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06/14/2004 12:28:11 PM · #1
I'm slowly learning the unwritten laws of achieving a good score. In rough order of importance...

1. The image must meet the challenge without thinking too hard about it. Is your shot really about the topic, or is there just some little background detail that you're using as an excuse to fit the challenge? The most glorious sunset photo in the world will not succeed in a "No Sunset" challenge.

2. The image must be interesting. Shoot something that a total stranger would want to look at. People aren't generally interested in somebody else's family or pet unless they're doing something REALLY amazing. Roadkill, taboos, or anything else disgusting will bomb (witness the Habits challenge). Less obvious is that flatly lit still life images, uninspiring landscapes, drab sky photos, etc. just aren't that exciting. You might nail the challenge topic, but if the image only elicits a "So what?" then you won't do well, and may not even get enough comments to understand why (this is common). Those who live in cool places like Switzerland, Iceland or any mountain range or beach have a distinct advantage here.

3. Be original. There are a gazillion photos of cats, flowers and sunsets on this site. Those with amazing light quality, color or composition are the only ones that can possibly stand out. The most obvious concepts in any challenge will be taken (sometimes you'll see 10 or more shots of the same subject). Try to find a unique approach.

4. Focus. Shallow depth of field is fine, but it must look intentional. At the very least, the area you want people to look at should be in sharp focus. If everything in your image is out of focus, you can expect your score to be near the bottom.

5. Good exposure can make all the difference. If the light is too harsh or to flat, your score will suffer. Photos with blown-out highlights or no detail in the shadows will be criticized.

6. Find a good angle. A corollary to rule #3. Photos taken from the most obvious angle (standing at eye-level) tend to look like snapshots. Those taken lying down or from a high vantage point are often more compelling.

7. Don't over-process your images. This is not the place for painterly effects and wildly oversaturated or inverted colors (B&W or sepia are usually OK). This is a photo site, and the voters will expect your image to look like a photo. Even a perfectly natural photo will sometimes be criticized as over-processed if the colors are too rich.

8. Don't wait until the last minute. Plan early and leave yourself enough time to find props or better weather. If you have a promising concept, but the lighting isn't quite right, try another time of day or different weather conditions. Early morning and late afternoon offer dramatic lighting opportunities and long shadows.

9. Be careful while you work. Check the date on your camera. Keep an eye on the deadline. Keep your original image in a safe place and always work on a copy. Double check to make sure you're not entering a heavily edited photo in a Basic Editing challenge. Several people are bitten by carelessness on every challenge.

10. When in doubt, shoot a macro of a bug.

Anybody else...?
06/14/2004 12:38:03 PM · #2
Originally posted by scalvert:

...10. When in doubt, shoot a macro of a bug.

Anybody else...?


Correction: When in doubt, shoot a macro of a dead bug! ;)
06/14/2004 12:44:50 PM · #3
After participating for a few months -- I've noticed frogs do really well also. I'm thinking about buying a few since they are rare in my area.
06/14/2004 12:45:03 PM · #4
I haven't participated in many challenges and I certainly haven't earned any ribbons but I think I have something to add to this topic.

Don't Give Up!

There is some amazing talent on this website. When you are feeling less than inspired, it's easy to think you will never achieve the images you aspire to and you should just sell all your equipment, never to subject another soul to one of your "less-than" images. DON'T! STOP THAT!

Where do you think all these great photographers started? Do you think their first photographic attempts looked so fantastic? Heck no!

Look at the challenge and do your best. Follow the steps outlined above (Thank you Scalvert!). Keep shooting until YOU are proud of what you've captured and submit it. Then... let it go - don't obsess over scores, comments, etc. At the end of the voting process, look at what has been said about your image and learn from your mistakes and successes. Then do it again!

Well, that's my two cents and my pep-talk rolled into one. I'll be stepping down from my soapbox now ;-)
06/14/2004 12:45:56 PM · #5
Excellent list! Should be compulsory reading for all entrants.
06/14/2004 12:53:59 PM · #6
I can't really prove this one, but I'd say the top photographers on this site are also the top photoshop specialist on this site. I don't say that to imply they cheat ... I say it to imply they know exactly how to get the very best out of thier already great image.

