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06/11/2002 10:06:15 PM · #1 |
| I just finished voting on the "On the Road" pics and there sure were a lot of dull pictures with very little creativity. It looks like a lot of people just snapped a picture of the road without even trying to come up with an interesting shot. Also, there were too many blurred and dark shots. Blurred cars speeding by makes for a boring and unoriginal bad picture. I have an ancient camera so the photo-techies complain about the picture quality but at least I come up with an idea and then create it rather than simply snapping a picture of the road. However, there were a few very good creative sharp good-looking pictures that impressed me enough to warrant a 10. However, there were much more 1s, 2s, and 3s than 8s, 9s, or 10s. |
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06/11/2002 10:11:05 PM · #2 |
I think the blur in a lot of these photos adds a great sense of motion and I believe that it was planned that way to improve the interpretation of the challenge...
If ya wanna talk about uninteresting, I saw this photo last week of some dude shaving... but I won't get into much detail on that.. i think it has all been said already... |
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06/11/2002 10:12:55 PM · #3 |
I thought there were more snapshots than normal, and, overall, I wasn't as impressed as I have been in previous challenges, but I did find a good 20 or 30 photos that I really liked. I thought quite a few of the blurred photos were interesting, and most of those I didn't feel were simple snapshots.
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06/11/2002 10:29:36 PM · #4 |
What about all the stupid self portraits eh Jim?
Originally posted by Photo Jim:
I just finished voting on the "On the Road" pics and there sure were a lot of dull pictures with very little creativity. It looks like a lot of people just snapped a picture of the road without even trying to come up with an interesting shot. Also, there were too many blurred and dark shots. Blurred cars speeding by makes for a boring and unoriginal bad picture. I have an ancient camera so the photo-techies complain about the picture quality but at least I come up with an idea and then create it rather than simply snapping a picture of the road. However, there were a few very good creative sharp good-looking pictures that impressed me enough to warrant a 10. However, there were much more 1s, 2s, and 3s than 8s, 9s, or 10s.
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06/11/2002 10:39:16 PM · #5 |
I have to agree. I'd say there were maybe a dozen pictures which warranted a 6 or higher....very dull, uninteresting photos. Come on people, put some effort into it! Perhaps this was a difficult challenge for many.
For heavens sake, please use a tripod when taking long exposure shots. I don't care how interesting a subject looks through the viewfinder, if it's blurry and out of focus - it's a score of 1! |
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06/11/2002 11:00:44 PM · #6 |
Why do I have the feeling that it's a good thing for all our scores that we CAN'T use all those really useful Photoshop filters like grain, motion blur, or solarize -- ALL LEGITIMATE PHOTOGRAHPY/DARKROOM TECHNIQUES used to create a mood or a look in a photo.
My photo this week is as meat and potatoes as they come. Nice sharp focus, crystal clear, etc etc etc. But I'm really sick of people saying that just because it's not sharply focused (or whatever else) it automatically gets a 1. I'm not here to argue whether or not someone used something like motion blur well (if you think they didn't use it well, fine vote it low), but I am really pissed off at people saying it shouldn't be used at all -- do they even look at the photos? Or do they simply let enough of it to load to say, "Oh, blurry. 1," and then move on before it's even finished loading.
EEEEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
There, I feel better now.
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06/11/2002 11:04:50 PM · #7 |
I think that anyone who adds grain to a photo here better be darn happy with that photo for personal reasons... lol
Originally posted by Patella:
Why do I have the feeling that it's a good thing for all our scores that we CAN'T use all those really useful Photoshop filters like grain, motion blur, or solarize -- ALL LEGITIMATE PHOTOGRAHPY/DARKROOM TECHNIQUES used to create a mood or a look in a photo.
My photo this week is as meat and potatoes as they come. Nice sharp focus, crystal clear, etc etc etc. But I'm really sick of people saying that just because it's not sharply focused (or whatever else) it automatically gets a 1. I'm not here to argue whether or not someone used something like motion blur well (if you think they didn't use it well, fine vote it low), but I am really pissed off at people saying it shouldn't be used at all -- do they even look at the photos? Or do they simply let enough of it to load to say, "Oh, blurry. 1," and then move on before it's even finished loading.
EEEEEEEEEEEerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
There, I feel better now.
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06/11/2002 11:41:35 PM · #8 |
I have to admit, I struggled with the challenge, too this week, I did take lots of pictures while driving (and didn't submit them in the end) and - as was commented earliery - my outtakes were true outtakes. This was a definitely difficult challenge, but there ARE some good shots in there, and IMHO even some of those that use grain/blur kind of effects. *gasp* Overall though, I'm not as impressed as with other challenges, either.
