> DSS #6 (Splendor or Squalor): Feedback Thread

Greensquared · August 25, 2008

As soon as the judges have made their top ten selections, their critiques will be added to this thread. The voting poll will be posted at that time also. In the meantime, post your own personal feedback and favorites here.

The challenge theme was: Splendor or Squalor

Your judges were:
_______________________________________________________________
richtersl - Feedback

Congratulations to you all for a fine round.

It was not easy narrowing down my list to just 10. But here they are in the order that they were posted:

#6 - Glencoe, Scotland - cbsnet
Your photo makes me wish I was in Scotland enjoying this view in person. The clouds look a bit hot in places, but not enough to be a huge distraction. The pano crop accentuates the mountain details and cloud shadows very well.

#8 - Slim Pickn's - KarrieMcD
Holy cow! This is absolutely fabulous. The sepia tone you used was perfect for this composition. Very emotional shot.

#12 - Gearhead Dreams - Travis
Nice post-processing. I like the sheen on the car and the way you vignetted the photo to pull the viewer into the scene. Love the colorful reflections on the rear bumper.

#14 - Night Bloom under a Red Moon - Glory2JesusPhotography
I don't know what your light source is, but its effect on the lily is superb. Gorgeous shot!

#20 - Candlelight - Michael Atkins
This is a delight to look at. Even the background, though subtle, is an interesting study in and of itself. The candlelight was well captured and nicely reflected.

#32 - Morning Glow - vandana
The golden hues are nice and rich in the macro shot. I like how you can clearly make out the tips of 2 of the stamens and how the rest of them just seem to melt into the flower.

#33 - Trump Tower - VisualExpressions
Nice capture. Would like to have seen a bit more detail in the clouds but the perspective plus the details you captured in the golden reflection won me over.

#40 - Glorious Morning - Roaddog 52
You nailed the essence of a chilly morning well in this shot. The sunlight on the mountain immediately draws your eye to the main focal point, but not without a short delightful stop in the field of purple flowers in the foreground.

#44 - Decaying Organ Steps Silences Sacred Harmonies - swintonphoto
Your exposure is spot-on! The composition is centered, but rules were meant to be broken and I like the way you broke them.

#48 - Faith Abandoned - CSwinton
Very emotional and mysterious photo that makes you wonder what happened to that congregation. The central composition works for me because it makes you wonder if anyone will ever walk through those doors again to come and worship there. The light in the windows looks a bit hot, but I like how it's illuminating the floor and ceiling.
______________________________________________________________
Greensquared - Feedback

#2 - crayzphotography - Favorite Filthy Habit
This image has a wonderful feel to it. The darkness of the image supports
the theme, as well as the tilted head, rough fingers and sheltering hand.
Almost as though there is shame in the stance. My only nit here is that the
focus is on the nose ad not on the cigarette.

#4 - Pilzner - Opulent Squalor
I love this image. Great leading lines, awesome repetition of arch shape,
good textured detail.

#8 - KarrieMcD - Slim Pickn's
WOW. I don't know if this was posed in anyway, but I kinda hope so since it
would be so tragic as a reality. The filth is evident, the decay and
sorrow, desolation. Perfect pp choices. Bang on theme, fantastic in every
way.

#12 - Travis - Gearhead Dreams
Totally great feel to this one. A little confused about the orange and
yellow reflection on the trunk (hat?), but otherwise a pleasing image.

#13 - cmorganphotography - Muddy Misdemeanor
Very well shot, great DOF, lovely exposure...and you totally owe your model
for this one!

#20 - Michael Atkins - Candlelight
Bizzare to see this subject when it's 90 degrees outside, but still,
extremely well done. It definitely works for the theme though.

#22 - HumphreyCogay - After The Demolition
Very powerful image. It appears as though you were shooting through a
screen of sorts and it's unfortunate that the face fell in such a dark area.
Also, I think you could crop off the left side of the dwellig and off
center your subject, while still maintaining the strength of the message.

#33 - VisualXpressions - Trump Tower
Total grandeur for sure. Well shot too!

#40 - Roaddog52 - Glorious Morning
This was the only one that really nailed my vision of splendor. A tad over-saturated perhaps, but it works and I'd hang it on my wall.

#48 - CSwinton - Faith Abandoned
I realized this and your brother's were the same spot, his was just one corner of the room. Although his is very nice as well, in the end, this was the stronger of the two for me.

jeffreaux2 · August 25, 2008

Karrie McD- Slim Pickn"s.....Karrie....I wish that it were more a true black and white rather than the warm tint. It is almost as if you tried to pretty-it-up....but....that is my nit-pick. I think it is the one image in the bunch that nails the theme best. A moving journalistic styled capture.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

peterst6906 · August 25, 2008

Good luck everyone. My picks:

cmorganphotography · August 25, 2008

Thank you for including my filthy, half zombie, half vampire, mud woman in your picks, Peters. I think you have saved the human race by putting a lot of street junk and a car on top of her. "You'll never get my brains zombie!"

pemmett · August 25, 2008

My top nine in no particular order - all excellent shots. Well done.

