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01/22/2015 03:01:30 PM · #26 |
Originally posted by damjanev:
...The blue ribbon winner  AllenP had 4 other 1st place entries in 2014. All off them, including the winner in the Best 2014, are very similar in style and execution and all of them scored around 7.4/7.5. Talking about consistency. |
Exactly. He shoots the same subject (ballerinas) with what is clearly exactly the same lighting setup each time out. If only the rest of us had the luxury of a huge studio, massive light setup, and of course access to brilliant dancers. And obviously DPC voters love his style and give him a bottom-heavy histo each time out.
So, with all these things in his favour, shame on him if he DIDN'T win!!! |
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01/22/2015 03:18:16 PM · #27 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
But, of course, DPC is "by popular vote" and your "real world" competition was juried... |
I think it's also important to remember that the pool of voters is different for each challenge, and the group which voted on the Best Of 2014 is likely to be signicantly different than (for example) those who voted on the January '14 Free Study.
If you really want to know how your photos compare, especially across multiple challenges, then look at percentile rankings, not the numeric score. Tenth place is tenth place whether it takes a 7.8 or 6.8 or 5.8 to achieve it ... |
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01/22/2015 03:34:41 PM · #28 |
Originally posted by snaffles:
Originally posted by damjanev:
...The blue ribbon winner AllenP had 4 other 1st place entries in 2014. All off them, including the winner in the Best 2014, are very similar in style and execution and all of them scored around 7.4/7.5. Talking about consistency. |
Exactly. He shoots the same subject (ballerinas) with what is clearly exactly the same lighting setup each time out. If only the rest of us had the luxury of a huge studio, massive light setup, and of course access to brilliant dancers. And obviously DPC voters love his style and give him a bottom-heavy histo each time out.
So, with all these things in his favour, shame on him if he DIDN'T win!!! |
And you know what else? Take a look at Allen's profile page. Not a ballerina in his top-9 thumbs. A wide variety of subjects and treatments. None of the ballerinas come close to beating his best score.
He's a lucky fellow, yes, because he hadx the opportunity to work with this incredibly talented and graceful dancer. I'm not the least bothered by the ribbons he's scoring with her. |
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01/22/2015 03:37:35 PM · #29 |
Originally posted by tanguera:
DPC is a world unto itself and it's taztes cannot be quantified by scientific study. It is clear that when there us no specific challenge topic, there is a preference for certain subjects.
I find my own entry to be a perfect example of the irony at work here. My entry finished at 114th place out of 218 - in the lower 50% - while in the "real world" it won the Americas Region from among 11,500 entries.
People who win consistently on DPC have either found a style with mass appeal, are technically brilliant, very creative, interpret the challenge theme well, and/or all of the above. |
Your real world competition had a theme, and you met the theme well. I think, in general, an image can be great for a certain theme but might not rise to the top of a free study type competition. |
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01/22/2015 03:48:19 PM · #30 |
Originally posted by snaffles:
Originally posted by damjanev:
...The blue ribbon winner AllenP had 4 other 1st place entries in 2014. All off them, including the winner in the Best 2014, are very similar in style and execution and all of them scored around 7.4/7.5. Talking about consistency. |
Exactly. He shoots the same subject (ballerinas) with what is clearly exactly the same lighting setup each time out. If only the rest of us had the luxury of a huge studio, massive light setup, and of course access to brilliant dancers. And obviously DPC voters love his style and give him a bottom-heavy histo each time out.
