OT: Photo Competition - Unsuccessful

"stemc ©" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I entered my first photo competition last week, but I was unsuccessful of course. :-) It was
with Practical Photography magazine, and the theme was 'animal attractions.' I thought I had a
good chance, as I got two dragonflies mating, and they were making a nice heart shape, but it
wasn't to be.

I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

Well, I'm not a photographer but to my uneducated mind that was better than some of the ones I
saw in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. What kind of glue did you use to stick
them together?

stemc © said:

Hi there,

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

Ste

I wonder if this crop would have been better (hope you don't mind I rotated it and cropped it).

ftscotland.co.ukdragonflies crop.jpgOpen ↗

--
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Sandy
--

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ICQ : 41266150

stemc © said:

Hi there,

I entered my first photo competition last week, but I was unsuccessful of course. :-) It was
with Practical Photography magazine, and the theme was 'animal attractions.' I thought I had a
good chance, as I got two dragonflies mating, and they were making a nice heart shape, but it
wasn't to be.

I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

It means "needs better composition" IMO.

That red smudge on the left isn't doing anything except distract. You have a leaf almost behind the
male's wings and you've missed half the wings of the female.

They are common blue damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) BTW. Much smaller and weaker fliers than
dragon flies.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

Sandy said:

stemc © said:

Hi there,

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

Ste

I wonder if this crop would have been better (hope you don't mind I rotated it and cropped it).

ftscotland.co.ukdragonflies crop.jpgOpen ↗

I cropped it almost exactly like that and cloned out the leaf behind the male, decided not to post
it in the end. I must get back to my own pictures, there is another page to write.
--
Phil Cook

"AndyP" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| "stemc ©" <[email hidden]> wrote
|
| > I entered my first photo competition last week, but I was unsuccessful
of
| > course. :-) It was with Practical Photography magazine, and the theme
was
| > 'animal attractions.' I thought I had a good chance, as I got two dragonflies mating, and they
| > were making a nice heart shape, but it
wasn't
| > to be.
| >
| > I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗
| >
| > They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
| > impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)
|
| Well, I'm not a photographer but to my uneducated mind that was better
than
| some of the ones I saw in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year
exhibition.
| What kind of glue did you use to stick them together?

Thanks Andy, you're too kind! :-) I missed last month's competition, which was 'patterns in the
landscape,' and when I saw the winner and the shortlisted entries printed in the magazine, I was
gutted because I thought most of them weren't that great. Oh well, I'll look forward to seeing what
won this competition.

It was a hot day when I took this photo, and every time I got close enough to take a photo, they all
flew off. It was only because these two were mating that they 'stuck' around for so much (no glue
involved, though the male might disagree!) ;-)

Ste

"Sandy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| stemc © wrote:
| > Hi there,
| >
| > They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
| > impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)
| >
| > Ste
|
| I wonder if this crop would have been better (hope you don't mind I
rotated
| it and cropped it).
|
| ftscotland.co.ukdragonflies crop.jpgOpen ↗
|
|
| --
| Don`t Worry, Be Happy
|
| Sandy

No worries Sandy, anything that helps me in future is taken on on board. The only problem with this
rotation and crop is that my eye is drawn to the yellow 'damselfly' (thanks for the correction
Phil!), and due to my dodgy composition, I've chopped off its wings. I think this spoils this
version more than it does in the original (where my own eye goes to the blue one).
:-( If I'd framed the shot better, then I'd definitely agree with you
though. ...but who am I to talk, my version was rejected! :-)

Thanks,

Ste

"Phil Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 19:01:30 GMT, stemc © wrote:
|
| >Hi there,
| >
| >I entered my first photo competition last week, but I was unsuccessful of course. :-) It was with
| >Practical Photography magazine, and the theme
was
| >'animal attractions.' I thought I had a good chance, as I got two dragonflies mating, and they
| >were making a nice heart shape, but it
wasn't
| >to be.
| >
| >I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗
| >
| >They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
| >impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)
|
| It means "needs better composition" IMO.

