Round 10 - DVXUser Photography Challenge

I guess I will just be voting differently... the overall impression is the one that matters for the sake of the contest, but if nothing was done then I rank it as a 0 for technique. That's just me though.

Round 11 is up.
 
Jeremy Ordan said:
but if nothing was done then I rank it as a 0 for technique. That's just me though.
Click to expand...
I certainly tried to do that since it was my understanding that the overall impression is where the best entry would be determined.
 
Yeah, I simply didn't vote anything at all for processing if the image didn't have it, but I was confused about whether that was the best way to do things.

In the end, giving a high processing rating to a nice image that lacked processing didn't make sense to me. Brice's stance is interesting, but lack of technique (even the need for technique) is not technique. But I'm still sort of confused on how the math is going to play out. I'm hoping it's mostly based on overall impression with a bit of weight given to the original. Like I said in one of my comments, this isn't supposed to be a Photoshop contest, right? I also feel like many of the originals (including my own) are misleading.
 
I mean that originals that are shot in RAW by definition tend to look flat and generally awful... it's the nature of the technique. Basically the same as shooting neutral with the DVX and doing CC in post. Yeah, your original doesn't look very good at all (maybe it even looks BAD), but it takes a trivial amount of work to turn it into something very presentable.
 
dougspice said:
I mean that originals that are shot in RAW by definition tend to look flat and generally awful... it's the nature of the technique. Basically the same as shooting neutral with the DVX and doing CC in post. Yeah, your original doesn't look very good at all (maybe it even looks BAD), but it takes a trivial amount of work to turn it into something very presentable.
Click to expand...

Understood... (as I do shoot pretty flat with the DVX) I don't shoot RAW on the D50. I didn't realize it gave images a flat look....
 
RAW bypasses most of the camera's internal processing, recording only the raw image data from the sensor for processing later. Therefore no adjustments are applied as far as white balance, levels, and so on. I tend to shoot slightly underexposed as well and this often results and really uninspiring originals (often with incorrect color balance) that I know can be made into pretty much whatever I want with half a dozen clicks.

Unless you have a good reason not to be shooting RAW (like if you're shooting hundreds and hundreds of images at a time), you should be. The flexibility and quality difference is tremendous, and you have an untouched master you can always go back to. Besides, Nikon's JPEG processing has been historically weak in many of their cameras. I don't know if this includes the D50 but it definitely is the case on my D100.
 
I'll add that I'm using the same principle as Brandon for rating post work on this round.

There was one fantastic image that had very little (any?) post done to it. But to me that was the right choice so it was worth a higher than average (not much, as there wasn't much active work done due credit) score.

For me a lower than average score for "technique" would be given to an image that is degraded by the post work. - Which I felt was the case with at least one image.

I guess it depends if you start from 0and vote up for good thingd, wheter you start from 10 and dock points, or if you start from an average (5?) and give pluses and minuses.


I also agree that some of the original images look flat beacuse they are RAW - which is perfectly acceptable as they are planned to be worked on in post. That's why I didn't dock any points for a poorly colored original. - Composition, content, etc... is what affects the original's score from me. Though if it has paticularly good colors, that can deserve a bonus point or two too, as some of us (myself included) shoot to JPG and allready make color choices in camera.

- Mikko
 
Well the voting is based, in my opinion, 100% on OVERALL IMPRESSION, meaning that it is really what you submit that matters. The reason for the other divisions is to show the process of making an image what you see as the end result. Evaluating a RAW (and by RAW I don't mean the format so much as the untouched image rightoutof the camera) and the process is for those individuals who are post processing artists to be able to show off as well. Furthermore, and in my opinion, most importantly, these contests are about getting out and shooting and learning.

Everyone has their own scale for voting, mine obviously is different than other people's, but personally I start at a 10 and work backwards. The first thing is focus, if an image is out of focus it is a 0 and nothing more to be said. Subject, composition, lighting, framing, and applicable to topic also tie in and are important elements that can affect a score. When it comes to post processing it is like focus, if it isn't there then it is a 0, in my opinion.
 
mikkowilson said:
I'll add that I'm using the same principle as Brandon for rating post work on this round.

There was one fantastic image that had very little (any?) post done to it. But to me that was the right choice so it was worth a higher than average (not much, as there wasn't much active work done due credit) score.

For me a lower than average score for "technique" would be given to an image that is degraded by the post work. - Which I felt was the case with at least one image.

- Mikko
Click to expand...

I think I mentioned once (maybe twice) earlier in this thread that I was doing that, too. If I didn't think that the original needed improvement and they left it alone, then I rated it pretty high. I didn't give it a 10 by any means... but probably somewhere around a 7. If they had messed with it and made it worse, they'd have gotten a 1 from me. I think the choice not to alter a photo should be rated higher than someone that messes up a perfectly good photo. But that's just me.

Chad

On edit: yep, I said it in post #105 and #210

I guess some of us interpreted that category as "photoshop skills" and others as "did what needed to be done in post" - or something like that.
 
Last edited:
I think it is important to realize that some post adjustments may be minor. I saw some comments on photos that suggested there wasn't any post-processing done, when I could see some differences in the two images, albeit slight.
 
Thank you Jeremy and please note that after voting is closed the results will be available to the users and then from Monday the site will be closed for some major updates.
 
A week after commenting I finally got around to voting before the deadline.

To everyone who entered, ya'll did an amazing job, and when reviewing who did which image I was delighted to see some of the entries. Great overall job everyone.
 
Result Post:

Because of limitations with linking images in a single post I will break down all categories on a seperate page (forthcoming in the next 24 hours)

BUT:

Here are the top five images (as far as overall image is concerned)

5.
thumb_medium_15_post_first.jpg

by Doug Spice
4.
thumb_medium_05_post_first.jpg

by Owen
3.
thumb_medium_09_post_first.jpg

by DVXWheeler
2.
thumb_medium_33_post_first.jpg

by Mikko Wilson

AND NUMBER 1

with an appropriate name:

FixItInPost with

thumb_medium_18_post_first.jpg




Congrats to everyone!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top