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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> My Pet Portrait :-(
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 04/11/2005 12:04:45 AM · #1
Ok, I have been waiting all week to ask this, since the voting started. I was quite proud of this shot, and spent all week perfecting it (or so I thought lol) I received a few comments but most were positive and I just cannot figure out why it scored so low, is there something I am not seeing on my monitor..lighting..shadows etc. Any comments would be greatly appreciated here, my score on this one really had me bummed out.

04/11/2005 12:09:26 AM · #2
on my monitor, a lot of the black looks cloudy, like it has an extra layer of 3% opacity white... i don't know how else to describe it

Message edited by author 2005-04-11 00:09:48.
 04/11/2005 12:10:13 AM · #3
To me it seems blurry and the black looks like there is a white layer on top of it...a bit hard to explain...hope it helps
 04/11/2005 12:12:41 AM · #4
Lemme hijack this and ask the same thing:

Much better than my "Accidental Letters" pic, and it ended up at the 177th place, but why? Seriously what's wrong with it?

04/11/2005 12:14:20 AM · #5
There is a section near the feet that looks smudged or faint shadow. It seems a tad overexposed, possibly because you were trying too hard to get a pure white background. The contrast between the cat and background is a little harsh too. You would have likely been better with a more complimentary colored background.
 04/11/2005 12:15:55 AM · #6
Left comments on both shots, didn't get to them before the challenge ended.

Deannda
Hope my comments help as well

Message edited by author 2005-04-11 00:18:09.
 04/11/2005 12:16:13 AM · #7
Thank you, these comments are helping me understand my score much better, I truly appreciated you guys taking the time to comment! :-)
 04/11/2005 12:16:45 AM · #8
Originally posted by scuds:
Lemme hijack this and ask the same thing:

Much better than my "Accidental Letters" pic, and it ended up at the 177th place, but why? Seriously what's wrong with it?


For me the orange line was a little distracting and the eyes were too dark.
 04/11/2005 12:30:19 AM · #9
It's a good look at the cat but if you would just go into the curves pallet in PS and pick a black, white, and medium grey points the image will definatly pop. Nice pose though.

Message edited by author 2005-04-11 00:30:58.
 04/11/2005 12:35:25 AM · #10
RE: Poodle

I thought it was dead. ;-) j/k

I gave it a 5, like most other voters. Nothing really wrong with it other than the little things people have mentioned. There was some fierce competition in this one. I scrolled through the top 60 or 70 and except for maybe 10% of those, they were all very good shots.

I think one of the key elements in this challenge was capturing the personality of the animal. Several seemed to do that pretty well.

Mine got dogged (pardon the pun) because it wasn't a "portrait" but I can accept and agree with that. I was jist havin some fun. :)



edit: added reference to which pic I was talking about

Message edited by author 2005-04-11 00:36:31.
 04/11/2005 12:39:24 AM · #11


I've been dying since day one for this opportunity. In this shot I did everything that I wanted to a tee. I used three light sources and a reflector, carefully chose this DOF to capture the head of Spanky(not Pink BTW...just a nickname)because I wanted the eyes to be the main focus. I also grooved on the bokeh. Generally I thought it didn't look average and had a nice smokey feel. Where did it fail in the voters eyes??? Please, please, comment.
 04/11/2005 12:41:50 AM · #12
Originally posted by pawdrix:


I've been dying since day one for this opportunity. In this shot I did everything that I wanted to a tee. I used three light sources and a reflector, carefully chose this DOF to capture the head of Spanky(not Pink BTW...just a nickname)because I wanted the eyes to be the main focus. I also grooved on the bokeh. Generally I thought it didn't look average and had a nice smokey feel. Where did it fail in the voters eyes??? Please, please, comment.


Thanks for your comment on my shot, I left you one on yours as well, hope that helps, though my opinion shouldn't count I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my own shot LOL!
 04/11/2005 12:42:20 AM · #13
I'm not a cat fan, but I thought this was decent, but the orange blanket kinda competes with the subject. Mighta looked better against black or even better if it was a dog. ;-)
 04/11/2005 12:46:12 AM · #14
Originally posted by pawdrix:


I've been dying since day one for this opportunity. In this shot I did everything that I wanted to a tee. I used three light sources and a reflector, carefully chose this DOF to capture the head of Spanky(not Pink BTW...just a nickname)because I wanted the eyes to be the main focus. I also grooved on the bokeh. Generally I thought it didn't look average and had a nice smokey feel. Where did it fail in the voters eyes??? Please, please, comment.

It looks a little soft to me, probably because of the 1/40 shutter speed. BTW you have your ISO and appeture mixed up. I also used 2.2 for my shot, good choice ;-). I like the colors but the cat's expression is really lacking, not very interesting at all. It is also a centered composition which might turn some people off from it.
 04/11/2005 12:47:25 AM · #15
Originally posted by Shannon:
Any comments would be greatly appreciated here, my score on this one really had me bummed out.



