I've made my first pass, and this is my non-scientific review so far:
Dolls or Wooden Models - 10
Cars, Trains, the like - 42
Toys - 13
Doll House Stuff - 30
Figurines - 27
Things Smaller than Normal - 42
Natural/Living Miniatures - 28
Macros and Other Stretches - 44
As usual, there are some great shots and some crappy ones. The real challenge here is going to be defining how you are going to vote, and then applying that consistently. To be fair, you really need to decide how to interpret the challenge: Compose and photograph something "miniature" in such a way that it conveys to the viewer that the subject of your photo is a tinier version of something that is normally larger. (my emphasis).
I really urge all voters to take the time to comment, especially if you are going to score something 4 or lower. It is really, really, really hard to improve if you are scoring below average and not getting but a handful of comments.
what about haveing checkboxes with the comment box.
Like:
Dose not fit challenge, Over exposed, good exposure,under exposed, Out of focus, blured, sharp, very sharp, good composition, composition ok, bad composition, distracing objects/background, Too shallow dof,.... and so on..
This way the voter can can quickly make 'comments' on the photo with out typing anything.
no bones about it, voting is tough. I try to take into consideration:
1) how much work did the camera do
2) how much work did the photographer do
3) did it really, really meet the spirit of the challenge
4) composition
5) wow factor
all the same, if I have an average photo that doesn't resonate with the audience, fine; on the other hand, if enough people are going to vote it down to below a 5, I'd like to know why they did so. Was it technically flawed enough? Was it just not creative enough? Did it just suck?
I don't mean to pound this, and it's been hit in a number of other threads, but I'd still like to know what would make the majority of voters give out 3s and 4s...
I've found that doing anything other than sharp focus across the whole picture hits you hard in the score front. Or maybe it's just that pictures I've taken with shallow (or at least not super-deep) DOF have sucked!
I've made my first pass, and this is my non-scientific review so far:
Dolls or Wooden Models - 10
Cars, Trains, the like - 42
Toys - 13
Doll House Stuff - 30
Figurines - 27
Things Smaller than Normal - 42
Natural/Living Miniatures - 28
Macros and Other Stretches - 44
As usual, there are some great shots and some crappy ones. The real challenge here is going to be defining how you are going to vote, and then applying that consistently. To be fair, you really need to decide how to interpret the challenge: Compose and photograph something "miniature" in such a way that it conveys to the viewer that the subject of your photo is a tinier version of something that is normally larger. (my emphasis).
I really urge all voters to take the time to comment, especially if you are going to score something 4 or lower. It is really, really, really hard to improve if you are scoring below average and not getting but a handful of comments.
To be fair, you really need to decide how to interpret the challenge: Compose and photograph something "miniature" in such a way that it conveys to the viewer that the subject of your photo is a tinier version of something that is normally larger. (my emphasis).
I really urge all voters to take the time to comment, especially if you are going to score something 4 or lower. It is really, really, really hard to improve if you are scoring below average and not getting but a handful of comments.
Comments are always appreciated but, personally, I would feel more fairly treated if I knew all voters had taken the time to read the challenge details and had kept them in mind while voting. Perhaps I am being a bit cynical here but I often get the impression (from comments and forum posts) that neither submitters nor voters have read the details and are working from the title of the challenge alone.
no bones about it, voting is tough. I try to take into consideration:
1) how much work did the camera do
2) how much work did the photographer do
3) did it really, really meet the spirit of the challenge
4) composition
5) wow factor
all the same, if I have an average photo that doesn't resonate with the audience, fine; on the other hand, if enough people are going to vote it down to below a 5, I'd like to know why they did so. Was it technically flawed enough? Was it just not creative enough? Did it just suck?
I don't mean to pound this, and it's been hit in a number of other threads, but I'd still like to know what would make the majority of voters give out 3s and 4s...
Don't know about the majority but I tend to base the picture on a 1 to 5 scale and the result is (times 1) if not in theme, and doubled if it is. So a four from me would either be a great picture not in theme or a 2 out of five picture, doubled for being in theme.
