| Author | Thread |
|
|
05/16/2005 09:38:09 PM · #1 |
| I'm going to apologize before anything else because I believe that I may be wrong. O.K. Here's my question. How on earth did "Anybody Home???" for the outside looking in challenge win 3rd? It is somewhat funny but there is still a lot of problems with it. For one it is out of focus. There were a lot better pictures in there. And for a member challenge? I just don't get it. Would someone please enlighten me and tell me if i'm crazy? |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:44:50 PM · #2 |
Well, I'd have to disagree with the OOF part. I believe the focus was on the subject. It was nearly a 100% crop, however. IMO, folks responded to the emotion conveyed. Yes, if you look at it from a purely technical viewpoint, you'd get a different result, but good photography is not always about the technicals.
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:51:01 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by Jimmy Dean:
I'm going to apologize before anything else because I believe that I may be wrong. O.K. Here's my question. How on earth did "Anybody Home???" for the outside looking in challenge win 3rd? It is somewhat funny but there is still a lot of problems with it. For one it is out of focus. There were a lot better pictures in there. And for a member challenge? I just don't get it. Would someone please enlighten me and tell me if i'm crazy? |
I have to agree with you Jimmy Dean. Although as kirbic says, "good photography is not always about the technicals", I don't see anything great about this photograph, or even anything good about it, even with technical details aside. If this photograph were placed out of context, i.e. not in an "outside looking in" challenge, it would not have scored 3rd. It is really too bad, but in some ways, it seems that if the photo fits the challenge perfectly, then everything else doesn't matter so much... I believe that this causes a lax view of the technicals on the part of the photographer and the viewer. These are only my opinions of course.
-Nick
Message edited by author 2005-05-16 21:52:44. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:52:16 PM · #4 |
I'm starting to realise that the people at dpc are for too technically orientated. When I go to photography exhibitions, I look at photos and often think "that would do so badly at dpc", yet someone thinks it's good enough to hang on a gallery wall with a huge price tag attached. So yes, what kirbic says is true - "photography is not always about the technicals".
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:52:30 PM · #5 |
Yes there may be better photographs in the challenge but as we all know everyone votes differently. And DPC goes through it's trends when voting. For a while people put more emphasis on picture quality, then for a while more emphasis will be on challenge interpretation and how well it meets the challenge, and so on and so on.
As far is that picture I feel it is NOT OOF. I was obviously taken with a long zoom lens with a small aperture causing the leaves and some of the tree bark to be soft but the bird and hole [subject] is in focus, to me at least. If anything it seems to be slightly over sharpened. But all in all a good photograph and the voters has cast there vote. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:54:13 PM · #6 |
Eh, well, I've submitted plenty of "fits the challenge to a tee" photos that haven't come near to ribboning, so I don't think the attraction is just that. I gave it a 6 muself, pretty close to what the average voter gave it.
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:56:07 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:
I'm starting to realise that the people at dpc are for too technically orientated. When I go to photography exhibitions, I look at photos and often think "that would do so badly at dpc", yet someone thinks it's good enough to hang on a gallery wall with a huge price tag attached. So yes, what kirbic says is true - "photography is not always about the technicals". |
It depends on what we are referring to when saying the term "technical". What does one mean by technical in this discussion? The other issue is that anyone can call anything art and hang it on a gallery wall with a huge price tag. Doesn't mean anyone would buy it.
Message edited by author 2005-05-16 21:57:44. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 09:58:12 PM · #8 |
Thank God the winners are not chosen by "judges" or there would be endless strife. With the amount of voters and all their artistic, technical, skill-level and cultural differences, if it won 3rd, it won 3rd.
I'm still wondering how that goofy Anthony guy ever made it as far as he did on American Idol! ;-) |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:15:50 PM · #9 |
I thought the image was worthy of it's 3rd place finish, or better. I do a little "bird shooting" myself and I understand that sometimes your pictures are not going to be technically perfect but an interesting composition will make up for some minor shortcomings. It's not like it was in a studio where you can re-take the shot endlessly until you get it exactly right. In this case the picture was pretty darn well done and the pose fit the challenge topic so well that people liked it enough to vote it a ribbon.
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:17:38 PM · #10 |
Welcome to dpc Sparky. Looking forward to seeing some pictures from you.
