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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> why did this pic get many low votes?
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10/04/2006 03:23:22 PM · #1
hello!
I'm new here on this site and to photography.
I learn everything about taking pictures myself and I'm really trying to improve.
I'd like to ask you why this pic got many low votes in the Purple challenge?


bad editing? bad idea? really disgusting face expression? bad pose? what in this picture made many voters give it 1, 2 and 3?
I'm not complaining! I'm just trying to understand to become better.

I would really appreciate your answer.
thank you.
Svetlana - Silverfoxx

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 15:24:07.
10/04/2006 03:27:00 PM · #2
personally i loved this image... i think what ultimately brought it down was that is is not a dpc photograph.

dont get me wrong, a lot of the ribbon winners are awesome photos, but dpc'ers tend to love sharp images that are a little less artsy. so the grain and the border the "artiness" of the photo is in my opinion what brought it down... also whats up with the pink border??

-Dan
10/04/2006 03:30:30 PM · #3
For me, I think it was because I felt it noisy rather than artistic grain, and, to be frank, I'd seen quite a few small photos in the purple challenge and this was another that seemed on the small side - mostly because of the border I think.

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 15:30:58.
10/04/2006 03:33:14 PM · #4
I was one of your 10s. I think the low votes were a kneejerk reaction to the grain/noise.
10/04/2006 03:34:44 PM · #5
Broke a lot of DPC rules.

Funny border, Grainy and smaller/funny shape.

Got to the magazine rack....every magazine has a ton of good photos but they are different from each other. The DPC magazine likes a certain style..deviate and feel the reprecussions.

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 15:35:08.
10/04/2006 03:37:05 PM · #6
I think the border really overwhelms the image itself. It was a great angle, nice composition, but my eye is sucked away from it by the uber thick, heavy, black border. A border should compliment the photo, rather than drawing attention away from it. Also, too, the photo is really grainy, which can work well for some images, but this photo doesn't have an old-timey or grungy feel to it. My only other suggestion would be that some of the hilites are a little blown. The hand in front of her is too bright, and I can't tell where her face ends and the background begins. Hope I'm not sounding too harsh, but I probably would have given this a 4. Without the border, probably a 6.

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 15:38:02.
10/04/2006 03:38:13 PM · #7
.

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 15:44:27.
10/04/2006 03:38:41 PM · #8
Border...love em or hate em they don't go down too well here.
I think 118th place is a very respectable place in this challenge.
I love the grain and moodiness, but for me.. kill the border, or at least shrink it some.
10/04/2006 03:38:46 PM · #9
Didn't vote on this one, but I like the grain. However, it does tend to lose some people. The border probably hurt you the most. Be conservative with your borders here.
10/04/2006 03:39:02 PM · #10
Yeah, you'll learn that DPCers like certain types of photos...

I didn't vote in this challenge, but I'd say that your downfall, like others have said, is that it's grainy, has a gigantic border, is bland in color and contrast and has a sort of amatuerish feel to it. Also, with the pale look to the photo, your highlights seem unnecessarily blown out (fan and arm and slightly on the face)

So, basically, this photo would have done really well had it been a very clean, sharply focused, but smooth vibrantly colored photo without a border, or a very minimal border.

The shot itself seems great; DPCers love to see attractive people in very simple setups, not to mention your composition/pose are spot on.

So this same pic with different processing would have scored a lot better.
10/04/2006 03:39:45 PM · #11
Possible reasons-- Small size, Large border, Almost looks more Burgundy than Purple..
10/04/2006 03:40:32 PM · #12
I gave it a six. I really liked the concept, thought the grain worked well, and in general thought it was well-executed. For me, the large border worked, but it did result in a much smaller actual image area, which may have hurt your score. I think giving careful consideration to the many great comments you received will guide you as to why it scored lower than expected. Many of those comments are conflicting as to what the viewers did and did not like, and that in itself is informative.
Bottom line, it's a very good image, and one you should be proud of.
10/04/2006 03:41:49 PM · #13
To be honest it scored 5.2 anyway and has a favourite, that can't be that bad for a first challenge.
10/04/2006 03:43:53 PM · #14
I really liked the image and gave it an 8. Like others have said I think what got you was the image grain and the border size. Most around here don't like the image grain, I personally feel it adds to certain images and creates a great mood.



This shot suffered IMHO from the same thing. Don't let it get you down, it's a beautiful image that you should be VERY proud of.


10/04/2006 03:46:03 PM · #15
oh! thank you so much for your answers!

yes, I've been browsing through the challenge winners now and I definitely can see the same kind of a "smooth" sharp feeling in all of them - that's what make them look highly professional to me.

well, my picture IS an amateur portrait:) so I've got what I deserve.

about the border: I have some chinese and japanese pictures at home and they all have such borders! but ok, no borders for me next time.

thank you so much for your comments and advice!

