However, there have been a few "manipulated" images in the challenge series that I have found to be quite moving/poignant/funny and just plain beautiful Art. Seeing those made me want to give it a try. "Wall St. vs. Main Street" was my first serious attempt at a composite image and it really stretched my skills to figure out how to put the whole thing together. And that's what I like about participating in this series - that it really forces me to push the envelope of my limited creativity and to continue to try new things, and hopefully, grow as a photographer with each new challenge.
Agreed, and very well put! I think perhaps my first post was misunderstood, or maybe I'm just not good at expressing myself, but I have no problem with PP, in fact your image Paul is a very good example of how well it can turn out, I am in awe of your creativity, not just of the work involved, but the little details that help convey the message in your image. And I feel I must repeat myself that I love these challenges, and appreciate all of the effort and time that is put into it by Emily!
Karin
"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth." — Mark Twain
I have only participated in 3 challenges, but I’ve loved the time I’ve spent here so far. It’s great when I can think of an image right away, but even better if the topic is challenging or stretches my skills. Weathered/polished forced me to think in very visual terms about trying to capture an aesthetically pleasing image about the subject (which didn’t really work ), whereas “communication” had me thinking more about a story. IMO, both developed my skills as a photographer, but in completely different ways. I think there is a really good balance here.
I am excited to start working on the MC (I feel really honored to be involved!). It will be a real challenge as I just arrived in my new home last week (which happens to be in a new country in a completely new environment!):) I’m actually going to try some exploratory work tonight
In short- thank you! You do a lot for us and I for one really appreciate all your efforts! They are keeping me excited and motivated to improve!
Many clever ideas to fit the theme blow me away with creativity, but, the execution photographically of the ideas seems to have little to do with the acceptance of it as a great image. If the idea is great and we take a picture of it, then it must be a great photograph. I posit, this should not be the case. Strong photographs need to have compositions that are strong, artistic, and support the presentation of the message.
I'll second this point, strongly, and I don't think it has been aired enough here. Somehow it got side tracked into the standard post-processing arguement which I don't think was really the author's point.
I understand the point of the themes and very much like them, they add a challenge and interest to participating as they often take us out of our comfort zone. I do very much like some of the additional variety that Emily has been providing us with as well by occasionally adding qualifiers (e.g. SOOC or B&W). And I can certainly understand sticking closely to theme or focusing on directly addressing the theme as the subject since when I was first participating I was constantly looking at entries and thinking "nice photo, off theme" and moving on.
But you know what? I became incredibly bored with 95% of the photos I saw that were so well "on theme". Yep, they'd give me a quick chuckle or get a "how clever" out of me and then after those few seconds they'd fall into the background. More often than not the images that stick with me are ones that used the theme as a departure point rather than a destination and then ended up some place slightly different but truely amazing. I find the former are almost always becoming the top 5 and the later rarely make it and often don't even make it to the vote.
I really don't think there is a "better" kind of photo or photographer. This is a *community* contest, even more so now with the public voting, and it is the community that decides what it is looking for. As I've watched this evolve over time it has become clear that this community is looking for a different kind of photography than I'm try to steer myself towards. I absolutely hate using categorizations for approaches to photography since such terms carry lots of extra-baggage for some people, but in the interest of trying solidify what I'm saying I'll go out on a limb and throw a categorization out there (and please, please, please don't read too much into this - I realize the photos and community here are much broader than this, I'm just trying to perhaps overly distill my thoughts). I feel like we are being steered towards becoming clever stock-photographers and that's not where I'm trying to take my photography.
All that said, Emily, I like what you've done so far. You've expanded the themes more broadly than rev 1 of the contest and I've really liked the entires that have been produced as a result - even if the broadened entires haven't always made it to the end. I did an unsolicited feedback of all the entires a number of rounds ago and oh my goodness what a job that was, I'm in awe of the effort you are putting in here week after week! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I like the gallery idea as well, I hope it works out. Feedback is what makes this contest thrive and I hope the gallery encourages it.
And as far as the community goes here, even if I'm not enthralled with where the community seems to be steering the contest it really is the community that holds my interest. I've got to say I always connect better with the photos over in the Fred Miranda weekly/monthly assignments, but it is the folks here that I routinely visit and actually post to. You guys are great! I wish I found the time to swing by more regularly.
And for me? Well, I'll continue to check out the themes here and have them in my mind for the two weeks. I like using them as my departure point, they do take me out of my normal rutts. And when I've got an image I think is worth sharing I'll enter it soley because I like people's feedback. Whether or not I've got anything to share I always come by to see what others have done and offer my input when I've got the time and something useful to say. That hasn't changed. But I have completely given up on trying to create entries I think will make it into the finals. I can do it (have done it) but I just don't like where it takes me in the end.