This has been my first challenge and experience of voting. The standards of composition and photography are high. All those who entered should be commended on the quality of their work, however, I feel some have missed on the interpretation side. I tried to vote in what I considered to be a fair and even fashion. Therefore, the ones I found most pleasing to look at...the whole point of a photograph...and came closest to the topic for the challenge got the highest vote. Hopefully the more I become involved the more analytical I will become. But I have enjoyed this first venture. Whatever percentage I get is a bonus this time round as I only had a short while to get into the mindset of DPChallenge.
(although anyone foolish enough to allow part of their picture to be out of focus around here really does deserve everything they get!)
Does that include shallow DOF?
Shallow DoF, as an intentionally used technique, is not always appropriate for challenges. Not all photos look better for having used shallow DoF. For example, in the Miniature challenge, the item that is shown in a smaller than normal version is the subject of your photo and for it to be out of focus is wrong.
This is my first time posting a picture, but I have voted on three challenges now. I always keep in mind what the challenge is. There were several in the miniature set that I gave a 1 or 2 because I could not see the miniature in the shot. Then there are the subjects that get old. After going back to the thumbs after I voted on all the pictures and commented on my favorites, I noticed a few that I may have judged differently after seeing them togeather. The subject in question is the matchbox and/or mini cars. I also tend to vote higher if your subject is more orignal that the last 50 photos. I just remember that voting is subjective to the different members style and taste and not to take it too personally.
I like the suggestion of adding boxes for comments. I don't know how much work it would take on the technical side, but I think more people would get more comments. After all, it took me a little over an hour to go through all the pics submitted for this challenge and I only commented on about five of them. So far I've only had four on my submission.
Also, due to the excellent choices on the challenges, a 3 vote for me is an average photo. Most of the blue ribbon winners get an average of 7 point something so I don't think a five is average. I'll give a five if the picture is appealling to my eye and meets the challenge. The Wow Factor must come in to play for an 8, and I only give 2 or 3 tens per vote. My runners up get nines, and there are usually a dozen or so of those.
Of the rest, they get stuck somewhere in the middle.
Comments are always appreciated but, personally, I would feel more fairly treated if I knew all voters had taken the time to read the challenge details and had kept them in mind while voting. Perhaps I am being a bit cynical here but I often get the impression (from comments and forum posts) that neither submitters nor voters have read the details and are working from the title of the challenge alone.
I just got a comment from someone who said I didn't meet the challenge as the normal-scale items I put into my shot to show "Miniature" perspective was "normal sized" and therefore I didn't meet the challenge. For me, this makes your point. Bad news is that I just read one of their post comments saying they gave out several 1s and 2s to those "doesn't meet the challenge" shots. Would I rather have a comment that told me that or just the vote? I'll take the comment.
I just got a comment from someone who said I didn't meet the challenge as the normal-scale items I put into my shot to show "Miniature" perspective was "normal sized" and therefore I didn't meet the challenge. For me, this makes your point. Bad news is that I just read one of their post comments saying they gave out several 1s and 2s to those "doesn't meet the challenge" shots.
Hey Theresa- I've received a couple of "doesn't meet the challenge" comments too, yet I'll probably finish in the top 20, so obviously it does. One or two narrow minds in this group of voters won't affect your score much.
I don't necessarily like the wording of the challenge criteria at times.
The 'feet' challenge criteria is that the picture should have feet in it and that it should be creative. That's all.
According to the criteria, a beautiful picture of a sunset with a silhouetted couple (who have feet attached to the bottom of their legs) should score higher than a picture which captures the essence of feet well.
Both would meet the challenge. Which one scores higher is a separate issue. The wording of this challenge leaves open the possibility of animal feet, graphic interpretations or even measurements (but I wouldn't recommend that one).
Um...I don't think I'm explaining myself very well...
I sort of wish that "Feet" would be the theme and leave it at that. The votes would decide which photograph caught the theme the best.
By adding specific criteria "take a picture with feet in it", it seems to dumb it down and instead of going for a mood captured we are looking for criteria met.
Here's a better example: If "Feet" was the theme, with no additional criteria, a great picture would be a solemn, black and white picture of a guy in a wheelchair who's had his feet amputated with some distant expression in his face...
Just a thought...
Edit: Disclaimer added; I should mention that all in all I think this site is incredibly and professionally managed and maintained...I certainly don't want to sound complainy (yes, it's a word). Just making a suggestion!
