What is "Pop"

[DAMphyne]

What is it anyway, can you define what makes a photo "Pop"?
I've heard it attributed to a certain lens, a camera, maybe a processing style or an ISO setting.
Is it caused by exposure technique, composition, or just "Dumb Luck"?
Please help as I'm looking to be a better photographer and I think this is what I'm missing.:-?

[Alexajlex]

Local Contrast using USM is one way to add pop.
Amount %16 percent, radius 100 pixels.

[LeuceDeuce]

Subjective answer of course, but here goes...

"Pop" is the quality of a photo that gives it life. It's got rich colour (if it's not B&W), good contrast balance, good tonal range, and most importantly (to me) the subject is clearly defined from it's surroundings in a way that it instantly draws your attention and keeps it.

I would also say it's the antonym of what makes a photo "Flat".

[Radtech1]

That is an interesting question. Everyone wants it, but no-one knows what it is. I checked with the following people and entities, and only found one definiton close to "POP", and that was for "Popping" from Photonotes. There were a dozen more that I did not bother linking - I figure 10 makes the point.

According to Photonotes, "Popping" is when slides bulge out of thier frame in a slide projector, because of the intense heat.*

*Slide projector lamps are incandescent bulbs and produce a lot of heat. Even with diathermic (dichroic) mirrors and cooling systems a lot of heat ends up hitting the surface of the slide itself, which results in the film expanding and bulging outwards, altering the focus. The film returns to a flattened state when cooled. Popping is unfortunately normal and can really only be avoided by installing the slide in a glass holder. Medium format slides are considerably more vulnerable to the problem than 35mm slides, because of the larger surface area in the case of the former.

Rad

No Definition of POP:

Steve's Digicam (http://www.steves-digicams.com/digi_dictionary.html#p) Digicam Dictionary

PhotoNotes (http://photonotes.org/dictionary/) Dictionary of Photographic Terms (Defines "popping", not "pop".)

Kodak Professional Glossary (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/misc/professional/glossary.jhtml#P)

Kodak Consumer Glossary (http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/glossary/glossaryContents.shtml)

ProFotos (http://www.profotos.com/education/referencedesk/glossary/glossarypthrur.shtml#sectP) (This is a great one!)

Digital Exposure (http://www.digitalexposure.ca/sub1.html) Glossary

DPReview (http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary) Glossary of Terms

AllThingsPhotography.com (http://www.all-things-photography.com/digital-dictionary.html) Digital Dictionary

The Cleveland Museum of Art (http://www.clemusart.com/exhibit/legacy/glossary/index.html)Legacy Of Light Glossary

Clemson University's Online Glossary (http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~jwfoltz/Courses/WFB493PH/subjects/terms/online/online.htm) of Photographic Terms

[Mark_Cohran]

I don't think I've ever used that terminology. It's too ill-defined for my taste and so very, very subjective.

[DAMphyne]

I've just seen the term a lot recently and wondered if it was some knowledge that passed me by.
I do remember slides popping, good reason to not leave them in the projector too long.

[gjl711]

...I do remember slides popping, good reason to not leave them in the projector too long.
Corn too. ;)

[Jon, The Elder]

We used to use it as a descriptive term in advertising photos (industrial). It is/was a generalization in describing the specific effect of the photo in the overall advertisment.

[sacredpixels]

POP = perfection of picture - LOL

[slimninj4]

POP is carbinated soda in the mid-west. Pepsi, coke, fanta, orange, what ever.

POP in pictures is like POP. The picture stands out more with the bright colors and sharpness. It is slang so it can mean anything.

[lederK]

POP is, as far as i've understood it, the stuff in a finished picture that makes you go "OOooooh!" and "AAaaaahh!" in admiration of your own work. Kind of a post-process version of chimping...

[flipstyle72]

POP is carbinated soda in the mid-west. Pepsi, coke, fanta, orange, what ever.



man, you beat me to it...

[DAMphyne]

"POP is carbonated soda in the mid-west. Pepsi, coke, fanta, orange, what ever."


You are so right about that, when a worker from New Jersey came to work at my factory and asked for a Soda, I had to ask what he ment.:)

[EcoRick]

My own personal, home made definition is similar to the definition of porn (I know it when I see it). I would say that the thread on "Best Bokeh pictures" in the lens section reflects pictures that have "pop" to me.

[gjl711]

"POP is carbonated soda in the mid-west. Pepsi, coke, fanta, orange, what ever."


You are so right about that, when a worker from New Jersey came to work at my factory and asked for a Soda, I had to ask what he ment.:) Well I'll be. Pop as a Midwestern phrase. I found this hard to believe. As a lifelong Chicagoan, smack in the middle of the Midwest, I very rarely ever hear it called a pop. It's always a soda or a coke. So I looked it up and sure enough the web says pop is mid-western.
http://tastyresearch.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/popvssodamap.png

So I did an informal poll amongst my family and the folks I work with. My results came up completely different.