On the positive side, I have a feeling that shadow is going to be much more exciting!
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06/12/2002 12:46:58 AM · #9 |
Patella,
I'm not saying not to use photoshop filters; however, most people tend to over use them. What i'm saying is to use the proper tools for the job.... there is a certain photo in the current challenge taken at night of an upside down SUV. Had this photo been taken with the use of a tripod it would have looked much better.
An analogy: It's like using your finger to brush your teeth, not quite as effective as using a toothbrush is it? |
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06/12/2002 01:22:22 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by brumos:
...there is a certain photo in the current challenge taken at night of an upside down SUV. Had this photo been taken with the use of a tripod it would have looked much better.
If we''re thinking about the same photo, and I''m certain we are -- then I couldn''t disagree with you more.
I''ll probably regret this later when other people look at the photo, up the score, and it comes out in front of mine *grin*, but oh well here goes....
A perfectly focused shot of a crashed vehicle, still on the road at the accident site, is nothing more than a picture possibly useful for a little filler space on an inside page of a newspaper along with an accompanying article about the crash that took place on the local interstate. Nothing wrong with that kind of picture, but all it does is record an event.
The photo in question, however, puts me in the middle of that crash because of that long, hand held exposure. It looks and feels like the accident is still happening and that I''m a part of it -- perhaps not actually in the car that I see overturned, but who''s to say my own vehicle hasn''t flipped and rolled and is just now coming to a rest. Or maybe I was thrown from the vehicle in question, and there''s something wrong with my head. There''s so much more impact (no pun intended) in this blurry, out of focus, light streaked image than there would ever be in a simple snapshot of the scene.
Is it my favorite image ever? My apology to the photographer, but no. However, it''s a lot more of a favorite than a perfectly focused, fast shutter speed (or slow shutter speed and tripod) image of the same scene ever would have been.
* This message has been edited by the author on 6/12/2002 1:24:31 AM.
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06/12/2002 06:13:24 AM · #11 |
I particularly like the blur in this shot... It offers a sense that this accident is 'happening.' I think this probably was the intent on this photo, IMHO.
Originally posted by brumos:
Patella,
I'm not saying not to use photoshop filters; however, most people tend to over use them. What i'm saying is to use the proper tools for the job.... there is a certain photo in the current challenge taken at night of an upside down SUV. Had this photo been taken with the use of a tripod it would have looked much better.
An analogy: It's like using your finger to brush your teeth, not quite as effective as using a toothbrush is it?
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06/12/2002 07:15:47 AM · #12 |
I like that shot, and it is my belief that the blur was used to add a sense of chaos.
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06/12/2002 07:17:12 AM · #13 |
This week was not the easiest one to shoot for. After taking about a hundred different photos, I decided on one that I felt was more of a reflection of myself and the many Southern roads I have traveled. Mine is probably one of the so called out of focus snapshots but given the weather and my not so clean windshield, it is very much in focus.
My two favorite photos are just pictures of roads. One uses depth of field to make it stand out and the other uses motion blur as it's outstanding feature. Brunos and Mr. Jim, perhaps you might want take a longer look at the entries. Maybe you will see there was more effort put into these photos than you first thought. |
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06/12/2002 07:39:27 AM · #14 |
Brunos and Mr. Jim......you guys are sly :-)
You know how the human mind works, we hate critics..period.
You knew if you got on here and picked on YOUR photos and your favorites calling them lacking in creativity or whatever that the masses would rise up against you and make them their favorites, showering them with good votes.
Tricky, tricky , tricky :-) |
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06/12/2002 10:16:38 AM · #15 |
| I am normally not a fan of blurs, but I thought the blurs in several photos were very appropriate for this challenge. When the vehicle in "back to the future" takes off, there is definitely a BLUR as it streaks away. There are two streaked pictures and one blur in this week's challenge that I think fit in the category of "good use of technique". |
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06/12/2002 10:32:17 AM · #16 |
I have to agree with janfries on this one. Although not normally a fan of blurred images, several in this challenge appear very good to my novice eyes.
On the other hand there are a couple that I really just dont like. They may be artistic masterpieces, but I just cant find any appeal in them.
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06/12/2002 10:35:44 AM · #17 |
I have to agree as well that I'm not as impressed as with other challenges. But then I also have to look at my voting so far and see that I have a lot of 8's, 9's, and a few 10's. I think a lot of the blurred shots show great creativity (depending on the way they used it in the photo).
