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08/16/2004 03:03:46 AM · #1 |
Please please please can I get some more comments! The Blue one only got 4 and since I got mostly "good" as in complementary comments, I'd like to know why my photos got voted down.
"Marbles" - Once in a BLUE Moon - 4.776
Too soft? I don't know how to do plain white backgrounds yet so that was the best I could do in the short time I had.
"Going Down" - Everyday Objects - 5.208
Too artsy? I've gotten 8 very positive replies here but that's a more "liberal" and artsy site than this one...
EDIT: I've also already had two people request that I send them background sized images for their PC desktops and I only posted it a day ago. o.O Wow!
"Be fasionable, wear glasses!" - Advertisement - 4.970
or "Robin Sena" as I'd rather call it...would it have been much better if I had been able to desaturate the background like I did with this one?
Message edited by author 2004-08-16 03:06:16.
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08/16/2004 04:48:56 AM · #2 |
In the first, did you apply a gaussian blur then fade it? There seems to be a soft blue halo around the marbles which, to me, spoils the shot. I would have liked to see the marbles nice and sharp. The background is also a problem, which you've already mentioned. It is hard getting a fully white background, especially without fancy lighting equipment, but it is possible. You need to over expose the shot by a few stops, and make sure it is evenly lighted. Since you wanted the shadows, which look good, you couldn't have moved the light source, so the best thing to do I think would be to put a white board at the bottom right, to reflect some of the light back onto the surface. The would create a more evenly lit background. Any imperfections or non-white areas could have also be dodged out or erased since the challenge was advanced editing :)
The second shot I really like. I just added it to my favs. I guess the reason it didn't get a higher score is that it looks wonkey. I didn't believe you that it was straight first of all, but I checked and it is... weird! Also, people may not strictly consider an elevator an 'everyday object'.
The final shot, in my opinion, looks too much like a snapshot and not an advertisement at all. I don't think desaturating the background would have helped, but getting rid of it completely would have. Doing the same shot with a white background would look much more like a pro advert. The focus is meant to be on the glasses, but the background is just too distracting here. Also, the focus seems slightly off. Either that, or you used the wrong settings when sharpening in post-processing. The lighting is a bit harsh on her neck and hair too. To get the glasses looking more appealing for the advert, they should have some kind of catchlight in them to make them look shiney and new, and add character.
I hope you don't think I'm being too harsh, I'm just trying to think of improvements :) I'll copy the comments to the photos for future reference.
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08/16/2004 04:56:47 AM · #3 |
I think it's more about what you have chosen to shoot rather than how you shot it.
The marbles don't really shout blue to me, the elevator isn't really an everyday object (or an object as such) and the advert doesn't really seem to be advertising anything at all.
Photographs are OK - remember people will score on relevance to the challenge as well as photographic quality.
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08/16/2004 04:59:32 AM · #4 |
Ben:
1st- I selected the background and soft-focused it because it was even worse before. I would have worked on the halos (because like you said, I know everyone would have liked to see sharper marbles) but I litteraly submitted the final entry with 5 minutes to spare (I only got the idea for it about an hour earlier). Thanks for the lighting tips! All I had was a desklamp and my boyfriend holding it while I wriggled on the floor to try and get the shadows right...I didn't have time to mess with positioning more lights. :(
2nd- Wow, I'm honored! *bows* Thanks! Lol, that is weird isn't it? I think the right elevator door sat a bit behind the other so it threw off the reflections just enough to fool our eyes.
3rd- *nods* It kind of was a snapshot, so I understand. I actually did want to retake it but she doesn't live nearby and I didn't have the nerve to call her up and ask her to come out to my house to do that (since I don't know her really well).
Thank you so much for your well thoughtout replies!
*hugs*
Message edited by author 2004-08-16 05:13:15.
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08/16/2004 05:02:01 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by Ami Yuy:
Thanks for the lighting tips! All I had was a desklamp and my boyfriend holding it while I wriggled on the floor to try and get the shadows right...I didn't have time to mess with positioning more lights. :( |
I know how you feel, hehe :) In most of my shots all I have is a desklamp, and no boyfriend to hold it :P I only use 1 light + natural light most of the time, but I recently discovered how useful a piece of white board can be to reflect the light back into the photo.
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08/16/2004 05:03:16 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by jonpink:
I think it's more about what you have chosen to shoot rather than how you shot it.
The marbles don't really shout blue to me, the elevator isn't really an everyday object (or an object as such) and the advert doesn't really seem to be advertising anything at all.
Photographs are OK - remember people will score on relevance to the challenge as well as photographic quality. |
Yep, agree with Jon. |
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08/16/2004 05:08:38 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by jonpink:
I think it's more about what you have chosen to shoot rather than how you shot it.
The marbles don't really shout blue to me, the elevator isn't really an everyday object (or an object as such) and the advert doesn't really seem to be advertising anything at all.
Photographs are OK - remember people will score on relevance to the challenge as well as photographic quality. |
*nods* Thanks. I think that for the elevator especially, I was never told by anyone (during the challenge at least) that it didn't "meet" the challenge, so that's why I was curious about what I'd done wrong.
Originally posted by Konador:
I know how you feel, hehe :) In most of my shots all I have is a desklamp, and no boyfriend to hold it :P I only use 1 light + natural light most of the time, but I recently discovered how useful a piece of white board can be to reflect the light back into the photo. |
Lol, and he was afraid that I would burn myself on the lamp because half the time I was wriggling right underneath it. ^^;; But yeah, I tried to set up a couple sheets of white paper behind it, but I don't know if they did any good at all in reflecting. I tried some with natural light before this shot but it was too late in the day. -_-
Edit: Oh, and the original of the advertisement entry is here. It was kind of a "mini-photoshoot" that I did with her and I still haven't gotten over my awe of her (heh, don't ask) and of the initial "OMG I'm trying to take really good pictures" so then I kind of freak out and boom...
Message edited by author 2004-08-16 05:12:36.
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