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

DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> Serendipity ?!?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 25 of 131, (reverse)
AuthorThread
04/14/2004 08:59:00 AM · #1
Ok I always thought I can handle english preety well but this time I really don't understand. Can someone please explain it so that a non english speaker understands? Is this something like that scientist (Isaac Newton if I remember well) discovered his stuff while an apple felt on his head, and another discovered that things have density while taking a bath?
04/14/2004 09:02:35 AM · #2
Originally posted by frumoaznicul:

Ok I always thought I can handle english preety well but this time I really don't understand. Can someone please explain it so that a non english speaker understands? Is this something like that scientist (Isaac Newton if I remember well) discovered his stuff while an apple felt on his head, and another discovered that things have density while taking a bath?


i belief everyone here having the same problem, WHAT A TITLE FOR THIS WEEK!!! But it is challenging, no wonder this site name DPChallenge!

To share with everyone to understand more about the story, "The 3 Princes of Serendip" pls go to:
//livingheritage.org/three_princes.htm

Good luck everyone.
04/14/2004 09:05:22 AM · #3
Please have simple words! Dont know what it means so I guess everybody will have a good time with doesnt meet the challenge phrase next week
04/14/2004 09:08:03 AM · #4
Oh yea this is the perfect candidate for "does not meet the challenge"
04/14/2004 09:08:05 AM · #5
this is far out .....
04/14/2004 09:09:36 AM · #6
LOL I think admins had a bad sleep last night :)
04/14/2004 09:12:53 AM · #7
Here are a couple more definitions that I found online which will hopefully be easier to understand.

A natural gift for making useful discoveries quite by accident.
It means making happy and unexpected discoveries.

04/14/2004 09:13:00 AM · #8
I know it's usual to complain about having shot something that would be perfect for the challenge theme, just the week before, but this is taking it too far!

Something I wrote last week:
Serendipity
04/14/2004 09:13:17 AM · #9
It is not so difficult if you just read it as "accidental discovery" is it ?
04/14/2004 09:15:25 AM · #10
What could accidental discovery be? It could be everything and nothing?
04/14/2004 09:15:37 AM · #11
I don't have my dictionary handy -- someone else will provide the actual definition. I'll try and explain the meaning of the word.

First a photographic example: You are walking along a street in a city. You have your camera with you but you are not there to shoot pictures but to buy bread. You see two people sitting on a bench. Every thing is just right for taking a picture. There is a beam of sunlight hitting the two people just right. The background is perfect. You happen to be at the right place at the right time but didn't plan it this way. That's serendipity.

The connection to Issac Newton is that, as the story goes, didn't set out to have the apple fall on his head. He was in the right place at the right time to have this happen. He put the events together so he made the most of the situation.

It's like a good coinsidence (?spelling). This is very easy to know but very difficult to show in a shot. Any set up shot in a studio would not be Serendipity as it didn't just happen - you made it happen. One could argue against that (and people will LOL). Perfect timing is a part of it, so is the improbability that it would happen just as you were there to experience it.

There will be loads of "doesn't fit the challenge"! I hope that helps.

Others??
04/14/2004 09:17:26 AM · #12
Oooooh it's another of my challenge suggestions and I'm not sure if I'll be able to enter. I'm going to do my VERY BEST to take an entry this weekend...

I just thought it would be nice to have a freeer (as in, more free), more open challenge theme. Serendipity is one of my very favourite words in the whole world.

I hope it will lead to LESS not MORE cries of "Does not meet the challenge" but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
04/14/2004 09:20:02 AM · #13
An example from an english teacher: you go to the library for a book, that book isn't there but the one next to it turns out to be a book you love but wouldn't have discovered otherwise.
04/14/2004 09:22:27 AM · #14
I think it´s like a lucky strike... isn´t it? Somebody had watched the film of "Serendipity" with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale? It´s a fantastic film.
04/14/2004 09:22:46 AM · #15
Ellen, I LOVE your example, how wonderful!
I know it's going to be a hard challenge and people will be cursing me for suggesting it but I'm already pleased I did just to come across that wonderful example and others previous.
:o)
04/14/2004 09:22:57 AM · #16
It is a tough word. You might find a little more help at [url=//www.your dictionary.com]www.yourdictionary.com[/url]

I learned this word at a young age and always enjoyed just saying it. It seems to trip off the tongue for this native English speaker.

The reason I learned it? In the '70's a new shop opened in our town called "Serendipty." It was filled with hand-made things from around the world, soaps and candles, and even some antiques--a real odd collection of things. (I think shops like this are much more common now--but at the time it was novel.) It seemed that the owner just filled the store with whatever she came across and found interesting.

