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08/01/2005 07:27:57 PM · #1 |
I know I've only got myself to blame for my bad result in the Wooden challenge. The comments were spot on - it was too dark, dull and lifeless.
I started out entering this shot
but then I realised that really it didn't fit the challenge. I doubt it would have done worse than what I did enter though.
Next I went with this edit of my final entry
but I wasn't happy and started playing around with it a bit more.
I would have liked to enter one of these two
 
but I was afraid of a possible DQ because levels adustments and/or colour mixer made the background disappear (though that was what I liked about them).
After reading the comments, I had one last go at editing and came up with this one
which would probably have done slightly better.
Of course what I really needed was a better photo. Otherwise I should not have entered at all. Lesson learned. Well maybe. I seem to keep making the same mistakes.
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08/01/2005 08:18:23 PM · #2 |
Could really use some comments here. Would any of these have done better?
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08/01/2005 08:27:50 PM · #3 |
| As I looked at your pictures, your tree would have done bettr. Apparently there are purists who have to have it exactly as the challenge states, but the majority of folks aren't purists. My challenge entry I expected to do better, because the original rule stated to use wood in your picture as a component of your image. I took that to mean that your subject didn't have to be wood, you just used wood as a compostional component. |
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08/01/2005 08:28:06 PM · #4 |
The red one with the black background would have been my favorite, but I still don't think it's a strong entry because of the composition. Try taking from a lower angle and maybe an angle closer to the front.
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08/01/2005 08:34:39 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by ladymonarda:
As I looked at your pictures, your tree would have done bettr. Apparently there are purists who have to have it exactly as the challenge states, but the majority of folks aren't purists. My challenge entry I expected to do better, because the original rule stated to use wood in your picture as a component of your image. I took that to mean that your subject didn't have to be wood, you just used wood as a compostional component. |
The part of the challenge description that troubled me was "Wood is cut and dried and used as raw material for many things." I took this to mean that the wood shouldn't be in it's natural state. But I agree. It could hardly have done worse.
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08/01/2005 08:46:54 PM · #6 |
Here's some advice for you. Find someone on this site whose photography you respect. Preferably someone who's won a ribbon (or gotten close).
Sort their challenge entries from lowest score to highest. Undoubtedly you'll find even someone with several blue ribbons to their name has several entries that got a 4-something.
Go thru each one of their challenge entries, from lowest to highest and see if you can pick out what defines the difference between their low scoring entries and their better ones.
Take heida for example.
Her lowest scoring pic (4.496):
 <-- Image has low visual interest, isn't exactly an awe-inspiring subject, is out of focus, has no interesting light, evokes nothing in the viewer (sorry heida)
Her second highest scoring pic (7.577):
Stunning subject, great focus, interesting angle, fantastic light, evokes emotion (this image has been viewed 18,000 times)
If you carefully go thru each image in her (or someone else's) portfolio, you may start to see a trend.
If you're shooting for good scores (some people don't care), keep in mind that you need to shoot something that's going to evoke a response in the viewer. With your chair photo, most people will look at it and go "Yep, it's a chair, so what?" And if you DO want to take a picture of a chair and get a good score, you're going to have to do something very interesting with light, camera angle, or some-such, to make it unusual or eye-catching.
Message edited by author 2005-08-01 20:47:38. |
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08/01/2005 09:14:14 PM · #7 |
Thanks for the great advice.
I have two problems. One is that I spend so much time agonising over finding the right IDEA for challenges that I often don't have time to execute it properly. Yet there are some challenges that I feel I have to enter (wooden being one of them), so I end up entering something that I know isn't good enough.
The other is that I'm no good at judging my own photos. Take this one
It's the closest I've ever been to a ribbon, yet I thought it was nothing special and wasn't sure whether to bother with entering it.
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08/01/2005 09:36:01 PM · #8 |
That is a pretty interesting image. My advice to you regarding "agonizing over finding the right idea for challenges"??
STOP!!! Just go out and take photos. Have fun. Keep the challenge themes in your head so you don't miss out on a possible opportunity, but just have fun shooting.
If nothing fits when you get back, so what? Put some other stuff you liked in your portfolio.
A lot of photography (IMO) is timing, anyway. Sometimes you get lucky and a great photo practically falls in your lap. My current Tools entry is a good example of that. I'd all but given up when I found what turned out to be my entry. Now it's pulling a 6.97. Pure, dumb, stupid luck! |
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08/01/2005 09:43:20 PM · #9 |
That has worked with some challenges, but the fact remains that my top two scores were for photos where I did come up with ideas rather than just taking photos. There must be a balance somewhere.
Also, maybe I'm spending too much time at the computer and too little with my camera. Like now, it's way past anyone's acceptable bedtime in South Africa. So I better go and grab some sleep. Maybe I'll dream up a good idea for Affluence. Then again, maybe I'll give it a miss.
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08/01/2005 10:30:46 PM · #10 |
What do you do when you are sitting in front on the computer? Press the DPC update button or read forums? If so, may I suggest you reduce your time there and jump into becoming a Photoshop maestro!! Sometimes you can photoshop a "ho hum" image into something quite interesting.
If you have Photoshop CS, I would suggest buying the training series from //www.totaltraining.com. The CS series by Deke McClelland is jaw-droppingly good (is droppingly a new word???? haha). |
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