Yes it's been done befor but no two are alike.
I enjoy working with the beads of water with other objects too,it's fun when you can get the focus right,that's the hard part.
Statistics
Place: 278 out of 519 Avg (all users): 5.4637 Avg (commenters): 5.2222 Avg (participants): 5.3527 Avg (non-participants): 5.7439 Views since voting: 1199 Views during voting: 541 Votes: 289 Comments: 40 Favorites: 3 (view)
jmsetzler, I agree in the sense that everyone is trying to learn and trying to duplicate a technique is part of the learning process but part of the learning process is also finding your own voice and style. I think you need to combine the two. That didn't happen here. I think if a unique twist was done to the shot it would have done better since it would be raising the bar so to speak, which in turn might spur more interest into the techique itself. Instead it offered nothing new and didn't advance the style/subject forward. Just my .02 cents.
'Tact' is something that is very weak here. You simply have to consider the sources. Your photo is very well done and it's unfortunate that people can't seem to find a way to give you credit for studying and attempting to perfect a technique as part of your learning process. If you go look at the portfolios of those who have given you grief about this, you will see that it would be beneficial for most of them to follow your lead of experimenting and learning by duplicating things you like. If more people around here experimented and learned by doing so, their photography would improve.
DPC is a 'game' and it shouldn't really be considered an artistic competition. In the real world, your art isn't usually judged by your competition, and it IS judged on its own merit. When you show people this image, they are going to love it and say "wow... how cool is that?" When you show it to photographers, they are going to say "I've seen this before. Why can't you be more original?"
I think you won and lost with this photo. You learned something about a technique. There is still some room for improvement there as well. You lost because the K-Mart shoppers weren't into your blue-light special this week :)
Here are some tips so you can re-shoot this and make it something extraodrinary. This is how I set mine up:
1. I shot it outside in overcast light so it was nice and even without being too harsh.
2. I place my glass about 8 or 9" above the flag, supported by four drinking glasses.
3. Depth of field here is key so I got as close as i could with my camera and shot a couple tests, stopping down my aperture until the water drops were as sharp as they could be and the background was as out of focus as possible.
Keep on experimenting with it and you will find some variations that you like :)
I have to come in once again here.... I am so shocked that this photo got 15 ones. Those ones were not given for poor technicality, because this photo is technically very good. I am sure those ones were all given even without looking properly at the image and only on the basis that it was a take on John's shot. And some of the comments could have been given with a little more tact, after all, this is a photography site where we want to receive constructive critisism and not negative or abusive comments.
For my part, I find this photo has been done very well, and there is not too much I could critique on in way of technicality. If I had voted I would have given it an 8.
Also it is interesting to see who wrote the very first comment on this image......
While I'm on a rampage... I think it's worth mentioning that John's version of the shot was an experiment of his own, if I recall correctly. He had read about the technique in a magazine or something and wanted to try it himself to learn how it was done. His own shot, which was certainly a wonderful image, was something he has admitted was not an original concept, but something he was trying to emulate.
And he has also stated in the forums several times that he has no beef whatsoever with anyone who tries to replicate the idea themselves.
Yeesh... reading through the comments here, you'd swear that you took a shot of yourself flogging an elderly woman or something.
Congrats on posting a great shot, and having a bit of courage to endure the wrath of the voters here. I think it's rather hypocritical of ANYONE here to bash you for trying to replicate the original shot. After all, aren't we all trying to learn new things from DPC? Nobody else here learns new techniques from the site and tries to learn from them? Gimme a break.
It's not as if you can pull off this kind of shot in 30-seconds or anything, either. A lot of thought and preparation went into it, I'm sure, and I would bet that you have a few dozen shots of outtakes to boot.
Anyway... I gave it a 9, personally. And I think it's shameful that your effort is being condemned rather than applauded. There's nothing wrong with trying to learn a little something around here, and you demonstrated that you can do just that.
I guess this is homage-time, reasonably well done although I would prefer that the white was WHITE, guess you were avoiding blowing out the highlights.
I'm not very fond of the original, so attempts to recreate are destined not to do well with me as far as votes go. As to your success in recreating it, well done.
Good capture, but to me, personally, I think the compostition would be stronger if the lines lead from the lower left to the upper right. Just a personal opinion. (and as a side note -- while many feel this is "over done" here on dpc, I have found that my shot of this is a popular crowd pleaser when I go to shows and stuff. Good luck).
this exact photo has been done before... why would you try and copy it? and I'm not saying your's is "like it" im saying its EXACTLY like the one that was done in a previous challenge... try to be a lil more original.
Well, you picked a high scoring shot to emulate...This is pretty well done, although the composition of setzler's pic is superior in the more limited DOF. 7
I can't believe you did this. I'm almost tempted to think this is jim setzler toying with the dpc community. Sadly I think it's probably not. Sorry mate, but this is just such a straight out ripoff I can't give you anything higher than a 3.
Oh wow...Haven't seen this before. With all the regrets Setz had about submitting this almost identical shot years ago, and all the snotty emails he got and rude comments about patriotism, you would think that someone wouldn't want to go through that, but some people are a glutton for punnishment, I guess. I think this shot is pleasing to look at every time I see it (I know it's different, but also very similar). I think my only suggestion would be that the blue here looks almost black. Otherwise, nice focus and lighting. the wrinkle in the bottom right might be a bit of a distraction/flaw. Definately looks like a fun shot, and while we have seen it a zillion times, it's going to be new to someone, so that's what counts. (despite the zillion comments you get that say 'unoriginal'.)
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