Learn Photoshop.
06/14/2004 12:59:12 PM · #7
Originally posted by hopper:


Learn Photoshop.


That's true for any photography- film of digital. Learn how to post process. Even pros who don't do much of their own post processing know enough to get it to a lab and tell them what they want to get the point across.

Clara
06/14/2004 01:06:17 PM · #8
I wholeheartedly agree with all of Scalvert's points. I also think that PS skill can help significantly, but that skill means nothing without a strong feeling for what the image needs to look like with respect to sharpening, saturation, etc., etc. I hve seen numerous entries that could be greatly helped by a little more or different editing, but also many that have been hurt by too much editing. Some shots call for advanced techniques, others cry out for a minimalist editing approach. The key is developing the wisdom to know what's called for. I'm still working on that, LOL.
06/14/2004 01:15:00 PM · #9
IMHO... learn to pick the top 5 photo in the challenges, then look at your own photo .. !!! also try to get your photo as close as you can from the camera and don't rely on photoshop...
06/14/2004 01:20:21 PM · #10
1: It is very important that YOU like the photo first !
2: Get close to the subject and crop close arround the subject you want to show !
06/14/2004 01:20:54 PM · #11
I like the list- and especially agree with the "Be Original." I'm never a huge fan of the pictures that are suggested in the challenge description (except of couse for the challenges like "banana," or "planes, trains, and automobile." I will often take off a point from the photo (unless it is exceptional) if it follows one of the suggestions in the challenge description.
06/14/2004 01:22:43 PM · #12
Thanks for your top ten advice tips. my number 11 to add to your list would be to read, read as much about other photo's as you can. I take the time to look at the details of the winning photo's and try to recreate what they have acheived.
06/14/2004 01:39:18 PM · #13
Originally posted by hopper:

Learn Photoshop.


Good one, Hopper. To me, that's just a part of an overall "Learn Your Equipment" rule. That holds true whether you have a DSLR and Photoshop CS or a little Kodak and its bundled software. You don't need thousands of dollars in expensive equipment to score well (look at the early Challenges before DSLRs were common), but you do need to make the most of whatever's available to you. The more you know about the tools in your arsenal, the more freedom you have to express a concept.
06/14/2004 02:08:34 PM · #14
So pretty much what you're saying is that the key to getting higher scores is to make better photographs? makes sense to me ;)

P

ps What I mean to imply is that your rules are applicable to anyone who wants to take better photos, whether they care about their score or not. :)
06/14/2004 02:17:17 PM · #15
Well, sure, but "make better photographs" is a little vague for a beginner, and some things are specific to this site (Challenge-specific concepts, avoiding family/pet shots, processing tips, etc.).
06/14/2004 02:28:04 PM · #16
I'd add, read the challenge description, not just the title.
06/14/2004 02:36:07 PM · #17
Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by scalvert:

...10. When in doubt, shoot a macro of a bug.

Anybody else...?


Correction: When in doubt, shoot a macro of a dead bug! ;)


Works for my brother Jacko. He hears dead bugs.
06/14/2004 02:39:28 PM · #18
Thanks for the great list. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink....I am that horse!
06/14/2004 02:45:37 PM · #19
Originally posted by hopper:

I can't really prove this one, but I'd say the top photographers on this site are also the top photoshop specialist on this site. I don't say that to imply they cheat ... I say it to imply they know exactly how to get the very best out of thier already great image.

Learn Photoshop.


Very true. But remember one thing. Garbage in = garbage out. Yes you can salvage some images, but it's best to get the best quality image from the camera first, then worry about enhancing it. Also read and elarn about composition, lighting, exposure, etc. Once you can take nice shots with the camera then you can really make them spectacular with PS.
06/14/2004 02:52:31 PM · #20
The only thing I would add:

Before you submit, put yourself in anothers shoes. If you were NOT YOU, would you like the shot?
06/14/2004 03:31:22 PM · #21
Originally posted by TooCool:

Before you submit, put yourself in anothers shoes. If you were NOT YOU, would you like the shot?


