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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> I don't normally ask but this time I have to
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06/15/2005 06:42:01 AM · #1


All the comments are positive, yet the majority of the votes are a 5. Could someone who gave this a 5 please tell me what I could have done to make it better, to give it that WOW factor that would have made it a higher score for you?

I don't care about the low scores, I take those with a grain of salt but I honestly thought this would do much better and not because I'm attached to the subject, I felt it was a really good shot.

Thanks in advance.

Deannda
06/15/2005 06:49:00 AM · #2
Hi Deannda,

I didn't vote in this challenge but probably would have scored yours a 5. The shot is good, but I think it would better suit a PLAYING challenge rather than the CONSTRUCTION challenge. Just a bit of a stretch in my view. Hope this helps.

Ray
06/15/2005 06:51:56 AM · #3
I gave it a 6 for the quality of the photo, but felt that it didn't really meet the challenge.
06/15/2005 06:53:28 AM · #4
For me this is a pleasing photo, but not have a wow factor

Compositionally I find my eye drawn to the left hand corner of the image, the knee and spade handel have a strong focus.

The sharpness around the boys face is a little soft, compounding the focus to his knee.

The angle of his hand does not make it imediatly obvious that he is doing what most children do best. Dig holes.. so I suspect some may mark down a little on the construction theme...

This all adds together to make a fun picture for your album, but not one which will score highly on DPC.

Message edited by author 2005-06-15 06:54:03.
06/15/2005 06:57:07 AM · #5
The photo is good - no reason to doubt that. The challenge description made reference to "Road construction, building construction, housing construction." I guess that a lot of people will not regard a child digging a hole as being in the same category.

I wouldn't let it worry you: you know the picture is good. The people who commented thought it was good: if you assume that the commenters represent the "do not care that this is an outside the box picture" crowd, then the people who assessed your picture on its merits, not on whether it met the challenge, gave you a 7.5 average. I am sure that you must be pleased with that (I would be!).
06/15/2005 09:00:59 AM · #6
The image has the appearance of being selectively desaturated, which I thought was not allowed in basic editing. This was an influence on my vote. I gave it a 6.

Message edited by author 2005-06-15 09:01:35.
06/15/2005 09:11:21 AM · #7
Originally posted by RonBeam:

The image has the appearance of being selectively desaturated, which I thought was not allowed in basic editing. This was an influence on my vote. I gave it a 6.


If you suspect a photo has been illegally edited, we ask that you recommend it for DQ and vote as if it was legal.
06/15/2005 09:14:32 AM · #8
i might chalk this up to a case of people voting down for "shoehorning" a kid photo into a challenge.

i'm not saying this is the case here, but people do tend to vote down for subjects that they don't expect... and it's possible that people thought you were trying to wedge this in where it didn't belong.
06/15/2005 09:38:04 AM · #9
I liked the shot and gave it a 7. It was creative, different, and fitted the challenge nicely, IMO. It did lack a bit of the WOW factor, but still a nice shot. Wow factor isn't everything.
06/15/2005 10:09:24 AM · #10
Originally posted by legalbeagle:

The challenge description made reference to "Road construction, building construction, housing construction." I guess that a lot of people will not regard a child digging a hole as being in the same category.


I believe this image had all the above in it and more...Problem with a lot of people is that they haven't exposed themselves with the arts enough to take the time to understand what is being said by the artist or by the subject of the art work. To this child, I am sure he was doing soom serious building, roads, houses, caves or what ever, this child was into "construction" and I am sure at the time this photo was taken, nothing else mattered to the construction worker.

I have always told my musician friends to go to galleries and museums to look at art, I have told my visual art friends to listen to music, so it goes, the more you experience the more you understand....that is the life of an artist....In this case remembering what it was like being a child may have brought the viewer to an understanding of this image...

I voted this image with a 10, I really wish that it finished higher as well..
06/15/2005 11:28:43 AM · #11
Thanks everyone for you comments, ideas and why it didn't do as well as I thought. And you are all right, it's hard for some people to see how it fits the topic and therefore got nicked for it. But like I said, I LOVE IT! :)

Thank you Barry for the 10! You are sweet!

