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03/16/2010 08:35:56 PM · #1 |
I have had a lot of people comment on my Shadow entry pointing out that in fact it is a "silhouette", I'm not arguing with that but, something that is blocked from light is in shadow therefore I felt it fitted into the challenge... besides there is a cast shadow from the subject, be it faint and unimpressive :)
How do other people feel about this?
Here is a dictionary and wikipedia reference to Shadow:
Shadow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Shadow (disambiguation).
"A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the light."
shadow |ˈ sh adō|
noun
1 a dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface : trees cast long shadows.
â€Â¢ partial or complete darkness, esp. as produced in this way : the north side of the cathedral was deep in shadow | ( shadows) a stranger slowly approached from the shadows.
â€Â¢ the shaded part of a picture.
â€Â¢ a dark patch or area on a surface : there are dark shadows beneath your eyes.
â€Â¢ a region of opacity on a radiograph : shadows on his lungs.
â€Â¢ short for eyeshadow .
verb [ trans. ]
1 (often be shadowed) envelop in shadow; cast a shadow over : the market is shadowed by St. Margaret's church | a hood shadowed her face.
2 follow and observe (someone) closely and typically secretly : he had been up all night shadowing a team of poachers.
â€Â¢ Brit. (of an opposition politician) be the counterpart of (a government minister or a ministry).
â€Â¢ accompany (someone) in their daily activities at work in order to gain experience at or insight into a job.
DERIVATIVES
shadower noun
shadowless adjective
ORIGIN Old English scead(u)we (noun), oblique case of sceadu (see shade ), sceadwian [screen or shield from attack,] of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schaduw and German Schatten (nouns), from an Indo-European root shared by Greek skotos ‘darkness.’ |
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03/16/2010 08:54:09 PM · #2 |
In all honesty, I'd recommend you just take things with a grain of salt. Some will think you thought things out well, while others will DNMC it. Don't worry about the semantics or you'll spend all your time evaluating what exactly the challenge means and not how to take a quality picture. Don't beat yourself up over it too much, because no matter what you do, somebody will completely disagree with your idea/vision and make a comment about it while another user will love it. I'm sure there will be the same sort of responses in this thread, as well.
Being somebody who does lower votes based on complete DNMC, I would say that I'd personally be alright with a silhouette, though I don't think it's exactly with my interpretation of the challenge.
Your (and everybody else's) mileage may vary. |
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03/16/2010 09:18:03 PM · #3 |
Yeah, I was just a little frustrated because I had like four comments saying it was "awesome" but not a shadow... lol
I know everyone has their own way of doing things...
Anyway I'm still excited to see the results of this challenge :D |
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03/16/2010 09:22:31 PM · #4 |
That's okay......I had someone bust me with a comment about my focus on an object in my image.....when the SUBJECT, is the shadow! Sheesh!
It's like DUH!!! READ the challenge description and the theme title.
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03/16/2010 09:30:15 PM · #5 |
| I went through a similar dilemma with my shots for this challenge although I decided that a silhouetted subject wouldn't be perceived as a shadow, here in DPCland. I think people will want to see a well defined shadow and not a silhouette, but that's just me. :) |
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03/16/2010 09:34:25 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by NikonJeb:
That's okay......I had someone bust me with a comment about my focus on an object in my image.....when the SUBJECT, is the shadow! Sheesh!
It's like DUH!!! READ the challenge description and the theme title. |
Same thing happened to me...a silhouette does fall within the definition but I'd agree with  Jac. |
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03/16/2010 09:35:37 PM · #7 |
I was probably one of those anal retentive souls who left that comment. I got nailed with some of those comments in the last shadows challenge, and my entry WAS a shadow. I made efforts to have the shadow look sharp, and some thought it was a silhouette behind a translucent panel.
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03/16/2010 09:39:50 PM · #8 |
I knew this issue would come up when I decided to submit it but it was to cool not to... lol
And for me if something is silhouetted it is technically "in shadow".
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
I was probably one of those anal retentive souls who left that comment. |
Haha whoever did said it was awesome none the less so I'm still happy :D
Message edited by author 2010-03-16 21:42:32. |
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03/16/2010 10:23:12 PM · #9 |
Votes & Trolls aside, it's worth pondering--what is a shadow, exactly, to you? Is it a dictionary definition? If I sent you out with your camera to capture 6 different kinds of shadows, what would you bring back? What if the Challenge had been to capture as many different kinds of shadows in one shot as possible?
A shadow happens because there is light. We need shadows to give us information about our 3-dimensional world. How many different kinds information can you get from just a shadow? These are some I can think of
-time of day (if the light source is the sun)
-light source ID
-subject ID
-distance the subject is from you
-distance the light is from the subject
-angle of the light source relative to the subject
-speed of the light (if it's moving)
-speed of the subject (if it's moving)
-texture
-edge
There are
stylized shadows indicated by line thickness in comic books
stylized shadows of silhouettes, like in a puppet show
detail shadow created by raking light
outline shadow cast by on-camera flash
BG shadow cast by subject
shadow created by insufficient light
shadow created by blocked light
It's like the many words for 'snow' in some parts of the world, or the many words for 'thing flying in the sky.' It all depends on how you see it. If there is only one kind of shadow for you, or many. Still it's worth thinking about. It has always amazed me that video & still photography seems to try so hard to minimize or eliminate shadows. Soft shadows are better than sharp edged, pale shadows better than dark ones. I wish someone would explain that one to me.
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