Sparkling, Crashing, Diving
Well, this is my first post in dgrin, so let's see if I can figure out how to make a picture appear.
Last weekend I was down at Wrightsville Beach, a right-close-by sister town to Wilmington, North Carolina. Just standing at the beach shooting pictures seemed so, well, so been-there-done-that. So I looked for something unique. I couldn't actually get behind the camera to do the shots I wanted so I set my aperture for the effect I wanted and put the camera down low and hit the clicker. Here's the result:
Hope you like it. I was mildly surprised with the foreground bokeh, though at times I think it is a bit much.
Well, this is my first post in dgrin, so let's see if I can figure out how to make a picture appear.
Last weekend I was down at Wrightsville Beach, a right-close-by sister town to Wilmington, North Carolina. Just standing at the beach shooting pictures seemed so, well, so been-there-done-that. So I looked for something unique. I couldn't actually get behind the camera to do the shots I wanted so I set my aperture for the effect I wanted and put the camera down low and hit the clicker. Here's the result:
Hope you like it. I was mildly surprised with the foreground bokeh, though at times I think it is a bit much.
Well hulloooooo (fellow) Seattleite! (well o.k. I now hang out in Vietnam, but still, the Emerald City was my beloved 20+ yr. hometown prior to my exodus here to Asia).
ANYWAY, welcome! And - do I "like it"? You betcha. Very nice, and (given the current "Unique POV" challenge I issued), I especially applaud your note about "Just standing on the beach shooting pictures seemed so, well, so been-there-done-that."
Preeeecisely. That's precisely what I hoped this challenge would inspire. And the combo of getting your camera low, low, low (goodness, I hope it didn't get drenched!) PLUS, your thoughtful tweak of the apature... Quite a nicely done effect and POV indeed.
And finally, note that you can enter 2 more pics for the challenge, and switch any three in/out until the challenge ends on 11 January for you there in Seattle (i.e. 1200 hrs. 12 January for me here in Vietnam).
"I am not the same, having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world." TravelnLass.com
I didn't think I had anything for this challenge... but then I remembered this shot...
A couple more...
The boardwalk from the farris wheel.
Laid on the floor for this one...
Pho-tog-ra-pher (n) 1. One who practices photography 2. one obsessed with capturing life with their camera. 3. One who eats, sleeps and breathes photographs. 4. One who sees the world in 4x6. www.lisaspeakmanphotography.com
I didn't think I had anything for this challenge... but then I remembered this shot...
And a fine UPOV it is, my dear!
btw, let's all try to reduce the images when we re-post an image in a remark (see above bicycles). It gets confusing when I see full-size images - that I think are new entries, but aren't.
Alan taught me well.
Just right click on the original image and click "View Image". Then copy that url to your clipboard (highlight + Ctrl C), and... when you reply, delete the big image from the original quote, and add the image url you just copied (via the wee mountain postcard? icon in the reply interface). Then... change the TWO "L"s or "XL"s or "S"s or whatever in the smugmug address to "200x200" or some such.
And finally, do check via the "Preview Post" button.
Sounds more complicated than it is (ask me how I know)
"I am not the same, having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world." TravelnLass.com
Just 2+ Days Til the End of MC #156
Goodness, sooo many great images here! I was initially a little worried that the unique pov theme might prove problematic. But you all have clearly been waaay more than equal to the challenge. I'm amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of the entries so far.
I don't know about previous judges, but wading through these forum pages makes judging rather difficult. So today I transferred all the entry pics to date into a private page on my blog - all neatly ordered in thumbnails that I can view in full as I ponder.
We presently have 55 images entered by 23 photographers, plus 3 images I can't access (Ttravelways links don't seem to work - I sent her a PM). But note that only 14 of those 23 photographers have submitted the full 3 images allowed so...
We've got a little more than 2 days left for this challenge, so if you want to enter the full 3 images, do post them soon. And if you want to trade out any of your images for something different, do feel free, as I'll go through the forum again after the challenge closes on...
At noon Vietnam time on 12 January (that's GMT +7 hours)
"I am not the same, having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world." TravelnLass.com
I realize that I'm getting to the table a little late, but I have a few so I want to play too. (Everyone has probably seen these before, but I still like them. )
Thanks!