Interesting persepectives from you all. Of course, I will never be able to please every person, every round, but you guys have given me some ideas for additional themes to put in the mix.
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
This mega challenge, Your favorite place.
For those that don't live near their favorite place, I think they'll have a much tougher challenge than
a person who loves the city/town that they live in.
I know some of you are trying to figure out a way to do this indoors. A place will mostly be an
outdoor spot for me. This could be a very tough time of year to show the beauty of a place.
Dave, I'm curious...if people are outdoor photographers, do they not see the beauty in every season? Do outdoor photogs only go out and shoot at typical pretty times of the year?
Also, you know, this Mega-Challenge theme is about using your imagination. I know most of you can't necessarily get to your literal "favorite place". Mine would be on a cruise ship, stateroom with balcony, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Not likely to happen within the next 5 years, let alone the next 2 weeks. The idea is to shoot an image that makes me feel like it's your favorite place. Tell a story. Ideally it would be something honest and true, but we all enjoy different places at different times while we're in different moods. Think about it this way...this is one of my favorite places. Let your image illustrate why. Does that help?
I've got to say I always connect better with the photos over in the Fred Miranda weekly/monthly assignments, but it is the folks here that I routinely visit and actually post to. You guys are great!.
(emphases mine)
Which was my point. I can't think of any other photo discussion group where I would have felt comfortable enough to jump in and try some of this stuff; I'd still be sitting there looking at images thinking, 'Wow, that's fantastic... but how did they DO that?" instead of getting out there and learning how it was done by trying it myself.
While my technically haphazard (although I hope improving) efforts are perhaps exactly the kind of thing that is annoying the more experienced and technically purist (and competent!) members, the community atmosphere is STILL encouraging enough that I felt brave enough to give it a try. There are as far as I can tell plenty of photography competitions out there which offer scope for "traditional" photography, but the *community* aspect is indeed what sets this one apart and, while the level of images confirms that it is certainly not a "beginner's" contest, it has enough of a spirit of growth and learning as well as competition that it makes it a good place to start.
Sorry to harp on like some kind of crazy Pollyanna but this place has come to mean a lot to me. As I said, the encouragement here has led to my photos becoming a *passion*, and I'm so keen to learn I can't get enough. I understand the reservations being voiced - they're reasonable observations - but the flip side is that while the current "ethic" (for want of a better word) may not please the purists, it's certainly opening the door for others to jump in and have a try. Perhaps if one is an experienced photographer, that's one of the problems with it, but from where I'm sitting, it's a strength
Do outdoor photogs only go out and shoot at typical pretty times of the year?
For someone living in eastern PA, during the latter half of November the trees are barren, no snow yet, ponds and creeks are not frozen yet, sometimes we get frost, and if we're lucky we may get fog. Yes, there are places/things to photograph and sometimes you return home with something acceptable. Outdoor photogs aren't always going to go out and shoot during pretty times of the year but conditions need to be conducive to getting an attention-grabbing photo. Doing that is very difficult in this area at this time of year.
With imagination I would not think your favorite place would have to be limited to a physical place. Like in the movie "Happy Gilmore" find your 'happy place'.
For someone living in eastern PA, during the latter half of November the trees are barren, no snow yet, ponds and creeks are not frozen yet, sometimes we get frost, and if we're lucky we may get fog. Yes, there are places/things to photograph and sometimes you return home with something acceptable. Outdoor photogs aren't always going to go out and shoot during pretty times of the year but conditions need to be conducive to getting an attention-grabbing photo. Doing that is very difficult in this area at this time of year.
But I'm not letting it discourage me.
Could always shoot B&W - doesn't matter what time of year it is:D
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
Dave, I'm curious...if people are outdoor photographers, do they not see the beauty in every season? Do outdoor photogs only go out and shoot at typical pretty times of the year?
Lets just say that I'm guessing that you have never spent a November in Minnesota.
26 out of 30 days are overcast, not cold enough to snow, no colors left but brown and gray.
What a cheery place to be.:D
Like I say, I'm not in the MC, so really it doesn't matter. If I was, I doubt if I would be able to come up with anything that would be appealing to the eye.
I'm wondering how you guys feel about the new challenges, both the MC ad Round 13? Like them? Tricky?
Wow. I went out of town for a day or so and look at all of the discussion.
A few comments on the DSS challenges.
1. Sometimes I pull my hair out trying to figure out what to shoot, but I am ALWAYS stretched. I think I've developed more as an am photographer struggling over these challenges than almost anywhere else.
2. The "odd" themes are the best. Keep 'em coming. I mostly shoot landscapes, and I notice the "human interest" and "people" shots tend to get more notice. But that's true just about everywhere. I take that as a challenge to capture better images.
