I see many people gave me low votes for my garden challenge photo. I was wondering if those people who did -- or anyone who would like to share a critique -- could tell me what is wrong with this photo. //www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=30424.
I realize I cut off bug 2's leg and second I know the depth of field could be better (but my camera doesn't allow for adjustments) -- but what else would cause people to rate this picture a 1, 2, 3 or 4?
The voter breakdown on your entry looks fairly normal to me. We will never figure out why some people give low scores on well done pictures, so we have to learn to roll with the punches, and remember that no one took a proficiency test to become a voter. Good shot BTW. :<)
Apart from what I already added in my comment there I can add that I gave you an 8, a point deducted for the leg amputation. The DoF is better than many other shots.
Psst... Do you really don't know why they sit on top of each other ?
I did not rate yours, but I think the comments you list already cover all the points of critique. Otherwise it is a good shot, color, light, composition is fine. If I would have voted yours it would have gotten a 5, because of the shallow DOF and because it is "just" another bug shot.
Looking at that shot I would say you deserve a better camera, with more controls.
Don't worry to much about the 1, 2 and 3 , I get loads of them and don't understand them either, because I only give them myself if there is something terribly wrong technically, they don't meet the challenge, have no real subject, or just disgusting or unimaginative (or a combination of these factors). Even my round challenge winner got quite a few.
Some people just give a 1 if they don't like the shot and that is up to them. I would hope low voters leave comments to explain why.
Do these bugs actually live in WI? I have never seen one before...... I am surprised this did not rate in the top ten, it was at the top of my list in the insect sub-category of this challenge.... I gave it a 6 down from an 8, after I decided that insects did not exactly meet my intrepretation of criteria for this challenge.
Yes, these Japanese beetles are all over my garden. They especially love my Rugosa Roses. I live an hour from Milwaukee and if you live anywhere near here -- you'd see these guys. They are about the size of your thumb nail -- slightly smaller.
They are considered a pest by Wisconsin standards. They are a non-native species wreaking havoc : )
Insects have everything to do with a garden if you are gardener. They are everywhere -- on flowers to trees to the grass. They are the garden in my eyes -- equal to flowers. Just a personal opinion...
Whether or not insects 'count' - and i can see no way in which they don't fit the challenge, but hey - I think you'll have been voted down by people who got fed up with insect macros; and that very shallow DOF isn't liked by a chunk of voters either.
I gave you a 6 - it didn't grab me as some of the others did: but then I gave my top vote to this shot.
I see many people gave me low votes for my garden challenge photo.
Huh? You got your highest score to date, finished in the top 15% (by far your highest ranking) and got 21 comments, again a personal high. You really gotta start looking at the glass as half (or more) full! ;-)
I gave you a 6 (but I think I tend to vote more towards the middle than most), as an above average shot, nice colors, but I would have prefered a wider DOF - I personally don't like macros where half or more of the subject is blurred (though there are exceptions). I different composition may have raised my opinion of it a little as well - it's OK, but just pretty "standard" and centered.
As for your call on the picture's page for comments from the 1-3 voters - they're always out there, and can have any number of lame, or valid, reasons for voting so.
This was to me one of the better bug shots. No offence to the winner, but I liked your better than the winning image. I gave you 9. Don't get too dicouraged by the scores or what place you finished at. Remember that many of us liked it a lot.
Thanks to all of you who responded. I am very pleased that I ranked in the top 15%. I have grown from each challenge and just wanted to see what I could learn from more feedback....especially why I didn't do so good outside of the DOF and missing leg segment.
You've all helped again. Great people on this site! It's a pleasure.