TravelnLass, thank you for the warm welcome! Also thankfully the camera was nice-n-dry since I was shooting at 70mm (105mm) to get as much compression as that lens allowed and far enough from the wet stuff. Perhaps in my next challenge I'll put up more pictures. That switching images in and out thingy wasn't clear to me so this one will have to do.
Well hulloooooo (fellow) Seattleite! (well o.k. I now hang out in Vietnam, but still, the Emerald City was my beloved 20+ yr. hometown prior to my exodus here to Asia).
ANYWAY, welcome! And - do I "like it"? You betcha. Very nice, and (given the current "Unique POV" challenge I issued), I especially applaud your note about "Just standing on the beach shooting pictures seemed so, well, so been-there-done-that."
Preeeecisely. That's precisely what I hoped this challenge would inspire. And the combo of getting your camera low, low, low (goodness, I hope it didn't get drenched!) PLUS, your thoughtful tweak of the apature... Quite a nicely done effect and POV indeed.
And finally, note that you can enter 2 more pics for the challenge, and switch any three in/out until the challenge ends on 11 January for you there in Seattle (i.e. 1200 hrs. 12 January for me here in Vietnam).
I entered my photos quite early in this contest but looking at the other shots submitted I have been thinking a lot about POV.
I am going through my photos and wondering 'is this really a unique POV or just an interesting subject?'
And when I look at some of the pictures posted by other I am wondering. Although I find some very beautiful, I find them too staged. For me you have a unique POV when you see something already there and found a way to photograph it in an original way. Fo example the bicycle wheels...
But when is it a truly unique POV or just good composition?
For example this is one of my shots in Sydney but a lot of people must have been under that bridge, it is nice but is it really unique?
It is like my love for framing every scenery with a tree. Yes I am looking for a tree (and in deserts it is not so easy) and for an angle, example below with Uluru but I am still photographing Uluru straight. Not really 'unique'.
The same with cradle mountain. Although I don't think many people would have thought that tree could be beautiful in the picture:
And this one. I adore it but is it really unique? I just got down for a better perspective, waited for the bird to be in good position and got lucky with the colors. It is quite classical, nothing very original
And for a lot of others, I am wondering is my pov really unique or is it the subject...
At the end I would like to change my sunset photo for another one but for each one I look at, i am not convinced it is a unique POV. I think I will go with cradle mountain. because due date is approaching.
However I am really wondering what makes a truly unique POV.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on the subject. I want to learn.
Nature can be so different around the world but it is always amazing!
All good questions SS, though with less than 6 hrs. til this challenge closes, it would have been good to start such a discussion a bit sooner. Maybe we can all join in a thorough analysis of just what makes a "unique pov" even after this challenge. But for now, I can only say...
"I am going through my photos and wondering 'is this really a unique POV or just an interesting subject?"
That's preeecisely the question I hoped to elicit with this challenge. A chance for each of us to wade through our images and think hard about whether the pov we captured was the best we could do. Were there perhaps, other ways of shooting that subject? A unique way perhaps, that hadn't already been done a million times?
Admittedly (like much in photography/art) that's not easy to define. The best I can do is repeat what I pecked in my intro to the challenge - i.e. what we're/I'll be looking for here is:
"...a DELIBERATE point of view of the photographer. A conscious attempt to shoot from a viewpoint a bit different. Images that you can tell at a glance that the photographer didn't just snap whatever was in front of his/her nose, but put some THOUGHT into framing the shot, stooping low, pointing high, climbing up and looking down, etc.
Often simply getting down at the subject's level can make a world of difference. But we're looking for more than that here in this challenge. linyangchen's view through the waste bin in the last challenge is a fine example. In short, show us a pov that's truly unique - something that makes us go "Wow! I never would have thought of that!"
I think that yes, your quest to frame your shots by including a tree or getting down under that bridge is a step in the right direction to what we're looking for in this challenge, SS. But you're right, those types of shots, have become merely good composition as they've been done a lot by many photographers.
Your pic of Uluru is good SS, and including the foreground tree branch definitely adds a nice frame, but (as I coincidentally was just recently in pretty much that same exact spot myself), I'd hardly flag it as a remarkably "unique" pov. I mean, clearly such icons are especially a challenge, so it's gonna take some highly thoughtful and creative ingenuity to somehow shoot Uluru from a UPOV.
And though some might view a few of the entries here as a bit "staged", I'm not sure that's a bad thing. I mean after all, as photographers are we not perpetually "setting up" a shot? Are we not ever thinking of such tricks as "the rule of thirds", etc. when we compose our pics? Or better, deliberately ignoring the rule of thirds when the subject benefits better from ignoring the "rule". Is this not to some degree "staging"?
