I've had a few comments on my Seed shot questioning why it came in first. I certainly think people are entitled to question things, so let's not devolve into a "say something nice!" argument, but I felt this could be the start of an interesting discussion.
This is a quote from the Seed thread started before the voting started:
Originally posted by DrAchoo:
"I'm having a very tough time choosing. On the one hand I have what I view is going to be a cliche photo, but with superior technicals and sharp enough to cut steel (and we all know DPC responds to sharp); on the other hand I have a shot with a bit of a "how'd he do that" effect, but the technicals are just not quite as well done.
Right now I have the second shot in. I think the first shot will have at least 3 or 4 others which will look just like it."
I was going to enter my outtake into the Free Study, but I have something else, so I can share. The question is, which, in your opinion is better? The ribbon winner is somewhat short on technicals, but may make up for it in "feel" (including any "gee whiz, how'd he do that?" feel). The outtake (which is 720 pixels BTW because of the free study) has superior technicals, but does it have the "feel"? (I worried that it would be a shot that many people would enter because it wasn't all that difficult to do).
Well Doc I might not be the best judge. I gave your entry a 9 because of the color, bokeh and composition. Yes, it was a little out of focus but I forgive things like that if a shot wows me. now your outtake on the other hand would have been a 10 hands down from me - a definite WOW factor here
I don't think it's very bold of me, but you made the right choice. Your ribbon winner tells a story. It's as simple as that. The technicals are good enough to appease the um... be nice now... purists, so they didn't bonk you. Your other picture doesn't say much. It would score high, but I doubt it would ribbon.
I think the winning shot buries the outtake. At the same time, I gave the winning shot half the points I gave the 2nd place ribbon entry so there's no explaining tastes... I didn't think it was too original, but I did think it was a hell of a capture (giving benefit of doubt it wasn't staged).
Paratroopers is cool in its own way. Are you editing on an LCD by any chance? It almost looks oversharpened on my crt.
Anyway, it came in first because more people liked it than any other entry. Grats again. Maybe they'll add a Page 1,2,3...8 footer to your profile page to accomodate all the ribbons ;)
I think it depends on the challenge as I'm sure in a macro challenge your outtake would have done very well also. It's hard to compare the two since one wasn't entered. Personally, I like the outtake better but I think my judgement is clouded. Reason being I remember your entry shot being done by someone before who executed it perfectly so I might have compared your shot to that had I voted in Seed, which I didn't.
ETA: They are both excellent images just in different ways.
i like your outtake... i never knew what it looked like that close up... so to me, it taught me something and means a little more because of it. like someone else said, it has a definite wow factor for me. would have easily been a 10.
Hey Doc, I like both very well. I like your "Blue" because is shows the way the seeds disperse become new plants at the winds will. The macro is perfect as it shows how the seeds form after the blossom. The kicker, I figured there would be a bunch of dandilions, so I didn't enter one, and I entered one for mystery, so I figured wrong again. They are both excellent. Van
Regarding the relative merits of the two images, the actual ribbon-winner is a highly emotive image, with its overtones of escape, discovery, adventure, perseverance, you name it. The outtake is technically very superior, and fascinating in its own way for its glimpse into something few of us have ever seen, but it comes across as quite sterile by comparison. I expect it would not have ribboned, although it would have scored very decently.
For what it's worth, here's the ribbon-winner with a dose of Focus Magic applied:
Robt.
Is Focus Magic legal to use in the challenges? Doesn't it need to move pixels to fix the focus? I just downloaded the trial of that the other day and it works great especially when used in moderation.
Is Focus Magic legal to use in the challenges? Doesn't it need to move pixels to fix the focus? I just downloaded the trial of that the other day and it works great especially when used in moderation.
As far as I know it's perfectly legal. It's just very sophisticated USM, I believe. IF you use the "fix motion blur" feature, THAT might well be illegal, but this is "fix out of focus blur" and that's just a high-end USM, similar to results you can get by using USM in several different strengths on differently-blended layers.
I never use it in basic challenges, btw, because I'm pretty sure it's using blending modes behind the interface.
... it works great especially when used in moderation.
You said it yourself. In advanced editing, it is legal to move pixels as long as you don't obliterate the original.
Well I was also thinking about the major element rule. For example, would it be a major element you're creating if you make something OOF in focus? Basically the opposite of the motion blur issue we had a while back that adding that was a major element so wouldn't removing that be the same thing?
ETA: I think Bear agrees it would be and that's my thinking also. So disregard this diversion as I am hijacking the Doc's thread.
I'm curious. Jason, you said you liked Paratroopers better, yet you picked Escape. Why? I mean, if you liked the other one better, why did you enter Escape?
I'm curious. Jason, you said you liked Paratroopers better, yet you picked Escape. Why? I mean, if you liked the other one better, why did you enter Escape?
I'm not sure he said that:
"I'm having a very tough time choosing. On the one hand I have what I view is going to be a cliche photo, but with superior technicals and sharp enough to cut steel (and we all know DPC responds to sharp); on the other hand I have a shot with a bit of a "how'd he do that" effect, but the technicals are just not quite as well done.
Right now I have the second shot in. I think the first shot will have at least 3 or 4 others which will look just like it."
He seems to be distinguishing between them on technical quality (the outtake IS better, technically) and the "gee whiz" factor (which the ribbon-winner has in spades). I believe he made the right choice, in that the scoring indicates the viewers were able to overlook the weak focus and concentrate on the "emotive" component of the image.
Okay.........this is ridiculous! Ursula,from now on you are only allowed to submit things that you have knit ..... or built from rice krispies squares. DOC, if you would just clean up the damn weeds from your front lawn we would not have this problem! ShutterPug, have you not heard of "DO NOT FEED THE WILDLIFE"??? Me, I like my poppies because they make fun treats and I find everyone is much nicer when they levitate. hehehe
I thought Jason said somewhere he liked his outtake better than his entry, but I may be wrong. Anyway. It doesn't really matter. I agree with people here who have said that the outtake is better technically, but Escape has a wider emotional appeal. It's good to know that emotion will still beat technicals :)
