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06/21/2005 03:13:08 PM · #1 |
Wow, just finished voting this challenge and there are some great shots. I agree that the challenge is wide open to interpretation, but as a noob to this, I would like to get a few comments on my voting criteria.
To me, a macro with a black background does not convey darkness in any way. Likewise, a photo that makes me really work to try to see what the subject is only just dark. Cool lighting effects on a black background leave me feeling like I am looking a a Pollack painting; I don't understand either one.
Basically, the photos that "I" like, that touch me and move me, get the most consideration. I am not a technical purist, but I feel that I generally rate a photo technical merits also. A photo that I like and is good technically but does not fit the challenge imo will receive a 7 or so. The only photos that ever rate 1 are photos that insult me or are just attempts at being clever (forgive me to the folks that submitted 640 x 480 black frames, but you got a 1 from me).
Lastly, grats to all of you that have the courage to even submit a photo that you put some serious thought and effort in to. Someday, I hope to have that courage. Until then, I will continue to learn from you all. |
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06/20/2005 08:58:27 AM · #2 |
Originally posted by holdingtime: it seems to me people used more imagination in there titles and in justifying there pictures than in thinking more befor hand and capturing a image that stands on its own merit |
Yeah I have seen quite the same thing with the titles. I have to admit though as much as I normally wouldn't, the titles helped the scores in at least half a dozen of my votes. |
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06/17/2005 10:46:07 AM · #3 |
it seems to me people used more imagination in there titles and in justifying there pictures than in thinking more befor hand and capturing a image that stands on its own merit |
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06/17/2005 12:38:04 AM · #4 |
Maybe all the voters are trying their own art vision of darkness by causing confusion and generally dark emotions to be invoked with in the artists they are voting on....
Maybe
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06/16/2005 10:54:40 PM · #5 |
man, this is getting ridiculous! I have entered, some racy, edgey, photos and I have entered some borderline deep photos, and they all scored low. So this one I set out to create a shallow, almost in your face darkness photo for both fans, one being dark image, two being scary, and threatning. The technicals are quite good, the colors are great, and still 5.5, what the heck do you voters want. LOL, ya'll are gonna drive me bonkers. |
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06/16/2005 10:37:36 PM · #6 |
Still under 5, 10 great comments, couple confused and a Favorite! Artist/Abstract doesnt appeal to the majority, but when some folks get it, it fills good. I'm on my 40th challenge, first 20 was a major learning experience, set some high goals for the next 20 I'm failing on score, tried not to score under 5, with this one it will make it 2 sub-4's. Met all my other goals. You know what my goal is for the next 20.
Anyway filling good this evening, want to Thank all the DPC'ERS, I'm having a great time, and my shooting skills are getting better.
Life is Good!!!!!!!!!!!............ace
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06/16/2005 07:49:31 AM · #7 |
Overall, I enjoyed your post...as for the dictionary it CAN come in quite handy on many challenges - also agreed that it can be tossed for this one. ;^)
Originally posted by graphicfunk: ...but please refrain from the dictionary. It hardly
helps with challenges. |
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06/16/2005 07:07:37 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by nomad469: Ok folks ... I am going to call BS on a majority of the entries in the challenge...
the statement said "What does darkness mean to you? Show us with an image."
That is far different from what I am seeing in a lot of images (Although some are very very good)
So IMHO there will be "1" s delt out with the comment
"IMHO this image -- although very nice -- did not meet the challenge"
BTW for full disclosure... I did not enter this one as I could not come up with a idea that met this challenge.
If It was just a "dark image" I would have come up with some cool stuff.
