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 06/13/2004 10:12:54 PM · #1
Hey all, I am a newbie to the challenges. I have been admiring this site for a couple of months now and just began to submit to some of the challenges. What tips could you give myself and other newbies? I know its a general question, but from the looks at my scores for the waiting challenge, I need all the information possible.

Thanks,

Tim
 06/13/2004 10:23:12 PM · #2
Well, first of all, make sure you're taking advantage of the size allowed for submissions -- 640 x 480 pixels. Too many newbies seem to submit little itty bitty images and lose a lot of points for that.


06/13/2004 10:24:42 PM · #3
Boomer, can you offer any tips for how to do that while still maintaining the 150kb limit?
 06/13/2004 10:33:24 PM · #4
Sure! I resize my image in Elements (or any other image processor) first, to 640 x 480 (or whatever, if I've cropped the image. Always go for 640 for the long edge). Then, I add a bit of unsharp mask. Lastly, I "save for Web" in Elements, and set the Quality setting at whatever it needs to be to be under 150kb. This is anywhwere from 75% up to 100%, depending on the image. I think others may resize in 10% steps to get better results, but I'm not familiar enough with that technique. I just resize once, and set the quality setting at whatever it needs to be to be under the weight limit.
06/13/2004 10:34:29 PM · #5
Study the photos you like! Study them good and hard. If you want ribbons, study ribbon winning photos. Study them good and hard.
 06/13/2004 10:37:36 PM · #6
Originally posted by digistoune:
Boomer, can you offer any tips for how to do that while still maintaining the 150kb limit?


When I resize my shots, I use the 640 for the longest side and then if you have photoshop 7 you have the option to save for web, which seems to work very well for me in getting the size down where it needs to be.

Deannda
Not sure about other programs

Message edited by author 2004-06-13 22:37:50.
 06/13/2004 10:49:16 PM · #7
Don't forget the motorcycles and frogs... ;o)
 06/13/2004 10:49:44 PM · #8
Never, ever, ever submit because you, "have to submit" something. If you are rushing to finish your image, it will show. If you haven't taken time with your image, it will show.

Also remember that bad light in your image will kill a good photo. So if you take a shot with great composition, and crappy lighting (hazy, very bright overhead sun, washed out color), please please please go back a bit later in the day if at all possible and reshoot.

Clara
 06/13/2004 11:00:43 PM · #9
Originally posted by timganier:
Hey all, I am a newbie to the challenges. ...
What tips could you give myself and other newbies? ...
Thanks,

Tim

In any order:
Do lots of careful voting to get a feel for the site.
Then go back and study the results to see what people like.
Read FAQs in the "Help" box
Read the "How'd they do that" and "Tutorials" in the "Learn" box
Read the Rules in the "Challenge" box, 2 or 3 times or more.

You'll be headed for a ribbon in quick time.

Good luck.
 06/13/2004 11:38:30 PM · #10
Originally posted by digistoune:
Boomer, can you offer any tips for how to do that while still maintaining the 150kb limit?


"My workflow (for Photoshop CS) is as follows. Following these steps will provide a high-quality, DPC-compliant JPEG. And since the JPEG size is determined after all editing is completed (including adding any USM), you don't have to worry about "going over"...

- Make a copy of your "camera original"
- Open the copy of the photo
- Process it as desired/permitted, including any cropping
- Save your edited, full-resolution copy for possible use as a "print" later
- Select Image > Image Size...
- Make sure "Resample Image" is checked, and either "Bicubic", "Bicubic Sharper" or "Bicubic Smoother" is selected, depending on which looks "better" (sometimes I'll duplicate the window before the resize and visually compare the different resampling algorithms)
- In the "Pixel Dimensions" section at the top, enter "640" in either the "Width" or "Height" (depending if it is landscape or portrait). The other value will adjust automatically (assuming you have "Constrain Proportions" checked, which you should)
- Note: Don't worry about the value in the "Resolution" box; it is irrelavant for web content
- Click "OK"
- Apply a light touch of Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mark... (if needed)
- Choose Image > Mode > Convert to profile...
- If the Source Space is not "sRGB", set the Destination Space to "sRGB" and click "OK" to avoid any "color shifts"
- Choose File > Save for Web...
- Make sure "JPEG" is selected as the format, that the "Progressive" and "ICC Profile" boxes are not checked, and "Blur" is 0
- Click the little "arrow in a circle" on the right-hand side (the "Optimize Menu", next to the Preset drop-down menu) and choose Optimize to File Size...
- Enter "147" in the "Desired File Size" box
- Click "OK". (Notice that the "Quality" setting has been automatically adjusted to get you as close to 147K as possible.)
- Click "Save" and give it a name
- Upload that saved file to DPC"