A huge thank you to SmugMug for hosting this. And a gynormous thank you to everyone who works behind the scenes to make this forum work, especially Emily. Great work. Absolutely love it.
More Photography . . . Less Photoshop [. . . except when I do it] Jeff Meyers
Lets just say that I'm guessing that you have never spent a November in Minnesota.
26 out of 30 days are overcast, not cold enough to snow, no colors left but brown and gray.
Cool. That's a great "favorite place" you have there, Dave.
OMG...Dave caught a pictue of Ogopogo in his favorite place...looks like she is about 50 feet off the shore heading up river..why is Ogopogo in the Old Miss? and is that smuggy graffiti painted on the pretty tube sticking out the hill....this is beginning to become my favorite place 2....
I'm praying for snow, and the forecasters know it. It keeps moving around my 5-day forecast like elusive prey. It was originally supposed to snow Thursday, then Tuesday (it flurried for about, oh, 1 minute), and now it's popped up again for Friday. They're all just teasing me, and I have a suspicion my meteorologist father is behind the joke. :giggle
Comments
"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth." — Mark Twain
I am excited to start working on the MC (I feel really honored to be involved!). It will be a real challenge as I just arrived in my new home last week (which happens to be in a new country in a completely new environment!):) I’m actually going to try some exploratory work tonight
In short- thank you! You do a lot for us and I for one really appreciate all your efforts! They are keeping me excited and motivated to improve!
I understand the point of the themes and very much like them, they add a challenge and interest to participating as they often take us out of our comfort zone. I do very much like some of the additional variety that Emily has been providing us with as well by occasionally adding qualifiers (e.g. SOOC or B&W). And I can certainly understand sticking closely to theme or focusing on directly addressing the theme as the subject since when I was first participating I was constantly looking at entries and thinking "nice photo, off theme" and moving on.
But you know what? I became incredibly bored with 95% of the photos I saw that were so well "on theme". Yep, they'd give me a quick chuckle or get a "how clever" out of me and then after those few seconds they'd fall into the background. More often than not the images that stick with me are ones that used the theme as a departure point rather than a destination and then ended up some place slightly different but truely amazing. I find the former are almost always becoming the top 5 and the later rarely make it and often don't even make it to the vote.
I really don't think there is a "better" kind of photo or photographer. This is a *community* contest, even more so now with the public voting, and it is the community that decides what it is looking for. As I've watched this evolve over time it has become clear that this community is looking for a different kind of photography than I'm try to steer myself towards. I absolutely hate using categorizations for approaches to photography since such terms carry lots of extra-baggage for some people, but in the interest of trying solidify what I'm saying I'll go out on a limb and throw a categorization out there (and please, please, please don't read too much into this - I realize the photos and community here are much broader than this, I'm just trying to perhaps overly distill my thoughts). I feel like we are being steered towards becoming clever stock-photographers and that's not where I'm trying to take my photography.
All that said, Emily, I like what you've done so far. You've expanded the themes more broadly than rev 1 of the contest and I've really liked the entires that have been produced as a result - even if the broadened entires haven't always made it to the end. I did an unsolicited feedback of all the entires a number of rounds ago and oh my goodness what a job that was, I'm in awe of the effort you are putting in here week after week! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I like the gallery idea as well, I hope it works out. Feedback is what makes this contest thrive and I hope the gallery encourages it.
And as far as the community goes here, even if I'm not enthralled with where the community seems to be steering the contest it really is the community that holds my interest. I've got to say I always connect better with the photos over in the Fred Miranda weekly/monthly assignments, but it is the folks here that I routinely visit and actually post to. You guys are great! I wish I found the time to swing by more regularly.
And for me? Well, I'll continue to check out the themes here and have them in my mind for the two weeks. I like using them as my departure point, they do take me out of my normal rutts. And when I've got an image I think is worth sharing I'll enter it soley because I like people's feedback. Whether or not I've got anything to share I always come by to see what others have done and offer my input when I've got the time and something useful to say. That hasn't changed. But I have completely given up on trying to create entries I think will make it into the finals. I can do it (have done it) but I just don't like where it takes me in the end.
All the best,
Ken
(I keed, I keed)
I've been pushed to do a lot of things that I would never have tried to do on my own with the challenges. I think that I'm better for it.
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
Dave, I'm curious...if people are outdoor photographers, do they not see the beauty in every season? Do outdoor photogs only go out and shoot at typical pretty times of the year?