Just my rant . |
I would be most happy with your 1 as long as that comment is there as well. It tells me all I need to know, YOUR very correct TO YOU interpretation that my photo does not meet the challenge. I think the most important thing is to have that comment. |
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06/16/2005 06:57:29 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by Ristyz: I could see myself now ghoulishly, lurching around a cemetery when a relative of the deceased comes up to me and asks
"Excuse me sir...but what are you doing with that camera and a tripod at our funeral?"
and I look up from my viewfinder and blurt out
"...tryin to break a 6" |
I'm new to this challenge thing but this sure made me laugh!!! Maybe someday I'll be more than mediocre.....! [/quote]
Haha... well I will admit that I am one of the cemetry people, and I must say the thought had crossed my mind as to what to do if someone questioned me running around a cemetry with my camera. Lucky for me it didn't come to that.
In general and for the record. (this sort of covers another thread as well)
Death, TO ME, seemed to fit the challenge topic. It is very subjective and so is voting. Don't take it so personally. If you don't get it, think it has nothing to do with the topic, don't agree with it for a zillion other reasons than vote it accordingly. Who's to say my picture is right or wrong? And who's to say your vote is right or wrong?
If you entered and are lucky enough to get a comment but don't understand what they are trying to say PM them and ask for an elaboration. DO NOT ATTACK them. It is THEIR view and THEIR view is correct TO THEM. YOUR view on YOUR image is correct to YOU and only YOU. |
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06/16/2005 12:36:12 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by RayEthier: Originally posted by ace flyman: ... I guess when you step outside the box on a challenge like this one you should expect this type of scoring. |
Well ace... I truly don't know how one would have managed to step outside the "box" on this one, but if you say you did,,, then I am quite certain I will recognize it when I see it.
If ever a challenge lent itself to the "Outside the Box" line of thinking... this one is it... so I am looking forward to seeing yours and giving a high score.
Happy shooting
Ray | text
Thanks....you will know it, when you see it...........ace
Message edited by author 2005-06-16 00:37:40. |
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06/15/2005 11:42:09 PM · #11 |
This is my last post on this topic...(stop applauding) but I simply have to...
My orginal point has been validated by so many of you...The challenge was about a concept...a notion...a thing called darkness...whatever the heck that is to you... it was not about a technique... I have at no point tried to make a case for MY read of darkness versus someone elses...what I have said is give me what darkness means to you not how can you jig with the lighting for the sake of creating a "dark" image...
For the ones that keep saying...you dont know what the photographer is trying to say...or is feeling or other such simular rot... then that photographer needs to redefine his /her craft. The image like the painting ...like the sculpture must convey what the artist wants it to convey or it is a failed work... you may have to read the notes to get the meaning sometimes and then you can say "yeah I get it" but in some form you get their meaning...
I dont care what the meaning is just have something other than just lighting for the sake of lighting... (unless you are using the lighting to go after an absense of light)
This is the end of my rant...
One thing for sure... Agree or disagree you folks all rock in my book ! |
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06/15/2005 10:00:07 PM · #12 |
In the words of Charlie Brown, "Good Grief." I find the whole emotional content debate biased towards the notions that darkness must suggest desolation, sorrow, blah, blah, blah. Been there, done that, wrote those poems. It is a perfectly valid, but limited interpretation of the word. Perfectly lovely things happen in darkness as well (live in a hot climate and many things happen after the sun goes down).
As I am no longer an angst ridden teen-young man-not so young man, I take the dark and the light as more complicated than the simple - dark, bad - light, good.
Where did that leave me on the voting? Looking for good photos that contained meaningful content and DARKNESS. You can show me multitudes brightly lit alcoholic, depressed people committing suicide and it doesn't say darkness to me. I may have bemoaned my first love over a bottle of rum in a darkened room, but I first fell in love with her in that same darkened room. The common thread - the faint grid of light from a street lamp illuminating the far wall. In darkness, joy. In darkness, despair. In darkness, always very little light. |
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06/15/2005 09:55:18 PM · #13 |
It is amazing how a wonderful challenge with a broad definition becomes so easily misunderstood. Let us find the boundaries of the word darkness, but please refrain from the dictionary. It hardly helps with challenges.
