Thread: 21st. Place

I think you can't really take on line comps seriously. Unless you win of course.

And maybe a zombie in daylight is just wrong? He is VERY in focus isn't he? Its just peoples taste on the day. Better than 50% is pretty good I reckon. And you actually haven't been doing it that long. :S

That Monaco pic is pretty kooky and interesting. How come you aren't in the reflection?

Originally Posted by tea lady

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And maybe a zombie in daylight is just wrong?

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You're confusing Zombies with Vampires

Originally Posted by tea lady

That Monaco pic is pretty kooky and interesting. How come you aren't in the reflection?

Dunno, just lucky I guess. I was down pretty low when I took the photo.

Don't know how many entries there were and how this comp was judged, so hard to comment.

I think 21st out of 55 is a credible effort.

If I had to award first prize it would have gone to the 3rd place getter, but there you go.

One thing you have to learn if you are serious about getting in to photo competitions is that what the judges see and value is not necessarily what you see and value.

In the 80s I was very involved in photo competitions, before digital and the internet, and used to send both slides (remember those) and b&w and colour prints all over Australia and overseas.
One thing you soon learn is that a photo that gets first prize in one competition may not even get a merit in the next.

I used to judge (and be judged) at international, national and camera club competitions and it is not a predictable and exact "science" that's for sure!

Learn to roll with the punches and respect what other people think of your work (even when they don't know what the hell they are talking about).

Edit:

Just had a look at your other links (your photos only) and my favourite there is the Foggy Highway, well composed, well lit and very atmospheric
Went to the trouble of looking at 1-8 in that comp and I would have awarded your photo higher points than the first 8, so there you go.

Thanks for the input Fred. You're right photography is subjective, show a photo to 10 different people and you'll get 10 different responses. I just thought my photo was better than a 50/50 effort.

Grumpy J
I have entered a (very) few photo comps and come nowhere so my opinion is worth bugger all. I will concur with what big shed said. Without knowing what the judging criteria is it's a bit hard to know how to do better. And it seems to have been judged by online voting, don't know how that would work out.
I had a quick look at the other pix and it seems that most of the top dozen or so all involved female subjects (pattern there?). What I will say though, while that pumpkin at 2 was funny/clever it shouldn't have been in the top 20 (my subjective judgement only, but!)

Regards
SWK

I gave 1, 3, 11 and 24 very high marks, 2, 4, and 6 in my opinion shouldn't have rated better than 20. .

Hi John,

A rather stark and disturbing image in some respects
which certainly commanded a second look.

With photographs of humans, animals, birds etc. I look
for the sharpness and detail in the eyes to "bring the photo
to life".

In looking at your zombie shot the eyes differ in that one
has a black ring within it and the other does not. Did you
perhaps play around with it via Photoshop.

Whichever way I viewed it the eyes were not quite right.

Allan

Allan he's a zombie, he's supposed to be confronting. Very little photoshop work done other than a bit of cropping and some white balance correction. I didn't touch the eyes.

Mr G J
Your photos are really good. Judges are human beings ie will change their minds quickly from one feeling to another. I suppose what I am trying to say is keep taking shots and tinker with them to suit your taste, enter them and be philosophic with the judges decisions. If you get an award....thats a bonus. My Dad was an avid photographer from a young man. He had a huge interest in stem trains and during the 1940s traveled country NSW on weekend photographing stem trains at work. Over his life time collected a wealth of, what is now, historically valuable photos in B&W as well as colour slides. Some of his shots have been included in a number of "steam books". He was a member of a local Camera Club and they would have mini competitions on subjects that interested the members. Not many of the subjects interested him so one of the blokes got the theme of one of these competitions to have a theme of "Railways" so Dad enters what he thought was a fantastic shot of a steam loco putting up a full stack of smoke...it was really "alive". And you know what picture won........a shot of a coupling. That finished the club thing for him. He never went on with the club. He just used to take shots for him.

I can understand why you have moved your focus to photography. What you shoot during a morning stroll can become works of art by the afternoon while sitting in front of a computer. Finished results ready to be Emailed to where ever and when you get up from your seat ......you are clean, dust free, the computer has been used to make a good shot great and you have got to a result that is completely satisfying (well close to satisfying)

Did you happen to see on the discovery channel a program of a photographer who was given THE LAST roll of Kodachrome slide film and the shots he took and where he went to take them? He made every shot count but he reckoned he could have done better. I used to be a great fan of Kodachrome 64 ASA in my Pentax Spotmatic. I got very disolutioned when all I could buy was 100+ ASA colour film. It was either the processing was off or the film was not compatible with the Pentax lenses. I bought my wife a Pentax K1000 and she had similar results. We both knew it wasn't the cameras. But times change and we have to move on. She has gotten interested again but now she is using a Sony digital and Photoshop. You can at least see your results straight away which keeps you keen.

Sorry to dribble on but your original post opened a door in my memory