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06/13/2012 09:58:27 AM · #1 |
I'm pretty happy with my last challenge entry in the dead end II challenge, but I don't like the bell curve of votes. For anyone who voted 2, 3, or 4, can I get some advice on what made you think this was a poor photo? Anyone else have any advice on what I could have done with this to get the bell curve pushed up a little bit more?
Thanks for any and all comments. |
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06/13/2012 10:20:32 AM · #2 |
I'm one of the 3's.
I tend to vote low, look through the forums for my methodology, but I'll try to explain the rest here.
1 - This challenge was hard because there are so many unique ways to portray dead end. Comparing the images in relation to each other was quite difficult.
2 - In relation to your photo, I just didn't see the emotion. With this kind of shot, I want to feel helplessness or an end of the line feeling. I didn't get that. With the hand up against the fence like you had, I wanted to either see something or someone on the side the person is longing for but can never have, or someone or something behind them and the fence is holding them from getting away. With your composition I could fill in the blanks myself, but felt it was lacking too much context so I didn't even want to do that. For this reason, I gave it a below average vote.
Hopefully that's somewhat constructive.
CS
Message edited by author 2012-06-13 10:22:19. |
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06/13/2012 10:27:39 AM · #3 |
didn't vote but i would have scored it low too, to me its just a picture of a hand, i need to see more of where they came from or are trying to get to or what if anything about the person is special or intriguing, this image carries no emotion and tells no story.
Message edited by author 2012-06-13 10:28:09. |
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06/13/2012 10:38:40 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by cosmicassassin:
...With your composition I could fill in the blanks myself...
Hopefully that's somewhat constructive.
CS |
I think that's sort of where I was trying to go with this, to give a general feel of hopelessness and have the viewer fill in what was un-achievable.
On these challenges, I find that I have a very hard time constructing a photo and have to rely heavily on what is already there. I definitely have to do a lot more thinking on the setup as well as figure out how to do that thinking in the first place...
Thanks for the feedback though, this is very helpful. |
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06/13/2012 10:44:18 AM · #5 |
I think allowing the viewer to fill in the blanks is extremely important, especially for what you were trying to achieve with this photo. The problem was there was simply too much lacking in terms of context. The viewer could have gone anywhere, and unfortunately for your score, indifference was one of those places.
CS |
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06/13/2012 10:53:08 AM · #6 |
I was one of your 7s. I liked that it actually did have a human element to it, and made you wonder a bit.
It wasn't more than a 7, because it wasn't visually as interesting as it could be. More context would help. Even more negative space would help. The hand clenching the fence instead of just sitting there. Someplace other than centered. etc.
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06/13/2012 11:10:50 AM · #7 |
| I didn't vote, but I'll comment. I get a whiff of intended desperation from the setup that doesn't seem to go along with the smoothness of the hand or the well maintained fence. Think about Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. Where is this person on the pyramid? Are you trying to suggest she is seeking foundational elements like food and shelter? In my opinion, that hand does not resemble a homeless person's, and the hand detracts if that was your intent. Or is the person higher on the pyramid, worrying about first-world problems like belonging and self actualization. Again, this is my opinion, but if that is the case, the setting doesn't fit very well. It is not the type of setting where a reasonably well-off person finds herself worrying about her career or her love life. In summary, I think the idea comes through but the execution feels a bit incongruous. |
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06/13/2012 11:48:50 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by vawendy:
because it wasn't visually as interesting as it could be. More context would help. Even more negative space would help. The hand clenching the fence instead of just sitting there. Someplace other than centered. etc. |
Didn't vote this challenge. Just a couple of creative ideas to share.
If the person was grasping the fence and was trying to pull it down, it would have conveyed the "reaching a dead end" concept more dramatically. Adding more negative space would show the fence bowing from being pulled on.
Tim |
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06/13/2012 11:53:51 AM · #9 |
JiaBob, that gives me a ton to think about, I've never heard of that pyramid, but I did sort of feel that her hand was somehow contrasting with the setting but I didn't really know why.
Atupdate, vawendy, thanks for the comments. I had a few where she was grabbing the fence, but it didn't look to me as dramatic as this one. Those kind of showed that she was fighting and in this one, her hand is sort of dropping off the fence and I was hoping to show more of an idea of giving up and not being able to get through. |
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