So I signed up to a photo contest...

[Max Demian]

Hey all!

I know I haven't been around to get to know you guys and gals better, but I just wanted to tell you that I signed up to a photo contest here in Mexico and I will be posting my submission candidates here for all of you to CnC my shots. This will be like my "home thread" of sorts during the period of the contest which will end in June.

The contest is about Mexico, it's people, customs and landmarks and we are allowed to submit only 5 photos max, so if any of you people have some extra 5 mins. to spare I would really appreciate it if you could (constructively or destructively) critique my work and let me know which candidates (if any) are contest material. I'm not a pro photographer or anything near but the contest is open enough to accept amateurs, students and pros alike.

I will post in 640x640 max for the sake of easy navigation (and Copyright concerns) but please note that I have hi-res masters of any of these and can be posted per request although probably watermarked.

So without further delay I want to submit to your critique my first batch of candidates. These were taken last Saturday by the entrance to Mexico City's largest graveyard.

1. Shot @ 1/200 f/7.1 ISO 200
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/3254763524_f97b610822_o.jpg

2. Shot @ 1/800 f/7.1 ISO 200
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3374/3253857407_9c53f6226d_o.jpg

3. Shot @ 1/320 f/7.1 ISO 200 (PP included heavy desaturation and slight green cast for artistic purposes)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3254684382_98c7c8dc34_o.jpg

That's it for the moment. Thank you all for your kind support and criticism in advance. I will really appreciate it.

Cheers!

[sandpiper]

I will post in 640x640 max for the sake of easy navigation (and Copyright concerns) but please note that I have hi-res masters of any of these and can be posted per request although probably watermarked.



Hi, I love number 1, excellent capture.

I just thought I would suggest that you read the Ts & Cs very carefully before submitting any images. Going by the quote above, you are very keen to protect the copyright on these images and many of these competitions are copyright grabs. In such cases, it is often written into the conditions of entry that you allow the organisers to do whatever they want with your pics.

Many 'competitions' are simply a cheap way of getting hold of commercial images. I have even seen comps where (hidden in the small print) you actually agree that by entering the competition you assign all rights to the images to the organisers, allowing them to sell them on and pocket the cash which should have been the photographers.

I'm not saying that this is the case here, but you should check the small print carefully first.

[Max Demian]

Hi, I love number 1, excellent capture.

I just thought I would suggest that you read the Ts & Cs very carefully before submitting any images. Going by the quote above, you are very keen to protect the copyright on these images and many of these competitions are copyright grabs. In such cases, it is often written into the conditions of entry that you allow the organisers to do whatever they want with your pics.

Many 'competitions' are simply a cheap way of getting hold of commercial images. I have even seen comps where (hidden in the small print) you actually agree that by entering the competition you assign all rights to the images to the organisers, allowing them to sell them on and pocket the cash which should have been the photographers.

I'm not saying that this is the case here, but you should check the small print carefully first.

Hi! Thanks for your reply. I think I like the first one the most as well. Let's see what others have to say....

On the copyright note I guess I can blame it to my bad english, I didn't mean that I want to hold Copyright after the contest. I just meant that I don't want someone to snitch the hi-res version from my post and submit it ahead of me. :D I'm totally aware that I will have to wave off the copy rights to the contest organizers (it's in the fine print) and I don't mind... if selected the prizes are worth it. :cool:

[Andrushka]

nice shots - these really portray this area well!

[Max Demian]

nice shots - these really portray this area well!

Thanks! That's my main objective here. I want them to tell a story, even if it's not a happy one.

Glad you like. If you could improve aything in any of them please share.:D

[SwingBopper]

These are all nice shots and tell a story; but all of them seem to be from the same point of view (POV), that is, you are standing up and kind of looking straight at (and down on) from a distance. You might try some different POV's like getting lower or higher and/or closer. All of your subjects are far away. In the last one if you cropped the door on the right out completely making a vertical crop then you would be closer to the people and the dog, and still have a nice bit of framing of the drying clothes. In the first one I think if you could have moved to the right and gotten a little closer and lower you'd eliminate the pole and you could have focused more on the man, who looks like an interesting character study. #2 is nice but It may have been better if you had gotten down on your knees and waited for the child to get closer so it adds a more dramatic angle to the scene. Just some thoughts. Good luck.

