FM WA -- Our big chance!

rutt

This week's Fred Miranda weekly assignment is "Cars". I think this should be a very strong topic for many dgrinners, especially some of the founders.

OK, we're doing great with KPOTD. But to my knnowledge (correct me if I'm wrong) we have yet to crack these FM contests (Andy told me he was once got 2nd place in a Monthly Assignment.)

So let's go out there and win one for dgrin!

Andy

rutt wrote:

This week's Fred Miranda weekly assignment is "Cars". I think this should be a very strong topic for many dgrinners, especially some of the founders.

OK, we're doing great with KPOTD. But to my knnowledge (correct me if I'm wrong) we have yet to crack these FM contests (Andy told me he was once got 2nd place in a Monthly Assignment.)

So let's go out there and win one for dgrin!

yep - i remember that vividly and my prize? an fm action - so second place was pretty cool, becuase the first place prize in the ma was a hosting account on fm.com

go baldy!

dkapp

Thats a tough group there. From what I've seen in the past is studio photographers do the best. I've entered a few of my shots, and made it to the finals several times but get stomped there.

I see that site as very good studio photographers. I think the cars assignment will help level the field a bit.

Dave

rutt

I took a look and so far no entried from recognizable dgriners. Also so far nothing unbeatable. I know some of you motorheads have it in you. Take a look to see the current entries.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/WA

So far, I like this one, which might inspire those of us who don't live in the sunbelt.



Whatever you do, under no circumstances vote for this one:



The photographer is a notorious crank. He once critiqued on of my child portraits (one I liked, I might add) by saying, "if the parents don't have a camera they might like this. Shooting this kind of picture takes patience and practice, my friend."

dkapp

I just entered a pic in this challenge. It took me all week to find the right car, but I got it today.

Link to my thread.

Here is the shot....



Lets go dgrin! I know we can have a great showing there.

Dave

dkapp

rutt wrote:

Whatever you do, under no circumstances vote for this one:



The photographer is a notorious crank. He once critiqued on of my child portraits (one I liked, I might add) by saying, "if the parents don't have a camera they might like this. Shooting this kind of picture takes patience and practice, my friend."

Thanks for the tip. I just took a look at his entry & thread. He is a self proclaimed digital newbie....what a POS.

Thank god for dgrin. Otherwise I'd have no place to share my pics.

Dave

rutt

dkapp wrote:

Thanks for the tip. I just took a look at his entry & thread. He is a self proclaimed digital newbie....what a POS.

Thank god for dgrin. Otherwise I'd have no place to share my pics.

Dave

Dgrin is very comfortable, but there are a lot of really great photographers on FM and you can learn a lot (really a lot) there. This guy just happens to be a waste of precious minerials and water. Let's hope he doesn't find dgrin.

BTW, your shot is great and might just have that FM touch. I wonder whether you could recover just a little detail in the blown highlight on the steering wheel without losing the sense of blinding reflection? Just a thought. The composition is so strong that I don't think it would matter, especially not at the FM conttest size.

dkapp

rutt wrote:

Dgrin is very comfortable, but there are a lot of really great photographers on FM and you can learn a lot (really a lot) there. This guy just happens to be a waste of precious minerials and water. Let's hope he doesn't find dgrin.

BTW, your shot is great and might just have that FM touch. I wonder whether you could recover just a little detail in the blown highlight on the steering wheel without losing the sense of blinding reflection? Just a thought. The composition is so strong that I don't think it would matter, especially not at the FM conttest size.

Thanks rutt. I spent some time on this shot knowing I would post it to the challenge. I wanted to colors to *pop* in post. I loved the way the gold sparkled in the sun, and actually blew out the bottom part in post. It is a tad distracting, but I think it looks better blown...lol. Never thought I would say that.

Did you enter one yet? I'd like to see one of us (dgrin) do good there. Our level of tallent is amazing, and I don't think enough people know it!

Dave

rutt

dkapp wrote:

Did you enter one yet? I'd like to see one of us (dgrin) do good there. Our level of tallent is amazing, and I don't think enough people know it!

Dave

I'd have to get pretty lucky to get a good car shot; it's not really something I've ever worked on. I have an idea that I'm going to play with tomorrow, but it's a real long shot.

wxwax

kappman, really nice shot, love the sparkles on the wheel, the depth, the moodiness.

You guys would really not vote for a shot you liked, because of who took it?

I must admit the quality of the winners over there is intimidating. Lots of formally lit stuff, sometimes with models, seems to win. Out of my league.

rutt

wxwax wrote:

You guys would really not vote for a shot you liked, because of who took it?

It helps that I don't like the shot.

wwax wrote:

I must admit the quality of the winners over there is intimidating. Lots of formally lit stuff, sometimes with models, seems to win. Out of my league.

No, Sid, really I don't think so. Some of my all time favorite winners there actually remind me of yours. Like this: http://www.fredmiranda.com/fmgallery/albums/album66/1_Stripper_Diner.jpg
There was one last year that really reminded me of your work. It had a train with a conductor at night in B&W. But I couldn't find it.

