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02/02/2004 03:19:25 AM · #1 |
...I assume everything is intentional, hot spots and soft focus and all - so all I am voting upon is my opinion of their taste, is what it boils down to.
I am perhaps not the most creative photographer but I am reasonably technically skilled - most everything is how I choose it to be and I presume this is the case with everyone. I am not much interested in journalistic photography, my interest is more representative. I did a "How'd They Do That" recently and loved my wobbly effort. It was not really like the original except in concept - it did not aim for the same sort of clarity. I love both of them for different reasons - hard to say how I'd vote them in a challenge but I can assure you, head to head, mine would earn a 4 to a 9 for the original in a challenge. My tastes, apparently, appeal to a small percentage of the broad cross section of this community. That's okay. I like diversity - I'm Canadian, it's a way of life for us. :)
I love white spots and grain and texture and stuff - I love amplified reality, I suppose. Reminds me I'm human and imperfect, like everything else. I also love photogrqaphs simply because they are beautiful - because the image they present is appealing to me. Sometimes a soft focused, grainy image is exactly right.
My top picks RARELY win ribbons and those who award me "10"s could say the same. (Waving to those folks - I bet we all share 10s and 9s and 8s - we need a subculture department!)
I know this topic has been discussed to death. For you veterans it's old hat - but what is it? Let's have some pointers from the elders :)
Are there specific things you will absolutely vote low for? Soft focus? Abstraction? Cats? Overly technical/sterile?
Are there things you find distracting and take points away for? Borders? Frames? Non square/rectangular presentation? Size? Dimensions/Ratio? Pixelation/poor image quality?
On a scale of 1 to 10 what importance do you give the following?
1. Meets challenge topic
2. Has oopmh factor - appeals to you the moment you see it
3. Technical - perfect lighting, perfect exposure, perfect composition
4. Prettiness - sheer aesthetic appeal - the "Would I hang it on my wall?" thing
5. Creative/Inventive
6. Composition
7. Lighting/Exposure - "tone"
8. Darkroom processing/finishing
Um yeah - apparently I have nothing better to do at 2:30 in the morning than to make questionaires and write diatribes.
But seriously, I wonder...
Catherine
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02/02/2004 03:31:16 AM · #2 |
Originally posted by Catherine:
...I assume everything is intentional, hot spots and soft focus and all - so all I am voting upon is my opinion of their taste, is what it boils down to. |
I don't assume this. DPC is a learning site and many people here are quite new to photography. Not pointing out errors like hotspots and so on actually does the beginner a disservice.
Originally posted by Catherine:
On a scale of 1 to 10 what importance do you give the following?
1. Meets challenge topic |
This, surely, must the most important factor. Otherwise, there'd be no point in having a challenge
Originally posted by Catherine:
2. Has oopmh factor - appeals to you the moment you see it |
Not necessarily the moment I see it, but if a shot is boring, I'll mark it down.
Originally posted by Catherine:
3. Technical - perfect lighting, perfect exposure, perfect composition |
As I said, this is a learning site. Technique is an important thing to master.
Originally posted by Catherine:
4. Prettiness - sheer aesthetic appeal - the "Would I hang it on my wall?" thing
5. Creative/Inventive
6. Composition
7. Lighting/Exposure - "tone"
8. Darkroom processing/finishing |
There are countless criteria we could discover for our voting habits. Personally, I look at a shot and if I like it, I'll take time to understand why. If I don't like it, I'll dismiss it. |
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02/02/2004 04:55:54 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by Catherine:
On a scale of 1 to 10 what importance do you give the following?
1. Meets challenge topic
2. Has oopmh factor - appeals to you the moment you see it
3. Technical - perfect lighting, perfect exposure, perfect composition
4. Prettiness - sheer aesthetic appeal - the "Would I hang it on my wall?" thing
5. Creative/Inventive
6. Composition
7. Lighting/Exposure - "tone"
8. Darkroom processing/finishing
Um yeah - apparently I have nothing better to do at 2:30 in the morning than to make questionaires and write diatribes. |
With my meds preventing me from sleeping I'm more than happy to occupy my time with your questionnaire.
1. Meets challenge topic
A 10 for sure. As Koriyama said, if it doesn't take into consideration the challenge and meet it there is no point to having a challenge. Automatic one. There should be an option for zero for these.
2. Has oopmh factor - appeals to you the moment you see it
7 Ideally it should but I look at most of the photos several times before voting is over. (I too seem to have a lot of time on my hands)
3. Technical - perfect lighting, perfect exposure, perfect composition
9 I'll overlook minor issues with a strong concept but for the most part everyone should be able to have a sharp (unless for effect), well exposed (again considering the subject), pleasingly composed photo. Blurry photos, photos with harsh yellow or blue color casts from inappropriate white balances, and background junking are pet peeves of mine.
4. Prettiness - sheer aesthetic appeal - the "Would I hang it on my wall?" thing
4 I can't say that it doesn't matter at all but it's pretty low a consideration for me. I really like a lot of photos I wouldn't hang on my wall. One photo I absolutely love, I believe on another site, was of a suicide scene. It had a woman in the bathtub who slit her wrists and there was blood smeared around and pills flung about. Very vivid. It was such a strong photo and beautifully done but I wouldn't hang it on my wall. I would still give that photo a 10 if it showed up here and was on topic.
5. Creative/Inventive
6 This is something that is great to have but isn't necessary for a high score in my opinion. For example there was photo of a liquor bottle in the Point of View challenge that I gave a ten because it was so well done. It wasn't terribly inventive but overall I couldn't see anything wrong with it and it appealed to me very much.
6. Composition
8 It's pretty much required to have a strong composition. This isn't to say they must always follow the various rules of composition but it shouldn't be a detraction from the image by not following one or more of them.
7. Lighting/Exposure - "tone"
10 It makes the photo. It's not that difficult to get a good exposure with most cameras these days. Sure there are issues with the range of stops, flare, and the like but a photographer can always try at different times of the day, adjust studio lighting, use flashes, bounces/reflectors, etc. Now finding the quality of light, that can be tricky, as tricky as find an interesting subject that meets the challenge.
8. Darkroom processing/finishing
1 or 10 I'm not really sure what you mean there. If it's well done it's pretty much irrelevant. I'm not one to care if they edited the photo as long as it's "legal". If they present a photo that's not editing "legal" it's again not my job to penalize them. I'd request a DQ and vote according to how the image looks. On the other hand if you've not sharpened your photo, not corrected the colors and levels, not cropped out the distracting elements or cropped poorly that all affects the final product so then it is of the utmost importance.
Message edited by author 2004-02-02 04:56:26. |
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