I just wanted to say that I've found a lot of photos that I liked this week. :)
Karen |
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06/12/2002 10:42:13 AM · #18 |
Originally posted by janfries:
I am normally not a fan of blurs, but I thought the blurs in several photos were very appropriate for this challenge. When the vehicle in "back to the future" takes off, there is definitely a BLUR as it streaks away. There are two streaked pictures and one blur in this week''s challenge that I think fit in the category of "good use of technique".
One of the things about blur, is that it is easy to do, but more difficult to do well. It''s important to understand that when you blur your photo, you''re "breaking a rule." While many artists will break rules for the sake of breaking rules, I''ve found that I get the most impact when I have a definite reason for breaking a rule and clearly convey that reason to the viewer. Of course, it goes almost without saying (but I''ll say it anyway) that the technique must also be executed properly from a technical standpoint.
In this photo, for example, I used blurring for the two most common reasons -- to draw the viewer in to the main subject and to imply motion. I''m personally happy with my execution and the results, though in some cases I didn''t convey what I was doing all that well to the viewer (as the comments suggest). In most cases, though, I think people "got it."
Remember that art is a form of communication, and as artists we are trying to convey a message to the viewers of our work. If a viewer is unwilling to receive the message, there is nothing we can do about that, but how well we convey our messages to our viewers is the true measure of our skill.
-Terry
* This message has been edited by the author on 6/12/2002 11:02:13 AM.
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06/12/2002 10:44:12 AM · #19 |
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06/12/2002 11:13:44 AM · #20 |
Hi All, I'm new. May I throw in a few thoughts here? I think part of the problem with so called lack of creativity is that the subject matter is particully difficult for our minds to deal with as a static object. How much of our lives are actually out there on the road just getting from one place to another. The image of endlessly converging parallel lines is so universal it is like background static. Yet the ROAD HOME is for each individual loaded with visual stimulus; an added kick that simply can not be photographed. My all time favorite image of a road in my mind would require a video to capture. I'm low in the back seat so I can not see the road but I can see the canopy of live oaks and spanish moss smoothly flowing past putting the world into this wonderful flickering dimi-light. We are on the way to Grandmother's house.
My first photo will be in Shadows but it's very cliche. lol.
See you. Aelith |
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06/12/2002 11:35:21 AM · #21 |
I have seen a lot of comments about 'lack' of creativity in these photos this week... I think that some of these shots are very creative and some are not... but this is the case in the challenges EVERY week. Someone please suggest some ideas that would be MORE creative that what we have before us. I knew, coming into this challege, that my photo choice was going to be considered common, so I made the best attempt at it that I could. I have received a few comments along the 'cliche' lines and I expected that. It's not a surprise. I had fun doing my photo for this challenge and I am happy with my entry. I see about 5 shots in this challenge that I think are exceptional on the technical and subjective side. These will be my 10 votes this week... I average between 5 and 10 perfect scores every week so this challenge would be slightly on the low side of that average.
I suppose that each photographer believes that his or her photo is creative or it probably wouldn't be here...
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06/12/2002 11:38:03 AM · #22 |
Welcome, aelith.
I think the beauty of the challenge format of this site is that it forces us to look at things in a way that we ordinarily wouldn't. I agree with you, though, that On the Road, was a difficult subject, in my mind deceptively so.
I look forward to seeing your contributions.
-Terry
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06/12/2002 11:43:13 AM · #23 |
Clubjuggle,
I agree with you that this subject was more difficult than some others.. i had a difficult time with it so i took the common route with a 'cliche' idea...
I am having an even more difficult time with the shadows concept... I can photograph shadows but I'm struggling for an idea that would stand out :)
Originally posted by clubjuggle:
Welcome, aelith.
I think the beauty of the challenge format of this site is that it forces us to look at things in a way that we ordinarily wouldn't. I agree with you, though, that On the Road, was a difficult subject, in my mind deceptively so.
I look forward to seeing your contributions.
-Terry
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06/12/2002 11:46:09 AM · #24 |
Originally posted by aelith:
[i]Hi All, I'm new.
Welcome! |
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06/12/2002 11:46:34 AM · #25 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
I am having an even more difficult time with the shadows concept... I can photograph shadows but I'm struggling for an idea that would stand out :)
I'm thinking of just posting one of my outtakes from the B&W challenge! ;)
I kinda wish that "Shadows" had not so closely followed "B&W". Shadows are often an important part of B&W work, which, to me, makes these two challenges rather similar. |
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