And what about this: http://www.fredmiranda.com/fmgallery/albums/album73/1_alephx01_Speed.jpg
You're almost there.

Sometimes humor takes the day on FM. http://www.fredmiranda.com/fmgallery/albums/album11/Greg_Money_in_Motion.jpg

Here are the finalists from the last time they did cars:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/fmgallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album10

So don't dispair. The bar is high there, but you are plenty good enough.

wxwax

Good links, thanks Rutt. I guess I just remember the highly produced shots. They skeer me! :uhoh

rutt

OK, I'm going to play
Andy's toy train of a few months back inspired me. I have no chance at all with real cars, but maybe I can get something to happen with these.

Title: "He'll never by 7 again"



I'm going to play with it some more, but I'd love some feedback about this idea.

dkapp

rutt wrote:

Andy's toy train of a few months back inspired me. I have no chance at all with real cars, but maybe I can get something to happen with these.

Title: "He'll never by 7 again"



I'm going to play with it some more, but I'd love some feedback about this idea.

I like what you've done here. Seeing all the colorful cars lined up reminded me of the shot Andy did w/ the clay balls. Do you think you could pull some of the color out of the car & have it in the reflection?

I like the composition a lot here. Good use of negative space too. This is my favorite studio shot I've seen for the challenge so far.

Dave

rutt

This is fun.

What about these:







This last isn't exactly a car, but I think it's my favorite so far.




Shows one reason why I'm no good at these kind of contests. Just can't stay on theme.

Andy

rutt nice work. the white bgs are great. if you mess with the curves and/or the lighting, you might get some colored shadows, which imo would enhance the lineup of cars ... nice exposures, too, rutt.

ginger_55

good gosh, I was right on the shadows, I will be...........gosh darned.

g

rutt

I started a separate thread here:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=60391&posted=1#post60391
I still appreciate any input, thanks.

Andy

ginger_55 wrote:

good gosh, I was right on the shadows, I will be...........gosh darned.

g

dkapp

Good News!!
Just wanted to share with you all. I was selected for the finalists in the Monthly Assignment at Fred Miranda. The topic was "The Road Ahead." You can see all the finalists here.

So far I'm doing ok in voting. There are some great shots there, and I'm just happy to be chosen.

**EDIT**
I just took a closer look at the finalists. It looks like Shakey has also been chosen. Thats 2 out of 8 finalists for DGrin!
********

Dave

John Mueller

Thats GREAT Dave.Congrats and best of luck.

GREAPER

dkapp wrote:

Just wanted to share with you all. I was selected for the finalists in the Monthly Assignment at Fred Miranda. The topic was "The Road Ahead." You can see all the finalists here.

So far I'm doing ok in voting. There are some great shots there, and I'm just happy to be chosen.

**EDIT**
I just took a closer look at the finalists. It looks like Shakey has also been chosen. Thats 2 out of 8 finalists for DGrin!
********

Dave

Man there are some nice shots there, congrats on bein in the runnin. You and Shakey both. Votes are gettin spread across the board. Tough contest. Good Luck.

Nikolai

Congrats!
Good job, man!
(You got my vote too:-)
Cheers!

rutt

dkapp wrote:

Just wanted to share with you all. I was selected for the finalists in the Monthly Assignment at Fred Miranda. The topic was "The Road Ahead." You can see all the finalists here.


Dave

How cool is that?! And beautiful shot. Both yours and Shakey's actually.

wxwax

dkapp wrote:

Just wanted to share with you all. I was selected for the finalists in the Monthly Assignment at Fred Miranda. The topic was "The Road Ahead." You can see all the finalists here.

So far I'm doing ok in voting. There are some great shots there, and I'm just happy to be chosen.

**EDIT**
I just took a closer look at the finalists. It looks like Shakey has also been chosen. Thats 2 out of 8 finalists for DGrin!
********

Dave

Wow, great shot. Nice work. I see the Shakester's over there too. Some cool images - I like the foggy bridge one a lot as well.

lynnesite

Dave, you're seriously kicking butt (as of this moment); great image!

Shakey's too.

Lynne

ginger_55

wxwax wrote:

kappman, really nice shot, love the sparkles on the wheel, the depth, the moodiness.

You guys would really not vote for a shot you liked, because of who took it?

I must admit the quality of the winners over there is intimidating. Lots of formally lit stuff, sometimes with models, seems to win. Out of my league.

WIN? WIN? I just want them to talk to me. That is my first goal, other than the fun of posting, if I happen to have a recent appropriate shot.

Dave is doing very well, and I think he will win. Yes, there are some great "paths" there, but Dave's is different. Would work very well in dominent color, too.

Actually, someONE did comment on one of my posts tonight. Darn seagulls............ That was one comment on one post out of about five.

So that is my goal, I guess. I just wish I could post more and more. Don't like this thing about waiting a day. I posted after midnight, so it will seem like two days.

ginger

rutt

ginger_55 wrote:

WIN? WIN? I just want them to talk to me. That is my first goal, other than the fun of posting, if I happen to have a recent appropriate shot.