I left some comments. Don't be bummed out. Look at the competition - very tough challenge.
 04/11/2005 12:57:04 AM · #16
Thanx gang. Now we're getting somewhere.

I like his expression because he never usually looks so serious. When I was barking out directions like "...make love to the camera" and stuff, at one point I said "...think, George Washington!" and there you have it.

Handheld at 1/40 wasn't getting any sharper than that but I'd noticed so many handhelds that looked about the same so I figured during the voting ...should be ok.

Any other thoughts are still welcome.
 04/11/2005 02:49:43 AM · #17
Pawdrix;

Herte's a quick-n-dirty rework of your image. Primary steps taken include cropping to get face off-center a little, selecting the cat and sharpening only that selection, seelcting the foreground only and blurring it, applying levels and hue/saturation to fore and BG, and bemping the saturation in the eyes a bit. This isn't ideal by any means, it can be done better, but the face is sharper and the foreground is less agressive, which in th eend is what you probably need to have happen.



Robt.
 04/11/2005 02:53:24 AM · #18
Originally posted by Shannon:
Ok, I have been waiting all week to ask this, since the voting started. I was quite proud of this shot, and spent all week perfecting it (or so I thought lol) I received a few comments but most were positive and I just cannot figure out why it scored so low, is there something I am not seeing on my monitor..lighting..shadows etc. Any comments would be greatly appreciated here, my score on this one really had me bummed out.



It's a beautiful picture, just a little too soft, needed sharpening. I gave it a 7.
04/11/2005 02:58:40 AM · #19
Originally posted by bear_music:
Pawdrix;

Herte's a quick-n-dirty rework of your image. Primary steps taken include cropping to get face off-center a little, selecting the cat and sharpening only that selection, seelcting the foreground only and blurring it, applying levels and hue/saturation to fore and BG, and bemping the saturation in the eyes a bit. This isn't ideal by any means, it can be done better, but the face is sharper and the foreground is less agressive, which in th eend is what you probably need to have happen.



Robt.

I like the cropping here, but i think it is way over-sharpened. JMO, of course.
 04/11/2005 03:05:43 AM · #20
Originally posted by ltsimring:
I like the cropping here, but i think it is way over-sharpened. JMO, of course.


RE: Robert's edits - I agree with the adjusted cropping and I don't think it was oversharpened - original just seemed to soft. This one brings the face to life a little better.
 04/11/2005 03:08:29 AM · #21
Whatever you do, don't read the post challenge comments on this entry!
04/11/2005 03:29:04 AM · #22
I gacve this an 8 hoewver I am not a fan of the out of focus body style, also I thought the cat was just a little to centred in the Frame. The Compitition was also very stiff with lots of great shots vieying for attention.
Originally posted by pawdrix:


I've been dying since day one for this opportunity. In this shot I did everything that I wanted to a tee. I used three light sources and a reflector, carefully chose this DOF to capture the head of Spanky(not Pink BTW...just a nickname)because I wanted the eyes to be the main focus. I also grooved on the bokeh. Generally I thought it didn't look average and had a nice smokey feel. Where did it fail in the voters eyes??? Please, please, comment.
04/11/2005 03:30:49 AM · #23
Originally posted by ltsimring:
Originally posted by bear_music:
Pawdrix;

Herte's a quick-n-dirty rework of your image. Primary steps taken include cropping to get face off-center a little, selecting the cat and sharpening only that selection, seelcting the foreground only and blurring it, applying levels and hue/saturation to fore and BG, and bemping the saturation in the eyes a bit. This isn't ideal by any means, it can be done better, but the face is sharper and the foreground is less agressive, which in th eend is what you probably need to have happen.



Robt.

I like the cropping here, but i think it is way over-sharpened. JMO, of course.


I always exaggerate these things anyway, in this sort of makeover. I agree it may be a bit too sharp. It's always easier to find perfection by exceeding it then backing off; else how to knwo where the limit lies? The main point is, handheld or not it's possibel to bring considerably more sharpness to the image.

Robt.
 04/11/2005 07:12:41 AM · #24
Robert-Congrats on your very nice finish. Great photo.

The cropping was a good idea but I'm not too sure about the sharpening (USM BTW???). I'll add that this image wasn't touched at all, straight out of the camera, only resized to fit the rules. I was particularly proud of that fact but it seems that it still didn't resonate as well as I thought it would, for some of the exact qualities that I really like about the picture.

Not that I disagree with anything that was said, I should add. All great comments and things I'll look out for in the future. The thing prints out beautifully and my local Pet Store guy (a photographer)who recently cleared out the his local pet photo gallery asked me to frame one for the store. I'll put that in the bank.

Thanx again gang.
Cheers

I also dig the brightness of the yellow/orange blanket but pulling it back would have been a good idea.

Message edited by author 2005-04-11 07:16:17.
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