I grabbed the shots as quick as I could before they flew off. It's definitely sloppy (the framing),
but I couldn't do anything about the background as I was already stepping into a hedge and it was
tricky leaning over far enough.

| That red smudge on the left isn't doing anything except distract. You have a leaf almost behind
| the male's wings and you've missed half the wings of the female.

In hindsight, I would crop from the left, just enough for that red smudge on the left to be removed.
I can't do anything about the female's wings now, but it goes without saying that I'd not chop them
off given the chance again! ;-)

| They are common blue damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum) BTW. Much smaller and weaker fliers than
| dragon flies.

Enallagma cyathigerum? I knew that! :-) Thanks for the info.

| --
| Phil Cook

Ste

stemc © said:

Hi there,

I entered my first photo competition last week, but I was unsuccessful of course. :-) It was
with Practical Photography magazine, and the theme was 'animal attractions.' I thought I had a
good chance, as I got two dragonflies mating, and they were making a nice heart shape, but it
wasn't to be.

Don't give up. It's amazing the sort of tat that can actually win a competition.

vividlight.com1920.htmOpen ↗

I nearly died of shock.

Quoted message said:

I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

As others said it needs more work on composition and framing. Taking semi macro photos of insects is
damn tricky and needs a lot of practice so don't feel too bad about it.

One trick especially with butterflies is to take the photos first thing when it's cold and they are
not very active. Paul S an tell you about me chasing butterflies round the Gower - four rolls and I
got one usable shot which was [censored]. That's kinda normal for me.

Quoted message said:

I took it whilst walking around Thrybergh Country Park, in Rotherham, last year. It's a nice walk
around there, about 1.7 miles around a reservoir. At the moment, half of the path around the
reservoir is closed off due to nesting birds or something like that.

I used to work at Thrybergh steel mill not that far away - nice to know the park is still
going strong.

Quoted message said:

Oh well, next month's theme is 'Shapes,' so I'll see what I can come up with; and what walks I'll
have to do to find a suitable image. Ideas welcome of course. ;-)

Ste

--
79.84% of all statistics are made up on the spot. The other 42% are made up later on. In Warwick -
looking at flat fields and that includes the castle.

"Chris Street" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
| On Wed, 03 Mar 2004 19:01:30 GMT, "stemc ©" <[email hidden]> wrote:
|
| >Hi there,
| >
| >I entered my first photo competition last week, but I was unsuccessful of course. :-) It was with
| >Practical Photography magazine, and the theme
was
| >'animal attractions.' I thought I had a good chance, as I got two dragonflies mating, and they
| >were making a nice heart shape, but it
wasn't
| >to be.
|
| Don't give up. It's amazing the sort of tat that can actually win a competition.
|
| vividlight.com1920.htmOpen ↗
|
| I nearly died of shock.

Nice one Chris, I bet you enjoyed using all that film! :-) ...but spare a thought for that poor chef
too, working til 8am! Yikes!

| >I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗
| >
| >They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
| >impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)
|
| As others said it needs more work on composition and framing. Taking semi macro photos of insects
| is damn tricky and needs a lot of practice so don't feel too bad about it.
|
| One trick especially with butterflies is to take the photos first thing when it's cold and they
| are not very active. Paul S an tell you about me chasing butterflies round the Gower - four rolls
| and I got one usable shot which was [censored]. That's kinda normal for me.

Yes, I really do need to get up earlier! My typical weekend is to get up at 11am or later, then get
out at about 2pm. Obviously, in the summer months, this makes for [censored] photography due to the angle
of the sun etc, and as you point out, this is when these little creatures are at their most active,
which isn't good when you're trying to photograph them! If they were less active, I'd then have more
time to frame them better - my photography is all about percentages! :-)

| >I took it whilst walking around Thrybergh Country Park, in Rotherham,
last
| >year. It's a nice walk around there, about 1.7 miles around a reservoir. At the moment, half of
| >the path around the reservoir is closed off due to nesting birds or something like that.
|
| I used to work at Thrybergh steel mill not that far away - nice to know the park is still
| going strong.