Deannda
06/15/2005 01:58:01 PM · #12
Originally posted by Neuferland:



Could someone who gave this a 5 please tell me what I could have done to make it better, to give it that WOW factor that would have made it a higher score for you?

I don't care about the low scores, I take those with a grain of salt but I honestly thought this would do much better and not because I'm attached to the subject, I felt it was a really good shot.

Thanks in advance.

Deannda

Congratulations! You are asking the right question. Most people just whine about getting low scores.

Here are some suggestions. You can put them in the for what it is worth department...

First, forget about the challenge topic. The challenge topic is only an excuse to take good pictures but every image must stand on its own merits long after the challenge topic is forgotten.

It looks like the main subject might be "little boy at play". The idea is to capture the essence of a child using their own fertile imagination to create a play world with nothing more than dirt. They are so engrossed in their fantasy world they become oblivious to their own appearance and surroundings and the obvious consequence of later cleanup.

Partial desat seems the rage in images at DPC these days but should be applied selectively to support the main subject. In this image it more or less draws the viewer's eye to the boys underwear. That is probably not a good idea and probably not your intention.

The black point for the image is not properly set and gives the image a slightly washed out appearance. If it were me I'd use selective color to darken just the blacks in order to retain better tones rather than change the contrast which loses tonality and detail.

However, the main issue with this image is perspective and composition.

Nothing behind the boy or to the right of the top of his head adds anything compositionally to the image. All that detailed "stuff" is just "stuff" on the ground and is a distraction to the main theme and therefore should not be included. The background takes up to much image real estate. Cropping would help but you would have to crop off the boy's leg below the knee and part of the top of the boy's head. What you would get is a tighter and more thematically focused image. Try it, you might like it. Another big compositional issue is that you cannot see the boy's facial expression. If you could it would be a more appealing image.

A better angle would be from ground level to capture the boy's perspective of his imaginative play rather than from the more snapshot-like persective taken here. Of course, that would require the photographer to get dirty too. :) But from ground level you draw the viewer closer into the boy's imaginative world.


Message edited by author 2005-06-15 15:08:36.
06/15/2005 03:05:14 PM · #13
Originally posted by stdavidson:

[quote=Neuferland]

A better angle would be from ground level to capture the boy's perspective of his imaginative play rather than from the more snapshot-like persective taken here. Of course, that would require the photographer to get dirty too. :) But from ground level you draw the viewer closer into the boy's imaginative world.


Your technical suggestions are fine and worth a consideration for sure. But, I would disagree with your comments about shooting at a different angle...I thought the strong point of this image graphically was the powerful diagonal of the boy in an almost black background. I also liked the placement of objects in the frame... I know it is easy to tell others how "I" would take a photograph but sometimes I wonder if that is the best way to help fellow artists in an artistic sense.

BMM
06/15/2005 03:18:02 PM · #14
if you want to reach the WOW factor then take pictures of something other then children, maby 1 in every million pictures of kids reach the WOW factor, sorry, but usually only those who know the subject really like the picture, usually only the parents and the photographer.

most people only like pictures of their own children, so it's hopeless to wish for a high score with a picture of your kid, no matter how good you think it is, take a picture of a kid you don't know, ad if you go WOW when you see it, then other people might :)

this is still a good picture, but only a 5 in a challenge ;)
06/15/2005 03:33:38 PM · #15
I thought that as well more suited to another challenge but a very nice portrait though.
Originally posted by 4N4M:

Hi Deannda,

I didn't vote in this challenge but probably would have scored yours a 5. The shot is good, but I think it would better suit a PLAYING challenge rather than the CONSTRUCTION challenge. Just a bit of a stretch in my view. Hope this helps.

Ray
06/15/2005 03:42:08 PM · #16
Originally posted by Barry:

Originally posted by stdavidson:

[quote=Neuferland]

A better angle would be from ground level to capture the boy's perspective of his imaginative play rather than from the more snapshot-like persective taken here. Of course, that would require the photographer to get dirty too. :) But from ground level you draw the viewer closer into the boy's imaginative world.


Your technical suggestions are fine and worth a consideration for sure. But, I would disagree with your comments about shooting at a different angle...I thought the strong point of this image graphically was the powerful diagonal of the boy in an almost black background. I also liked the placement of objects in the frame... I know it is easy to tell others how "I" would take a photograph but sometimes I wonder if that is the best way to help fellow artists in an artistic sense.

