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05/25/2005 08:22:29 AM · #1 |
Not that it matters much. But I am going to take a break from the site and challenges. Maybe permenatly I do not know yet. I have the time (I have nothing else to do). But just not the motivation for the challenges.
Just wanted to say thank you for any and all of ideas and inspiration anyone has given me. I won't quit taking photographs but probrably will not be posting them any more.
Singsunshine will be here so I will ultimately here about the site from her.
Best of luck to everyone and maybe I will see you all on the other side. |
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05/25/2005 08:25:12 AM · #2 |
Even if you don't want to do challenges right now you might still want to post photo's and get critiques of your shots and after a time you may want to do some challenges again. Best of luck either way
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05/25/2005 08:25:47 AM · #3 |
Is it us or is there something we can do to make life a bit easier for you?
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05/25/2005 08:28:47 AM · #4 |
my last challenge was at the begining of march and I'm still here. I've learned a ton since then. like puma said, take some picture and put them on here to get critiques. either way, the best of luck to you.
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05/25/2005 08:29:13 AM · #5 |
| No totally nothing wrong with the site or the people. Just not motivation for the challenges. Just do not want to force challenges that have 0% in common with. Don't misunderstand me..I know everyone can't take photographs of what they want all the time. And I know it is a good idea to push ones self and make your subjects your own. Guess I just can't find the energy to do that any more. |
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05/25/2005 08:33:50 AM · #6 |
Why not try a photo a day project you will have fun and sometimes ideias might come for challenges naturaly... I have been having fun with my PAD and sometimes when you aren't expecting a photo for a challenge just fits in...
Just my 2cents...
Good luck.
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05/25/2005 08:44:31 AM · #7 |
Welcome to the Dark Side, DustDevil. Where you can enter whenver you want, the update button is a funny little tool not an obsession and "score" means with the ladies.
:)
Welcome to the team.
M
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05/25/2005 08:47:56 AM · #8 |
Hey, I like the idea of being on the 'Dark Side', I don't feel bad about missing challenges now :)
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05/25/2005 09:01:29 AM · #9 |
see ya.
ok, so you've only been a member for a couple of weeks now and have entered EVERY challenge available. I ask WHY?????? Pick and choose from the ones you like. Half of them SUCK like alllll my photos so I only shoot what I want which I find MAKES the difference between me and some shumck that HAS to enter EVERY challenge (not saying that you are that shumck). Remember shoot for YOU, not this site.
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05/25/2005 09:06:44 AM · #10 |
I feel the same way dustman, no motivation for challenges - no time, etc. My solution is not to submit when I don't have genuine inspiration or an idea that I really believe will lead to a good photo. I'm well past entering just to enter. I don't mind not winning, or even not doing very well. I just don't submit for the sake of being in a contest.
My workload is going to lighten considerably in a few weeks and I'll have some traveling time. I know my photo/inspiration rate will pick up then and I'll be back in some challenges.
I hope you experience a similar pickup after taking some time off.
-J |
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05/25/2005 09:16:10 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by notonline:
Pick and choose from the ones you like. Remember shoot for YOU, not this site. |
This is the best advice anyone can give. When I first became a member I wanted to enter every challenge. Now I just pick and choose. If I have an idea I think is good and I want to try it then I will enter. If not I still hang around and participate in the voting and the forums.
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05/25/2005 09:23:46 AM · #12 |
ok, at the rate people are abandoning the challenges, there's hope for me yet! maybe i'll wind up like the protaganist in arthur c clarke's masterpiece 'childhood's end', where he came back to earth from a time travel to find himself the only person left. he sat down at a piano and realized that he was finally the greatest pianist on earth...
all the same, i don't see much satisfaction in that, so, dustdevil, if you don't mind, don't leave...just try a different perpective. maybe bend over and shoot everything upside down for awhile? or tilted? maybe if you do something fun with the camera, enter it in a challenge just for grins? |
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05/25/2005 09:27:34 AM · #13 |
if you look at my entries ... i didnt submit for over a year ... you'll find it again - i did .. and i feel i'm stronger than ever!
.. hope to see you soon! or around still :)
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05/25/2005 09:49:49 AM · #14 |
If you dont care about your score then you can look at the challenges as personal assignments. You dont have to force yourself to think of a subject or image that will be the cleverest in the challenge.
Silhouette, lighting, and granular can all be looked at as technique challenges. Meaning you actually have to learn something or be aware of a number of factors in order to produce an adequate image. Dont set out with a preconceived plan nor plot out your entire image. Just be aware and look. You'll be surprised at how many things you'll see that cover these topics without even trying. Shoot what you find and let motivation and inspiration come from the subject and not from a need to make sure you get a challenge entry out of it. Plan to not even enter the challenge - you dont need the stress or the frustration if you do not get 'the shot'.