Also, you know, this Mega-Challenge theme is about using your imagination. I know most of you can't necessarily get to your literal "favorite place". Mine would be on a cruise ship, stateroom with balcony, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Not likely to happen within the next 5 years, let alone the next 2 weeks. The idea is to shoot an image that makes me feel like it's your favorite place. Tell a story. Ideally it would be something honest and true, but we all enjoy different places at different times while we're in different moods. Think about it this way...this is one of my favorite places. Let your image illustrate why. Does that help?
http://www.jonathanswinton.com
http://www.swintoncounseling.com
Which was my point. I can't think of any other photo discussion group where I would have felt comfortable enough to jump in and try some of this stuff; I'd still be sitting there looking at images thinking, 'Wow, that's fantastic... but how did they DO that?" instead of getting out there and learning how it was done by trying it myself.
While my technically haphazard (although I hope improving) efforts are perhaps exactly the kind of thing that is annoying the more experienced and technically purist (and competent!) members, the community atmosphere is STILL encouraging enough that I felt brave enough to give it a try. There are as far as I can tell plenty of photography competitions out there which offer scope for "traditional" photography, but the *community* aspect is indeed what sets this one apart and, while the level of images confirms that it is certainly not a "beginner's" contest, it has enough of a spirit of growth and learning as well as competition that it makes it a good place to start.
Sorry to harp on like some kind of crazy Pollyanna but this place has come to mean a lot to me. As I said, the encouragement here has led to my photos becoming a *passion*, and I'm so keen to learn I can't get enough. I understand the reservations being voiced - they're reasonable observations - but the flip side is that while the current "ethic" (for want of a better word) may not please the purists, it's certainly opening the door for others to jump in and have a try. Perhaps if one is an experienced photographer, that's one of the problems with it, but from where I'm sitting, it's a strength
For someone living in eastern PA, during the latter half of November the trees are barren, no snow yet, ponds and creeks are not frozen yet, sometimes we get frost, and if we're lucky we may get fog. Yes, there are places/things to photograph and sometimes you return home with something acceptable. Outdoor photogs aren't always going to go out and shoot during pretty times of the year but conditions need to be conducive to getting an attention-grabbing photo. Doing that is very difficult in this area at this time of year.
But I'm not letting it discourage me.
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
http://danielplumer.com/
Facebook Fan Page
Troy
Could always shoot B&W - doesn't matter what time of year it is:D
http://www.jonathanswinton.com
http://www.swintoncounseling.com
That's true, Jonathan!
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
i havent been to very many of my favorite places at all!!!!
eehhh heemmm, let me clarify... I LOVE sleep.
Awww...c'mon Aaron...I know you've got something to say in response to this...
http://danielplumer.com/
Facebook Fan Page
The really sad thing is I read this before you clarified it and didn't even THINK of the double entendre.
We have a saying our house "Let her sleep and nobody gets hurt..."
I loves me my snooziness
My pillow and my recliner also came up as ideas.
www.achambersphoto.com
"The point in life isn't to arrive at our final destination well preserved and in pristine condition, but rather to slide in sideways yelling.....Holy cow, what a ride."
I execute Amendment V
but on the otherhand...the comedy that can be played off this is tempting...:D
Lets just say that I'm guessing that you have never spent a November in Minnesota.
26 out of 30 days are overcast, not cold enough to snow, no colors left but brown and gray.
What a cheery place to be.:D
Like I say, I'm not in the MC, so really it doesn't matter. If I was, I doubt if I would be able to come up with anything that would be appealing to the eye.
Taken last week. Ooooo that's so pretty.:D
The Mighty Mississippi.
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
Wow. I went out of town for a day or so and look at all of the discussion.
A few comments on the DSS challenges.
1. Sometimes I pull my hair out trying to figure out what to shoot, but I am ALWAYS stretched. I think I've developed more as an am photographer struggling over these challenges than almost anywhere else.
2. The "odd" themes are the best. Keep 'em coming. I mostly shoot landscapes, and I notice the "human interest" and "people" shots tend to get more notice. But that's true just about everywhere. I take that as a challenge to capture better images.
A huge thank you to SmugMug for hosting this. And a gynormous thank you to everyone who works behind the scenes to make this forum work, especially Emily. Great work. Absolutely love it.
Jeff Meyers
Cool. That's a great "favorite place" you have there, Dave.
Jeff Meyers
Oh hell, I guess I got my work cut out for me. :giggle
http://lrichters.smugmug.com
My weather exactly.
Gonna have get to nifty
http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/
OMG...Dave caught a pictue of Ogopogo in his favorite place...looks like she is about 50 feet off the shore heading up river..why is Ogopogo in the Old Miss? and is that smuggy graffiti painted on the pretty tube sticking out the hill....this is beginning to become my favorite place 2....
will the madness ever end....?
oh, Davev...i feel bad...all the trees here in St. George still have leaves on them....isnt that a shame?
No. :crazy
And I know what I'm talking about. I gave my camera a whirl the washing machine.
http://pyryekholm.kuvat.fi/