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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> Simply want reasons- be as vitriolic as you want.
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 04/20/2005 02:34:10 PM · #1
Why was this shot so bad? I don't normally do this because I can mostly see why my shot is mediocre/awful, but this time I thought I was onto a good thing.

04/20/2005 02:39:26 PM · #2
Well, I gave it a 5 as it met the challenge and was a good, clear well focused shot with pretty good compositon. The thing that was offputting in your picture is that big pipe right in your face. The picture seems more about the pipe than an abandoned building. The texture of the wood, bricks and dirt is really good - I think it's the "in your face" pipe that brought your picture down.

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 14:42:41.
 04/20/2005 02:40:40 PM · #3
The pipe as a subject is almost invisible as there is no contrast to separate it from other design elements. There really doesn't seem to be a strong subject... It all blends together with some overlap... There's also no pattern to lead the eye through the frame. Finally, looks like it may have been taken when the sun was high in the sky? Seems like the texture and saturation on the brick is a bit washed out from what it could be. A neutral density filter may have helped, but lighting would have helped to separate some of the elements by shadow.
 04/20/2005 02:51:07 PM · #4
To me the image feels claustrophobic, no room for the eye to move about. I am uncomfortable viewing this image, the composition is cramped. I did not vote in this challenge, but would have given this shot a 4 for the above reasons.
 04/20/2005 02:55:44 PM · #5
I'd ask the same question, what made this shot good enough that it would be your entry?

Artistic impression is a subjective matter, but if you look at it coldly... do you see a veritable reference to an abonned building or just an older one?
 04/20/2005 02:58:27 PM · #6
Originally posted by Gil P:
I'd ask the same question, what made this shot good enough that it would be your entry?

Artistic impression is a subjective matter, but if you look at it coldly... do you see a veritable reference to an abonned building or just an older one?


That's well stated. It is very difficult to distance yourself from an image you created. Especially if you had to work to create it, or if it had memorable circumstances around it. In the end you need to remember that no one but you had the context - they only have the photograph. In that light, does it convey the experience you feel? Self-critique is very, very, difficult.
 04/20/2005 03:03:27 PM · #7
Originally posted by cghubbell:
Originally posted by Gil P:
I'd ask the same question, what made this shot good enough that it would be your entry?

Artistic impression is a subjective matter, but if you look at it coldly... do you see a veritable reference to an abonned building or just an older one?


That's well stated. It is very difficult to distance yourself from an image you created. Especially if you had to work to create it, or if it had memorable circumstances around it. In the end you need to remember that no one but you had the context - they only have the photograph. In that light, does it convey the experience you feel? Self-critique is very, very, difficult.


This IS in fact my only reason to attend DPC, I needed to learn the difference between "on command" photography (this is what I do) and expression photography... "mass apeal" is a delicate thing...and in a place like DPC you have to add Technocratie...when people abandon emotional response and concentrate on technical aspects.
 04/20/2005 03:17:26 PM · #8
It is very hard to be self critical at first but as soon as someone points out a few things you start to see the image properly.

I still like it, but I can understand why it doesn't stand out as an abandoned building.

I desaturated a little deliberately: I think that works better than the original.

Thank you all for your opinions; I spit on them, but it was nice of you to make the effort.:-)
04/20/2005 03:27:55 PM · #9
I gave it a 5. Felt it met the challenge. However, it was a small size, and I felt that the pipe was too strong of a subject. I felt like the focus of the photo was more about that pipe, than it was about a building.
 04/20/2005 03:33:33 PM · #10
Originally posted by zarniwoop:
...
Thank you all for your opinions; I spit on them, but it was nice of you to make the effort.:-)

You're so kind... ;-)
04/20/2005 03:49:07 PM · #11
Originally posted by zarniwoop:

Thank you all for your opinions; I spit on them, but it was nice of you to make the effort.:-)


Just make certain you are standing "Up wind" when ya spit...hehehehe :O)

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 15:53:53.
 04/20/2005 04:05:26 PM · #12
Originally posted by zarniwoop:
Why was this shot so bad? I don't normally do this because I can mostly see why my shot is mediocre/awful, but this time I thought I was onto a good thing.


Hmmmmmm... you said vitriotic...

