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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> From above entries - first impressions
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 03/17/2003 06:35:41 AM · #1
There seems to have been a fair bit of misunderstanding of the challenge - I recall it says 'any subject from above it' No real comments to make yet, as I haven't looked at everything other than in thumbnails (which can be so deceptive) - but it's really nice to have aless specific challenge, after two weeks of eggs and bridges.

On first look, there appears to be a much wider range of quality, as well as of subject. Good luck to all

Ed
 03/17/2003 08:28:05 AM · #2
Your post is confusing me. You feel the challenge was widely misinterpreted in your view, or that you are congratulating the wide variety of interpretation?
03/17/2003 08:34:12 AM · #3
Both things. There are a number (certainly a high percentage of the ones I've voted on so far) that are taken from below, where the challenge explicitly states 'taken from above it'.

But also, unlike the egg and bridges challenges, I'm not feeling overloaded with similar images all the time.

i'd be interested to know how people are voting the 'mistakes' - I'm presonally feeling compelled to give them a 1, though I'm taking pains to explain why, and to be positive in comments.

Ed
 03/17/2003 09:03:45 AM · #4
Well.. Hmmm. I think people should be left to interpret the challenge as they see fit, when submitting for it, and when voting on it. Discussing it here may sway opinions.. or not.
Well. Don't want to be a stick in the mud. I just want to point out that everyone has a view of what meets the challenge... and then there are those that don't weigh the scores heavily on that as there are usually a multitude of interpretations.

As for the variety of images vs. eggs (for example). I agree. It will be fun to vote this challenge.
 03/17/2003 10:41:13 AM · #5
I was dismayed by the amount of people who photographed from below their subject. I looked at them for a while, trying to figure out if they had cleverly met the theme, but I was failing to understand it, but I couldn't. The sad part is that there's a lot of great shots, that got around 2 or 3 from me because they just didn't meet the challenge.
 03/17/2003 11:45:23 AM · #6
Well I was one of the those that photograph from below. I thought it was a remake so I looked at some the the last images From the Ground Up and based my image on that. I feel like such a dummy for it seems I'm always going on the boundries of the theme and get voted down for that. This one I probably should be voted down on.
 03/17/2003 11:55:29 AM · #7
Originally posted by KarenB:
Well.. Hmmm. I think people should be left to interpret the challenge as they see fit, when submitting for it, and when voting on it. Discussing it here may sway opinions.. or not.
Well. Don't want to be a stick in the mud. I just want to point out that everyone has a view of what meets the challenge... and then there are those that don't weigh the scores heavily on that as there are usually a multitude of interpretations.

As for the variety of images vs. eggs (for example). I agree. It will be fun to vote this challenge.


If people do not meet the challenge, then what is the point in having a challenge?

03/17/2003 12:21:04 PM · #8
Meeting the challenge is important to me when looking at the photos. I don't think that there is really much "interpreting" of the challenge here. If you are supposed to take a photo of cats, and you take a photo of dogs, you're going to be marked down. Likewise, if you are supposed to take a photo from above, and you take it from below, you're probably going to be marked down. There is a difference in interpreting and MISinterpreting, in my opinion. Different interpretations are OK, but misinterpretations aren't.
 03/17/2003 12:33:53 PM · #9
I may be wrong, but I noticed in my initial voting that some of the images
in which they were looking UP seemed to be from foreign photographers, at
least I got that from either titles or from the things in the image itself.
This confusion was discussed this past week, too, stemming perhaps from the
link to the previous challenge. I think some felt that it was a repeat of
the previous challenge.

However, I don't know how the challenge could be stated more clearly.

Oh well.
 03/17/2003 02:44:29 PM · #10
Originally posted by STEINR:
Originally posted by KarenB:
Well.. Hmmm. I think people should be left to interpret the challenge as they see fit, when submitting for it, and when voting on it. Discussing it here may sway opinions.. or not.
Well. Don't want to be a stick in the mud. I just want to point out that everyone has a view of what meets the challenge... and then there are those that don't weigh the scores heavily on that as there are usually a multitude of interpretations.

As for the variety of images vs. eggs (for example). I agree. It will be fun to vote this challenge.


If people do not meet the challenge, then what is the point in having a challenge?