My girlfriend's family home is in East Dene, not far from there. In fact, it's probably the same
steelworks that we can hear in the night time.

<snip>

Ste

Chris Street said:

As others said it needs more work on composition and framing. Taking semi macro photos of insects
is damn tricky and needs a lot of practice so don't feel too bad about it.

I doubt if I could take a shot that good. What I like about landscapes is that they stay still while
you take the picture, so you can usually spend as long as you like composing it. Of course the light
can sometimes change very fast, but at least the scenery doesn't move.

Quoted message said:

One trick especially with butterflies is to take the photos first thing when it's cold and they
are not very active. Paul S an tell you about me chasing butterflies round the Gower - four rolls
and I got one usable shot which was [censored]. That's kinda normal for me.

Good argument for using digital I reckon. Delete all the [censored] on the spot and you've only used one
shot's worth of memory.

Paul
--
wilderness-wales.co.ukwilderness-wales.co.ukOpen ↗
wildwales.fsnet.co.ukwildwales.fsnet.co.ukOpen ↗
photosig.comuserphotosOpen ↗

stemc © said:

Yes, I really do need to get up earlier! My typical weekend is to get up at 11am or later, then
get out at about 2pm. Obviously, in the summer months, this makes for [censored] photography due to the
angle of the sun etc,

The best light for landscapes is almost invariably early morning, from 1 hour before sunrise to 2
hours after. Evening light can be good too but it's more of a lottery. On sunny days the light is
usually extremely clear in the morning, often with zero clouds. Clouds and haze tend to build up
throughout the day though, especially in the afternoon, and can ruin the sunset, or sometimes make
it very interesting.

Sunset is when you *may* get spectacular clouds, but it's a lottery, the clouds can easily kill the
sunset stone dead, it mainly depends on whether there are clear skies to the west below the horizon
(i.e. high pressure in the Atlantic). On the other hand, sunrises tend to be mostly clear and
cloudless, but often with fog inversions and frost.

You can't say you're serious about landscapes until you've been out shooting at 4am on a summer's
morning! ;-) Brilliant stuff, you really must try it, best time of the day to be out there, before
all the swarming hordes wake up.

Paul
--
wilderness-wales.co.ukwilderness-wales.co.ukOpen ↗
wildwales.fsnet.co.ukwildwales.fsnet.co.ukOpen ↗
photosig.comuserphotosOpen ↗

It was a lovely sunrise yesterday morning over the mountain opposite (you know the one Paul!) It
went from deep purple at 6.40 to deep red about 10 mins later, followed by an orange glow shortly
after - it was then I realised I was late for work! Wifey even got her little 35mm out but you won't
get me posting it on here with all you pros about!

Time for work.

Keep up the good Walk.

Following up to stemc ©

Quoted message said:

I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

nice picture. (They probably don't pay too much attention to every entry). Have a look at the
winning entry and do an honest comparison. The winner may have that extra something that you only
get once in a while.
--
Mike Reid "Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso Walking, Wasdale, Thames path, London
etc "fellwalk.co.ukfellwalk.co.ukOpen ↗" <-- you can email us@ this site Spain, food and walking "fell-fell-Open ↗
walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Following up to stemc ©

Quoted message said:

Yes, I really do need to get up earlier! My typical weekend is to get up at 11am or later, then get
out at about 2pm.

for landscape be out at dawn and dusk, sleep in the afternoon :-)
--
Mike Reid "Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso Walking, Wasdale, Thames path, London
etc "fellwalk.co.ukfellwalk.co.ukOpen ↗" <-- you can email us@ this site Spain, food and walking "fell-fell-Open ↗
walker.co.uk" <-- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

stemc © said:

Yes, I really do need to get up earlier! My typical weekend is to get up at 11am or later, then
get out at about 2pm. Obviously, in the summer months, this makes for [censored] photography due to
the angle of the sun etc,

The best light for landscapes is almost invariably early morning, from 1 hour before sunrise to 2
hours after. Evening light can be good too but it's more of a lottery. On sunny days the light is
usually extremely clear in the morning, often with zero clouds. Clouds and haze tend to build up
throughout the day though, especially in the afternoon, and can ruin the sunset, or sometimes make
it very interesting.

1 hour *before* sunrise? Won't it just be dark for most of that?

Quoted message said:

Sunset is when you *may* get spectacular clouds, but it's a lottery, the clouds can easily kill
the sunset stone dead, it mainly depends on whether there are clear skies to the west below the
horizon (i.e. high pressure in the Atlantic). On the other hand, sunrises tend to be mostly clear
and cloudless, but often with fog inversions and frost.

Michael Fish eat your heart out! ;-)

Quoted message said:

You can't say you're serious about landscapes until you've been out shooting at 4am on a summer's
morning! ;-) Brilliant stuff, you really must try it, best time of the day to be out there, before
all the swarming hordes wake up.

Of course not! :-) Though don't forget when I woke up early whilst on holiday for those sunrise
shot! I earned by stripes that day! ;-)

Quoted message said:

Paul

Ste

"The Reid" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Following up to stemc ©

Quoted message said:

Yes, I really do need to get up earlier! My typical weekend is to get up

at

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

11am or later, then get out at about 2pm.

for landscape be out at dawn and dusk, sleep in the afternoon :-)
--
Mike Reid

I know, I must change my ways. :-)

Ste

"The Reid" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Following up to stemc ©

Quoted message said:

I sent in this photo: sm9.co.ukdragonflies.jpgOpen ↗

They sent me a card back that had the following check box ticked: "Technically good, but lacks
impact." Oh well, in other words, it means 'boring shot Ste!' :-)

nice picture. (They probably don't pay too much attention to every entry). Have a look at the
winning entry and do an honest comparison. The winner may have that extra something that you only
get once in a while.
--
Mike Reid

Thanks Mike, and I'm looking forward to seeing the winning entries in next month's issue. Hopefully,
I can learn from this, and try to get a feel for how the judges minds are working and what they are
looking for.

Ste

"Paul Saunders" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Chris Street said:

As others said it needs more work on composition and framing. Taking semi macro photos of
insects is damn tricky and needs a lot of practice so don't feel too bad about it.

I doubt if I could take a shot that good.

I'm sure you could if you had any interest in trying.

Quoted message said:

What I like about landscapes is that they stay still while you take the picture, so you can
usually spend as long as you like composing it. Of course the light can sometimes change very
fast, but at least the scenery doesn't move.

But my problem with landscapes is that I then don't have any excuses for bad photos! ;-)

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Paul

Ste

stemc © said:

1 hour *before* sunrise? Won't it just be dark for most of that?

DEEP PURPLE!!! And I don't mean the band!

The colour of the night sky up the mountains just as twilight begins has to be seen to be believed.
Don't forget that I took that Worms Head shot exactly 1 hour *after* sunset.

What this means of course is that it's no good getting up 1 hour before sunrise, or even going out 1
hour before sunrise, or even getting out of the car 1 hour before sunrise. You have to start
*shooting* 1 hour before sunrise, that means you have to allow for waking up, packing up, driving to
the area *and* walking to the viewpoint in the dark in order to arrive there at 1 hour before
sunrise. So in summer, don't even bother going to bed the night before. ;-)

Paul
--
wilderness-wales.co.ukwilderness-wales.co.ukOpen ↗
wildwales.fsnet.co.ukwildwales.fsnet.co.ukOpen ↗
photosig.comuserphotosOpen ↗