The color is bland, the focus is not particularly good, but mostly the composition has little or nothing of interest to hold the viewer's attention. On the plus side the pipe is horizontal.

Other than those minor things it is just an average picture.
 04/20/2005 04:06:54 PM · #13
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Originally posted by zarniwoop:
Why was this shot so bad? I don't normally do this because I can mostly see why my shot is mediocre/awful, but this time I thought I was onto a good thing.


Hmmmmmm... you said vitriotic...

The color is bland, the focus is not particularly good, but mostly the composition has little or nothing of interest to hold the viewer's attention. On the plus side the pipe is horizontal.

Other than those minor things it is just an average picture.


I'm sure someone's going to tell you you meant vertical any minute now ...

E

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 16:07:08.
 04/20/2005 04:08:44 PM · #14
Left a comment on the image.
 04/20/2005 04:21:26 PM · #15
Originally posted by e301:
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Originally posted by zarniwoop:
Why was this shot so bad? I don't normally do this because I can mostly see why my shot is mediocre/awful, but this time I thought I was onto a good thing.


Hmmmmmm... you said vitriotic...

The color is bland, the focus is not particularly good, but mostly the composition has little or nothing of interest to hold the viewer's attention. On the plus side the pipe is horizontal.

Other than those minor things it is just an average picture.


I'm sure someone's going to tell you you meant vertical any minute now ...

E


Steve is probably drunk and laying on his side again. To him it's horizontal.
 04/20/2005 04:23:55 PM · #16
I have asked myself the same question many times. And I've thought specifically about your photo.

It seems to me that a great photo inspires an emotion, positive or negative. A photoshop teacher of mine once said he, "... used 3 criteria to judge a photo: 1) Is there true black in the photo; 2) Is there true white in the photo; and 3) Would I want to be there with my children." Obviously the 3rd gets at a lot of things ... composition, subject, interest or curiosity, and the positive emotion it creates in him.

I think this photo fails the third test. It just isn't an interesting place I'd like to be with my children. Maybe a beter composition would rescue it. Or better colors. Or a more interesting subject. But as it is, I'd pass it by like I'd pass by an uninteresting street corner in a city I was visiting for the first time.

Now I think it is possible to take an exceptional photo where the emotional impact is negative. I have seen photos that were heart wrenching. And photos that were disturbing. But I doubt that was your intention here. And if it were, it did not succeed in creating a negative emotional response in me.

I have no idea if this helped, but it's how I think about it.

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 16:26:59.
 04/20/2005 04:26:50 PM · #17
I do like all the straight lines, angles and geometry in the photo. It's an engineer's dream!
The color and the noise in the sky is a turn off and the pipe is really the subject, with the part of an abandoned bilding being more background. That might have been a reason for some people to vote below 5.
 04/20/2005 05:26:15 PM · #18
Originally posted by stdavidson:
Originally posted by zarniwoop:
Why was this shot so bad? I don't normally do this because I can mostly see why my shot is mediocre/awful, but this time I thought I was onto a good thing.


Hmmmmmm... you said vitriotic...

The color is bland, the focus is not particularly good, but mostly the composition has little or nothing of interest to hold the viewer's attention. On the plus side the pipe is horizontal.

Other than those minor things it is just an average picture.


Personally, I would not listen to anyone that doesn't know the difference between vertical and horizonatal.
 04/20/2005 07:11:36 PM · #19
Maybe he's from Australia. I think our vertical is their horizontal. Or have I got that wrong? jejeje�

Robt.
 04/20/2005 07:12:41 PM · #20
Umm. I need to go look up "vitriolic" and I'll get back to you. :)
 04/20/2005 07:21:38 PM · #21
vitriolic

adj 1: harsh or corrosive in tone; "an acerbic tone piercing otherwise flowery prose"; "a barrage of acid comments"; "her acrid remarks make her many enemies";

The shot sucks.... (in my opinion).
 04/20/2005 07:30:28 PM · #22
I didn't vote in this challenge at all, because the subject is generally unappealing to me and I knew I couldn't vote fairly. Unless there is something particularly picturesque about the scene *around* an abandoned building (as is the case in most of the highest rated shots in this challenge) or a rusted old piece of machinery, photos of these things rarely have any appeal whatsoever for me. And I'd say that's the case with this photo- there is nothing in it that is appealing or interesting to me or makes me want to "chew" on it. I would also tend to agree that the pipe is the subject here, the building is backdrop.