I agree with you.. to a point. There is "not meeting the challenge" and then, there is "not meeting the challenge". Vote as you see it, and I will too. Now, if someone posted a photo of a person taken from a "normal straight on position", then I could say it doesn't meet the challenge. I have not looked at all the entries. Just pointing out that you should keep an open mind. Your interpretation of this or any challenge in general may not be the same or any more valid as someone else's. I learned this the hard way in the "On the Road Challenge". Since then, I try to keep an open mind is all.
;0)
 03/17/2003 05:26:38 PM · #11
I found "meeting the challenge" a really frustrating part of this challenge. I had some photos I really liked which I considered entering, but it wasn't obvious that they were taken from above. In the end I compromised with a picture that wasn't my best, but which left no room for doubt.
 03/17/2003 05:59:24 PM · #12
If a photo is a really good one I will never give a 1 or a 2 for not meeting the challenge but I do feel that meeting the challenge is very important. I did feel that this challenge was pretty black and white. I have not voted yet but I did look through the thumbnails and did see several images that were clearly taken from below and they will get lower marks from me. Whether these were from misunderstandings or what they clearly do not meet the challenge in my opinon. Then there are some that are mostly photographed from the side but I consider these to fit into the 'gray' area and I wont mark them down quite as much. I feel that the top photos will clearly, without a doubt, be taken from above the subject, as well as being great photos. I feel you should be trying to nail the challenge theme and not just skate around it. But, like they say, that's just me.

T
 03/17/2003 08:33:32 PM · #13
I consider above to be good as long as it is a downward angle to the subject!!
 03/18/2003 07:17:44 PM · #14

This is were I became confused because of this link. It visual went into my mind that this was a remake of that contest and these were just examples of how photograph. You can say I should have read on and I think I did but not 100% sure. Having it visually in my mind and the words from above brought me to that conclusion that the subject should be from above.There should have never been this hyper-link with the contest theme
 03/19/2003 05:10:13 AM · #15
From Above was simply the complimentary challenge to From the Ground Up.
Just like Something Old and Something New...
 03/19/2003 09:19:43 AM · #16
Not that anyone probably cares, but I usually subtract one point for not meeting the challenge. I do think it's important, but I also think that most people think they are meeting the challenge when they enter. I can see how this one might have confused some people with the reference to the below challenge. To me, someone who took it from a straight on angle probably met the challenge less than someone who took it from below b/c the person taking it from below probably thought that they were meeting the challenge. I'm not sure how anyone would interpret it to mean "take a straight on" shot though.
Subtracting one just seems a little more fair to me because bad shots still get a bad score and good shots will still get a good score, but I'm not going to inadvertently punish someone for having a different interpretation or even for reading it wrong. I tend to think that the real purpose is to practice our photography within a framework of topic ideas, but I would rather see a good shot with a creative interpretation score higher than a bad shot that is the epitomy of meeting the topic.
 03/19/2003 10:31:15 AM · #17
But what's even the point of having a theme, if a good photo that doesn't meet it all still gets a high score?
 03/19/2003 10:52:54 AM · #18
My submission is definitely from above, from directly above in fact, but because of the focus it actually became hard to tell that it was from above, cause it's hard to tell what it is. Oops :)

If a photo doesn't fit the theme I will rate it lower, but I think I usually rate pictures higher on average than others do anyway. You would think 5 should be average, right? Well, I guess not here :)

Overall it was a really fun challenge and I enjoyed going through the pictures. Not nearly as daunting as looking at the bridges. I had to give bonus points to anyone that did anything like the bridge of a guitar for that reason alone.
 03/19/2003 11:05:47 AM · #19
I hear that Dan!

My photo was meant to give the illusion of being shot from the side, when in fact it was really shot from above. Judging from the voting and a couple of the comments, I think the illusion was *too* successful! It'll be interesting to see what my score distribution looks like. I'm guessing there will be two peaks, one fairly high and one fairly low. 'Course, I could be wrong and everyone just thinks it's a horrible picture ;)

-Matt

Message edited by author 2003-03-19 11:06:50.
 03/19/2003 02:12:31 PM · #20
mine was definitely taken from above--but based on the surprising number of comments saying that it was not--i can only assume that people dont take into consideration *vertically challenged* people! :) (i can get up to 5'3" with some good shoes! hehehe) either that or maybe i was wrong in rotating the canvas to make sure the horizon was level? who knows! interesting to see it thru other people's eyes tho! :)
 03/19/2003 04:44:39 PM · #21
To me, the challenges are kind of like professional photography assignments. If your editor says, "Go out and get a picture "from above,"" and you don't do that, she will not use your picture in the magazine or newspaper. If a client asked for a picture "from above" and you didn't do that, you won't get hired again.

I think challenges are good practice for such assignments.

David
 03/19/2003 06:36:20 PM · #22
Mine started out pretty good (around 5.3) and has steadily been going down. Right now it's at 4.77. I'm surprised, since all of the comments have been positive.
 03/20/2003 02:11:11 PM · #23
In responce to the earlier posts, i've took the title "From Above" to mean a number of things. IE rain comming from above... (not what i submitted)
Too bad, cause my score will pay...:(
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