BMM

The author asked for comments and I properly qualified mine with a "for what it is worth" label. Mine are only suggestions and not all correct. A wise photographer will be able to sort the good from the bad.

I updated my original comment with a different crop of the original image that better highlights the strengths of the image while removing some of the chaff. I adjusted the black point, cloned out the major distracting bright ground specks behind him and near the boy's face that distracted from the image and then applied some dodge and burn to retain proper tones on the boys skin, darken the area behind the boy and lighten the road in front which he created in his imaginative play to better photographically support the theme of the image.

Regarding ground level perspective we will never know if that would have worked better or not, but it certainly would have been worth exploring. The concept of seeing the boy's world at the boy's level would have been worth investigating.
06/15/2005 03:53:18 PM · #17
I didn't vote on this photo in the challenge, but if I had, I probably would have voted a 6, as this is a better than average photo. However, the subject matter really doesn't do anything for me, as my personal preference on photos is texture & colour - I gave a 9 to

but gave an average score to the winner - I didn't think it quite met the challenge. So hey, our mileage does vary.

Whilst I have some personal opinions regarding the challenges, I'll save those for another thread :)

Message edited by author 2005-06-15 15:54:02.
06/15/2005 03:57:06 PM · #18
[/quote]
The author asked for comments and I properly qualified mine with a "for what it is worth" label. Mine are only suggestions and not all correct. A wise photographer will be able to sort the good from the bad.

Regarding ground level perspective we will never know if that would have worked better or not, but it certainly would have been worth exploring. The concept of seeing the boy's world at the boy's level would have been worth investigating. [/quote]

Steve I was not tring to start an arguement nor was it nessasary for you to justify your comments. My opinions were for discussion. I agree with the ground level perspective would have been worth exploring but then it would have been a different photo for either the better or worse.

bmm
06/15/2005 05:49:40 PM · #19
I think color would probably have earned you a higher vote from me. Looks like there might be a lot of rich color and texture in that shot. I felt that it met the challenge topic, but can see how others may have thought it was a bit of a stretch.
06/15/2005 06:06:19 PM · #20
Originally posted by coolhar:

I felt that it met the challenge topic, but can see how others may have thought it was a bit of a stretch.


Can't we stretch our imagination!? Open our minds open wide to different interpretations! I know there's little to almost no time one can devote to each picture in a challenge! but if a pic somehow "puzzles" you, leave it for later, for when u can take a closer look at it! I didn't vote on this challenge, and to be quite honest, it's been a long time since I last voted on a challenge! But I often try to do this. If I can't get it right away, I'll leave it for later, for when you can "try to get into the photographer's thoughts".

meus 2 centavos....
06/15/2005 06:08:40 PM · #21
i thought the shot was very original, creative and well done. Perhaps it was a little stretch of the challenge, but its not hard to see how it relates back to the challenge. I would have prefered slightly warmer tones and a bit more contrast but I really liked the image and scored it an 8.

i have said it many times b4 but ill say it again anyways, imo thinking out of the box is not encouraged here on dpc.
06/15/2005 06:32:39 PM · #22
Originally posted by Barry:

The author asked for comments and I properly qualified mine with a "for what it is worth" label. Mine are only suggestions and not all correct. A wise photographer will be able to sort the good from the bad.

Regarding ground level perspective we will never know if that would have worked better or not, but it certainly would have been worth exploring. The concept of seeing the boy's world at the boy's level would have been worth investigating.

Steve I was not tring to start an arguement nor was it nessasary for you to justify your comments. My opinions were for discussion. I agree with the ground level perspective would have been worth exploring but then it would have been a different photo for either the better or worse.

bmm


Barry... agreed. :)

Message edited by author 2005-06-15 18:35:04.
06/15/2005 08:31:59 PM · #23
Originally posted by Neuferland:

Could someone who gave this a 5 please tell me what I could have done to make it better, to give it that WOW factor that would have made it a higher score for you?


I voted it a 5. Reasons:
1. it was a stretch, so I did my usual 1-point deduction. (that's all I deduct for not meeting the challenge from my point of view)
2. Not impressed with the partial desat. Maybe sepia would've scored a point higher.
3. What DanSig said.

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