Here's an example from my own portfolio. I took this while I was in Australia last month. I took it because the vegetation crawling all over the building and the starkly colored dead tree in front made it visually more interesting to me than the long building next to it that had half it's roof caved in but nothing else going for it. I took a photo of that one too, but it was boring so I haven't even bothered to process it. Now that I look at this one on my monitor at work, I think I processed it too darkly. But anyway.

Message edited by author 2005-04-20 19:32:47.
 04/20/2005 07:37:10 PM · #23
Originally posted by Digital Quixote:
I have asked myself the same question many times. And I've thought specifically about your photo.

It seems to me that a great photo inspires an emotion, positive or negative. A photoshop teacher of mine once said he, "... used 3 criteria to judge a photo: 1) Is there true black in the photo; 2) Is there true white in the photo; and 3) Would I want to be there with my children." Obviously the 3rd gets at a lot of things ... composition, subject, interest or curiosity, and the positive emotion it creates in him.

I think this photo fails the third test. It just isn't an interesting place I'd like to be with my children. Maybe a beter composition would rescue it. Or better colors. Or a more interesting subject. But as it is, I'd pass it by like I'd pass by an uninteresting street corner in a city I was visiting for the first time.

Now I think it is possible to take an exceptional photo where the emotional impact is negative. I have seen photos that were heart wrenching. And photos that were disturbing. But I doubt that was your intention here. And if it were, it did not succeed in creating a negative emotional response in me.

I have no idea if this helped, but it's how I think about it.


So this photo fails on all three counts?
 04/20/2005 07:38:14 PM · #24
Originally posted by e301:
Originally posted by Digital Quixote:
I have asked myself the same question many times. And I've thought specifically about your photo.

It seems to me that a great photo inspires an emotion, positive or negative. A photoshop teacher of mine once said he, "... used 3 criteria to judge a photo: 1) Is there true black in the photo; 2) Is there true white in the photo; and 3) Would I want to be there with my children." Obviously the 3rd gets at a lot of things ... composition, subject, interest or curiosity, and the positive emotion it creates in him.

I think this photo fails the third test. It just isn't an interesting place I'd like to be with my children. Maybe a beter composition would rescue it. Or better colors. Or a more interesting subject. But as it is, I'd pass it by like I'd pass by an uninteresting street corner in a city I was visiting for the first time.

Now I think it is possible to take an exceptional photo where the emotional impact is negative. I have seen photos that were heart wrenching. And photos that were disturbing. But I doubt that was your intention here. And if it were, it did not succeed in creating a negative emotional response in me.

I have no idea if this helped, but it's how I think about it.


So this photo fails on all three counts?


LOL
 04/20/2005 08:26:13 PM · #25
Originally posted by e301:
Originally posted by Digital Quixote:
I have asked myself the same question many times. And I've thought specifically about your photo.

It seems to me that a great photo inspires an emotion, positive or negative. A photoshop teacher of mine once said he, "... used 3 criteria to judge a photo: 1) Is there true black in the photo; 2) Is there true white in the photo; and 3) Would I want to be there with my children." Obviously the 3rd gets at a lot of things ... composition, subject, interest or curiosity, and the positive emotion it creates in him.

I think this photo fails the third test. It just isn't an interesting place I'd like to be with my children. Maybe a beter composition would rescue it. Or better colors. Or a more interesting subject. But as it is, I'd pass it by like I'd pass by an uninteresting street corner in a city I was visiting for the first time.

Now I think it is possible to take an exceptional photo where the emotional impact is negative. I have seen photos that were heart wrenching. And photos that were disturbing. But I doubt that was your intention here. And if it were, it did not succeed in creating a negative emotional response in me.

I have no idea if this helped, but it's how I think about it.


So this photo fails on all three counts?


I see true black and true white there. The white's all the more precious because it is limited to the flower. Good burn job, that. On the third count, I was there myslef, that's my generation and that was my "scene", and I'd be proud if a child of mine stood up for his or her beliefs in the face of armed soldiers.

Robt.
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