It is a very relevant point to make that the cover absolutely MUST have space for text. There aren't any mag's I know of without text, and, yeah, they don't want text on her forehead.)
comimg from someone who buys way too many magazines each month :), i just think that maybe people are being too rigid in their voting--to my mind the challenge just said take a pic that could be used for the cover--not design the cover (unfortunately, 'cause that would have been even more fun!). I dont care about things like orientation, borders, whether or not there is room for text, etc., because i know that these things can be and are worked out by the editors and designers later. in fact, it is almost pointless to even look at the text thing especially, since the trend in not just the artsier mags, but now also in many of the most popular worldwide magazines, is to cover up a portion of the title with the models head or whatever the main subject is on the cover. since this wasnt a challenge to design an actual magazine cover, i think the most important thing is just too look at the quality of the actual subject and whether or not the subject fits the title.
It would have been fun to actually design the cover, but that wasn't the challenge. We were asked to take a photo suitable for the cover... which, as we have seen, does not exclude landscape oriented shots.
For voting I am placing myself in the position of editor and reviewing A) whether or not I feel the photo is cover material, and B) what changes, if any, would need to be made for it to work. Simple as that.
It is a very relevant point to make that the cover absolutely MUST have space for text. There aren't any mag's I know of without text, and, yeah, they don't want text on her forehead.)
It is a very relevant point to make that the cover absolutely MUST have space for text. There aren't any mag's I know of without text, and, yeah, they don't want text on her forehead.)
this is very untrue--i edited my previous post to include examples of this--and it is not only the example i showed, but many magazines such a vogue, sports illustrated--man, you name it--it is the current design trend.
here, i brought it over! :)
Edit--
look at this thumbnail page of back issues of one of my favorite magazines. great covers--many times the title is partially covered. as far as the land scape mode thing--look at the 3rd and fourth issues--38b and 38a. when i got this issue a couple of months ago--i thought it was neat that they used their model sitting on the end of the couch like that--then i looked inside at the cover information and discovered that it was actually only half of the original picture taken in landscape orientaion to encompass the whole couch--and the model on the other side.
It is a very relevant point to make that the cover absolutely MUST have space for text. There aren't any mag's I know of without text, and, yeah, they don't want text on her forehead.)
I was actually surprised at how many landscape-oriented shots there are. If I recognize the magazine you are going for and know that it uses vertical pics then your photo should atleast be something that *could* be cropped that way. If your shot can't be cropped vertically and still look good then I did mark down a point.
My biggest gripe with these pictures wasn't the orientation though. The description might not mention orientation, but it does suggest that you choose your favorite magazine. I think there are just WAY too many far-fetched titles. Too many people took pictures and then tried to find a magazine to go with it. I also think that some people must've ignored the description alltogether and just given titles that aren't magazine names. With those, I tried to come up with a magazine in my own mind that might use the shot.
This was a really open challenge, but there were a couple of considerations that the photographer should've thought of IMO.
It is a very relevant point to make that the cover absolutely MUST have space for text. There aren't any mag's I know of without text, and, yeah, they don't want text on her forehead.)
Really? Feel like revoting now?
No, I don't feel like revoting now. Maxim magazine makes some rather questionable decisions. If I were the magazine editor, I would never hide the title of the magazine (even behind a beautiful woman). My vote is decided by MY taste, not Maxims. Maybe "Ma m" feels they are so successfull they don't have to worry about people reading their title.
No, I don't feel like revoting now. Maxim magazine makes some rather questionable decisions. If I were the magazine editor, I would never hide the title of the magazine (even behind a beautiful woman). My vote is decided by MY taste, not Maxims.
Far be it from me to question your impeccable taste, but that's Maxim's paid editors PLUS Good Housekeeping's paid editors, Redbook's paid editors, AND Cosmo's paid editors hiding text.
I think it's a bit more common than you'd imagine. You'd never hide text - the people who get paid to do this WOULD and DO hide text.
It is a very relevant point to make that the cover absolutely MUST have space for text. There aren't any mag's I know of without text, and, yeah, they don't want text on her forehead.)
