* challenge 21 - comments done *

Andy · September 26, 2004

comments are complete by me. gubbs is away, but he'll get his done this coming week.

it's all right here

i was disappointed in this challenge overall. that's why there were only six finalists. the subject matter was hard, i know. new for many of you. so i applaud everyone's efforts but i feel like not enough care / thinkning / learning went on early in the challenge (questions to me even?).

oh and put on your body armor from now on, guys, becuase i'm going to get tougher and tougher on the choosing of finalists, and on the comments i make on your photographs. this is a competition, after all, and i'm going to call it like i see it. i will always try to do so in an encouraging way, and if my critique leaves you flat in any way at all, you are welcome to pm me for further discussion.

if anyone has specific questions about night photography, please make a post in the photography 101 forum, and let's have a chat about it

lynnma · September 26, 2004

andy wrote:

comments are complete by me. gubbs is away, but he'll get his done this coming week.

it's all right here

i was disappointed in this challenge overall. that's why there were only six finalists. the subject matter was hard, i know. new for many of you. so i applaud everyone's efforts but i feel like not enough care / thinkning / learning went on early in the challenge (questions to me even?).

oh and put on your body armor from now on, guys, becuase i'm going to get tougher and tougher on the choosing of finalists, and on the comments i make on your photographs. this is a competition, after all, and i'm going to call it like i see it. i will always try to do so in an encouraging way, and if my critique leaves you flat in any way at all, you are welcome to pm me for further discussion.

if anyone has specific questions about night photography, please make a post in the photography 101 forum, and let's have a chat about it

Andy I think this was a hard one.. thanks so much for your honest critique! my shot of "silent factory" was very half hearted and it showed.. better next time:D I guess the camera (and the interest factor does'nt lie).
Lynn:D

ginger_55 · September 26, 2004

The time constraint really bothered me. And not having my Rebel, it took awhile to even want the Elph in my hands, then once I was getting used to it, and for this Challenge, but after the boy in the park, I got the Rebel back.

Thanks for the settings and stuff info on the concert for last night. Now that was night photography. Maybe I could let you know when things are scheduled around here, so we could synchronize what we are doing. We voted for it, I voted for it. But I hated it.

I wanted to shoot during the day. The weather was not good. By the time the sun was thinking of setting, so was I. My husband was out of town. I felt constrained as to where I was comfortable going.

With my husband out of town, and the errands I had to run during the day, I didn't feel I was comfortable leaving my dogs to go take photos, especially on a grey ending to a grey day. Not even reflections, just grey. It is that today, too.

Last night I was sick, I could take decongestants and advil to cover that, but the malaise of waiting for evening to come, well, it isn't my style. It was very difficult from standpoints that had nothing to do with the night "photography". By evening I was so tense from waiting that my legs ached.
And it was grey, and I couldn't think of where to go.

In retrospect, when I was at the Battery at noon, I looked at a statue, have a vague memory that it is lit at night. I could have gone there, but I couldn't think of it then.

ginger (But, hey, I rose to the occasion last night, didn't I? I was out of memory, at the end, when he came back and really worked the crowd up. And he sang "cheek to cheek" with his singer. I mean they were really interacting. If I could have gotten that, it might be in this challenge. I am pleased with the photos. Do have questions on RAW, will put them on 101, later.)

I have the lead in group, that sax guy was interacting with the guy with the huge violin. Bass? I don't know music, I just enjoy it. I might give it another look. But I hate to pick shots just to look like I have really "worked" a Challenge. I really work a challenge anyway. It just might not be noticeable, and I start early, go at it strong, geez..............that is worrisome.

lynnesite · September 26, 2004

andy wrote:

i was disappointed in this challenge overall. that's why there were only six finalists. the subject matter was hard, i know. new for many of you. so i applaud everyone's efforts but i feel like not enough care / thinkning / learning went on early in the challenge (questions to me even?).

In my case, I didn't even try--I entered a photo last minute just so we'd have more entries. Was a combination of the subject (though it is VERY interesting, I didn't have time to learn how to do it best) and not being able to shoot as much as I usually do. Didn't have time to peruse all of the different threads with potential entries, either. Sorry 'bout that.

Lynne

gubbs · September 26, 2004

Ok, I'm done too. My apologies for the delay, I only got back last night after a pretty disasterous trip home.

