More critique on my sadness entry please.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

04/27/2011 12:27:47 PM · #1

This isn't to whine or complain about my score. I just want to have a better understanding as to why my shot scored the way it did. I got 5 ones, I really thought it was a better shot than that.

Did I get dinged for DNMC? I got a few comments stating it conveyed fear more than sadness. I wanted to portray the scene as realistically as possible and I felt that a child in that situation would be more afraid than sad, but to me the scene still conveyed a sense of sadness.

Thanks nightpixels for the advice. I thought about that, but I wanted the belt to be in the shadows because that is how abuse happens. It seems that usually it is a dirty secret sort of thing. Something that doesn't happen out in the open for everyone to see and I wanted to convey that in my shot by putting the belt in the shadows and make the viewer have to look for it a little. In retrospect, maybe it would be more powerful if I would have highlighted the belt.

Again, this is not meant to be whiney and I appologize if it comes off that way. I'm just hoping to learn a little bit so I can get better for the next time.

Thanks.

AllenP

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II

04/27/2011 12:34:12 PM · #2

Originally posted by chazoe:

This isn't to whine or complain about my score. I just want to have a better understanding as to why my shot scored the way it did. I got 5 ones, I really thought it was a better shot than that.

Did I get dinged for DNMC? I got a few comments stating it conveyed fear more than sadness. I wanted to portray the scene as realistically as possible and I felt that a child in that situation would be more afraid than sad, but to me the scene still conveyed a sense of sadness.

Thanks nightpixels for the advice. I thought about that, but I wanted the belt to be in the shadows because that is how abuse happens. It seems that usually it is a dirty secret sort of thing. Something that doesn't happen out in the open for everyone to see and I wanted to convey that in my shot by putting the belt in the shadows and make the viewer have to look for it a little. In retrospect, maybe it would be more powerful if I would have highlighted the belt.

Again, this is not meant to be whiney and I appologize if it comes off that way. I'm just hoping to learn a little bit so I can get better for the next time.

Thanks.

Five 1's is harsh, but you know how it works on DPC. Some feel that if you are off topic by a tiny margin, they drop you with 1's. I do agree with some of the others that the image conveyed more fear than sadness even though they might be related in some ways. I think the image itself is really great, it is just not convincing enough that it portrays sadness. Sometimes great photographs don't do well in the challenges simply because they don't quite fit the theme and not because there was something wrong with the photograph itself. Of course, this is just my take on it :) FWIW, I gave it a 6.

Message edited by author 2011-04-27 12:35:51.

kenskid

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/27/2011 12:42:40 PM · #3

Placed #22...not bad.

I gave a 5. A 5 is my average mark. 3-4 would be a low mark.

It just didn't make sense to me. Kid playing with toy looking up at someone with a belt....The look to me seems to say..."Oh no...I don't remember doing anything wrong"....not a sad look to me. I gave a 5 for pic quality tech only.

KS

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/27/2011 01:15:48 PM · #4

Thanks for the responses guys.

So the low scores are probably more to do with DNMC than the picture quality itself.

Shanny403

Sony DSLR-A330

Sony DT 1.8/50mm SAM

04/27/2011 01:30:25 PM · #5

I really liked this shot giving it a 7. I thought it met challenge, not because of the "fear" that was displayed on your sons face but of the way the photograph made me feel. It made me feel sad. Sad that there are kids out there that face this kind of inhumanity every day. Sad that there's nothing I can really do about it. Just plain, sad. It's a fabulous picture.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

04/27/2011 01:30:58 PM · #6

As others have said, you have elicited alot of emotion here, but it has more to do with fear and anger than sadness. IMHO the one scores have to do with getting a strong negative response that anything else. DNMC would get under five, but the technicals are too good here to get ones from them. Sexual images get ones. Really gross stuff gets ones. This got ones because some people have a very strong negative reaction to images of abuse; either people who have experience with abuse, or perhaps those who see this as an attempt to manipulate their emotions on this subject.

So see those as a good thing, you got a strong reaction. Nothing is worse that a "oh, thats nice" reaction to a hotbutton subject.

The lighting and low color tone are both very nice, but you have some really weird diagonals at play in the frame. The strong diagonal of the fire truck which runs off the frame at the front end and into the belt on the other, the belt which is really close to running out of the frame, and the strong line of shadow under the couch that bands the center of the image.The boy is trapped and pinned, frozen into a small uncomfortable space by fear and framing. They make an interesting pattern but they get the eye swirling around the frame like a pinball. I think this darting movement is part of the sense of fear here, rather than the slow moving meloncholy of sadness.

