Suprising lack of risks in Free Study

07/15/2002 10:52:01 AM · #1

After my initial run through of the photos this week what strike me is the unusual LACK of risk taking.

I would have thought with a "Free Study" we would have seen some really, really out there stuff. We take away all boundaries, all limitations....the sky is the limit and what do folks do?

I see some very nice photos and many I will score well. But overall I was hoping to see some stuff that was provocative, horrible, insane, numbingly beautiful, edgy.

Anyway, just an initial impression...we'll see how the photos feel after looking at them some more this week.

Patella

Canon EOS-500D Rebel T1i

07/15/2002 10:56:02 AM · #2

I was too tired of crap scores to do anything weird this week. :-)

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

07/15/2002 11:05:44 AM · #3

Originally posted by Patella:
I was too tired of crap scores to do anything weird this week. :-)

Heheh...I hear ya!

I entered my cat photo last week because I had to do a set of photos of a new litter of kittens we just had (My wife and I raise and show Persians).

I knew I was going to get hammered for entereing a pet photo but this one little guy we call "Snoz" is such a fraidy cat when he plays with toys my wife said.."Awww..enter that in the Fear challenge"....

She was rooting big time for that photo.

This week it is back to doing "hokie's weird stuff" and I like it!!!!!!

magnetic9999

Canon EOS-20D

07/15/2002 11:16:06 AM · #4

hokie, i think this was 'pander to the voters and try to get a good score' week : )

lol

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

07/15/2002 11:23:16 AM · #5

The shot I submitted isn't risky really, but look at all the even less risky unoriginal but pretty stuff I could have submitted but didn't :-)

Dogman

Fujifilm FinePix 2200

07/15/2002 11:37:26 AM · #6

Wayside inn 1 & 3 are both lovely pictures Kimbly, well done.
Funny, don't remember the challenge being "Risk". I thought it was Free study.
Why do people have to gripe week in,week out about the challenges. The idea was to enjoy yourself and photo what you like, thus leaving voters to view an image for its quality and appeal instead of worrying about if it meets the challenge or not.
When it comes to "provocative, insane, etc" Maybe peoples ideas are scuppered by too much challenge assassination talk before the challenges are complete. IMHO I feel that some of the creativity that should be apparent on this site is being locked away for fear of being classed as "Cliche, too abstract, etc".

Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

07/15/2002 11:43:20 AM · #7

Originally posted by magnetic9999:
hokie, i think this was 'pander to the voters and try to get a good score' week : )

lol

:-) Hey..there is nothig wrong with a little pandering to get what you want...any guy trying to date knows this :-P

But I don't see as many high scoring photos this week as I would during a more restrictive challenge week...thats what so weird, especially with 175 photos entered.

There are no nudes/semi-nudes, very few portraits, most of the macros are of the same basic thing, very few double exposure/time lapse stuff, only a few stop motion.

When I saw what I entered this week I knew I was in trouble because I said "dude..you are gonna be a guy wearing a bunny costume to a barmitzva this week". <:-O

KarenB

Canon EOS-70D

07/15/2002 11:44:33 AM · #8

Kim, these are wonderful! Like your point of view.
I haven't been to the Wayside Inn in years! Used to live out near there, and had dinner on New Year's Day there one year while growing up.

Agamemnon

Olympus C-700UZ

07/15/2002 11:52:41 AM · #9

I agree with the topic not being a risky picture, something I think might be a little overplayed in the scoring this week. (Just a guess)

Anyway, take a look at the Challenege suggestion board, perhaps a challeneg of originaltiy would be good. Or difference.

Kimbly

Canon PowerShot G2

07/15/2002 11:59:05 AM · #10

Thanks Dogman and Karen! I really like old mills after taking a class on it in college once, so I was psyched to go there. It's a little too well-maintained to really have the character I was after, I think, but quite beautiful in the afternoon sun. There was a wedding there when we were.

Hokie, I don't think that for most people "free challenge" encourages creativity, so I'm not surprised not to find many out of the ordinary shots. Because there isn't any "box" there's no way to think out of it :-)

Plus, when I thought about it, I had the feeling that people would be even less tolerant of motion blur, negative space, unusual techniques, etc. because of the openness..."you could have taken a photo of a nice flower, but you chose a dark blurry grainy [whatever] instead. you must be a bad photographer unable to take pretty flower macros." Rather than in a challenge like "city life" where I thought that may have been more tolerated because of the theme which seemed to encourage busy, noisy, dirtyness more than others.