[Max Demian]

These are all nice shots and tell a story; but all of them seem to be from the same point of view (POV), that is, you are standing up and kind of looking straight at (and down on) from a distance. You might try some different POV's like getting lower or higher and/or closer. All of your subjects are far away. In the last one if you cropped the door on the right out completely making a vertical crop then you would be closer to the people and the dog, and still have a nice bit of framing of the drying clothes. In the first one I think if you could have moved to the right and gotten a little closer and lower you'd eliminate the pole and you could have focused more on the man, who looks like an interesting character study. #2 is nice but It may have been better if you had gotten down on your knees and waited for the child to get closer so it adds a more dramatic angle to the scene. Just some thoughts. Good luck.

Wow! Just the kind of critique I'm looking for, thanks!

Yes, I totally agree with you. I think I was kinda lazy with the POV, gonna have to keep that in mind for future shoots.

In 1. I actually wanted to include the pole, I think it was a nice complement to balance out the heavily biased position of the man to the right. Might try out a heavier crop with that suggestion.

2. I did want to take a shot with the girl on a much larger scale but she turned into a corner right after taking one more step. I'm glad I was firing away in continuous mode. One more reason why I must get an intermediate zoom as a second lens. :(

3. The original framing is more biased to the alley, the people and the dog but it felt rather like a snapshot. I did not want to make the pic about the animated subjects more than the precarious situation they live in, that's why I focused on the door and plants and left the dog relegated to a corner. Although you pose an interesting idea, I might give it a try.

Thanks again!:cool:

[nosleep]

Overall I think the shots are good although there is a lot to focus on, my eyes drifted around quite a bit.

If they were my pictures, I would crop them this way:

1)

[nosleep]

Here is the second picture:

2)

[vpnd]

First of all. I like them very much. Now since you posted in CnC ...#1 could use a little levels and masking and warming up. Number 3 try the same photo with a wide angle and the dog in the forground for accent. ala nat geo. I know you can't get the dog to pose, but I hope you catch my drift. nice start.

[Max Demian]

Overall I think the shots are good although there is a lot to focus on, my eyes drifted around quite a bit.

If they were my pictures, I would crop them this way:

1)

Here is the second picture:

2)

That cropping does seem to work a lot better but it would mean a much smaller file and the contest allows submissions only within the 3Mb to 5 Mb size range. I have already cropped a lot from #2 (limitations of a kit lens). Which leads me to the following question, is there a way to resize a photo rather aggressively (somewhere around 200-250%) and still achieve above average results?

[Max Demian]

First of all. I like them very much. Now since you posted in CnC ...#1 could use a little levels and masking and warming up. Number 3 try the same photo with a wide angle and the dog in the forground for accent. ala nat geo. I know you can't get the dog to pose, but I hope you catch my drift. nice start.

Wow, that edit is exactly what I was aiming for. Could you please share your PP technique to achieve this look? I love it! I'm still on the bottom of the learning curve when it comes to PP. :D

Thanks!

[nosleep]

That cropping does seem to work a lot better but it would mean a much smaller file and the contest allows submissions only within the 3Mb to 5 Mb size range. I have already cropped a lot from #2 (limitations of a kit lens). Which leads me to the following question, is there a way to resize a photo rather aggressively (somewhere around 200-250%) and still achieve above average results?

Unfortunately there isn't a way to retain a lot of detail when cropping that much, unless it was shot RAW with a full frame camera. Do you have the original RAW file to work from? If you do, you can quite aggressively crop the RAW and it should fit within the stated requirements.

[Max Demian]

Unfortunately there isn't a way to retain a lot of detail when cropping that much, unless it was shot RAW with a full frame camera. Do you have the original RAW file to work from? If you do, you can quite aggressively crop the RAW and it should fit within the stated requirements.

