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05/15/2014 09:32:19 AM · #1 |
So what is the general consensus on when you submit a photo to a challenge?
Being a relative beginner, sometimes I will attempt a challenge but will only end up with a poor result. Admittedly sometimes I end up with something that I like that turns out not to be a real winner either, but there are times when I can recognize that there are major flaws with the photo so I'm just curious how other DPC'ers handle that situation. (One of my latest attempts is frankly almost embarrassingly bad, although it was more a scene problem that photography skill problem. I am not sure if I'll get another chance to retake a photo for the challenge or not.)
Would you submit? Or is there a point that the badness really would lead you to choose not to submit?
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05/15/2014 09:35:27 AM · #2 |
are you serious??? you cant enter crap. who do you think you are coming here and diminishing the quality of the work on DPC, people dedicate their life to shooting and submitting to dpc, picking rulesets apart, DNMCing etc hitting the update button and you want to enter not your best work to what, spit in their faces???
i say go for it.
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05/15/2014 09:42:31 AM · #3 |
That is how i felt about my cloud challenge..
There were NO clouds in sight for that week until I went out of town.. my only option.. taking it off from my IPHONE driving down the interstate in my car.. ppppfft!
I knew I wasn't going to get another chance and I was really expecting that picture to bomb.. 1-2 but It did end up with a 4 which I was happy about. I just hated that feeling though because you KNOW you could do better, but the chances, just isn't there.
Message edited by author 2014-05-15 09:42:47. |
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05/15/2014 09:43:31 AM · #4 |
It depends on what you want from the site (and your level of pride). If you see the site as about scores and only showing off your best efforts, don't enter something you feel is flawed. If you are willing to take a risk in order to learn, go for it. You may have to ask for feedback (request critique club feedback, or post after the challenge voting ends), since folks tend to ignore meh pictures - if you get lots of comments, either it is a very good shot, or a very bad one.
A good example is my current entry in Cinco de Mayo. I had some editing issues with it, and felt there were some major issues (primarily distracting elements). But it is scoring quite well for me, which gives me good feedback on when the distractions and editing problems will kill you, and when the rest of the shot carries it, in spite of the flaws. |
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05/15/2014 10:37:08 AM · #5 |
Submitting an image you know is flawed is no big deal, BUT submitting an image you think is good and everyone else thinks is flawed, well that's when you scratch your head.
Just put it in. You want to see flawed go take a look at my portfolio. :P
Unless your obsessed about keeping a high average score it shouldn't matter. |
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05/15/2014 10:38:15 AM · #6 |
| If I shoot for a challenge I generally enter something even if I am not happy with it. My primary goal is not necessarily to score high every challenge but rather to try to learn a little something from each. Often I learn something during voting. Sometimes I am even pleasantly surprised how well a reluctant entry does. |
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05/15/2014 10:40:05 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by markwiley:
If I shoot for a challenge I generally enter something even if I am not happy with it. My primary goal is not necessarily to score high every challenge but rather to try to learn a little something from each. Often I learn something during voting. Sometimes I am even pleasantly surprised how well a reluctant entry does. |
+1 |
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05/15/2014 10:40:51 AM · #8 |
Do it.
I have only been here for just over 3 years, but I have nearly 600 challenge entries. I'm here to learn, and one of the best ways for me to learn to to try different things. Forcing myself to enter challenges forces me to try different things.
Also comment on images. You will be surprised how much you learn by commenting on images. It makes you really take a deep look at why you like or don't like an image. |
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05/15/2014 10:49:57 AM · #9 |
Thanks all.
I realized right quick that I wouldn't survive here if I cared about my score. Probably the guilt I feel when submitting something I know wasn't a success stems from knowing I did not take as much time as I could have to create something I could be proud of.
I am truly in awe of how much time some folks devote to submit photos here. Many have mad skills for sure - but many here also take a lot of time to give the voters (and me) something beautiful/unique to look at. I guess maybe I also feel a bit guilty when I don't give that extra effort to provide something that at least I think is worthy to look at.
But while I am here to learn and improve, I am mainly here to feed my creative side and to keep myself active in a hobby. (Because that hobby keeps me sane during those moments when life gets really tough.) So I'll keep submitting those 'meh' photos and probably will submit a real stinker here and there.
I'm glad to know I won't be banished. And maybe after work I'll be motivated to give one more try at the challenge that is stumping me.