A word I've always associated with serendipity is potpourri--but the second word lacks the element of discovery or chance.

Note also that a common form of the word used in speech is "serendipitous." For examples type: "is serendipitous" (Include the quotes.) into Google.

Hope this helps.
04/14/2004 09:24:30 AM · #17
Originally posted by a_berenguer:

Somebody had watched the film of "Serendipity" with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale? It´s a fantastic film.


Alexis, what's the film about, if that's not a silly question?
04/14/2004 09:24:55 AM · #18
I actually think it could be a very interesting challenge, my basic idea is of objects within object that don’t belong together, like the examples I made with the baby in the beer mug, or baby in cabbage patch. I was also thinking about having an cut apple, but instead of seeds for it to have diamonds (well glass really) in side. Another image comes to mind is that of some plant in the middle of a dessert or dry lands. That’s my view of serendipity, something somewhere where its not expected. I guess..
04/14/2004 09:24:57 AM · #19
Originally posted by Gordon:

I know it's usual to complain about having shot something that would be perfect for the challenge theme, just the week before, but this is taking it too far!

Something I wrote last week:
Serendipity


Wonderful shots, Gordon!
04/14/2004 09:31:23 AM · #20
Originally posted by Kavey:

Originally posted by a_berenguer:

Somebody had watched the film of "Serendipity" with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale? It´s a fantastic film.


Alexis, what's the film about, if that's not a silly question?


Ok... ok.. it´s a difficult proof to me explain it in english, but I´m going to try it. In this film, John Cusack mets Kate Beckinsale in a shop and they fall in love, but he´s going to get marry with his girlfriend... It was a serendipity... and I don´t want to tell you more, because I think it´s better that you watch the film... IMHO, it´s one of the best love films that I had watched.
04/14/2004 09:31:46 AM · #21
When I was still teaching Teen Leadership Skills in a middle school, serendipity was one of the words we talked about, and how to make the most of opportunities that present themselves to you. I helped the kids to understand the meaning of serendipity as a "happy accident." Their examples to me were always like "getting two packs of M&Ms out of the vending machine at once" or "finding a dollar on the sidewalk," but as grownups we can probably find more "happy accident" examples that would fit this challenge nicely. I can't wait! Have your cameras at the ready and be prepared when opportunity knocks. When the shot of a lifetime presents itself to you, and your camera is within reach, and there's nothing obstructing the view, and the planets are in line...that's serendipity.
04/14/2004 09:36:19 AM · #22
Originally posted by a_berenguer:

Originally posted by Kavey:

Originally posted by a_berenguer:

Somebody had watched the film of "Serendipity" with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale? It´s a fantastic film.


Alexis, what's the film about, if that's not a silly question?


Ok... ok.. it´s a difficult proof to me explain it in english, but I´m going to try it. In this film, John Cusack mets Kate Beckinsale in a shop and they fall in love, but he´s going to get marry with his girlfriend... It was a serendipity... and I don´t want to tell you more, because I think it´s better that you watch the film... IMHO, it´s one of the best love films that I had watched.


Oh oh oh I am senile - I saw the film recently and I really enjoyed it... I only watched it because of the title (how could I have forgotten so quickly) and, although I'm not always a fan of the mushy film, I thought this one was nicely done...
04/14/2004 10:04:42 AM · #23
some excepts from a Thesaurus....

Entry: destiny
Function: noun
Definition: fate
Synonyms: afterlife, break, breaks, certainty, circumstance, conclusion, condition, constellation, cup, design, divine decree, doom, expectation, finality, foreordination, fortune, future, happenstance, hereafter, horoscope, inevitability, intent, intention, karma, kismet, lot, luck, moira, objective, ordinance, portion, predestination, predetermination, prospect, serendipity, the beads, the stars, weird
Antonyms: accident, chance, free will
Concept: fate

Entry: luck
Function: noun
Definition: good fortune
Synonyms: advantage, big break, blessing, break, fluke, fortunateness, godsend, good luck, good medicine, happiness, health, karma, kismet, Lady Luck, luckiness, lucky break, mazel tov, occasion, opportunity, profit, prosperity, serendipity, smile, snowball chance, stroke, success, triumph, victory, weal, wealth, win, windfall
Concept: opportunity

Good luck everyone.......we will all have to be serendipitous to find a good entry for this challenge :)
04/14/2004 10:06:44 AM · #24
And please don't send me hate mail (or PMs) if you don't like the challenge theme...

:o)
04/14/2004 10:07:10 AM · #25
So its like something candid
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 07:44:36 AM

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 07:44:36 AM EDT.