Loading ...So I have entered myself into the UCI Photolympics competition (details of the rules are here) which has these categories:
- 1. Mobile Photos (taken from a cell phone)
- 2. Self Portraits (they seem to be rather popular at the moment)
- 3. UCI Life (Special Prize)
- 4. Macro (Close-up photos)
- 5. Abstract
- 6. Best Use of Adobe Photoshop (Special Prize)
- 7. Most Original
- 8. Best Photo (Grand Prize - Will be chosen from the first seven categories)
- 9. UCI Web Choice Award (Recognized after the event through internet voting)
In addition, there are three more universal categories:
So far I’ve taken a shedload of photos when I can on campus and here are some candidates I’ve got and I want to hear what you people think of these. If you want to look at a larger version of the photo just click on the image:
I’ve got till the 24th of this month to submit my photos for the various categories, so the sooner I hear back from everyone the better, thanks!
I’m going to start in the upper left hand corner, working towards the right, and then onto the second row in the same order.
Also, I am not trying to be mean. You have my permission to punch me the next time you see me. But I am trying to help. Honest.
1. This photo suffers from the same problems that the other five photos suffer from, but perhaps in a more extreme way. Where is my eye supposed to be drawn? What should I be looking at? On the left side of the image is a large wall, in the middle is a blue sky. There are edges going off in literally all directions, and lines criss-crossing each other in a not-so-pleasant way. And then, in the bottom right hand corner, we get a portion of under-exposed brick wall. Why? It’s not visually connected to any of the other elements in the photo.
On the other hand, it’s an interesting building.
2. What is the subject of this photo? Is it the person walking away? Is it the sun? Is it the trees? What mood were you hoping to accomplish? Was the lens-flare intentional, or the result of not using a lens hood? My guess is the latter. A common ‘thing’ that people who take pictures of sunsets do is to underexpose the whole image so that the sun/sky look deep and orange. This works, however, it generally only works if there is something striking about the scene. A unique silouhette, a lot of jagged lines, a solid and strong contrast between light and dark. This photo contains none of these elements. It just looks like an underexposed sunset.
3. This photo has the best composition of the six. My eye is drawn from the top of the photo on the left, to the bottom of the photo on the right. There is a definite shape to the photo. However, the tree seems out of place. Like it’s struggling with the building to be the center of attention, but not in an artistically interesting fashion. Also, the foreground (and really, the whole photo) are underexposed. I can’t tell if it’s 6pm or 6am, yet the lighting makes me think it’s near sunset.
4. This is my favorite overall photo from the bunch, even if there’s a little too much empty sky at the top for my personal taste. And still, the foreground is underexposed in a way that blocks out the detail of the building, and removes the feeling of depth that could be there with the building right behind it. The crane is in a good spot. The sky looks washed out.
5. What is this a picture of? Are those people back there? I can’t tell if they’re people, or some kind of equipment. This photo is better exposed than any of the others, but there’s just too much stuff in the shot. What am I supposed to be looking at? What should I notice first? I don’t see anything.
6. A closeup of the dude with the sign would have been cool, with onlookers in the background. As it stands, all I can tell about him is that he’s a fan of God. Anything less than an 8×10 of this photo would mean very little, because the type on the guy’s sign is too small to read at any smaller size. This seems to be a photo about human beings and the way that they interact with one another, which is good, but I can’t see anybody’s face, which is bad, because their postures are uninteresting.
But still, what is the subject? The dude with the sign, the sign itself, the people looking at the dude, the guy looking at his friend? What? And then there’s the American flag in the background, but it’s HALF OUT OF FRAME. Argh.