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Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 11:42 am
by rlown
you guys are kinda taking the fun out of a friendly semi-annual contest.. :(

It's not about who is better, it's about what do you like..

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:08 pm
by SSSdave
Since this thread is now ready for a post mortem, I'll add some comments that goes a bit beyond just this contest. As an old hi tech person and photographer that has been using computers and the web from the early days, I have seen alot of photo contests, photo posting threads, photo critique forums, etc. Generally photo contests can be fun and on some sites, many members enjoy such and participate. However the more serious such becomes the more that problems or lack of participation arises.

Commercial photo contests especially with landscape and nature photographers have a long history of annoying professionals. Many like this person never make submissions to contests. Even when judged by other pros say in magazines, results often appear to have been filtered by those with a business or political agenda. What is rather obvious is the kind of landscapes often plastered on their own photography magazine covers almost never are judged well and instead novelty and abstractness usually places high.

Photo critique forums tend to be dominated by mutual admiration societies where many members engage in endless one-liner strokes with little critical input. When someone especially not one of the regulars gets a bit deeper in analysis and criticm, however honest, and unemotionally termed, the result regardless tends to be friction. There are simply alot of emotional people that react defensively as though they are being attacked. Especially if they are one of the popular members that are not used to such. That is in part due to the impersonal nature of the Internet that would be different if people were discussing things person to person in groups.

In any case I have personally run the gauntlet through various critique forums going cautiously against that grain. Generally I have much more to say about images than others as that is part of the process of developing an aesthetic sense and style. For decades have enjoyed looking at fine images at galleries and exhibits, especially with friends and quickly sizing up what we like or don't like. Accordingly on some sites I visit like this one, I tend to not get involved in serious photography critism, except for the issue of photography manipulation as I am not a fan of unnatural postprocessing image manipulations that increasingly are pushing the boundaries often to the absurd.

I also neither post or bother to go back and look at thread in forums like our Sierra Inspiration Photothon because once a photo thread gets more than a few pages long, anything in the middle pages is out of sight thus out of mind. Good idea for a thread but such ought be terminated after a modest period with a new fresh thread started.

What I would like to see on posted images is information about what, where, and how. Many nature images are posted all over the web without an audience having any clue about what peak, lake, area, plant, animal etc they are looking at nor what camera and accessories if any were used to make an image. How an image was postprocessed with what intent etc. Here is one example of these issues and there are several more that I won't bore the rest of you with. In this digital age the size of an image can have importance that reflects its worth. Almost all images have to be downsized for public web display that flattens the playing field so a 1 megapixel cell phone camera may look just as detailed as the same image taken with a 50 megapixel digital camera back on a Hasselblad. Thus there is some value on indicating what the real size of a web displayed image and with what kind of camera it was captured.

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 4:16 pm
by rlown
so, you won't post a pic, but you will criticize those that do? nice.

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:40 pm
by SSSdave
rlown wrote:so, you won't post a pic, but you will criticize those that do? nice.
I neither posted nor critiqued on your thread. As noted on other boards I have done considerable critiquing at levels that make some others uncomfortable. And have posted a great many images on this board. My post doesn't suggest others not post or participate but rather gives reason why I didn't personally post on the "contest" thread because questions above were wondering why some of us did not, thankyou. As for your thread, I would encourage others on this board to participate and have fun and I'll be content just to enjoy looking at some of the images.

David

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 7:34 pm
by rlown
don't really care if you chose not to participate. Your diatribe makes it clear. This is not a commercial site.

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 8:32 pm
by RoguePhotonic
I personally really enjoy the contest and just posting photos in general. I have allot of photos I anyway think are nice and I enjoy putting them out there for others to enjoy. Nature photography is more often then not being in the right place at the right time then actual skill.

I don't mind critics at all. I look back through allot of stuff on my FlickR and think "what the hell was I thinking" with some post processing I did. But I am lazy and slow to correct the mistakes.

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:13 pm
by SSSdave
rlown wrote: Your diatribe makes it clear...
David "...That is in part due to the impersonal nature of the Internet that would be different if people were discussing things person to person in groups..."

Exactly! The issue that often arises is a lack of understanding of the tone intended to be communicated even in a well crafted honest piece, when a distant reader injects their personal emotion into what they are reading without giving the writer enough benefit of the doubt. Productive discussions on the web are sometimes difficult even between intelligent well meaning people thus there is wisdom in taking a wide considerate latitude on interpretations.

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:31 pm
by rlown
soo, why are you here if you don't participate in a positive way? some, or most of us understand the internet..

Seriously, you make this out to be a place you don't want to be but here you are..

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 9:54 pm
by lostcoyote
rlown wrote:you guys are kinda taking the fun out of a friendly semi-annual contest.. :(

It's not about who is better, it's about what do you like..
personally, i like all the pictures that get posted on this website.
i like seeing places that i have never been to and different vantage points at okaces that i have been to.

didn't mean to take the fun out of it for ya - sorry.

Re: Best Photo of 2010 contest - Discussion

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:22 pm
by rlown
I've seen a LOT of great pics this year. I'm hopeful there will be a 2011 contest as well.

Russ