TIME magazine puts text on foreheads all the time...
"Maxim magazine makes some rather questionable decisions. If I were the magazine editor, I would never hide the title of the magazine (even behind a beautiful woman)."
You will notice that TIME does this too.
From the evidence, your taste does not seem to match most mainstream magazine editors these days. (Not that that is necessarily a bad thing :-) )
My biggest gripe with these pictures wasn't the orientation though. The description might not mention orientation, but it does suggest that you choose your favorite magazine. I think there are just WAY too many far-fetched titles. Too many people took pictures and then tried to find a magazine to go with it. I also think that some people must've ignored the description alltogether and just given titles that aren't magazine names. With those, I tried to come up with a magazine in my own mind that might use the shot.
This was a really open challenge, but there were a couple of considerations that the photographer should've thought of IMO.
I just hope you investigated those 'farfetched' titles and not just assumed they were farfetched before you voted them down. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you that many may appear farfetched and probaly are but I would just want to make sure first. My title may appear farfetched because it is very esoteric but I assure you it is valid.
I dont think it's very nice to be pointing fingers at the voters.
Name one, as in name one magazine that comes in landscape format. I can think of a few catalogues and softback glossy guides, but I cant ever recall being in a newsagent and seeing a landscape format magazine.
BTW, Magazines also have banners and straplines, I see quite a few covers with no room for anything much. Its bad enough having staple holes in her belly, but 'Top Totty' emblazoned on her forehead is a mistake.
DCM in the UK goes with a large square mag, that would definitely accept a landscape.
Leaving room for type is "nice", but NOT deadly. Some mags choose to type over/under their photo subject, some use "near dead" areas of the photo to place test (by near dead - I mean the subject repeats a pattern/bland section of pic/etc so the viewer can "guess" what's behind the text)
As for the landscape issue, I've seen enough examples in this thread alone to not be compelled to vote down any portrait shot.
If you're compelled to vote down a photo, do so for the "right" reasons. To just fall back on excuses, such as portrait vs. landscape or text areas...those are excuses people. What is the photo quality? Do you like what you see (appeal)? In your wildest imagination, could it be on the cover a magazine???? Be honest, if you don't like the shot, say so.
I thought this site was all about taking good pictures. What does orientation have to do with anything? I actually chose to put up a picture in landscape form over one that was square just because I was more worried about people voting me lower because I used curves to cause a solarization effect in my picture. I thought people would think it to be a crappy picture that was just manipulated so I didn't post it. After all this I'm just posting the image I like.
I don' tthink it's a great idea to post images to the forums if the image is not hosted on this server. Why not just post links.... that would solve the problem...
I didn't research anything because I don't vote down shots based on titles. I'm just saying that I don't really believe that most of these people ever read these magazines (if they even exist). Being an existing magazine that someone searched out to fit the picture isn't exactly fitting the challenge as well as someone who thought of a common, popular magazine and came up with a good cover shot IMO.
"I just hope you investigated those 'farfetched' titles and not just assumed they were farfetched before you voted them down. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you that many may appear farfetched and probaly are but I would just want to make sure first. My title may appear farfetched because it is very esoteric but I assure you it is valid. "
U couldn't resize the image because it's on some server somewhere else...
I would download the image, resize it, then post it to DPC or Pbase, then edit the link in the original post to point to the edited image. My concern is with the ethics, not the practicality.
Who gives a crap??? I do the challanges to try to get better. It seems like everyone on this page just wants to fight with each other. I didn't think about how the picture would be cropped for a mag, sue me. Better yet give me a 1 and go on about your business. It won't break my damn heart. I like taking pictures but i feel like i need to keep reaching to try to take better ones. That is why i come here not to win the challanges. If anyone is trin to win the challanges you need to think of every reason that someone else(who also wants to win) might have for lowering it. next time i will do better, god just get a life and let this one go. start thinking about the next challange. I am.
I don' tthink it's a great idea to post images to the forums if the image is not hosted on this server. Why not just post links.... that would solve the problem...
There is no problem. We should be able to post links without moving them to our portfolio - that seems like a silly restriction.