Freedom of constraints is a great motivator. No more thinking 'too shallow, voters wont like it', 'too cliche will cause many forum complaints', 'too much like another shot will get people calling me a cheat', 'not clever enough', 'not sharp enough', 'too sharp' and on and on and on.
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05/25/2005 10:29:03 AM · #15 |
Something that strikes me is that you've only been registered since April 6...that's only 7 weeks. That's a fairly short amount of time during which to become burned out. As others have pointed out, the challenge score is really meaningless as long as you are producing images that do or say something to YOU. Challenges, though fun and get your creative spark going at times, can be rather foreboding and ominous if you try too hard (as well as try to enter them all). Your score suffers, your photography suffers, and your sanity suffers. I did that myself. I have only in the past few months been able to back off and only enter the ones that speak to me. It's great that you are going to relax, give yourself some time, and above all, you're going to keep shooting. I can't wait to see what you'll be posting in the future. Good luck! :o)
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05/25/2005 10:44:39 AM · #16 |
I entered a lot in the beginning, then took some time off, and lat month did a good bit ov entering, and now, well, the challenge subjects do nothing for me. So i will likley not enter for a bit but spend more time voting and commenting.
And participating in the forums of course!
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05/25/2005 10:50:04 AM · #17 |
| I am sorry to hear that your leaving dust devil,,You will be missed and by the way I loved the minialmism pics you did with the bubbles I thought was very creative and really neat,,the best of luck to you and I hope that will come back at some point,,,smile |
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05/25/2005 10:53:38 AM · #18 |
| Having the motivation or inclination to enter challenges does not mean you need to leave the site. I have only entered seven challenges in the three years I have been around here, but I still check the site out on a daily basis. It's a great community with a lot of talent that is worth checking out. |
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05/25/2005 11:24:10 AM · #19 |
yeah - I'm backing off for a while as well. My decision is situational. I'm still in my parents home and don't have the money or space for a studio, and I'm tired of trying to manufacture one. I don't have models for the nudes I want to do and I won't bring them into my parents home...so unless there's a challenge that I can take outside with me with me....I'll stock-pile my ideas from the other challenges for later projects. I'm tired of trying to fit arwork into other peoples pre-conceived notions in a limited time frame with limited resources.
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05/25/2005 11:43:17 AM · #20 |
I joined a couple of months ago, and have learned a lot, but I think a potential "issue" here is that for most members, there's not much feedback on challenge entries or other shots posted to portfolios. At the end of a challenge, I do look at the voting spreads on my entries, and I do wish there's more feedback particularly from those who score less than 5.
I agree that one way of countering the "low-score blues" is to pick and choose challenges. But at the same time, I do believe there's an extra challenge in entering for themes where I don't consider myself a "natural" in. Those are the moments when the learning curve could be steepest, and perhaps most educational.
But another solution perhaps would be to create small study groups that are outside of the formal structure of DPC, and its members actively critique each others' works on a regular basis. Such a study group would engender more trust and openness between participants, and there would be more room for mini private challenges amongst those groups.
Some might think this is cliquey, etc, but I personally don't care. I do want to improve my photographic skills, to have more interactions between me, my images and others and their images. If anyone else is sympathetic to this notion, I'd welcome PMs and we can do a trial run on it.
Thanks.
PS my personal interests are people shots, street scenes, some portraiture, etc.
Message edited by author 2005-05-25 11:44:32.
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05/25/2005 11:53:59 AM · #21 |
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05/25/2005 12:04:03 PM · #22 |
It can be frustrating to keep getting low scores, but you can't quit. Look at your pictures and see what you can change to make a better picture. Look at the pictures that got a better score then yours. Try to figure out why theirs is better. What can you do to change that? Start critiquing your own pictures.
Just thinking back on when I first started. I wasn't even worried about the scores as much as I am now. I was more worried about the comments. I looked at other photos and tried to shoot what they did. Trying to understand the camera settings and all that. It was a huge learning curve and still is..I am now trying to figure out the new CS2 program. It can be fun if you make it fun.
Don't quit, just take a break and keep posting in the forums. |
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05/25/2005 12:07:10 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by rex:
Rob left you a comment. |
Thanks James. Left you one too :)
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05/25/2005 12:18:24 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by mavrik:
Welcome to the Dark Side, DustDevil. Where you can enter whenver you want, the update button is a funny little tool not an obsession and "score" means with the ladies.
:)
Welcome to the team.
M |
We have a new leader! Hooray for the Dark Side Gang! Seriously, DustDevil, I hope all the best for you no matter what you end up doing - I hope you can continue to enjoy your photography. I have been in the same struggle as you. |
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05/25/2005 02:12:24 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by mavrik:
... the update button is a funny little tool not an obsession and "score" means with the ladies. |
Hhhmmmm ... Sounds like the Dark Side is the place to be.
Seriously DD, most all of us go thru phases like you are going thru. We come out of it in time, usually with a better perspective on the place this site, and photography in general, have in our lives. Take a break, but come back when to get the notion.
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