When you think of darkness it includes absence of light in the most simplistic meaning. It then moves to define psychological, philosophical and mental darkness. Darkness can not exist without its antithesis of light. So the light carries the more positive emotions and darkness the negative ones. Of course, like the ying-yang there is a crossing over or plain inverting of concepts. This means that a negative emotion or concept can be represented in low or high light.
What drives the image to meet the challenge is that it portrays a feeling or emotion which deals with the subject matter: Darkness.
Now, anyone is free to interpret darkness as they wish and while darkness has horror, it also has romance, but romance is not usually associated with darkness but with the night. Look, words have meanings and when you are asked to portray darkness you are being asked to do a 180 as opposed to being asked to portray the light. If the challenge wanted night photography they would have asked so directly. Does this mean that night photography is out? No, of course not, but then the image must have an eerie feel to it or something that creates a slight emotional unrest in the viewer because otherwise you are interpreting darkness as night.
So, what does darkness mean to you. Surely, you are human and subject to the emotional rollercoaster. Some moods are light and some are dark. Some feelings are light and some are dark. This is more in keeping rather then to show beauty. You want an image that will invoke an emotive feeling of the darker side of life. The image has nothing to do with light as in natural light or darkness as in actual absolute darkness but rather the emotional impact. You are not looking for an image that cries out, "look, how beautiful I am", but rather here is my take on the darkside of life.
Again, interpret as you wish, but the challenge asked for the individual presentation. How far you went to show a different side, not normally seen, was and is the objective.
Fear me not. My lowest vote is always a "Five" I do not go out of my way to punish entrants. Always check your personal stats, they tell more than you can say and argue about yourself. Those that criticize my voring will understand and agree that if I give you a 5, I do nothing to help you win. If I give you a six, I give you the possibility of placing you in the top 30. If I give you a seven, you may wind up top 20 or top 10. If I give you an 8, it may help you reach top 10 or top 5.
You see, the 5 is just because it tries to keep you from a ribbon while the higher marks egg you higher. Below 5, not for me to vote. That would drive my average vote cast down. I believe in giving what is given to me. By voting anyone a 1,2,3 will really cripple the entrant but then it will also cripple my average vote cast. Let those who want to do this do it. That is your right. I hardly ever take advantage of all my rights. I decide what is right and wrong for me from the lomitations placed by the definition of the circumstance.
Message edited by author 2005-06-15 21:59:10. |
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06/15/2005 09:25:46 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by ace flyman: ... I guess when you step outside the box on a challenge like this one you should expect this type of scoring. |
Well ace... I truly don't know how one would have managed to step outside the "box" on this one, but if you say you did,,, then I am quite certain I will recognize it when I see it.
If ever a challenge lent itself to the "Outside the Box" line of thinking... this one is it... so I am looking forward to seeing yours and giving a high score.
Happy shooting
Ray |
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06/15/2005 09:01:45 PM · #15 |
of course 'if it was the intention to be murky/blurry' so be it
just don't whine about low scores -
because this ain't the audience nor the medium that -might- appreciate it
Titia - if i was your kid you would have been an active 11yr old ;)
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06/15/2005 08:56:33 PM · #16 |
I wish people would make up there mind. Started at 2.5 went up to 5.2 range and now its under 5. I knew I shouldn't had entered. I guess when you step outside the box on a challenge like this one you should expect this type of scoring. I do have 5 great comments...Thanks......hmmmmm |
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06/15/2005 08:52:42 PM · #17 |
ralphnev wrote:
because who cares what it means to the photographer -
you want -DARKNESS- to be invoked/felt/thoughabout by anyone who sees the image ...
?????who cares????....well I certainly do care as a photographer and as a viewer I would like to get the feeling there's a little bit of the creator's soul in any photo taken, because that is what makes them special and different from the others.
Who cares!!!.....if you were my kid, I'd make you wash your mouth with soap!
