I give up... - DPChallenge Forums

05/30/2002 07:48:41 AM · #51

Part of building a community of photographers is that the photographers can say things to each other and if they have been around long enough and contributed both in photos and comments then it will be clearer why the message says what it does. I have not found too many regular contributors here that this does not apply too.

And I appreciate every one of them. Even if I disagree with somebody and they with me I am glad we do...it forces me to re-examine myself with greater scrutiny..tests my resolve and keeps my mind open to other possibilities.

In my day to day job I cannot appear wishy-washy or I risk my clients losing confidence in my decision making ability but the truth is there are so many ways to go about a problem the choices are maddening..just like art :-)

I will admit freely that I miss some fantastic photos out of the 100 or so entries each week but I catch my fair share of fantastic diamonds in the rough so I guess that evens out.

But one thing people cannot accuse me of is being short with my comments >:-P

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

05/30/2002 08:11:40 AM · #52

thought process:

"oh my stars, thats disturbing. whoever took that must be the personification of satan himself. i bet if i score it low, it will help in driving satan back into his lair and away from all that we hold dear."

Originally posted by jonathans:
Originally posted by magnetic9999:
[i]not sure if the one i think is yours is, but if so, i think that people are scared by it and therefore voting it low.

haha, yeah. thats mine. you're probably right. they could at least admit it with a comment, though.[/i]

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

05/30/2002 08:17:10 AM · #53

Originally posted by magnetic9999:
thought process:

"oh my stars, thats disturbing. whoever took that must be the personification of satan himself. i bet if i score it low, it will help in driving satan back into his lair and away from all that we hold dear."

I keep going through the thumbnails looking for a scary picture and I can't find one...I feel very left out here ;-)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

05/30/2002 08:25:39 AM · #54

I don't want to avoid the forums, but I find all the oblique discussion of photos CURRENTLY BEING VOTED ON rather distracting and prejudicial, since I haven't had time to cast my votes yet. Let's either shut up and vote/comment until the week is up, or abandon the pretense of anonymity and just identify who took each photo. I think it would actually be more useful to go back and hve a discussion of votes/comments received in the LAST VOTE, and wait until everyone has voted to lament how the viewers completely misunderstood our intent (I LIKE soft-focus photos) of our current entry.

I also still believe folks would have an easier time commenting if some (non-identifying) info were posted with the photo in addition to the title, e.g. "I couldn't seem to avoid that lens flare" or "sorry it's so grainy but my 1.3mp camera always does this in low light." They could then spend their time on things the photographer doesn't already know about...why else have that "about" field on the submission page?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

05/30/2002 08:25:42 AM · #55

rest, kimbly. the answers are coming.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

05/30/2002 08:28:29 AM · #56

Originally posted by Kimbly:

I keep going through the thumbnails looking for a scary picture and I can't find one...I feel very left out here ;-)

THIS is what I DON'T want to be inveigled into doing when judging the entries...

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

05/30/2002 08:45:03 AM · #57

Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by Kimbly:
I keep going through the thumbnails looking for a scary picture and I can''t find one...I feel very left out here ;-)

THIS is what I DON''T want to be inveigled into doing when judging the entries...

Eh, not a big deal. I''ve been able to guess who took which photo in some challenges just from seeing people''s other work, or knowing what their interests are, or where they live. It''s not a conscious thought process, more just an intuition, so it''s not something I can help. I''m confident enough in my ability to be objective with these sorts of things that I''m not going to sway my vote.

Besides, what if I''d already finished voting? Why would it matter if I could find the scary picture everyone is talking about and attribute it to jonathans?

* This message has been edited by the author on 5/30/2002 8:45:26 AM.

Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f2.8D

05/30/2002 08:58:59 AM · #58

yeah my score aint gonna change much. certainly not going to break 3.5 avg.. but i dont even care, i just want people to _think_ when they see my pictures.

> where they live
props to iceland

David Ey

Nikon D80

05/30/2002 09:08:40 AM · #59

Originally posted by magnetic9999:
[i]not sure if the one i think is yours is, but if so, i think that people are scared by it and therefore voting it low.

haha, yeah. thats mine. you're probably right. they could at least admit it with a comment, though.[/i]

I thought your's was the picture of the gay guy.

05/30/2002 09:14:42 AM · #60

maybe you're not the easily spooked type.

Originally posted by Kimbly:
Originally posted by magnetic9999:
[i]thought process:

"oh my stars, thats disturbing. whoever took that must be the personification of satan himself. i bet if i score it low, it will help in driving satan back into his lair and away from all that we hold dear."

I keep going through the thumbnails looking for a scary picture and I can't find one...I feel very left out here ;-)[/i]

05/30/2002 09:16:34 AM · #61

> I thought your's was the picture of the gay guy.

YES. WE ARE TERRIBLY AFRAID OF HOMOSEXUALS.

05/30/2002 09:31:21 AM · #62

You know..if you are going to be prejudiced by knowing who took the photo I don't see how that is any less valid a prejudice than ...say... not liking parts of people versus whole bodies, color over black and white, or not being able to allow for technical variations from perfect focus, light, grain etc...

I know for a fact that lots of art in the world gets looked at differently simply because people know the artist that made the art.

I say this....If knowing who photographed something encourages you to consider the photo more highly (or lowly) maybe you need to re-examine your judging criteria.

I maintain my anonymity as much as I can because I don't want anyone to feel anything more or less than the photo has to offer. There may be some folks here that don't like me too much because of comments I make and would vote anything I put up lower just as much as vote it highly.

Probably some photographers who never comment at all here are playing it smart :-)

05/30/2002 09:46:06 AM · #63

i comment but i dont think i've ever hinted which photo is mine. except maaaaaybe once but i doubt anyone was paying attention ; )

05/30/2002 09:52:37 AM · #64

I referred to my advertising photo but I had only been here about 3 weeks and was still getting my feet wet.

And, I am not saying anonymity is the best way for everyone. I wouldn't care if the anonymity was a photographers choice here.

I am here to experience....to learn... I find it highly ironic that we spend very little time talking about the exhibit on the wall right now (current challenge vote) at the very time is is most meaningful..the vote time.

As we all know, come next week all these photos will be forgotten in the rush to produce the next photo and agonize over the current vote and bitch about it on the forums :-)

05/30/2002 09:55:41 AM · #65

guess it comes down as to whether it's a competition or a learn-fest, and what people want more of.

I do like the critique only forum idea.

05/30/2002 10:11:59 AM · #66

Yeah, I had thought about the critique area somaybe we could show masters of photography and use them as a example of effects we see in the current challenge or just ideas.

When I post outtakes of mine I still feel like it's an ego contest..like."If you think that was good..LOOK AT THIS!!" and then other folks might feel less inclined to say.."Wow, I think that effect totally SUCKS!!"

But if we post..say a Srebneski portrait. Then who do we hurt if someone says."Wow, Sreb baby was smoking some serious shit when he took that, I hate it!!".

I agree that differnet folks here have different goals..we have definitely beat that dead horse. Just kicking some ideas around.