Yes, of course we all might cringe a bit with an outrageously obvious "staged" shot (say... of our pet parrot atop our beloved hound), but... personally I don't find anything wrong with images that clearly were well thought out to capture a unique reflection or some such (indeed, those are often the pics I find most refreshing). Yes, arguably that's "staging" to some degree.
But you're right, the line between both "good composition" vs. "unique pov", as well as between "staged shot" vs. "unique pov" is fuzzy - a matter of "degree". And thus determining whether that degree enhances the final image or detracts from it is... subjective.
Which is of course, precisely what I'll shortly be wrestling with in "judging" the many fine images thus far submitted here for this challenge.
But I can tell you that what I'll be looking for at least foremost is, the question I posed in the intro to the challenge:
"...something that makes us go "Wow! I never would have thought of that!"
No doubt that won't be easy for me. And g-knows I'm but one set of baby-blues here. And when the dust on MC#156 settles (i.e. I've announced "my" choices for top entries), likely you and others here may well disagree. You might well choose an entirely different set of "winners". And that's fine.
For we are all here to learn, and being open to new and different "points of view" (pun intended) is a good thing. Personally, I've already learned a bunch just by looking at the entries as they come in. They've already - like you - given me pause to consider yes, just what DOES make a "unique pov"?
So in short, no SS, I'm not here to presume to ultimately define the perfect "UPOV". But I do know when the photographer's deliberately thought out viewpoint makes me go "Wow!" "How interesting!" "How refreshing!" "Gosh, I'm going to try to remember that next time I'm out shooting." Then I'm a smidge closer to understanding what makes a UPOV.
"I am not the same, having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world." TravelnLass.com
Whew! O.k. all that said here this morn of 12 January, just a final reminder:
This challenge will officially close in but 4+ hours (i.e. 1200 hrs. Vietnam time - GMT +7 hours) so if you care to switch out any of your entries and/or you've not yet entered the full 3 images, uh... do get crackin' NOW!
"I am not the same, having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world." TravelnLass.com
0
sapphire73Registered Users, Super ModeratorsPosts: 1,959moderator
edited January 11, 2013
1) Over and Under
2) At the Top of the World (Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii)
3) Looking Down on Wai'po Valley (Big Island, Hawaii)
Don Ricklin - Gear: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, was Pentax K7
'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook.
O.k. folks - it's now past noon here in Vietnam, and MC #156 is officially closed [insert clanging bell, gong or some such dramatic officialism]
I shall now go through the entire thread and grab everyone's pics anew - should you have traded out a pic or three. I'm a bit busy here lately, but will try my best to choose and post the winners within 48 hrs.
Thanks to all (looks like... 25+) who submitted photos for this "Unique POV" challenge - good luck to ALL!
"I am not the same, having seen the moon rise on the other side of the world." TravelnLass.com
Comments
Well, this is my first post in dgrin, so let's see if I can figure out how to make a picture appear.
Last weekend I was down at Wrightsville Beach, a right-close-by sister town to Wilmington, North Carolina. Just standing at the beach shooting pictures seemed so, well, so been-there-done-that. So I looked for something unique. I couldn't actually get behind the camera to do the shots I wanted so I set my aperture for the effect I wanted and put the camera down low and hit the clicker. Here's the result:
Hope you like it. I was mildly surprised with the foreground bokeh, though at times I think it is a bit much.
Well hulloooooo (fellow) Seattleite! (well o.k. I now hang out in Vietnam, but still, the Emerald City was my beloved 20+ yr. hometown prior to my exodus here to Asia).
ANYWAY, welcome! And - do I "like it"? You betcha. Very nice, and (given the current "Unique POV" challenge I issued), I especially applaud your note about "Just standing on the beach shooting pictures seemed so, well, so been-there-done-that."
Preeeecisely. That's precisely what I hoped this challenge would inspire. And the combo of getting your camera low, low, low (goodness, I hope it didn't get drenched!) PLUS, your thoughtful tweak of the apature... Quite a nicely done effect and POV indeed.
And finally, note that you can enter 2 more pics for the challenge, and switch any three in/out until the challenge ends on 11 January for you there in Seattle (i.e. 1200 hrs. 12 January for me here in Vietnam).