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05/15/2014 11:58:56 AM · #10 |
Some people, like Mark, will enter an image regardless of how it turns out, simply because they shot for the challenge. Others will only enter an image if they think it stands a change of "doing well". Everyone has a different reason for being on the site and entering challenges. There is no right or wrong reason. But if you are like many of us, you are here to learn. And sometimes, the very thing we think is a "flaw" turns out to be the thing everyone loves the most.
DPC is confounding that way :) |
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05/15/2014 12:03:56 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by tanguera:
Some people, like Mark, will enter an image regardless of how it turns out, simply because they shot for the challenge. Others will only enter an image if they think it stands a change of "doing well". Everyone has a different reason for being on the site and entering challenges. There is no right or wrong reason. But if you are like many of us, you are here to learn. And sometimes, the very thing we think is a "flaw" turns out to be the thing everyone loves the most.
DPC is confounding that way :) |
if its a horrible image and makes no sense whatsoever, even to you, Don will love it and maybe give you a sticker :P |
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05/15/2014 12:14:05 PM · #12 |
| Don't think I've ever submitted an image that wasn't flawed. |
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05/15/2014 12:46:53 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Garry:
Don't think I've ever submitted an image that wasn't flawed. |
You mean, the selfies :-). |
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05/15/2014 01:12:05 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by tome:
Originally posted by Garry:
Don't think I've ever submitted an image that wasn't flawed. |
You mean, the selfies :-). |
Indeed so, good sir. Thanks for pointing that out! |
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05/15/2014 01:21:11 PM · #15 |
| There is usually this "inner quality control" that I need to battle with when it comes to the decision of submitting a known flawed photo. I look at my submissions and always think that it is "flawed" in some way and I can do more fixing. I also look at the good stuff in the photo, and I guess I just balance the pros and cons. |
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05/15/2014 01:34:03 PM · #16 |
I have submitted so many photos I wish I didn't. Sometimes it was a middle-of-the road and I didn't know what to expect from voters.
But in a way, I suppose, any bad scores helped drive me to do better.
I have seen images on the front page here that I personally wouldn't have submitted. But that just shows we all have different tastes.
I guess just ask yourself whether you mind this image taking up a spot in your portfolio. If not, let the voters have their say =) |
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05/15/2014 04:18:35 PM · #17 |
| Don't worry about it, Even when you think you may have an image without flaws.....the flaws will quickly be pointed out by the voters :) |
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05/15/2014 04:21:06 PM · #18 |
| Frankly, I wish everybody (else) would submit more crappy images. |
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05/15/2014 04:33:27 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
Frankly, I wish everybody (else) would submit more crappy images. |
Been doing my best to help ya out there, Artemus... |
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05/15/2014 04:48:48 PM · #20 |
| we need a Guess The [Known] Flaw challenge. |
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05/15/2014 05:03:36 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by tnun:
we need a Guess The [Known] Flaw challenge. |
Excellent suggestion! |
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05/15/2014 05:27:39 PM · #22 |
| I like to submit challenges with latent flaws so people can point them out to me. |
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05/15/2014 07:13:41 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by blindjustice:
I like to submit challenges with latent flaws so people can point them out to me. |
You mean, like the "no reflections or we'll DQ your butt" challenge? That was apparently seriously flawed. Was it YOURS? Jejeje... |
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05/15/2014 09:10:06 PM · #24 |
| ha!no- I did not suggest nor enter in the "no reflections" affair. What I meant to say (but fell short on grammatically) was that I like to enter challenges and have people point out the latent flaws. However, patent flaws were pointed out to me in the current symmetry challenge.(such as "no symmetry") |
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05/15/2014 09:11:36 PM · #25 |
I've been known to submit all sorts of things, including images that I don't particularly like just to see what others seem to think (they almost always dislike them too).
However, recently I did fairly well with an image that I forgot to take down before the rollover occurred because I was busy at work and forgot that it was still submitted. (I had grown to dislike it so much that I planned to remove it and skip the challenge that week.) It finished 11th out of 58. I've also had the opposite experience. A couple of months ago I managed to capture the coveted "brown ribbon" while submitting something I thought was reasonably decent (but not my best work) because I was trying something that, for me, was different.
I'm sure there are some life lessons in both of those instances, probably somewhere between
(1) "You never can tell what others will think" and
(2) "I don't have a clue what I am doing." |
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