Originally posted by ictoanAgreed, maybe instead of a vote each round there should be discussion right from the day the pics link is posted and the forum reach a general consensus on the 'best' photo through this discussion.
If the objective is to encourage a lively dialog about the merits and demerits of the pictures then the rule prohibiting such discussions before for voting should be dropped.
On overt attempt to influence each others votes would be the surest way to encouraged such a dialog. There is no point in saying to someone “what were you thinking?” after the voting is over.
I think this would encourage more participation, and get everything into the thread whilst it is still fresh.
Originally posted by rhbInteresting idea. Maybe we should try it in the next round and see how it works. What do others think?
Agreed, maybe instead of a vote each round there should be discussion right from the day the pics link is posted and the forum reach a general consensus on the 'best' photo through this discussion.
I think this would encourage more participation, and get everything into the thread whilst it is still fresh.
Ictoan (and anybody else who hasn't voted yet): There's still time to vote for this round. I am still waiting for a vote from the Netherlands.
Originally posted by NordlysI wouldn't mind trying a different formula. I wouldn't mind starting a discussion before the votes are counted, but I don't know we should drop the voting. I kinda like deciding where my votes are going to go to and feel that makes me look thoroughly at all the pictures. When we focus on talking about the best ones, I think I might not go through all the pictures as I do now.
Interesting idea. Maybe we should try it in the next round and see how it works. What do others think?
Ictoan (and anybody else who hasn't voted yet): There's still time to vote for this round. I am still waiting for a vote from the Netherlands.
David
Thanks for making me feel more open to giving feedback even though I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, other than what appeals to me or not or what made me vote the way I did. It's a little bit intimadating when you have alot of people that seem to really know the ins and outs of photography. Heck I don't even know what extended exposure means! Lol
I think it's been going really well so far as is. Mabye just make it so more information is provided with each picture. When you send an entry just list the basic information with it. I often look at some of the pics and wonder if a digital camera was used, if so on what setting, or if it was a zoom lense, disposable camera, was it a scanned image, was contrast and such adjusted or is it a completely natural picture (as is). I know some of these details aren't important as such but it's just what I find myself wondering. I would also be curious to know which pictures where taken with black and white film as opposed to switching a color pic to black and white ect. And as mentioned before it would be nice to know what was added to the pic as well. I don't think it would discourage a vote from me especially if I couldn't tell the effect was added without being told. I don't think some discussion is a bad thing overrall but i do feel that the more in depth feedback should be saved for the end of voting. But that's just me.
Bump - last chance to vote!
Thanks for the input, DdV and mokko. DdV: If we'd drop voting and decide by discussion, I think we should discuss all the pictures, not just the best ones (and different people will have different opinions on what the best one is anyway). I think I might even look more thoroughly at all the pictures if I were asked to comment instead of voting - there are usually some pictures which I discard rather quickly because they are clearly not among my eight favourites. The big question is whether enough people would actually take the time to discuss the pictures in depth. Looking at the discussions we have had after the voting in earlier rounds, I am a bit doubtful about that.
Mokko: I'd also like to get some more information with the pictures, but I am not sure I want to make this obligatory (it will be obligatory in case of major picture manipulation, which will need to be defined). Sometimes people might not even remember the technical details. I always enjoy reading the comments if there are any, whether they are technical or tell something about the picture, the circumstances, the location etc., so I would encourage people to write whatever they think might be interesting.
I think discussion will be in more depth whilst the pictures are first available to view. I haven't joined in any post round discussions previously as the moment has generally past. I'd always like to put my comments on the pictures as I vote.
I'm not sure if this is the same for the majority of others who take part - more views welcome.
I agree with Ddv though that maybe an element of voting to decide on a winner could be retained.
It seems we won't get a vote from the Netherlands, so we have a winner. This is a somewhat strange situation because I don't even know whether the winner still reads this thread... But if she does: Congratulations, essjay! And congratulations to hopscotch and mokko for a second and third place! I'll say more about the pictures, the upcoming round etc. tomorrow, I really have to go to bed now.
1. 5 Copper Beech Leaves (essjaynz) 51
2. 17 Max (hopscotch) 42
3. 22 Sky High (mokko) 40
4. 4 Bus (hopscotch) 39
5. 25 Stormy Weather (DdV) 34
6. 9 Flower (DdV) 26
7. 19 The Lost City (Ragnarøk) 26
8. 3 Sangria (shavixmir) 22
9. 15 Gypsy Girl (Starrman) 21
10. 21 Pigeons (DdV) 21
11. 13 Hi-Towers (Tirau Dan) 16
12. 18 Suicide (Ragnarøk) 16
13. 6 Dawn Cottage (Tirau Dan) 15
14. 11 Grey Day (hopscotch) 15
15. 10 Giant (essjaynz) 11
16. 1 The Sandwich (shavixmir) 10
17. 24 Solitude (mokko) 8
18. 16 From the Crow's Nest (Starrman) 7
19. 14 Chain Bridge, Budapest (Starrman) 4
20. 23 Sol (Nordlys) 2
21. 26 Through the Light (mokko) 2
22. 12 Gypsy (essjaynz) 1
23. 2 The Fly (shavixmir) 0
24. 7 Ice (Nordlys) 0
25. 8 Explosion (Tirau Dan) 0
26. 20 Fortress (Ragnarøk) 0
Originally posted by NordlysWell done, congratulations! 😀
It seems we won't get a vote from the Netherlands, so we have a winner. This is a somewhat strange situation because I don't even know whether the winner still reads this thread... But if she does: Congratulations, essjay! And congratulations to hopscotch and mokko for a second and third place! I'll say more about the pictures, the upcoming round etc. tom ...[text shortened]... shavixmir) 0
24. 7 Ice (Nordlys) 0
25. 8 Explosion (Tirau Dan) 0
26. 20 Fortress (Ragnarøk) 0
It was an awesome shot.