a tip ni got from a fellow dpc'er.....

06/13/2004 11:56:02 PM · #11
Originally posted by dsidwell:
Study the photos you like! Study them good and hard. If you want ribbons, study ribbon winning photos. Study them good and hard.


Yeehaaaa, listen to this guy he is right! In 5 minutes it will finally pay off for me. :D Look at the top 10 entries in each challenge to figure out what they are doing right. And "study them good and hard"!
 06/14/2004 10:11:57 AM · #12
This is some good information! Thanks guys!
 06/14/2004 10:30:00 AM · #13
Originally posted by boomer:
Well, first of all, make sure you're taking advantage of the size allowed for submissions -- 640 x 480 pixels. Too many newbies seem to submit little itty bitty images and lose a lot of points for that.

Actually, the rules state, "Dimension: No dimension may be shorter than 160 pixels or longer than 640 pixels." So, I believe the maximum size for an image would be 640 x 640 pixels, and the minimum size would be 160 x 160 pixels.
06/14/2004 10:35:11 AM · #14
Originally posted by blemt:
If you are rushing to finish your image, it will show. If you haven't taken time with your image, it will show.


Have to say that this has not always been my experience. But bye all means choose your images carefully and dont submit just something you´ve shot recently.
If you´re trying to make some succes here I think its also very important to meet the challenge subject pretty obviously and dont try to squeeze it into a challenge by the title.

06/14/2004 10:55:32 AM · #15
Read the challenges carefully

When they say "be creative" try to think of something a little bit different then follow the steps below

1. Submit your unique pride and joy

2. Sit back and watch the numbers tumble and read the "doesn't meet the challenge" comments if your lucky enough to get any comments at all.

3. Get upset, post your bile on the forum and start a long thread

4. Mark some other folk down coz yours is doing badly and it's much better than theirs

5. Read new Challenge......think of something really interesting

6. Go to step 1

;-)

Steve

p.s. Enjoy yourself...it's a great site
 06/14/2004 11:04:14 AM · #16
Good one Steve.
Always remember too, that whatever you think is a good photo and uniquely meets the challenge, but is still pretty obvious, WILL BE CRUSHED! Remeber that the human race has now totally ruined the theory of evolution. Usually the stupid animals (humans) do stupid things and die from it, to never get to breed. We have destroyed that, and look at all the stupid humans we have crowding up the planet. They all vote HERE, by the way. (C:
 06/16/2004 09:12:22 AM · #17
Originally posted by dustin03:

"My workflow (for Photoshop CS) is as follows. Following these steps will provide a high-quality, DPC-compliant JPEG. And since the JPEG size is determined after all editing is completed (including adding any USM), you don't have to worry about "going over"...