I do have the RAW masters at hand, actually I did crop from RAW but haven't attempted to resize. Do you know of any good resizing programs or would PS do just fine? Any suggestions for the algorithm to use?

Oh, on a side note. I can't submit RAWs to the contest it must be converted to JPEG. Just so you know...;)

[nosleep]

I would crop with Photoshop. Press the C button to bring up the crop tool, click and drag a box that looks good and press enter to execute the crop. Does the photo have to be of a certain dimension? If not I would just eyeball it to whatever looks good.

[LarryD]

I'm going to agree with SwingBopper and nosleep........

I looked at a crop on the first image and decided that cropping is fruitless........this shot should have been taken farther to the right and from down low, looking up at the subject.....probably with a wide enough angle lens to get under the wires and away from the pole to get your subject and the "Monumentos Modernos" in the frame, unobstructed..

The others are interesting, but move your body to the left or the right so you have a wall of interest along one side (could even be out of the DOF ), opening up onto the subject rather than an alleyway shot...:)

[vpnd]

Max,

Try using a couple layer masks. I did this quick edit in about 2 minutes. I looked at it in the sense that I wanted to darken the outside, leave the man which I think was exposed properly, and bring out some detail in the shadows. There are many ways to lighten or darken a scene. Levels, curves fill light in ACR, etc,etc. I just darkened in levels because it was quick and I was away from my pc and tablet.
Step 1. make a copy in layers.
stp2. darken using any method mentioned above
step3. down in bottom of layers there is a rectangular box with a tiny circle in it. click it.
step4. choose paint brush and what this does is lets you either bring out the bottom layer or hide it.
stp5. paint with black , in this instance you will want to paint the middle to hide the dark layer and leave only the darkened outside.
step 6 when your happy with the results go to the layers and flatten image. then copy layer again and use levels or curves to bring out a little detail in the dark area. use the layer mask again to even out a little.

this is the old school way of dodging and burning an image.

It souds confusing, and is a little at first. but stick with it and after a little while you can do it quickly. good luck with your contest.

[scslmd]

Suggestions:

I like shot #2, but it's really busy. Try to crop in on the girl. Do you have a colorized version? How about keeping the rest desaturated but put the color back in for the little girl. Similar to a Kim Anderson style.

[sandpiper]

this is the old school way of dodging and burning an image.



:lol::lol::lol:

Sorry, I couldn't help laughing at that.

I think many on here would consider that way very modern indeed.

The 'old school' way of dodging and burning involves waving various pieces of card and wire between the enlarger lens and the paper. This method was considered standard practice for several decades, until all this new fangled 'new school' computer processing came along.

[Max Demian]

Thanks all for your amazing comments and helpful critique. I took advise and performed a much more aggressive crop on 1 and I really thinks it works so much better.

What do you think?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1198/3265252124_1edc1af4b4_b.jpg

[Bill Boehme]

I have been following the thread and your first image that was done in sepia tone was my favorite. I liked the framing that I think does a great job of providing context.The latest edit is also very good with good use of lighting now I am undecided between the two, but still leaning towards the first one.

[Max Demian]

I have been following the thread and your first image that was done in sepia tone was my favorite. I liked the framing that I think does a great job of providing context.The latest edit is also very good with good use of lighting now I am undecided between the two, but still leaning towards the first one.

Thx. I'm also having a very hard time deciding which version to use. Nice to hear that some people actually prefer the full framed sepia toned version rather than this aggressive b&w crop.

Now I'm more confused than how I started in the first place. hehe! I guess I'll just wait and see what other people like. June is not exactly around the corner yet so I have time on my side.

Thanks for your input and for following this thread. I'll be updating it with new candidates from upcoming shooting sessions around this beautiful country. Stay tuned!

[Max Demian]

I thought you might want to know which image made the cut as my first submission to the contest.... 1 down 4 to go.

All CnC welcome

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3451/3270135935_4015010ef1_o.jpg

[vpnd]

:lol::lol::lol:

Sorry, I couldn't help laughing at that.