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06/15/2005 08:49:41 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by ralphnev: i've voted on them all now -
[rant] if you are going to take a dark picture USE a tripod & carry a flashlight
to focus (or make the DOF large enough to hit your mark)
i havent voted so many 3&4's since my first month here
[/rant] |
I hope when everyone is voting they are being open minded enough to at least entertain the idea that the photographer may have intentionally used a soft focus or gritty look or purposely wanted the image to be blurred or anything similar to that just because that CAN enhance a 'dark' theme.
Heck if the technique doesn't work for you, that's one thing, but its a shame if going against the grain in such a manner means the viewer immediately believes the person wasn't prepared or was lacking in basic skills when creating the photograph.
I don't mean to pick on your post either, ralphnev. The quote I picked up just seemed to highlight an area that viewers/voters might be missing: photographer intention - something (unfortunately) easily missed/overlooked/ignored.
I, of course, don't mean to let folks off the hook when using such techniques either, they should be done well, but an intentional blur or grain or similar seems to be thrown out with the bathwater automatically around here.
Just my buffalo nickel. :)
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06/15/2005 08:39:03 PM · #19 |
Well....hmm....ok, my pic has tanked below anything yet I have done here. But I have refrained from voting yet. I can't see myself voting at this point.
I guess one has to make a choice: participate in challenges OR participate in forums BUT NOT BOTH!
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06/15/2005 08:27:10 PM · #20 |
i've voted on them all now -
[rant]
& it's the challenges that have more than 200-300 images
make me wonder what people are thinking when they submit
if you are going to take a dark picture USE a tripod & carry a flashlight
to focus (or make the DOF large enough to hit your mark)
i havent voted so many 3&4's since my first month here
& to turn the challenge wording on its head
"What does darkness mean to you? Show us with an image."
should have been
"What does darkness mean to the viewer?"
because who cares what it means to the photographer -
you want -DARKNESS- to be invoked/felt/thoughabout by anyone who sees the image ...
[/rant]
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06/15/2005 06:35:03 PM · #21 |
I am having a hard time voting on this challenge. My perception on what darkness means to a photographer is rather large. I can accept almost anything, yet I have a problem seeing what was the intent. I am about ready to stop voting and call it a day. |
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06/15/2005 06:32:44 PM · #22 |
I could see myself now ghoulishly, lurching around a cemetery when a relative of the deceased comes up to me and asks
"Excuse me sir...but what are you doing with that camera and a tripod at our funeral?"
and I look up from my viewfinder and blurt out
"...tryin to break a 6" [/quote]
I'm new to this challenge thing but this sure made me laugh!!! Maybe someday I'll be more than mediocre.....! |
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06/15/2005 06:30:34 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by eggv: Originally posted by buzzmom:
i dont mind tough...just dont be mean! |
Gosh! (shucks?) Amy, I don't mean to be mean. I know I don't put my thoughts into writing as well as others here, but I rarely intend to offend. |
hey eggv, pretty sure she was referring to comments in general - not yours specifically. |
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06/15/2005 06:17:45 PM · #24 |
I simply wish that those people who are voting would post comments on photos as to why they voted the way they did. For the most part, I assume that most of us join challenges in order to become better photographers. Yet, all we seem to receive is poorer scores than we thought and little if any comments.
Please, comment on why you don't think the pic meets the challenge, or why you think it does. You had to have a reason you scored the photo the way you did, help us out and let us all know. |
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06/15/2005 06:10:23 PM · #25 |
For the record, I have seen some wonderful darkness photos in this challenge. I have only rated 95 so far and already have
1 - 10
5 - 9's
4 - 8's
Some will move up or down as I go back and look at them again, but overall I am impressed with peoples visions. With nearly 400 entries, a large number of them are not gonna do anything for me (heck, most of my shots don't do anything for me either). There seems to be some that just need that update button, so enter anything whether is meets or not.
Oh yeah, I've commented on 15 as well. Trying to do more. |
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