Karrie McD · August 25, 2008

Great Job To Everyone!!!!!

Karrie McD · August 25, 2008

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Karrie McD- Slim Pickn"s.....Karrie....I wish that it were more a true black and white rather than the warm tint. It is almost as if you tried to pretty-it-up....but....that is my nit-pick. I think it is the one image in the bunch that nails the theme best. A moving journalistic styled capture.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Thank you very much!

I tint my black and whites A LOT .... I don't know why -but I usually like the tint much better. I think sometimes black and whites seem too blue or something

Tentacion · August 25, 2008

In No Particular Order...Good Luck To all Entrants.

WomanWithACamera · August 25, 2008

My Top Ten
Here's My top ten pick in no particular order. There are fantastic images in
this challenge. I always come out of these challenges learning something new. This was fun and challenging.

Opulent Squalor by Pilznr
Slim Pickn's by Karrie McD
Gearhead Dreams By Travis
Muddy Misdemeanor by CMorganphotography
The Storm cometh by tsk1979
Candlelight by Michael Atkins
Dry Coulee Paradise by scas
Morning glow by Vandana
Trump Tower by VisualXpressions
Glorious Morning by roaddog 52

WomanWithACamera · August 25, 2008

Karrie McD wrote:

Thank you for including mine in your top ten Karrie. I am honored.
P.S. Is there a link on how to make these collages?

crayzphotography · August 25, 2008

Good job everyone!
excited to see my entry in two of the top tens so far. Thanks!:ivar

swintonphoto · August 25, 2008

These are my favorite images. I think they all address the theme well, and have great aesthetic qualities as well. Nice job everyone.

jrnylst · August 25, 2008

The Squalor entries this round fit the theme SO well, but I guess my eyes are more drawn to Splendor..

ulrikft · August 25, 2008

jrnylst wrote:

The Squalor entries this round fit the theme SO well, but I guess my eyes are more drawn to Splendor..

Thanks a bunch for including me

MrsCue · August 25, 2008

Only 4 jumped out at me.
In no particular order, here are my picks.

cmorganphotography · August 25, 2008

what a nice thing to see after work, thank you for including me in your favs - womanwithacamera, tentacion, karrie mcd, pemmett, and peters.

KevXman · August 25, 2008

Wow! Thank you Donna and MrsCue for including me in your favorites! That was unexpected. I'm still practicing shooting waterfalls and am not exactly pleased with the results of this attempt but thought that I would throw it in the mix anyways.

Here are my Top Ten.

— Kevin

cmorganphotography · August 25, 2008

I lost my freebie PS, so I will just have to list. Thanks KevXman for the fav!

karrie mcd: slim pickns
rhommel: her
giphsub: former splendor
michael: candlelight
pyry: war wounds
peters: me time
roaddog: glorious morning
cswinton: abandoned
jyrnlst: my world
sunita: god's kingdom.

anwmn1 · August 25, 2008

Thanks for those of you that selected mine for your top pics but unfortunately I failed to realize the time and date was not set in the camera I used so it was DQ'd.

I support the DQ as it was my fault.

Thanks again though.

Travis · August 25, 2008

Thank you to Peter, Pemmett, Karrie, Tentacion, WomanWithACamera, and KevXman for placing Gearhead Dreams in your top picks.

A special thank you to Nikolai for a much needed kick in the pants when I started to slacken off.

There were some incredible entries this round for both sides of the theme. I think the judges did well with what had to be a tough selection to narrow down the field. Here are my picks....

SciurusNiger · August 25, 2008

Many, many terrific entries here. Very good job, everyone!

Did anyone else notice that "splendor" was defined mostly by what is seen in the natural world, while "squalor" invariably contained the human element?

Greensquared · August 25, 2008

Judges feedback has been added to the first post of this thread.

Travis · August 25, 2008

Greensquared wrote:

lrichters - Feedback

#12 - Gearhead Dreams - Travis
Nice post-processing. I like the sheen on the car and the way you vignetted the photo to pull the viewer into the scene. Love the colorful reflections on the rear bumper.
______________________________________________________________
Greensquared - Feedback
#12 - Travis - Gearhead Dreams
Totally great feel to this one. A little confused about the orange and
yellow reflection on the trunk (hat?), but otherwise a pleasing image.

Thank you for the feedback and selections!

As far as the orange and yellows on the rear... it was some umbrellas to camera left. I thought about removing for a second but I liked the way it contrasted the blues and greens.

I appreciate it!!!

VisualXpressions · August 25, 2008

Top 5
#8 Kerrie - "Slim Pickins" Hands down the best of the bunch!

#12 Travis - "Gearhead dreams" excellent post process work!

