AMC photo contest

[gram]

Just curious what people thought of this year's winning photos? I loved Mount Monroe, but wasn't crazy about the Lakes photo.

The link is here

 

[bikehikeskifish]

They're OK. I have seen better right in this forum...

Any regulars submit stuff and be surprised by the results?

Tim

 

[NewHampshire]

Have to agree with Tim. Not bad....but not great. I would put Jim Salge's WORST photo against the BEST of any of those photos and bet he would win hands down.

Brian

 

[nartreb]

I like the LoTC photo a lot. You could wait a long time and not see light like that. {Of course I'd crop a hair off the top...}

Here's a photo contest folks might be interested in:
NHPR Something Wild photo blog

{Disclosure: blatant self-promotion. See March 21st.}

 

[w7xman]

Have to agree with Tim. Not bad....but not great. I would put Jim Salge's WORST photo against the BEST of any of those photos and bet he would win hands down.

Brian

First off, Thanks!

I really enjoy the shots, as they show a great interplay of people and the environment, which is something that I struggle with. I rarely shoot any people, or hand of man at all, and certainly appreciate the challenge of getting shots like these...

Photo contests are something that I often have a hard time entering. Partially because some of my photos are duel copyrighted, but mainly because of the rights that you sign away for the photo when you enter it. I would have no problem donating a photo to the AMC, or any non profit whose mission I believe in for a particular use, but I like to know what my photos are being used for. But... the fine print in most contests give the sponsor the limitedly unlimited, exclusive non-exclusive right to use the photo indefinately for the life of the definates...

And lets not even talk about how I feel about contests not run my non non-profits, designed to fill up magazines with free pictures, often using pictures that didn't win...

There are a few that I will enter...but these are usually the hardest to win...

 

[grouseking]

The picture of the trout and the Lake of the Clouds pic are my two favorites.

grouseking

 

[Chip]

The picture of the trout and the Lake of the Clouds pic are my two favorites.

grouseking

I like the trout photo also. If I took that pic it'd be proudly displayed in my office or den...but I don't think I would have thought to submit it to a photo contest as it's probably the billionth time that same shot has been successfully captured. It's not even that difficult to stage if you know where to look.

Which begs the question; How many times can the "same shot" be taken and still be considered a great photo ? I've got some great pics of the Tetons and Yellowstone. Should I have sent those in ?

The shot of the boy on the dock; I think the lake horizon and boats "entering and exiting" his ears is distracting.

The Harriman shot of the trees doesn't do anything for me. Neither do the Girl with Frog or Hut Crew shots. Not that that's a critique, they just don't do anything for me.

 

[Grumpy]

Don't Fear Cliches; Learn To Do Them Exceptionally Well

I used to tell my college photojournalism students that most of the wonderful pictures we see are, indeed, clichés. They are clichés because when done the first time they were perceived as good enough to imitate. And we all know that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” as the cliché goes.

This was a way of warning my students that looking for something different – that perhaps had never before been done – was OK, but still, they should not pass up the shot that seemed like a cliché to them. The trick is to make it the best possible example of the cliché, not just a vapid and trite imitation. Throw in your own grace notes, to make it sing.

I was not generally excited by the AMC contest winners. Some nice shots, some of which I’d be glad to have taken, myself, but nothing that really “climbed the mountain” of exceptional excellence, in my view.

G.

 

[Chip]

I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to try to capture or improve on a cliche shot, but for a contest I'd be more apt to submit a pic of a mountain bluebird framed by a passing cloud than one of Old Faithful, no matter how good I thought it was. Maybe that'd be wrong though.

 

[Grumpy]

I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to try to capture or improve on a cliche shot, but for a contest I'd be more apt to submit a pic of a mountain bluebird framed by a passing cloud than one of Old Faithful, no matter how good I thought it was. Maybe that'd be wrong though.

The bluebird photo example cited is, itself, a common cliché, just as is a postcard view of Old Faithful. In either case, strive to produce a version that has something special -- something that makes it genuinely unique. And don't turn away from shooting something just because it's been shot before.

As for entering photos in contests ... Jim S said a lot of things worth considering, above. Not only that, I am not sure the best photos always are selected to be winners. Often, it is the "safer" ones -- the pix that just stretch convention a little or happen to meet the judges' preconceived idea of what a photo of such-and-such subject should be -- that get chosen.

When I first started teaching college photojournalism (in 1972), I tried to devise a good objective "scoring" scale for grading student work.

The first semester taught me that the scale favored technical over pictorial-communicative aspects of the work being graded. Technical tours-de-force that were all but free of real content would beat out pictures that actually were interesting (even compelling) to look at, but were flawed by poor focus, camera movement, too little (or too much) contrast, inappropriate print density, excessive grain, unconventional framing and composition, etc.

That was not right.

Later, I abandoned the "objective" scales, and simply assigned a grade based on my overall impression of the picture. This factored in everything at its appropriate weight, producing a more balanced evaluation. I found this system in the end yielded far more defensible grades. And it actually was quicker to do.

(I also verbally critiqued each photo in class before doing the grades -- our "pain" sessions. After critique, students were sent out on a 10-15 min. break while I did the grading and recorded the grades. Students were not identified with their pictures during the critiques. It was a great way to provide instruction. And my students learned to enjoy it, for the most part.)

G.

 

[darren]

(I also verbally critiqued each photo in class before doing the grades -- our "pain" sessions. After critique, students were sent out on a 10-15 min. break while I did the grading and recorded the grades. Students were not identified with their pictures during the critiques. It was a great way to provide instruction. And my students learned to enjoy it, for the most part.)

G.

I like that idea. Maybe we should have aannonomous posting of photos for critique on here. Could be an interesting thread.

As for the AMC photos, overall I'd have to say there are some decent shots but that nothing really moved me. I agree with Jim S.'s comments on photo contests - especially the rights issues.

- d

 

[Brambor]

Trail Crew

I like the Trail Crew Photo a lot. It's my favorite from the winners. The trout photo is kind of nice too.

 

[darren]

I like the Trail Crew Photo a lot. It's my favorite from the winners. The trout photo is kind of nice too.

Oops, I forgot to mention that one. That one is my favorite of the lot. Nicely done.

- darren