Svetlana
10/04/2006 03:48:40 PM · #16
I don't like the border or the grain.
10/04/2006 03:48:56 PM · #17
I thought something had inspired you on the border, don't give up on em altogether, I believe Fritz hit the nail on the head with the comment on actual image size suffering because of it.
Great image..keep it up.
10/04/2006 03:49:21 PM · #18
I think it's excellent work all round and can't find real fault - I even like how the border is used. It's an artistic expression done well, your artistic expression. I didn't vote in this challenge altho' I did leave you a comment. I probably would have given it a 7 because I felt your hint of purple was secondary rather than the main theme. Don't get disheartened tho'. Like I said before and I say it again, it's work you should proud of. :)
10/04/2006 03:50:59 PM · #19
I probably would have voted this up around the 8 or 9 mark.

I absolutly love this photo, and wish stuff like this did better here, but it doesn't. Ribbon winners are amazing pictures most of the time, but photography and art is all subjective. There are some photographic artists that may not end up doing well here, even though they manage to make a living off of photography. Open up a newspaper and have a look at most of the shots, bet you most of them wouldn't score more than a 5.5.

So it really depends on why you are here. If you are here just for fun and to compete in the challenges and try to get the best score you can, then I definately would say, learn the DPC style, shrink that border and loose the grain, but if you are here to learn and to try to become a better photographer, then you need to start judging the comments you recieve. Maybe you intended the picture to have a lot of grain, then ignore all the stupid comments about it being too grainy. You could have fixed that if you wanted to, but chose not to. That doesn't make it a bad photograph.

Another thing to remember is that most photos submitted to the challenges here are FAR beyond your normal pictures, so scoring a 5.2 is not a bad feat. Just because an image doesn't score high, does not mean it's a bad picture, or even that it didn't meet the challenge.

Keep your chin up, I look forward to seeing more photo's from you!

EDIT TO ADD:

In your portfolio it says you started taking pictures just 3 weeks ago, even if that was as of Sept 20, that is still incredible. You have an amazing artistic eye. Don't loose that in the technical babble here about tilt/grain/contrast/over exposing/ect...

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 15:57:26.
10/04/2006 03:55:48 PM · #20
LERtastic,
I'm here to become a better photograph, to come out from my tiny world to this huge world outside and see what others do. and I'm not going to learn any rules.
:)

thank you so much everyone for your support!

yes, I'll try to learn from the wonderful comments I've got!
10/04/2006 03:57:59 PM · #21
The quality of the composition is outstanding. It had to be the image noise and the overpowering border that brought the score down. Keep up this quality of work and you will have great success at DPC!
10/04/2006 03:59:11 PM · #22
border - yep... too much.

lighting - little harsh. the fan, face, and side of her arm are overexposed, which steals a bit of the visual punch for me. others might have liked it though...

grain - i liked the grain, but as others have said, it usually doesn't go over well with the voting masses...

over all, a good first entry... good job.
10/04/2006 04:04:27 PM · #23
This picture was actually one of my favorites. I really liked the border, and it seemed fitting for the theme of the picture. Good job!
10/04/2006 04:04:59 PM · #24
I liked this a lot, and gave it a 7. It's refreshing to see good creative photos outside of what normally does well here. I did not like the border, though, and the image itself was a bit small because the border took up so much of your pixel allowance.
10/04/2006 04:06:45 PM · #25
I was disappointed this placed so low, too. (Especially since I gave it a high score.)

I'll probably just end up saying again what Dan said. But grain is not well received "here" nor, in my experience in digital photo competitions at the local, state and national level (though somewhat more). I personally love grainy pics...they remind me of the B&W film I worked with in the darkroom....but we old nostalgists do not seem to be the dominant voters here.

The border was non-intrusive in my opinion...but heavier borders tend to detract in the digital presentation. They seem to be eschewed in photo club-type competitions as well.

The "purple" was more in the magenta/pink range than many likely found acceptable. I felt it was an artful range of hues that fit the challenge. Did it fit it overtly? Did you hammer us over the head with purple? No. So...okay.

The pose. The mood. The detail in the kimono. All nicely done. (You did blow out the highlights in the fan, but I thought it not terribly distracting.)

Beautiful work. And take heart in the fact that over 100 voters actually agree with you and I that this is a photo deserving of merit.

(Edit to add....sorry for any redundancy, I started typing before the 1/2 hour phone call and finished without seeing what others had said.)

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 16:09:05.
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