59:31 AM · #33 |
looking back it seems challenges scored higher earlier on, like 2002-2008 the challenge winners were often 8.5 etc where as now 6.8 can win you a challenge?
voters changed or standard gone up? |
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12/24/2011 04:26:34 AM · #34 |
Originally posted by Giles_uk:
looking back it seems challenges scored higher earlier on, like 2002-2008 the challenge winners were often 8.5 etc where as now 6.8 can win you a challenge?
voters changed or standard gone up? |
...not that I've been around that long, but from talking to others, the answer is 'both'. |
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12/24/2011 09:54:21 AM · #35 |
Originally posted by alohadave:
Originally posted by yakatme:
Originally posted by alohadave:
Originally posted by tanguera:
For me, the answer is a resounding ABSOLUTELY. |
Sure it has. It's taught you how to shoot to compete at DPC. Whether that's worth anything when you aren't shooting for DPC is another question. |
Such a cynical and narrow minded answer. While I seem to have learned how to (sometimes) shoot for votes on DPC, I know that all aspects of my photography have improved due to my time spent here. I would think that this would hold true for Johanna too. Surely her improvements in photography is not simply limited to scoring high in challenges. |
It's not cynical at all. It's a fact that if you learn what the voters like, and you aim for those goals. I'm not saying that DPC and general improvement are incompatible, but there is more to the world of photography than DPC and what DPC likes is not necessarily what the world in general likes. |
Actually, I'd bet that DPC is a relatively good sample. Using statistics, I'd bet that you'd find that what DPC likes is indeed what the world "in general" likes.
Pleasing everybody? No.
Anyway, I think the argument that people who shoot to please the DPC crowd and that may not be worth anything is really quite silly.
You get out of it what you put into it. If you pick and choose the challenges that interest you, you are working to improve your interests. If you try many different types of challenges, you're working towards expanding your horizons. I hadn't ever bothered shooting abstracts, still lifes, intentional blur, motion blur, etc. (I could expand upon that list for quite awhile.) I shot only things that interested me. Since joining DPC I have had many experiences and adventures that I wouldn't have had without it. My tastes have expanded significantly. My knowledge has increased even more significantly. I see possibilities in things that would have never interested me a couple of years ago. So yes, DPC has made a huge difference.
But -- you get out of it what you put into it. DPC is an opportunity -- whether it benefits you is all up to you.
btw, first image:
5.5
most recently completed image:
6.6
Message edited by author 2011-12-24 09:59:25. |
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12/24/2011 10:29:46 AM · #36 |
My first image on dpc. (check out that 3 digit image number!)
Almost 10 years later, and I had more paying customers this past year than ever before. :) |
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12/24/2011 11:48:04 AM · #37 |
Originally posted by karmat:
My first image on dpc. (check out that 3 digit image number!)
Almost 10 years later, and I had more paying customers this past year than ever before. :) |
NICE Karmat. That is a good example. LOL.
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12/24/2011 11:58:01 AM · #38 |
Absolutelly, yes! But I won't bother you with my statistics... ;-)
Thank you, all! |
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12/28/2011 08:13:16 AM · #39 |
| i like to call it the DPC effect, before this site i would go out and shoot a little then id get home go through and pic them in aperture maybe use apertures b/w converters and then upload to facebook, roughly an hours work for a big shoot say 300-500 shots. now its takes me 6 hours lol as im going through picking 50-70 out of 300 now, shooting less but better quality, then i'll get that down to <50 then edit those and then again down to about 30. where as before i was putting 100 average photos up now im sticking 30 good edited ones up :) the DPC effect, |
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12/28/2011 09:12:15 AM · #40 |
| And sometimes it has the curious effect of making one want to sell one's camera equipment on Craigslist.... |
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12/28/2011 09:41:27 AM · #41 |
First entry (5.0083):
Latest entry (7.005):
I look at DPC as my online photography college. The challenges are my weekly assignments and the scores are my grades. It's true you can be successful in the real world of photography without having success here on DPC, but that is true no matter where you go to school.
I have learned so much about lighting and editing photos. I use those applications in my paid work and if I look at some of my early paid work compared to what I am doing now there is a world of difference.
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12/28/2011 10:44:12 AM · #42 |
I definitely see a lot of improvement in my skill! now I am hearing people saying good job!!!!
at the beginning in 2006
in 2011
Though still need to go a long way!!
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12/28/2011 11:07:34 AM · #43 |
Interesting
My first ever submission all those years ago.
My highest scorer
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12/28/2011 11:14:37 AM · #44 |
Originally posted by alohadave:
Originally posted by tanguera:
For me, the answer is a resounding ABSOLUTELY. |
Sure it has. It's taught you how to shoot to compete at DPC. Whether that's worth anything when you aren't shooting for DPC is another question. |
This depends on how you use what you have learned here. I learned about: conta jour, high and low key, blur, DOF, slow shutter speed, night photography, bokeh, noise reduction, macro, contrast, zoom burst, partial desat, varied points of view, dramatic lighting, post processing, etc., etc.
There's no doubt that I have had an invaluable education, even though my scores rarely reflect that. |
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12/28/2011 02:59:11 PM · #45 |
My first entry, 277th out of 279
26 "1" votes
bottom 1%
my last entry
67 out of 70
12 "1" votes
bottom 4%
almost eight years later, and things are looking slightly up!
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12/28/2011 03:05:33 PM · #46 |
My first entry, April 2002 (note the image number!!!!!
Place: 90 out of 95
Avg (all users): 3.3433
Avg (commenters): 3.8205
Avg (participants): 3.3247
Avg (non-participants): 3.3548
My latest entry
Place: 166 out of 268
Avg (all users): 5.6515
Avg (commenters): 7.0000
Avg (participants): 5.5825
Avg (non-participants): 5.8966 |
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12/30/2011 03:51:43 PM · #47 |
My first - a LONG time ago, which included the word "pedantic" in not one, but two comments:
 - 5.3652, 64% finish
My most recent entry:
 - 5.3333, 31% finish
From this we can see that the average vote has risen over time, and that I have devolved over that same period of time. Entirely my fault, not DPC's. |
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12/30/2011 03:54:12 PM · #48 |
The OP ( tanguera) REALLY has put what she has learned to work lately.
Her last ten challenges? An average score of 6.3868 and not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR (4) ribbons!! And both sets back to back. How cool is that??
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12/30/2011 09:57:15 PM · #49 |
And here I thought *I* was doing well over the last 10 challenges... Geeze, she's hot right now.
R.
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12/31/2011 04:15:55 PM · #50 |
I think a competitive environment helps drive you harder. As well as that, having the voting system is really useful for finding out what it is the majority here like and dislike and it's likely representative of the mainstream. The very low scoring entries pack interesting surprises, some that I thought would do well had got low votes.
Although I'm a noob to DPC, here's my first and latest:
 Average: 5.5897
 Average: 6.0000
I'm trying to get a much higher score right now (in 'tiltshift'), and it'd be really great if I get a ribbon in the first week of 2012! |
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