I think many on here would consider that way very modern indeed.

The 'old school' way of dodging and burning involves waving various pieces of card and wire between the enlarger lens and the paper. This method was considered standard practice for several decades, until all this new fangled 'new school' computer processing came along.
ha.ha I just meant It's not the funky hdr thing some people do...;)

[Max Demian]

Hey all, it's me again.

This time I bring you a night shot from the most iconic fountain in Mexico City. It's located in the heart of the financial and touristic district and is considered as one of the most important landmarks of this city.

Some cropping, heavy noise reduction and creative sharpening. levels adjustment to dramatize the contrast between highlights and darkness.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3504/3307567727_49d9ecc4fc_b.jpg

Photo was taken @ 2.5s 50mm f/18 ISO 800

What do you think about the cropping? And most importantly, is it contest material??

Thanks again, guise!

[Bill Boehme]

I like the second processed version. The blur in the water and the exposure of the lighted fountain all seem perfect. I am wondering if it would be fair to either remove or mute the lights of the tall building in the background, especially the red obstruction lights. Maybe muting them would be better than removing them -- it is probably unfair to demolish buildings in a photograph. Would this photo be considered unique? If it is something that is very commonly photographed at night, then it might not draw much attention from the judges.

P.S. I think that I would lighten the sky just a very slight amount in the second image so that the skyline outline is still visible, but not quite as much as it is in the first image.

[Max Demian]

I like the second processed version. The blur in the water and the exposure of the lighted fountain all seem perfect. I am wondering if it would be fair to either remove or mute the lights of the tall building in the background, especially the red obstruction lights. Maybe muting them would be better than removing them -- it is probably unfair to demolish buildings in a photograph. Would this photo be considered unique? If it is something that is very commonly photographed at night, then it might not draw much attention from the judges.

P.S. I think that I would lighten the sky just a very slight amount in the second image so that the skyline outline is still visible, but not quite as much as it is in the first image.

Agreed. I also am starting to like #2 better, even if it has large dark portions of the image clipped out. I'm not sure if I want to get rid of the spotlights in the background. I think it kinda gives a starry sky feel to it. If I only had carried along my tripod with me that night it would've made the perfect HDR subject... oh well.

Thanks for the input Bill. Cheers!

[Max Demian]

Guise?? Can I get sum more comments? Pretty please??

(I'm learning that posting new sets/pics in old threads to save forum space doesn't bring many new comers...)

[Flo]

Have you tried cropping out the bottom green ? I do like the second one.

[Max Demian]

Have you tried cropping out the bottom green ? I do like the second one.

Thanks 4 comment Flo!

Yes. Was one of my first crop attempts and I didn't like it. The semi-rounded silhouette made it look funny, as if there was something else obstructing the view. This way i think it has more reference that defines the shape. These were my other 2 cropping alternatives:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3313800549_71b0997200_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3313804671_8f20afcde0_o.jpg

What do you think?

[Bill Boehme]

Guise?? Can I get sum more comments? Pretty please??

(I'm learning that posting new sets/pics in old threads to save forum space doesn't bring many new comers...)

I seriously doubt that would save forum space and also there is a limit of 8 images per thread anyway. My observation is that it is always better to open up a new thread for each image. Otherwise, there seems to be a half-life to threads of about a week which means that a diminishing number of new viewers will spend the time to go through all of the material in a long thread.

[Max Demian]

I seriously doubt that would save forum space and also there is a limit of 8 images per thread anyway. My observation is that it is always better to open up a new thread for each image. Otherwise, there seems to be a half-life to threads of about a week which means that a diminishing number of new viewers will spend the time to go through all of the material in a long thread.

Makes a lot of sense. Maybe it's time to let this thread fade into oblivion and just post my new picks in a new thread as I see fit.

Thanks much!

[Huskers69]

I seriously doubt that would save forum space and also there is a limit of 8 images per thread anyway.

I thought there was a limit of 8 images UNLESS someone asked for more images.