- Make a copy of your "camera original"
- Open the copy of the photo
- Process it as desired/permitted, including any cropping
- Save your edited, full-resolution copy for possible use as a "print" later
- Select Image > Image Size...
- Make sure "Resample Image" is checked, and either "Bicubic", "Bicubic Sharper" or "Bicubic Smoother" is selected, depending on which looks "better" (sometimes I'll duplicate the window before the resize and visually compare the different resampling algorithms)
- In the "Pixel Dimensions" section at the top, enter "640" in either the "Width" or "Height" (depending if it is landscape or portrait). The other value will adjust automatically (assuming you have "Constrain Proportions" checked, which you should)
- Note: Don't worry about the value in the "Resolution" box; it is irrelavant for web content
- Click "OK"
- Apply a light touch of Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mark... (if needed)
- Choose Image > Mode > Convert to profile...
- If the Source Space is not "sRGB", set the Destination Space to "sRGB" and click "OK" to avoid any "color shifts"
- Choose File > Save for Web...
- Make sure "JPEG" is selected as the format, that the "Progressive" and "ICC Profile" boxes are not checked, and "Blur" is 0
- Click the little "arrow in a circle" on the right-hand side (the "Optimize Menu", next to the Preset drop-down menu) and choose Optimize to File Size...
- Enter "147" in the "Desired File Size" box
- Click "OK". (Notice that the "Quality" setting has been automatically adjusted to get you as close to 147K as possible.)
- Click "Save" and give it a name
- Upload that saved file to DPC"

a tip ni got from a fellow dpc'er.....


thankyou so much for this Dustin.....I've just tried it out and what a difference to the end result! I've been using the save to web and not worrying about the file size - hadn't realised you should/could do this.

sue
06/16/2004 09:26:44 AM · #18
Originally posted by blemt:
Never, ever, ever submit because you, "have to submit" something. If you are rushing to finish your image, it will show. If you haven't taken time with your image, it will show.


Hmm, not sure about that one. Most of my photos are submitted because I "have to submit" something. Here are some I thought would do really badly, but didn't:



And even when they do really badly, I still learn a lot from them. Just try not to score badly by submitting really boring shots!
 06/16/2004 09:41:02 AM · #19
Originally posted by BobsterLobster:
Originally posted by blemt:
Never, ever, ever submit because you, "have to submit" something.

Hmm, not sure about that one. Most of my photos are submitted because I "have to submit" something.

I have to agree with blemt on this one. I think there are probably a lot more shots "submitted for the sake of submitting" that did poorly than did well.

suemack: Glad my little "recipe" helped you out a little bit (I'm working on making it into a tutorial for the site)... your flower shot looks very crisp and detailed!

Message edited by author 2004-06-16 09:41:26.
 06/16/2004 09:49:44 AM · #20
I posted THESE tips a few days ago. No ribbons yet, but I'm staying near the top more consistently now. Good luck!
 06/16/2004 10:21:42 AM · #21
As a last step before you upload your final version to the dpc challenge, open the image file in your browser, not your editing program. This allows you to see it as nearly as possible to the way the voters will see it (almost all voters will be using Internet Explorer). You don't want any surprises at this point in the procedure.
 06/19/2004 02:04:04 AM · #22
Thanks for the great information. Hopefully you will see one of my photos at the top 10 soon. I aim for first, but you got to crawl before you walk. Thanks again. I still look forward for more information. Choices photo is not getting the results I wanted, but in a way it is what I expected. Blah.
 06/19/2004 02:44:36 AM · #23
-Always work on a copy, never the original.
-The date and time on your camera before going out to shoot, many cameras will reset if you pull out the batteries
-Good to calibrate your monitor so your shots are as close to most peoples monitor.

Newbies.

Message edited by author 2004-06-19 02:46:05.
 06/19/2004 07:12:53 AM · #24
Here is my tip to a newbie.

Have fun.

If you start stressing out because of points, standings, votes, etc. You will not have fun. Take a picture, you like it submit it and learn, not everyone is right and not everyone as the same taste. Maybe no one will get the message you are trying to show off with your picture but really, who cares, You like it and it's all that counts.
 06/22/2004 11:49:38 AM · #25
I am new to the site myself, but one thing I think is vitally important, and that I am just working on myself, is to LEARN YOUR CAMERA.

Don't rely on auto-focus if you don't know what it's really doing (not to say auto focus is not a good tool, but you should know what focus means before you let the camera do it). Understand the features you camera offers and what settings produce what results.

I was able to bring my picture quality up significantly literally overnight by carefully educating myself on how to use my camera.
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