So yeah, my photo is pretty clean and neat, but it's in the rare class of photos that came out like I saw them in my head, so I'm still pleased with it.

07/15/2002 11:59:29 AM · #11

Originally posted by Kimbly:
The shot I submitted isn't risky really, but look at all the even less risky unoriginal but pretty stuff I could have submitted but didn't :-)

Kimbly, you always take nice photos..technically well executed and with a flare. :-)

And don't get my comments wrong, I love all types of photos. It's just a feeling I had after my initial run through..like a theme or something. Going over 175 photos is like a rorshach test or something..all images flipping by one after the other you start to see patterns or themes is all. :-/

Shiiizzzam

Sony DSC-F707

07/15/2002 12:03:41 PM · #12

Originally posted by hokie:

When I saw what I entered this week I knew I was in trouble because I said "dude..you are gonna be a guy wearing a bunny costume to a barmitzva this week". <:-O[/i]

LOL !!!!

Well...If it makes you feel better about Fraidy Cat..I gave it a 10. Those eyes showed fear ! That is what I was looking for.

I must also agree with you to some degree on this week. The challenge is a GREAT one but I sure do see a lot of "snapshot" type photos. There are several really nice ones as well but I am a bit surprised.

07/15/2002 12:15:41 PM · #13

Originally posted by Shiiizzzam:

LOL !!!!

Well...If it makes you feel better about Fraidy Cat..I gave it a 10. Those eyes showed fear ! That is what I was looking for.

I must also agree with you to some degree on this week. The challenge is a GREAT one but I sure do see a lot of "snapshot" type photos. There are several really nice ones as well but I am a bit surprised.

Hehe...I agree about the challenge of Free Study being a great idea about once every 3 months or so.

From the looks of things we need it more often to get people to ''Freak Out!''..let loose. The film is free, we ain''t giving away any cars or money and you hardly know anybody here... Let''s see what lurks in the back of your brain.

C''mon, we know you had/have thoughts affected by parental strangeness, child phobias, sexual deviances, favorite food flavors, experimentation of some sort maybe all of it rolled into one!!!!

Lets see em!!!!!!!!

* This message has been edited by the author on 7/15/2002 12:16:23 PM.

Ronin

Sony DSC-S85

07/15/2002 12:48:40 PM · #14

For this challenge I tried something for me that was a bit new, I used the Hue saturation since it was in the rules, but now that I look at it I really wish that I didnt, and the score reflected it. I usually dont modifiy my images at all except for a slight level and sharpen, but I figured why not let go crazy,.. now I really wished that I didnt oh. well live and learn

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

07/15/2002 12:57:29 PM · #15

Originally posted by ezns:
For this challenge I tried something for me that was a bit new, I used the Hue saturation since it was in the rules, but now that I look at it I really wish that I didnt, and the score reflected it. I usually dont modifiy my images at all except for a slight level and sharpen, but I figured why not let go crazy,.. now I really wished that I didnt oh. well live and learn

Why? Because you are getting a low score on a Digital Photography site?

ezns..you submitted that photo because you liked it. If it's different but good....screw the scores. In the years of photgrpahy to come in your life the times you went out on a limb will be remembered more fondly by you than the times you played it safe.

You don't go to old folks homes and hear people saying "I remember the time I was too scared to wear this pink shirt with polka-dots to the prom".

You hear people say "Remember the time you wore that pink shirt with the polka-dots to the prom, whatever happened to that wild thing?"

karmat

Apple iPhone 7

07/15/2002 01:06:19 PM · #16

My entry this week is NOT what I wanted to enter, but after over 200 shots of what I wanted, and none of them being satisfactory, I went with one of my "tests." It is a shot were I was setting up the camera, and testing lights, etc. I had a lot of ideas, but a sick son and a busy week cut into picture taking time. :-) Heck, for me, I was happy with well-lit and focused, much less going for avante garde. Maybe next time.