So, with all these things in his favour, shame on him if he DIDN'T win!!! |
The huge studio that you are referring to is nothing but a humble 2-car garage in our house. The access to the brilliant dancers that you are referring to is something I have worked very hard on for the past 3 years and earned it over time, nobody has opened up a door for me and asked me to pick any ballerina that I want to work with; It has not come easy. I started working with local college dancers which is something anybody should be able to do. As for the lighting setup, they might seem similar to you, but I constantly modify and improve them after every shoot. It is the result of spending countless number of hours studying and experimenting with lighting. As for shooting the same subject, this is my specialty nowadays, I mostly work with the dancers, however if you look at my portfolio, I have shot all kinds of different subjects before, but like most photographers, I have now found the genre that I enjoy shooting the most and that is working with dancers and athletes. I don't shoot for challenges nowadays, however if I have a picture that fits a certain challenge, I might enter it. If you have any other questions or if something is unclear to you, feel free to PM me and I would be more than happy to answer your questions. I would also be happy to share my lighting knowledge with you, if you'd like. |
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01/22/2015 03:53:25 PM · #31 |
Originally posted by AllenP:
The huge studio that you are referring to is nothing but a humble 2-car garage in our house. |
A humble empty 2-car garage -- it must take quite an effort to keep it that way ... I think the vast majority of garages in the US are full of "stuff" (and not even cars) ... |
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01/22/2015 04:00:26 PM · #32 |
Originally posted by snaffles:
So, with all these things in his favour, shame on him if he DIDN'T win!!! |
I am pretty sure if you gave me the same studio space, with the same dancer, and the same lighting equipment I'd be lucky to get within one point of AllenP's ballerina scores. He may make it look easy, but that's only because he's that good at it.
And, on another subject...
Originally posted by Elaine:
... I think, in general, an image can be great for a certain theme but might not rise to the top of a free study type competition. |
I agree with this. A good image entered in a FS or "Best of" challenge may get a good score, but the exact same image entered in a challenge in which it fits the theme extremely well will likely get a higher score. |
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01/22/2015 04:02:57 PM · #33 |
Great to hear from you, Allen. First of all I freely admit to being a little envious and groaning anytime I see one of your entries in a challenge, because it means that the best of my rodeo shots doesn't stand a chance :-/ Even so I normally vote 8 or more on your shots, knowing I'm only digging my grave with a backhoe.
And I do admire that you have more than paid your dues and worked hard to develop your style, skills and relationship with the dance community. Still, even a basic 2-car garage is approx 26x26 and often with 10ft ceilings. I'm working with a room that is only 10x10 (originally I thought it was a little bigger) and just 8ft high; I literally had to have my camera in the doorway and shoot with an 18-105 in order to get a current entry in.
And having just bought some seamless rolls and a set of 3 inexpensive Bowens knockoffs = and having never worked with softboxes/umbrellas/strobes etc before - of course I want to learn as much as I can and yes, I would love to get help from you. |
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01/22/2015 04:55:33 PM · #34 |
Originally posted by AllenP:
As for shooting the same subject, this is my specialty nowadays, I mostly work with the dancers, however if you look at my portfolio, I have shot all kinds of different subjects before |
Dude I'm still envious about your Mars Curiosity Rover photo. :-)
ETA
Message edited by author 2015-01-22 16:56:30. |
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01/22/2015 04:58:28 PM · #35 |
I had stepped away from DPC for I believe 3 years or so the last time I entered. It was discouraging to me previously and during that time my own business had grown and I kept learning the art of photography. Those years I was discouraged here I also learned a lot, including that art is always subjective to the person viewing it. As this is the calm season, I decided to give it a whirl again. I'm not sure if I understand challenges better, or if my skills have increased (Along with the equipment I own now) but for the first two challenges I have entered, I've been in the top 20. Something NEVER remotely like that before. I entered one of the challenges a few days ago knowing that this one won't score as well........and it is proving so =0)
Thanks for letting me come back after those years of awol |
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01/22/2015 06:28:14 PM · #36 |
Originally posted by armando_m:
I'm happy with the comments I got in my image |
I'm happy all the time :) |
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01/22/2015 09:27:49 PM · #37 |
Originally posted by Pikkel:
Thanks for letting me come back after those years of awol |
Welcome back!! You shoukd have started a welcome thread for yourself :) |
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