TravelnLass.com
pp
Setup: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/pppix/_X1C5239Su.jpg
Sample from day: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/pppix/_X1C5186Ex.jpg
Snakatak
Stable relationship
From slide taken in '99
Flickr
longtime lurker, first posting :-) Nice thread with some great images!
TravelnLass.com
A couple more...
The boardwalk from the farris wheel.
Laid on the floor for this one...
www.lisaspeakmanphotography.com
btw, let's all try to reduce the images when we re-post an image in a remark (see above bicycles). It gets confusing when I see full-size images - that I think are new entries, but aren't.
Alan taught me well.
Just right click on the original image and click "View Image". Then copy that url to your clipboard (highlight + Ctrl C), and... when you reply, delete the big image from the original quote, and add the image url you just copied (via the wee mountain postcard? icon in the reply interface). Then... change the TWO "L"s or "XL"s or "S"s or whatever in the smugmug address to "200x200" or some such.
And finally, do check via the "Preview Post" button.
Sounds more complicated than it is (ask me how I know)
TravelnLass.com
Goodness, sooo many great images here! I was initially a little worried that the unique pov theme might prove problematic. But you all have clearly been waaay more than equal to the challenge. I'm amazed at the creativity and ingenuity of the entries so far.
I don't know about previous judges, but wading through these forum pages makes judging rather difficult. So today I transferred all the entry pics to date into a private page on my blog - all neatly ordered in thumbnails that I can view in full as I ponder.
We presently have 55 images entered by 23 photographers, plus 3 images I can't access (Ttravelways links don't seem to work - I sent her a PM). But note that only 14 of those 23 photographers have submitted the full 3 images allowed so...
We've got a little more than 2 days left for this challenge, so if you want to enter the full 3 images, do post them soon. And if you want to trade out any of your images for something different, do feel free, as I'll go through the forum again after the challenge closes on...
At noon Vietnam time on 12 January (that's GMT +7 hours)
TravelnLass.com
The Stars Look Down
King's Gambit
They Only Come Out At Night
Thanks for looking.
— Kevin
My Site, My Book
TravelnLass, thank you for the warm welcome! Also thankfully the camera was nice-n-dry since I was shooting at 70mm (105mm) to get as much compression as that lens allowed and far enough from the wet stuff. Perhaps in my next challenge I'll put up more pictures. That switching images in and out thingy wasn't clear to me so this one will have to do.
Hi
Sorry in advance for this long message.
I entered my photos quite early in this contest but looking at the other shots submitted I have been thinking a lot about POV.
I am going through my photos and wondering 'is this really a unique POV or just an interesting subject?'
And when I look at some of the pictures posted by other I am wondering. Although I find some very beautiful, I find them too staged. For me you have a unique POV when you see something already there and found a way to photograph it in an original way. Fo example the bicycle wheels...
But when is it a truly unique POV or just good composition?
For example this is one of my shots in Sydney but a lot of people must have been under that bridge, it is nice but is it really unique?
It is like my love for framing every scenery with a tree. Yes I am looking for a tree (and in deserts it is not so easy) and for an angle, example below with Uluru but I am still photographing Uluru straight. Not really 'unique'.
The same with cradle mountain. Although I don't think many people would have thought that tree could be beautiful in the picture:
And this one. I adore it but is it really unique? I just got down for a better perspective, waited for the bird to be in good position and got lucky with the colors. It is quite classical, nothing very original
And for a lot of others, I am wondering is my pov really unique or is it the subject...
At the end I would like to change my sunset photo for another one but for each one I look at, i am not convinced it is a unique POV. I think I will go with cradle mountain. because due date is approaching.
However I am really wondering what makes a truly unique POV.
I would really appreciate your thoughts on the subject. I want to learn.
Travel Blog English: http://www.zigzagonearth.com
Travel Blog French: http://zigzagvoyages.fr
Infoproduct Creation Blog : https://structurinfo.com
"I am going through my photos and wondering 'is this really a unique POV or just an interesting subject?"
That's preeecisely the question I hoped to elicit with this challenge. A chance for each of us to wade through our images and think hard about whether the pov we captured was the best we could do. Were there perhaps, other ways of shooting that subject? A unique way perhaps, that hadn't already been done a million times?