They will talk to you, but the bar is high. If you ask a specific question it will be answered usually very quickly. If you just want positive feedback, well, your shot better be really good.

rutt

Ginger, I want to expand a little on what I said about FM. I've had some posts that got lots of feedback there and it made me feel almost as good as making the dgrin finals. Lots of time I don't get any feedback. It's not really a chatty place, you need to get that from dgrin.

Here are some things that provoked a lot of responses on FM:

• Getting postprocessing help with "Rutt's But" (known on FM as "The Half-Assed Shot" http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/117554/0#945024
• An umpire question, "Was he out?" http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/182202/0
• Technique question, most recently the question about how to get good pans: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/182202/0
• The accidental wedding photographer. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/105753/0
• How to create fake bokah in PS and make it look natural. http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/94590/0

All these things were in the nature of questions and tecnique discussions. If you want to find out how the pros do it, try asking on FM. Chances are you'll quickly get high quality answers.

Only a few of my posts have provoked some applause without really being questions. The watch factory with reflections. The geyser basin in Yellowstone. Some candids at sports events. It does happen.

But, remember, FM is like a big city. Nobody can keep up with all the posts there. There are almost 60,000 registered users. This monring at 9:30 there were over 800 users online, about 1/2 guests. There have been more than 1 million posts. So you do get a lot of views there. But it's not nearly so intimate as dgrin.

I love both dgrin and fm for what they each are. But it helps not to confuse them.

TristanP

dkapp wrote:

Just wanted to share with you all. I was selected for the finalists in the Monthly Assignment at Fred Miranda. The topic was "The Road Ahead." You can see all the finalists here.

Congrats on being selected! I have to go with Rob O's pic because he's a fellow Audi owner and I read and really enjoyed his saga on how he did the shot (plus I think the shot itself is cool, whether terribly original or not). That whole site is intimidating. I have LOTS of work to do.

ginger_55

Thanks, Rutt. I did get some posts on my seagulls which I called something like Heaven Above. The posts were favorable, some offering suggestions. So, I felt much better about the place. The only thing that is frustrating me now is that I can't repost on a thread for 24 hrs, or once a day. I don't know how they figure that. I posted my stuff after midnight. So does that mean not until tomorrow?

I have noticed here that specific questions do get more attention, especially if I haven't asked them a gazillion times before (levity there). And I can't keep up anymore. I have certain "commitments" I have informally made, and I do comment on that stuff with regularity and those people then comment on mine. In bird photography is one area. And I got a lot of help when I was trying to buy equipment. I got very good lenses, two, with the advice of others, many others. And I got them from people here. So people are prepared to help. But that leaves precious little time to cover everything else.

So I understand what you are saying. (I experience what you are saying, smile) But this is the first time I have felt "noticed" on FM. And this time I posted more, had more to post after the camera and lens buying with the photography spurts, etc. And I think I am better than I was, or have more good stuff.

I would like to ask you about the size requirement. I had gotten the impression awhile back that I could just transfer from Smugmug as I do here, with the large size. So I did that. And I entered something in the monthly assignment. I got a nice response with the preliminary "good photo" and the advice that I might want to check the rules as the max size was 640. I already knew that, but thought somehow it became the correct size when I transferred. (In other words, I put my head in the sand) So I immediately went around and changed everything to medium instead of large. You know M instead of L. Everything is now smaller. I think it is about 600.

How do you handle the size situation? Do you transfer from smugmug?

Also, when they say it has to be taken in the month of the contest and the closing date is March 5, are they talking about the month preceding March 5? I only saw one other entry besides mine and it is Feb 14/15. No, I don't want to ask them.

I just stick my toes in there for fun periodically with photos I have done recently whenever that is. I had fun with it last night. And was surprised to see some responses after I complained here. And more this AM. I rarely have questions or want a lot of help, but I do have a photo that I don't know which category it fits in: landscape or Nature, and I planned on using that as a question, if there is a forum for that, and I imagine there is.

Thanks for the advice, Rutt. You know we are growing here, and that advice is good for here, also.

Do you get to know a few people's names over there, people who regularly post good stuff that you would look at immediately? I know it is true here.
It looked like it was true there.

I, too, like that series of the watch factory. There is one in particular from last fall. I like the winter ones too, but you have worked on it so long, and last fall when I thought you finally nailed it, I became very fond of the photo.

I have wondered if there is any way you can expand on these passions of yours. Those watch factory photos are superb in my opinion and will withstand a test of time. You appear comfortable with it now and can continue expanding that series as the scene changes. I am sure it would be accepted for exhibit in the area, too. Name value: doors......more photography opportunities if you wanted them.

But I wondered if there was an off shoot you could pursue, or another connection to the past that you could exploit in your photography. I get such passion from you that often does not show up, but it does show up at the watch factory.

Maybe you could photograph Annie Leibowitz, smile. That would be interesting. She could do it her way with you, conveying the message she would want to show, and you could do it your way. Her photography and the presentation to the world is certainly something you are passionate about. And she is still alive, a plus right there. I see that as becoming a problem: this mortality thing and great people. They are leaving us.

ginger