Covered in Rule #2, "Shoot something that a total stranger would want to look at." I didn't suggest exchanging articles of clothing, though. ;-)
06/14/2004 04:32:06 PM · #22
Submit your photo at the highest quality you can. Make sure at least one side is the full 640 pixels and that it is saved as close to 150kb as is possible with your image editing program.

This might be a special case of "know your image editing software."

Thinking about it a bit more, this might be generalized to "learn and practice a basic post-processing workflow to get your submissions ready."
06/14/2004 05:51:48 PM · #23
Forgive me for a sarcastic take of the original post:

1. The image should not meet the challenge, either description or title, but some sort of notion a stereotypical voter can acquire without having to think or feel .

2. The image should be be interesting, but the interest should be direct and obvious, not subtle, profound or multi-tiered. Landscapes will do better in colour, especially when oversaturated, sunsets are preferred to sunrises, overcast skies should contain multiple cumuli with a golden cast.

3. Do not try to be original. There are a gazillion photos of cats, flowers and sunsets on this site. Those with dramatic light, lurid colours and a familiar composition are the only ones that can possibly still be noticed.

4. Focus. Shallow depth of field is fine, but it must look intentional. At the very least, the area you want people to look at should be in sharp focus. If everything in your image is out of focus, you can expect your score to be base. If everything is in focus, this will not suffice for a challenge requiring a large dof. Instead, you would have to demonstrate the presence of a large dof by including a shallow dof.

5. Good exposure can make all the difference. If the light is too harsh or too flat, your score will suffer. Photos with blown-out highlights or no detail in the shadows will be criticized, but still might do well, if the subject is mildly humourous or if the challenge appears to be met to those who may not have taken the time to consider either challenge or photo.

6. Find a good angle. A corollary to rule #3. Photos taken from the most obvious angle (standing at eye-level) tend to look like snapshots (a genre which is frowned upon here). Those taken lying down or from a high vantage point are often more compelling. Some photographers have attached devices to their automobiles to support their cameras to achieve this. A microscope or a bungie cord may also come in handy as well.

7. Slightly over-process your images, but avoid painterly effects and easily recognizable Photoshop filters and effects. Inverted images do not generally meet with affection, while B&W is tolerated and sepia is the second choice (after colour). This is a photo site, and the voters will expect your image to look like a photo. Even a perfectly natural photo will sometimes be criticized as over-processed when the process cannot be repeated by the critic.

8. Don't wait until the last minute. Plan early and leave yourself enough time to find props or better weather. If you have a promising concept, but the lighting isn't quite right, try another time of day or different weather conditions. Early morning and late afternoon offer dramatic lighting opportunities and long shadows. Whatever you can make of this, remember that a photo suggesting the use of props will do better than one which doesn't. If you take most of your photographs indoors, be sure to attach a drop of water to your subject to emphasize the artifice.

9. Be careful while you work. Check the date on your camera. Keep an eye on the deadline. Keep your original image in a safe place and always work on a copy. Double-check to make sure you're not entering a heavily edited photo in a Basic Editing challenge or a barely edited photo in an Advanced one, unless it glows in the dark. Several people are bitten by carelessness on every challenge.

10. When in doubt, shoot a macro of a bug or enter a cliché. Everyone can relate to postcard.

PS: There are a few photographers who still buck the trend (outlined above) and enter photos for, apparently, the single, exotic purpose of watching their own hearts race. One of them continues to score very highly, despite of it all. This photographer appears to be a lone magician.

Facit: unless you can juggle mountains or you just don't care what score you will achieve here, do not enter photographs auntie Peggy wouldn't be mildly happy to receive from her grandchildren.
06/14/2004 07:17:12 PM · #24
Easy on the gimmicky borders.
06/14/2004 07:34:49 PM · #25
Originally posted by TooCool:

The only thing I would add:

Before you submit, put yourself in anothers shoes. If you were NOT YOU, would you like the shot?


Now I'm confused?

Your tagline has the grigrigirl qoute:

Photography is a direct reflection of myself...the expression...release. How can you not?--grigrigirl

Warm up those 2's and 3's ladies and gentlemen, I am way outside the box for the Selective Desat challenge.
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