FocusPoint

XIAOMI Redmi Note 8 Pro

04/27/2011 01:37:50 PM · #7

I once posted a thread for the child abuse pictures that I saw a few times. Even some of them were probably makeup, which I can't be sure of, I said that time I will vote 1 to each photo with beaten or abused child.

Children photos are the most sensitive photos IMO. Specially for woman in our audience, and some for men too, it's just not a challenge photo (with exception of journalism photos which includes real life tragedies)

So, with looking at the image once (i didn't vote) and this thread, I knew the reason of low votes.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

04/27/2011 01:43:58 PM · #8

Yes. You got hit with the low votes because of the subject matter.

I gave it an 8. I think it fits sadness quite well. The child actually doesn't look afraid, he looks more resigned. It's the look of having experienced it too many times. (excellent acting, btw)

It evoked sadness in me, and resigned also felt like sadness. So I thought it was successful all the way around. I don't care for how it's processed -- he's awful pale, but that actually lends itself to the shot.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/27/2011 02:06:01 PM · #9

Originally posted by vawendy:

It evoked sadness in me, and resigned also felt like sadness.

I think this is an interesting point, because quite a few people said that the image evoked a feeling of sadness in them; but is the goal to depict sadness or to evoke that emotion in the viewer?

ScooterMcNutty

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

04/27/2011 02:07:14 PM · #10

i also gave it a 5. I think because it wasn't the sharpest photo and all i see is a blank expression. not really too much. this is just me. i think that abuse is a very sad thing and i do not support it in any way, but i dont think that tech speaking it was exicuted the best. colors could have been bumped up a little.

ScooterMcNutty

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

04/27/2011 02:08:51 PM · #11

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

Originally posted by vawendy:
It evoked sadness in me, and resigned also felt like sadness.

I think this is an interesting point, because quite a few people said that the image evoked a feeling of sadness in them; but is the goal to depict sadness or to evoke that emotion in the viewer?

good question! i think that would have changed a couple of my scores, if it were to evoke the feeling of sadness. But when i read it, in my mind, i thought it was to show. soo.... thats my two cents...

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

04/27/2011 02:14:02 PM · #12

The goal, as I shot it and processed it, was to evoke sadness in the viewer. As I said I wanted to photograph the scene as realistically as possible and I would think a child living in a situation like this would show fear and yes Wendy nailed it, resignation to the fact that this is his lot in life. That is why this particular shot was the one I chose out of all the ones I took that day. His expression was perfect IMO. Of course some of that could be because he is my son and I look at him differently.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

04/27/2011 02:20:32 PM · #13

Originally posted by chazoe:

That's the funny thing -- I thought the expression was perfect, because many times abused people don't show it on the outside. Reacting might make it worse.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

04/27/2011 02:20:37 PM · #14

Originally posted by chazoe:

The goal, as I shot it and processed it, was to evoke sadness in the viewer.

Complexity is not always rewarded here with high scores, and striving to cause a certain reaction is much more complex than a straight forward depiction. If you are going for a more indirect approach, then you need to be happy when you hit your mark with a percentage of the viewers. Manipulating the emotional state of another person is very tricky, and some people react very strongly when they sense another person is trying to manipulate them.

Message edited by author 2011-04-27 14:21:43.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

04/27/2011 02:22:57 PM · #15

Originally posted by ScooterMcNutty:

Originally posted by BrennanOB:

Originally posted by vawendy:
It evoked sadness in me, and resigned also felt like sadness.

I think this is an interesting point, because quite a few people said that the image evoked a feeling of sadness in them; but is the goal to depict sadness or to evoke that emotion in the viewer?

good question! i think that would have changed a couple of my scores, if it were to evoke the feeling of sadness. But when i read it, in my mind, i thought it was to show. soo.... thats my two cents...

I was the one who suggested the theme (although I didn't have an opportunity to shoot for it.)

I guess if I felt sad, it felt like I was feeling the sadness of the shot. It's like the caged animal shots. Some of them were excellent -- you really got a feeling that the animal was indeed sad to be in that situation. On others, it just seemed like they thought a caged animal should be sad, yet the animals seemed to show no emotion, and that really didn't evoke and emotion in me.