I'll comment later as well. Mabye when kids go to bed.
I'd like to thank everyone who voted for me and I would like to apologise for all the controvesy I caused with my other photo "Giant".
When I converted the photo to black and white, it was all black, white and shades of grey. I lost the original on my computer so I had to download it from another site. After the green was pointed out I looked at it and found it had corrupted in the original upload.
You guys are amazing to notice such things.
Sarah
Congrats Sarah,
It was a very nice pic, but not my favourite (as evidenced by my voting I guess 🙂 ). I've seen similar pics in colour and felt that the colour versions highlighted the translucence of the leaves better. I'm just not sure if this pic is ideally suited to B&W. Do you have a colour version of this pic?
Bus was a great pic. It brought me back (mentally) to when black people were made to sit at the back of the bus. I don't know why, but that's what happened when I saw it. 🙂
Stormy Weather got my Number 1 vote again after looking through the pics while in an imaginative frame of mind. =) I just love looking at clouds, and again I saw a fairly well defined face in these ones.
Flower was also a great pic, and as I mentioned to DdV, it made me think about the flower, and the vibrant colours that it is bound to be. The little flecks of pollen also really brought this pic to life for me.
I expected Chain Bridge to do better than it did, but I think the lack of straight (horizontal and vertical) lines worked against it.
Max is a fantastic pic. Just a really nice composition, and the pure black background is great. This pic could be made a little bit better if it didn't cut off a bit of Max' paw, IMO.
Pigeons is another great pic. I think the utter simplicity of it really works well with the B&W format.
Hi-Towers was one of the pics I was referring to when I said I wished I had another vote. I wouldn't have considered it though if I had spotted that the cloud was reflected in FRONT of the tower, without being noted as being manipulated.
Sangria was the other pic that I would have voted for. It didn't make my final list, mainly because the glass isn't framed right, IMO. The whole glass needs to be the focus, IMO, even to the detriment of the background.
That concludes my expert feedback. 😉
I'm looking forward to the next rounds. Whatever format they take. I'd be on for a discussion before voting. I think we're all adult enough not to think that other people are tactically attacking our pics.
D
I liked all the pictures and it was really hard to vote (again!) I think when I vote I look mostly at the clarity, crispness and proprtion of the picture. Bottom line it's what my eye is drawn to. It was hard not to vote for sol because I really liked the simplicity of the picture. I tend to sway more towards a minimilistic look in a photo. This is why I found flower and Max so appealing as well.
Sangria wasn't a fist pick for me but the more I viewed it the more it stood out from the rest. I could only create that effect by sheer accident. I liked the focus and position of the glass in the overall picture. It's one of the pictures I'd like to see in colour.
I liked dawn cottage but i think mabye it's because I have a certain affection for old abandon sheds myself. We have alot of old barns and such scattered across the Albertan landscape and I enjoy stopping on a liesurely drive to photgraph them. Just wondering with that picture if the arc in the sky came out naturally that way or if it was altered for the effect. Either way I liked it.
I also liked gypsy girl alot but again I'm a big fan of close ups. The eyes just pop out of this picture and there's something about that Mona Lisa look smile that makes me want to know more. I just get that feeling that she has a secret and she's not about to share. I think it emits alot of emotion and intrigue in such a simple uncomplicated form.
I was torn with explosion for I really enjoyed the picture but I kept thinking back and white and I felt I was draw to it because of the colour of the picture. I'm not too sure if it would have had the same effect on me if it was truly back and white.
The lost city was a great pic but just one of the ones that I thought would be even more enhanced with colour. I think that it would have brought out the texture of the stone more and the contrast with the mountain (mountain right?)
Anyhow as I've said I have no experience in photography other than what I'm drawn to so I hope that nobody takes anything I say to heart. I tried to stick to the positive things I liked about each picture and I know I haven't commented on them all but baby doesn't like when I sit here too long! Mabye I'll go through them again later if I get the chance.
Congratulations Sarah on winning this round. Copper Beech Leaves is indeed a well-executed shot. I agree with Ragnorak though, the picture doesn't benefit much from being in black and white. In fact, I saw the colour version on flickr, and IMO it's superior to the B&W version.
My n°1 was The Lost City. I really liked the composition. The mist gives it an interesting atmosphere, and to me it being in B&W complements that nicely.
I doubted a long time whether Max or my eventual choice would get my ten points. In Max, I really liked the tones, the sharpness and the contrast. What made me decide against putting it on 1 was the cut-off paw Ragnorak mentioned, the fact that it appears tilted slightly to the right, the very bright foreground and the black background. I think I would enjoy it more with a more natural lighting and a blurred but visible background. But that doesn't change the fact that in overall, I really enjoyed this photograph and I think it's a very strong B&W.
Sky High is a very bold portrait. I think it could have benefitted from a blurred background too, even though the face of the girl really stands out as it is. Her eyes make this image for a large part, I think.
Grey Day is a good effort. On the one hand, I don't think the viewpoint is the best one for a silhouet shot. I think I would have like a shot with face in profile or a bit more to the front more than this shot from behind. On the other hand, I do like the framing by the seats and the edge of the window, and the vignetting effect this creates.
Sol is a great picture too, even though I didn't give it any points. I feel it's a scientific image and it's a kind of photography that I enjoy in a totally different way than all the other pictures, so I couldn't really compare it with the rest.
What I really enjoyed in this round was the wide variety of pics and I'm looking forward to next round. Thanks for the points I received and the comments here, I'm always curious what people think of my pictures.
David