Your thoughts on best of 2004 challenge...

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

01/18/2005 09:17:55 AM · #76

Artyste
I don't think that this thread is likely to be having any real impact - firstly because I personally think the percentage of voters who read forums is quite low and secondly because quite a few people are reporting dropping scores and haven't entered shots of children. Me included.

rblanton

Canon EOS-10D

01/18/2005 09:24:59 AM · #77

The larger picture and greater benefit of this forum is that new and inexperienced photographers get to read these thoughts and then, if they can learn to have the eye of an editor, grow in ability to plan, take and present better photographs. The feed back both in individual form and in this group format is invaluable for those who seek it. I have learned much from my first two low scoring efforts here and will no doubt learn more. Thanks for all your contributions as what is discussed here will result in better planning, execution and even equipment buying.

Artyste

Sony Ericsson W810i

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

01/18/2005 09:37:22 AM · #78

Originally posted by Kavey:

hehehe.. I know. But where would my reputation as DPC's conspiracy theorist be if I didn't pipe up with something once in awhile?

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/18/2005 09:46:31 AM · #79

Originally posted by Artyste:

Originally posted by Kavey:
Artyste
I don't think that this thread is likely to be having any real impact - firstly because I personally think the percentage of voters who read forums is quite low and secondly because quite a few people are reporting dropping scores and haven't entered shots of children. Me included.

hehehe.. I know. But where would my reputation as DPC's conspiracy theorist be if I didn't pipe up with something once in awhile?

ROFL

nsoroma79

Nikon Coolpix P7000

01/18/2005 10:54:30 AM · #80

I agree with jpochard, I entered the one that I most liked.... I had another one that I could've submitted and maybe it would've done better than where I am at now... but I kept coming back to this one. I am very proud of the one I chose. I have sold several prints of it thus far and others seem to like it. It don't matter to me if it gets a 7.0 or a 3.0.... I am just happy to be here with everyone. I am happy to be learning and sharing my pictures with others. That is all I care about.... letting others see my pictures. Sharing my talents with those around me and possibly learning more.

I am not good with studio shots.. give me the outdoors and I can shoot away beautifully! And like someone else has said... the outdoorsy, less set up shots are just as good as the set up ones.... some of us just can't do it and some of us would rather take pictures of the world around us.

I am not doing as well as I had thought, but that's OK. I never do well here (except a fluke once!) but it's ok, it's not about the ribbon, it's about the experience! :)

tristalisk

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/18/2005 11:19:02 AM · #81

well I finished voting on 3000000000 images on the challenge. Much to my suprise I have given more 10,9,and 8 scores than ever. I didn't even find any 1 or 2 images IMO. (so much for my low 5.0 everage score givin)Next I suppose I should work on comments.

atsxus

Canon EOS-10D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/18/2005 11:24:48 AM · #82

Originally posted by riotspyne:

You dont have to have an emotional connection to the individual or child in a photo to enjoy the photo.
For example I have a connection with these shots and dont need to know the child.

All the samples you've shown are wonderful shots. But they're Art. There's a difference between a well thought out photograph, and a picture of your kids horsing around one night while watching TV. Just because you love a picture of your kids, doesn't make it art. JMO

Stephanie

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/18/2005 11:25:20 AM · #83

Originally posted by nsoroma79:

I agree with jpochard, I entered the one that I most liked.... I had another one that I could've submitted and maybe it would've done better than where I am at now...

Interesting...
It strikes me that a lot of the issues folks have with low scores on DPC comes from submitting images which they have an emotional attachment to, not necessarily images that demonstrate good photographic technique. In those cases you should not be surprised they score low. If it is a high score you want, don't submit them :)

This challenge is to submit your best photograph of the year, not the one you most liked. Those are not always the same.

riotspyne

Nikon D80

01/18/2005 11:46:55 AM · #84

Originally posted by atsxus:

Originally posted by riotspyne:
You dont have to have an emotional connection to the individual or child in a photo to enjoy the photo.
For example I have a connection with these shots and dont need to know the child.

All the samples you've shown are wonderful shots. But they're Art. There's a difference between a well thought out photograph, and a picture of your kids horsing around one night while watching TV. Just because you love a picture of your kids, doesn't make it art. JMO

Stephanie

My intention of that post wasnt to say that "all is art".
The person that I replied to said he didnt have an emotional attatchment to others childen and why would he want to see a photo of them. Those were my example of great child photos that I have a connection and I dont know the kids.
I know there are basic snapshots in the challenges and I am not defending those but I am defending that not all children shots are bad. Thats all.

01/18/2005 12:02:03 PM · #85

Originally posted by riotspyne:

The person that I replied to said he didnt have an emotional attatchment to others childen and why would he want to see a photo of them.

If you're referring to jimmythefish's post, where he said you may have an emotional connection to that shot, but I certainly don't. Biases must be discarded to consider a shot which will have mass appeal then I have to say I don't interpret it as you do.

My interpretation of his statement is that the photographer who takes an image of someone who is emotionally important to them (kid, spouse, parent, friend) needs to keep in mind that they have the added emotion of love playing into their own judgement of the photo. Strangers don't. So, for a shot to be popular with a broad spectrum of other people, they need to ensure that it's appeal doesn't rely on the personal connection but on the strength of the image itself. It needs to have universal appeal.

In short, if the image is to work for HIM it needs to work DESPITE his lack of personal connection to the model.