It was good to see so many new people entering and so many more votes than usual

I'd like to point out how difficult and time consuming it is to do the comments, especially when you have to follow Andy and Sid. Very interesting though and it forces you to look at the pictures in a very different way.... definitley a good experience !!

Makes you realise how much work goes in, especially if you have to do it every time! So thanks Andy

Andy · September 26, 2004

gubbs -

gubbs wrote:

Ok, I'm done too. My apologies for the delay, I only got back last night after a pretty disasterous trip home.

It was good to see so many new people entering and so many more votes than usual

I'd like to point out how difficult and time consuming it is to do the comments, especially when you have to follow Andy and Sid. Very interesting though and it forces you to look at the pictures in a very different way.... definitley a good experience !!

Makes you realise how much work goes in, especially if you have to do it every time! So thanks Andy

what, specifically, do you think you learned in the critique department? thanks btw for a fine job.

gubbs · September 27, 2004

andy wrote:

what, specifically, do you think you learned in the critique department? thanks btw for a fine job.

CHOICES
I tried to separate the elements of the pictures ie:
technical, composition, creativity, originality, "on message".

I then scored each of these elements. This was all done very informally, (well, in my head actually

) but I felt I needed some sort of structure to help the thought process.

I suppose its no surprise that I pretty much ended up with the same shots as I initially liked, but at least now, I had an an idea of why I liked/disliked them. This really helped with marginal choices too!

COMMENTS
Before I read Andy's comments I went through once more and made notes on each of the shots.
I found that I had come up with:-
# many similar comments, which is tough as I didnt want to go through and repeat everything. :snore
# quite a few things where I wished that I'd thought of that

# a couple of different things

Unfortunately I did't have enough original comments so I'm afraid I did end up repeating Andy more than I wanted to.

So what have I learnt?
I suppose the main thing is a kind of analytical structure

. I find myself going through my list whenever I look at pictures and when I am looking through the viewfinder/lcd. (taking pictures is sometimes a slow process for me nowadays!) Hopefully I'll start to see some improvements in my photographs.

An excellent experience!

Andy · September 27, 2004

awesome, gubbsie, just awesome. thanks for sharing this with the group.

gubbs wrote:

CHOICES
I tried to separate the elements of the pictures ie:
technical, composition, creativity, originality, "on message".

I then scored each of these elements. This was all done very informally, (well, in my head actually ) but I felt I needed some sort of structure to help the thought process.

I suppose its no surprise that I pretty much ended up with the same shots as I initially liked, but at least now, I had an an idea of why I liked/disliked them. This really helped with marginal choices too!

COMMENTS
Before I read Andy's comments I went through once more and made notes on each of the shots.
I found that I had come up with:-
# many similar comments, which is tough as I didnt want to go through and repeat everything. :snore
# quite a few things where I wished that I'd thought of that
# a couple of different things

Unfortunately I did't have enough original comments so I'm afraid I did end up repeating Andy more than I wanted to.

So what have I learnt?
I suppose the main thing is a kind of analytical structure . I find myself going through my list whenever I look at pictures and when I am looking through the viewfinder/lcd. (taking pictures is sometimes a slow process for me nowadays!) Hopefully I'll start to see some improvements in my photographs.

An excellent experience!

DavidTO · September 27, 2004

Andy, once again a fine job on the challenge.

Gubbs, I don't envy you your position. Great job.

I spent the last two weeks swamped and medically challenged. My back went out, I had minor surgery...

Short story is that I didn't enter because I didn't shoot. Well, that's not entirely true. I shot one night, but didn't get anything worth entering. I needed more time, but those two weeks went by fast!

snapapple · September 28, 2004

This challenge was not the best topic for me. I have never shot at night and I really did not have the time to practice much. It was hard for me to get out at night. I live a long way from where there are lights.

Maybe I should not have entered my shot. It was the best of all that I shot, but not real high quality material. I needed to go out again to try another location. There were too many problems with the location I had chosen. I didn't have enough time to do that. However, I wanted to enter something just to show that I had been working on it and learning. If there are no entries like mine, how can we see the comparison between the mediocre and the good?

I'm pleased with what I have learned from the challenge. I can keep practicing with night photography while shooting landscapes or other topics, assuming that I can get out to town at night.

Thank you, Andy and Gubbs, for all the time and effort you put in.

*** challenge 21 - comments done ***

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* challenge 21 - comments done *