Admittedly (like much in photography/art) that's not easy to define. The best I can do is repeat what I pecked in my intro to the challenge - i.e. what we're/I'll be looking for here is:
"...a DELIBERATE point of view of the photographer. A conscious attempt to shoot from a viewpoint a bit different. Images that you can tell at a glance that the photographer didn't just snap whatever was in front of his/her nose, but put some THOUGHT into framing the shot, stooping low, pointing high, climbing up and looking down, etc.
Often simply getting down at the subject's level can make a world of difference. But we're looking for more than that here in this challenge. linyangchen's view through the waste bin in the last challenge is a fine example. In short, show us a pov that's truly unique - something that makes us go "Wow! I never would have thought of that!"
I think that yes, your quest to frame your shots by including a tree or getting down under that bridge is a step in the right direction to what we're looking for in this challenge, SS. But you're right, those types of shots, have become merely good composition as they've been done a lot by many photographers.
Your pic of Uluru is good SS, and including the foreground tree branch definitely adds a nice frame, but (as I coincidentally was just recently in pretty much that same exact spot myself), I'd hardly flag it as a remarkably "unique" pov. I mean, clearly such icons are especially a challenge, so it's gonna take some highly thoughtful and creative ingenuity to somehow shoot Uluru from a UPOV.
And though some might view a few of the entries here as a bit "staged", I'm not sure that's a bad thing. I mean after all, as photographers are we not perpetually "setting up" a shot? Are we not ever thinking of such tricks as "the rule of thirds", etc. when we compose our pics? Or better, deliberately ignoring the rule of thirds when the subject benefits better from ignoring the "rule". Is this not to some degree "staging"?
Yes, of course we all might cringe a bit with an outrageously obvious "staged" shot (say... of our pet parrot atop our beloved hound), but... personally I don't find anything wrong with images that clearly were well thought out to capture a unique reflection or some such (indeed, those are often the pics I find most refreshing). Yes, arguably that's "staging" to some degree.
But you're right, the line between both "good composition" vs. "unique pov", as well as between "staged shot" vs. "unique pov" is fuzzy - a matter of "degree". And thus determining whether that degree enhances the final image or detracts from it is... subjective.
Which is of course, precisely what I'll shortly be wrestling with in "judging" the many fine images thus far submitted here for this challenge.
But I can tell you that what I'll be looking for at least foremost is, the question I posed in the intro to the challenge:
"...something that makes us go "Wow! I never would have thought of that!"
No doubt that won't be easy for me. And g-knows I'm but one set of baby-blues here. And when the dust on MC#156 settles (i.e. I've announced "my" choices for top entries), likely you and others here may well disagree. You might well choose an entirely different set of "winners". And that's fine.
For we are all here to learn, and being open to new and different "points of view" (pun intended) is a good thing. Personally, I've already learned a bunch just by looking at the entries as they come in. They've already - like you - given me pause to consider yes, just what DOES make a "unique pov"?
So in short, no SS, I'm not here to presume to ultimately define the perfect "UPOV". But I do know when the photographer's deliberately thought out viewpoint makes me go "Wow!" "How interesting!" "How refreshing!" "Gosh, I'm going to try to remember that next time I'm out shooting." Then I'm a smidge closer to understanding what makes a UPOV.
TravelnLass.com
This challenge will officially close in but 4+ hours (i.e. 1200 hrs. Vietnam time - GMT +7 hours) so if you care to switch out any of your entries and/or you've not yet entered the full 3 images, uh... do get crackin' NOW!
TravelnLass.com
2) At the Top of the World (Mauna Kea, Big Island, Hawaii)
3) Looking Down on Wai'po Valley (Big Island, Hawaii)
My SmugMug Galleries
2)Yes you will, no I wont!
3) Through a glass darkly.
Don
'I was older then, I'm younger than that now' ....
My Blog | Q+ | Moderator, Lightroom Forums | My Amateur Smugmug Stuff | My Blurb book Rust and Whimsy. More Rust , FaceBook .
I shall now go through the entire thread and grab everyone's pics anew - should you have traded out a pic or three. I'm a bit busy here lately, but will try my best to choose and post the winners within 48 hrs.
Thanks to all (looks like... 25+) who submitted photos for this "Unique POV" challenge - good luck to ALL!
TravelnLass.com
I know this was a bit late.
Thanks a lot for your time answering me.
Travel Blog English: http://www.zigzagonearth.com
Travel Blog French: http://zigzagvoyages.fr
Infoproduct Creation Blog : https://structurinfo.com
TravelnLass.com