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:19:30 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by kpriest:
With the amount of voters and all their artistic, technical, skill-level and cultural differences, if it won 3rd, it won 3rd. |
Exactly!!! Well said. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:23:52 PM · #12 |
this!...  is incredible! and deserves 1st 2nd and 3rd so I can look at it in 3 places on my monitor at once. :)
A great photograph should be judged great by how long one can stare at it in awe. I am still looking at this photograph in awe. I only looked at the bird shot briefly twice.
Message edited by author 2005-05-16 22:27:46. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:25:13 PM · #13 |
i'm sure the subject earned a few 8's and 9's. ok, so it sounded shallow, but i'm sure it's true.
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:26:50 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by nfessel:
this!... is incredible! and deserves 1st 2nd and 3rd so I can look at it in 3 places on my monitor at once. :) |
Feel free to peel off a copy or 3 and add it to your screensaver folder. ;-)
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:39:33 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by Jimmy Dean:
I'm going to apologize before anything else because I believe that I may be wrong. O.K. Here's my question. How on earth did "Anybody Home???" for the outside looking in challenge win 3rd? It is somewhat funny but there is still a lot of problems with it. For one it is out of focus. There were a lot better pictures in there. And for a member challenge? I just don't get it. Would someone please enlighten me and tell me if i'm crazy? |
The photographer used a hybrid of two techniques called focus-through and framing within a frame. The focus through (blurring of the leaves on the front) places the viewer to be there with the photographer lurking behind the leaves just like a birder will do. This is what you see when you are hiding behind bushes and peering through gaps between the leaves - blurred leaves near your eyes and focused subject. Place your spread fingers in front of your eyes and peer through them ... this is the same effect the photographer achieved.
The second technique is obvious ... framing within a frame. He used the leaves and branches to frame the woodpecker.
Combining the two plus the human interest and different interpretation of the challenge made a winning photograph.
Of course, this is only my opinion. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:39:57 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Jimmy Dean:
I Would someone please enlighten me and tell me if i'm crazy? |
you are not crazy, just rude. Congrats to the winners!
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:48:06 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by Jimmy Dean:
How on earth did "Anybody Home???" for the outside looking in challenge win 3rd? It is somewhat funny but there is still a lot of problems with it. For one it is out of focus. There were a lot better pictures in there. And for a member challenge? I just don't get it. Would someone please enlighten me and tell me if I'm crazy? |
Where were you when I was voting? If only I had your input earlier and given it a "3" instead of a "7", I would be in 3rd place right now! ;-) I actually liked the 3rd place photo. It really fit the challenge and was quite humorous! I didn't give it a 10 because of some of the reasons you pointed out. The object of focus seemed to be the tree, and yes the bird is slightly out of focus. However, tho overall imagery of the photo is appealing to me. If all art had to be honed to a precision focus, I can think of quite a few masterpieces that would need to be trashed.
I think overall the scoring system works pretty well at DPC. I don't always agree with the scores that people give to my photos, but it averages out. I got a couple more 9's and 10's than the 3rd place photo, but James got more 7's and 8's. I got a couple of 3's and 4's. I don't think my photo deserved them, and I didn't get comments telling me why I was getting them. On the other hand, I don't know that my photo deserved 9's and 10's either. Everyone likes something a little bit different, and occasionally, you will find the right subject and be able to capture it in a manner that the majority of the people will like. When that happens, you have a good chance for a ribbon. Would I have liked to have gotten a ribbon? Sure! Am I upset that someone else hit the magic combination ahead of me? Yep... I mean Nope. Fact of the matter is that I gave all three of the top three scores above 7.
Thanks fer listening!
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:51:41 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by Seanachai:
Originally posted by Jimmy Dean:
I Would someone please enlighten me and tell me if i'm crazy? |
you are not crazy, just rude. Congrats to the winners! |
I beg to differ - it was a legitimate question and he didn't say it in a rude way. We should encourage civil honesty over insincere compliments. IMO.
|
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:54:47 PM · #19 |
| I have to agree that I was surprised as well..but not because it's a bad photo..I did give it a 9, but gave a lot more 10's out that were all right behind this image, in the top 20. Congrats to all the winners!! |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 10:59:21 PM · #20 |
| if art was about the technicals we would never have had impressionist art or the creative works of Dali |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 11:02:03 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by theSaj:
if art was about the technicals we would never have had impressionist art or the creative works of Dali |
That statement doesn't make sense. Those artists were technically proficient in their own unique styles. Art requires SOME sort of technique, or NO technique at all, which would also be a technique. :) Jackson Pollock is a good example. You could say that he had no technique because it's just a bunch of paint splotches, but THAT's the technique right there- his method of applying the paint.