Soda = 22
Coke = 14
Pop = 1

[canonloader]

As a lifelong Chicagoan, smack in the middle of the Midwest, I very rarely ever hear it called a pop. It's always a soda or a coke.
Grew up in Rockford. Remember buying sodas from the Coke machine at the lumber yard. 6 cents and you got two cents back when you took the bottle inside for a refund. It's soda, it's always been soda. Who said it was pop? :lol:

[Chandler.]

I know that a lot of people here in the NW call it pop.

[Chandler.]

POP = perfection of picture - LOL

How did this guy get banned in 1 day with 1 post? ???

[gjl711]

How did this guy get banned in 1 day with 1 post? ???
Too many "p"s in one post I guess. ;)

[hastur]

90 miles east of Chicago, it's pop. Out east, where I'm from, it's soda. Who knows.:)

I think of "pop" in a photo when the subject has enough differentiation from the background that it looks almost pasted in.
I've gotten it a couple of times when the subject is far enough away from the background and the aperture is the right size to make the whole subject in focus, but the background out of focus, i.e. child outside with no close background objects and f-stop of ~3.5-4.0. It seems to be important for the edges to be in focus in addition to the front. Add a little USM and they appear to pop out of the soft background. I'm not sure I like it anymore, but it's worth playing with. Colors that "advance", like reds, are good clothing colors for the subject if the background is a "receding" color, like blue.
Bryan Peterson has some information on the colors in "Understanding Exposure"

Hope this helps

Rob

[jbdavies]

I think of "pop" in a photo when the subject has enough differentiation from the background that it looks almost pasted in.

That made me think of this...
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g18/jbdavies/a7d3b313.jpg
Took that with my camera phone. Everyone thinks the apple was "pasted" in... but it wasnt. :)

[Canonswhitelensesrule]

To me, a photo "POPS", when it almost appears to be in 3D. The best examples I've seen are high contrast images, usually of brightly coloured flowers taken on a bright, sunny day. If taken at a certain angle, the flower seems to "stand out" or "POP" out from the background, making it appear to almost be 3 dimensional.

Of course any brightly coloured object can also appear to "POP" out from the background, such as a brightly coloured bird, or whatever.

To me, photos shot with Velvia slide film, "POP" far more than any other photos.

That's when I consider a photo to "POP".

[Chandler.]

This POTN member (who is one of the very best here IMO) makes images that define "pop" pretty well. Here is an outstanding example:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=397918

[canonloader]

A nice creamy bokeh background and a sharp subject will make any image appear to Pop. Like the one linked to above. Speaking of that, where are the examples? Talking about Pop without examples is not very helpful. ;)

[Tom W]

Pop is the midwest US version of what they call "Soda" in the northeast, and Coke in the south. Don't go into the south and ask for a pop though - you're liable to get slugged.

[Sindri Skulason]

Pictures that have the "pop" quality to them look almost 3D. The subject is well defined from the background (usually a shot with a beautiful bokeh) so you get the feeling that the subject could pop out of the frame any time. :-)

[tonylong]

So, here's a question: How much does "pop" depend on PP? I take pictures in RAW, which means they all start out pretty much neutral. So, is it correct that in order for my pictures to "pop" I have to learn how to master the arts of PP?

Well, the answer of course is yes, because PP on the computer is the digital darkroom. Dang, though, I spend my time taking the pics and then doing global work in Lightroom.

This is an admission of my lack of motivation to push my images in Photoshop. Nothing more and nothing less. My landscape photos tend to be "flat" because I just haven't spent enough time bringing out the best from them.

I hereby expose myself.

[canonloader]

I use ACR to edit and convert my images from RAW, then open the jpg in CS2. If you start in ACR and adjust the shadow slider a bit, and the Exposure slider to a tad on the bright side, it will set you up to adjust the pop factor when you get it into CS2, although you may not see much pop in the Adobe Camera Raw editor at this point.

Once in CS2, then adjust the Brightness and Contrast. Slide the Brightness down, just a point or two, and slide the contrast up, no more than +4, and you will see it start to pop. ;)

[Perry Ge]

I hereby expose myself.

That can get you arrested in some places, Tony :lol:.

[tonylong]

That can get you arrested in some places, Tony :lol:.

Heh! I would have thought of that myself, but I wasn't in my dirty-mind mode!

[Perry Ge]

Heh! I would have thought of that myself, but I wasn't in my dirty-mind mode!

It's a mode? You mean to tell me that you can turn it off?

[tonylong]

It's a mode? You mean to tell me that you can turn it off?

That energizer bunny has a special set of batteries that keeps bunnies acting like...well, acting like bunnies! Find the hidden batteries and remove them, or, not...:)