#30 Peter - "Me Time" wonderfully done! I think it fit the theme to a tee

#40 Road Dogs52 - "Glorious Morning" best landscape by far! very well done.

#54 Beach Bill - "welcome to eden" What a hoot

I love it in all of its spartan simplictic squalor.

Thanks to those who included my shot in their top 10!

Winston

Travis · August 25, 2008

VisualXpressions wrote:

#12 Travis - "Gearhead dreams" excellent post process work!

Winston

Thanks Winston!

Cameron · August 25, 2008

Greensquared wrote:

richtersl - Feedback

#48 - Faith Abandoned - CSwinton
Very emotional and mysterious photo that makes you wonder what happened to that congregation. The central composition works for me because it makes you wonder if anyone will ever walk through those doors again to come and worship there. The light in the windows looks a bit hot, but I like how it's illuminating the floor and ceiling.
______________________________________________________________
Greensquared - Feedback

#48 - CSwinton - Faith Abandoned
I realized this and your brother's were the same spot, his was just one corner of the room. Although his is very nice as well, in the end, this was the stronger of the two for me.

Thanks for the comments!
richtersl - Yes, I was hoping to convey a bit of mystery about what happened. This feeling is even more apparent when you see the church - It is a very nice structure out in the middle of nowhere Kansas. There are empty fields on all sides and a small cemetery behind it. I'm sure there's an interesting story..
Greesquared - yes, Jon and I went out shooting together - an escape we both needed! Interestingly we chose our photos for the contest independently and both ended up using shots from that church. It's always fun to have a shooting buddy - we see each see things in our own way and its great to learn from each other.

To everyone else who commented on my photo - thanks!!!

Cameron

peterst6906 · August 26, 2008

Congrats everyone.

Tentacion · August 26, 2008

SciurusNiger wrote:

Many, many terrific entries here. Very good job, everyone!

Did anyone else notice that "splendor" was defined mostly by what is seen in the natural world, while "squalor" invariably contained the human element?

My Splendor is found in Music...would you consider that the "natural" world..:D

peterst6906 · August 26, 2008

Tentacion wrote:

My Splendor is found in Music...would you consider that the "natural" world..:D

Joy of music is as natural as it gets, isn't it.....:D:D

I think there is a tendency to see the natural World as more pure and untarnished and to see squalor in the seedier side of the things that societies/individuals do.

From a purely dictionary based intepretation, both natural and artificial things can represent spendor or squalor.

It was probably just easier this round to find natural things that represent splendor because not too many people have palaces, castles, royalty or that type of thing nearby. Squalor you can find anywhere if you look.

Having said that though, 3 of the judges splendor picks were based around man-made objects (Travis, Michael Atkins, VisualXpressions), so some people were able to strike a nerve with images that contained human elements.

Regards,

Peter

Tentacion · August 26, 2008

peterst6906 wrote:

Joy of music is as natural as it gets, isn't it.....:D:D

I think there is a tendency to see the natural World as more pure and untarnished and to see squalor in the seedier side of the things that societies/individuals do.

From a purely dictionary based intepretation, both natural and artificial things can represent spendor or squalor.

It was probably just easier this round to find natural things that represent splendor because not too many people have palaces, castles, royalty or that type of thing nearby. Squalor you can find anywhere if you look.

Having said that though, 3 of the judges splendor picks were based around man-made objects (Travis, Michael Atkins, VisualXpressions), so some people were able to strike a nerve with images that contained human elements.

Regards,

Peter

Thanks Peter, I'm glad that someone saw the splendor I portrayed. Perhaps in future rounds, I should not go too far outside of the box, as some rely more on the "visual" than seeing what is portrayed, i.e. for instance...Velvetride's "Arsenic and Old Lace" , for once, I was compositionally stumped as to what the composition was trying to portray in the elements theme, when explained further in the feedback thread...I was like "DUH...Wow now I feel visually dense"...:D

Have a Fabulous Day !!
Donna

peterst6906 · August 26, 2008

Tentacion wrote:

Perhaps in future rounds, I should not go too far outside of the box

I don't know.

There are only a certain number of possible places available in the final pics and being exactly on the theme doesn't guarantee you a place.

On the whole it's about the overall image. I'm normally spot on theme but haven't managed to even get into the top third of images yet, so this time I went for a broader interpretation of the "splendor of the moment" type approach. That didn't work either, so I guess it's back to the drawing board.

i.e. for instance...Velvetride's "Arsenic and Old Lace" , for once, I was compositionally stumped as to what the composition was trying to portray in the elements theme, when explained further in the feedback thread...I was like "DUH...Wow now I feel visually dense"...:D

Sometimes we see it, sometimes we don't I guess. The arsenic aspect stuck out for me immediately and like a few of the images that took the table of elements angle, the image has several meanings working together.

It strikes me as a nice image when I look at it.

Have a Fabulous Day !!
Donna

You too.

Regards,

Peter

> DSS #6 (Splendor or Squalor): Feedback Thread

Comments