Unless I missed it, I didn't see him say that he wouldn't want to see any images with children in at all.

If his post isn't the one you were referring to, my apologies...

I really don't think it's impossible or even rare to create images of children that have appeal to lots of people. You'll see in my own Favourites list that there are images of kids and there are many, many more wonderful images of children that I've scored highly on DPC but not added to my Favourites.

But I do think it's easy to create images of children that don't have appeal to lots of children because they aren't overly aesthetic images - poor composition, cluttered background, unattractive pose or environment, whatever reason. These are the ones I don't particularly enjoy viewing.

Message edited by author 2005-01-18 12:05:12.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

01/18/2005 12:09:18 PM · #86

Just to share them because they are great images, here are some of those Favourites of mine I mentioned above:

lynnesite

Canon EOS-1D X

01/18/2005 12:14:28 PM · #87

As someone who only occasionally enters challenges but often votes/views the results weekly, I'm really enjoying the variety and quality of what's been entered. I chose to enter an image which had stirred my soul, and also appealed to the judges in an international photo contest for the genre, in which it took first place. I am interested in its appeal to the moslty-discerning general population here, in comparison, it's a little over 6.0 at the moment.

The sheer bulk of entries makes me also vote for sub-categories, which would make the evaluation process more like the regular themes.

nsoroma79

Nikon Coolpix P7000

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/18/2005 12:33:45 PM · #88

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Originally posted by nsoroma79:
I agree with jpochard, I entered the one that I most liked.... I had another one that I could've submitted and maybe it would've done better than where I am at now...

Interesting...
It strikes me that a lot of the issues folks have with low scores on DPC comes from submitting images which they have an emotional attachment to, not necessarily images that demonstrate good photographic technique. In those cases you should not be surprised they score low. If it is a high score you want, don't submit them :)

This challenge is to submit your best photograph of the year, not the one you most liked. Those are not always the same.

But to me it was also my best... I had it down to 2 for the year and chose this one just cuz it made me smile a bit more than the other one! :)

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

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

01/18/2005 01:26:58 PM · #89

Originally posted by stdavidson:

"Best" and "most-liked by DPC voters" are not always (rarely?) the same either.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/18/2005 01:30:11 PM · #90

Originally posted by Kavey:

Just to share...

Kavey... happy to see this is among the kid images that you like. It has always been a favorite of mine and I was pleased when I got to meet both dsidwell and his daughter in person who is the subject of that image.

Any photograph done well will do well at DPC, be it your own kids or others. But how many parents are willing to climb a swing set to take pictures of their kids looking down for a great shot? I don't think many and that is the difference.

Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2 R WR

01/18/2005 03:03:25 PM · #91

Finished my final voting today (did my first draft the day the challenge started and have done my second and then final run since then).

My average vote given is 5.26

It breaks down as follows and the third column shows the number of kid pictures in that score band:

10 . . .1 . . . 0
9 . . . 4 . . . 1
8 . . . 13 . . .0
7 . . . 41 . . .8
6 . . . 153. . .7
5 . . . 183. . .8
4 . . . 113. . .12
3 . . . 23 . . .4
2 . . . 0
1 . . . 0

(There might be a few that of older kids where I've assumed they are adults)

Message edited by author 2005-01-18 15:06:20.

aznym

Fujifilm X-T3

01/18/2005 03:08:32 PM · #92

In case you didn't know, there's a little nasty script behind the code library of DPC that automatically assigns 20 ones to every single kid picture. If anyone proves me wrong , then obviously it's a glitch.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

01/18/2005 03:28:58 PM · #93

Originally posted by xion:

ROFL

welcher

Canon EOS-5D

01/18/2005 03:31:45 PM · #94

As a proud submitter of one of the dreaded "kid pics" in the "Best of" challenge, I'll look forward to seeing what Kavey scored me at, after the challenge is over. (Assuming she wants to divulge that info.)

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM

01/18/2005 03:36:14 PM · #95

Originally posted by welcher:

My votes are finalised already. You're welcome to PM me your image ID and I'll comment with score.

spvanderm

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

01/18/2005 04:04:36 PM · #96

Originally posted by atsxus:

I absolutely agree with this. Here's an example... I love this photograph of my youngest son:

However, I think it is a compositional nightmare. His puppy is WAY too prominent and overpowers the photo. I love that it captures his beautiful, big eyes and it's an expression that I see on his face all the time. His puppy goes with him everywhere and is almost a part of him, so I couldn't bring myself to crop it out.

It's not competition material, but it means the world to me! I'm just a novice at all this, but I'm sharp enough to realize that it would not score well.

I agree with the comment that these types of threads are somewhat helpful to newcomers/novices to help develop a sense of what others see as "good photography."

Message edited by author 2005-01-18 16:26:20.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

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

01/18/2005 04:48:44 PM · #97

Maybe you just need to "modify" the composition somewhat:

spvanderm

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM

01/18/2005 04:52:13 PM · #98

GeneralE, That definitely helps...but I still feel "Puppy" overpowers the photo. I like the fact that when you look at the photo you see two very distinct pairs of eyes. I just wish he would have been holding puppy a little closer to his chest.

As I said in another thread, I struggle with composition in candid photos like this. I feel like if I take too much time to compose, I either lose the moment or things look too contrived. I guess therein lies the challenge of photography, right?