Message edited by author 2005-05-16 23:05:02. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 11:10:38 PM · #22 |
ohh. now Im under fire, first time in a long time. Dont worry I really dont get my feeling all in an uproar any more about this type of stuff.
Technically speaking, my photo "anybody home???" is not very pleasing to me either. If I could have voted on it I probablly would have given it a 6 or a 7, just because it did fit the challenge, plus it was prety darn cute.
The blown highlights, the oof on the bird (yes fritz you saw the original and its not very sharp, and a little bit out of focus)Im not cracy about the coloring, but I just wanted to throw it out there and see how it did. I was guessing it would place in the top 50, but I did NOT expect 3rd place out of this photo.
but the voters are the ones who cast the votes. So we are all going to have to live with that.
There are plenty of pictures I rate very high that never see the top 10, so i under stand your feelings.
I have stated this before, and I really dont understand why people get angry over the challenge results. Its NOT like we are getting BIG cash prizes, or expensive goodies in return for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Now if there WERE cash & prizes up for grabs I would have NEVER submitted this photo. This is just for fun and learning experience to me. So if you feel my ribbion needs to be given to someone else, by all means I give the SC the permission to do so.
James |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 11:14:08 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by jab119:
ohh. now Im under fire, first time in a long time. Dont worry I really dont get my feeling all in an uproar any more about this type of stuff.
Technically speaking, my photo "anybody home???" is not very pleasing to me either. If I could have voted on it I probablly would have given it a 6 or a 7, just because it did fit the challenge, plus it was prety darn cute.
The blown highlights, the oof on the bird (yes fritz you saw the original and its not very sharp, and a little bit out of focus)Im not cracy about the coloring, but I just wanted to throw it out there and see how it did. I was guessing it would place in the top 50, but I did NOT expect 3rd place out of this photo.
but the voters are the ones who cast the votes. So we are all going to have to live with that.
There are plenty of pictures I rate very high that never see the top 10, so i under stand your feelings.
I have stated this before, and I really dont understand why people get angry over the challenge results. Its NOT like we are getting BIG cash prizes, or expensive goodies in return for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Now if there WERE cash & prizes up for grabs I would have NEVER submitted this photo. This is just for fun and learning experience to me. So if you feel my ribbion needs to be given to someone else, by all means I give the SC the permission to do so.
James |
You deserve the ribbon if you won the ribbon. :) Don't think any different. Some people just may not like the photo (that includes me), but please don't downplay your image. You should be proud you've won.
Message edited by author 2005-05-16 23:14:36. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 11:22:14 PM · #24 |
I have no idea why someone has who has NEVER voted, NEVER entered a contest, and NEVER been in the forums just happen to b*tch about this entry. It makes no sense.
I liked it myself. |
|
|
|
05/16/2005 11:22:48 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by jab119:
I have stated this before, and I really dont understand why people get angry over the challenge results. Its NOT like we are getting BIG cash prizes, or expensive goodies in return for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
Now if there WERE cash & prizes up for grabs I would have NEVER submitted this photo. This is just for fun and learning experience to me. So if you feel my ribbion needs to be given to someone else, by all means I give the SC the permission to do so.
James |
Hey James,
I'm gonna take issue with this point :)
Cash prizes or not, I reckon many people here give challenges a very good shot, take the time for setting up some shots, giving energy and thought into post-processing stages, etc. For you to then say that if this were a cash prize challenge, you'd not have entered this shot is a bit of a strange thing to say. Are you telling the voters here that their opinions are not worth as much the opinions of people who vote in a cash-prize challenge?
I think your entry was a nice shot, and I respect the call that had been made by the collective voting body. Those who object to its placement have the right to speak their minds, and you've got the prerogative of being humble about your entry and talk up its flaws.
But come on...there's no need to put down the "value" of DPC voters, who'd spent minutes, if not hours, on looking at other people's photographs in the hope that they can learn something, and contribute to the discussions, all out of a "lurve" for the process.
|
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 06/16/2025 04:40:03 PM EDT.
