DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> Was this in the wrong challenge?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 16 of 16, (reverse)
AuthorThread
12/22/2019 04:42:13 AM · #1


I had this photo in mind as a contender for Art of 2019 but decided to enter it for Extended Free Study instead.

As soon as I saw the scores I thought I'd made a mistake, but I'm wondering whether it would have done better in a standard editing challenge or whether it's just a lousy photo.
12/22/2019 11:05:19 AM · #2
I didn't vote that challenge, but I'll try to give it a fair evaluation.

I would have probably given it a 6, which is my vote for something that is good, but doesn't grab my attention either.

The blur creates an interesting effect on the bird, but my eye doesn't know where to land. I am equally drawn to the bright green grass. The bit at the bottom is a nice pattern, but the shrubs up top compete with the subject. Perhaps editing choices could have resulted in higher appeal for the DPC collective. Maybe toning down the grass, cropping a little more, and/or putting a bit of a vignette on it to help guide the eye to the subject. Hope that helps and I'll be interested to see if others agree or see it differently.
12/22/2019 12:09:00 PM · #3
I agree with Steve, and did give it a 6. The camera movement effect was interesting for the bird, and the greens do weave together nicely, but the overall result, in my opinion, doesn't hang together. The beige area on the right confounded me. Is that another bird?
In an Art challenge people are probably more open to such an image, but in regular challenges the tolerance is more narrow. I received a similar result once, and a commenter did come to this same conclusion. Actually he came to it first; I'm just reprising it. I always enjoy seeing people stretch themselves and the medium in the spirit of creativity and adventure, and reward such efforts in the numbers I offer. So all in all, bravo!
12/22/2019 01:28:58 PM · #4
Thanks for the valuable critiques.

I don't think there was another bird in the frame, though there were two others close by. With intentional camera movement it's quite difficult to control what's in the frame and some of the results were quite bizarre - like this one:


There's only one bird in outtake.
12/22/2019 01:41:32 PM · #5
I didn't vote... but I would have given it a 6 (my starting point, unless something just really, really doesn't work for me).

12/22/2019 10:55:48 PM · #6
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

and some of the results were quite bizarre - like this one:

Ooh, I like that! Has a very surreal look to it. Probably would have done mediocre to poor in a challenge, but I think it's one of those images that would have strong appeal for a narrow crowd.
12/23/2019 03:31:33 AM · #7
Thanks Yo_Spiff. I think you're right that it would have done poorly.

I had unrelated candidates for EFS that would almost certainly have done better. I'm starting to wish I'd used one of those.
12/23/2019 11:40:12 AM · #8
Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

and some of the results were quite bizarre - like this one:

Ooh, I like that! Has a very surreal look to it. Probably would have done mediocre to poor in a challenge, but I think it's one of those images that would have strong appeal for a narrow crowd.
I'm in that narrow crowd. :)
12/23/2019 11:58:51 AM · #9
Ha! We just got here another sobriquet to use at DPC:
"THE NARROW CROWD" - definitely encompassing more subtly qualities than "Artsy"
12/23/2019 02:03:41 PM · #10
Originally posted by posthumous:

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

and some of the results were quite bizarre - like this one:

Ooh, I like that! Has a very surreal look to it. Probably would have done mediocre to poor in a challenge, but I think it's one of those images that would have strong appeal for a narrow crowd.
I'm in that narrow crowd. :)


I appreciate that. Now I'm starting to think I should have entered that one, even if it did poorly. I'd rather have it appeal to some members that just enter a mediocre image that doesn't appeal to anyone.

The problem is that some people would think both photos were Photoshop creations, but the effects were entirely created in camera. That's why they shouldn't be in EFS, but in standard editing challenges.
12/23/2019 09:00:10 PM · #11
Originally posted by mariuca:

Ha! We just got here another sobriquet to use at DPC:
"THE NARROW CROWD" - definitely encompassing more subtly qualities than "Artsy"


I'll sometimes enter something that I expect to perform poorly, looking for a handful of comments.

A "love it or hate it" entry is also a success. I've only had one of those, where there was a valley in the 5's, surrounded by high and low votes. However, I was surprised to achieve that with an abstract in an abstract challenge.
12/24/2019 03:35:24 AM · #12
That is something I'd like to achieve, but I never have. Maybe next year!
12/24/2019 09:54:10 AM · #13
Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

Thanks for the valuable critiques.

I don't think there was another bird in the frame, though there were two others close by. With intentional camera movement it's quite difficult to control what's in the frame and some of the results were quite bizarre - like this one:


There's only one bird in outtake.


FWIW, I like this one, it's a commitment to strangeness. The other by comparison seems to be covering up for a 'regular' in-focus photo, partly because the blur seems in-focus somehow.
12/25/2019 11:51:23 AM · #14
The outtake is very interesting:) Not sure about the frame because it confines the feel of floating, IMO.
12/25/2019 11:04:12 PM · #15
Originally posted by posthumous:

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

Originally posted by GinaRothfels:

and some of the results were quite bizarre - like this one:

Ooh, I like that! Has a very surreal look to it. Probably would have done mediocre to poor in a challenge, but I think it's one of those images that would have strong appeal for a narrow crowd.

I'm in that narrow crowd. :)

I'm totally on-board with being narrow as heck when it comes to this image :-) Brilliant!
12/26/2019 03:25:14 AM · #16
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

I'm totally on-board with being narrow as heck when it comes to this image :-) Brilliant!


Thanks. I'm really mad at myself for not entering it. And now that everyone's seen it I can't use if for another challenge either.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 05:45:56 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 05:45:56 PM EDT.