[Bramela]

I just took a look at your online portfolio. Your style reminds me very much of Godfrey DiGiorgi (PENTAXIAN.com | The Community for PENTAX Users). He specializes in the "Art of the Everyday". Godfrey has posted on the other forum several pieces that I connected with very strongly. He also has some works that don't register with me. Either way, he sells his work professionally in art galleries.

Please do not take any rejection from the Exclusive Gallery personally, as you are very gifted. I would encourage your to submit Tiptoe Up and Lillypad Rests to the gallery. I love the abstractness of Tiptoe up and the B&W conversion of Lillypad Rests.

And a big +1 to that!

[atupdate]

I love the mood and lighting of this room. It is done in a classic still life style with an interesting subject IMHO. It truly saddens me to see artistic photos like this one rejected. Please continue to shoot for yourself and don't worry about the gallery. Very nicely done.

Tim

Virgilr: I looked at your image on my wife's laptop last night (It has a darker screen than my normal computer) and I liked the darker version even more. The darker image hid some of the texture in the walls but the mood was even more like a classic still life.

Tim

[virgilr]

Virgilr: I looked at your image on my wife's laptop last night (It has a darker screen than my normal computer) and I liked the darker version even more. The darker image hid some of the texture in the walls but the mood was even more like a classic still life.

Tim

Tim-
Thank you again for your feedback! Ive PP'd this image on my system with a fairly sombre treatment, bringing up levels in the dark channel to intensify the detail in the wall texture and the bed in the back. I'm using a new-to-me IPS panel monitor that I've calibrated as best as I can by eye (without a calibration device- wish I could rent one!) so I'm getting fairly decent matching to my inkjet using HP glossy paper, and things match up pretty well.

One thing I did notice when moving from a CRT to this LCD IPS panel display is that there is more contrast on-screen, but it matches up nicely to my prints. I always found with my CRT display ( a 27" Trinitron) things looked a bit less contrasty than my prints, so I feel I'm seeing the images more faithfully with this new display.

Question- were you viewing the image on a CRT or LCD display before you viewed it on your wife's display?

[atupdate]

Tim-
Question- were you viewing the image on a CRT or LCD display before you viewed it on your wife's display?

LCD I believe. That brings up another point of interest, what kind of monitors do the judges have?

Tim

PS: I bet that your room image makes for a stunning print.

[Ash]

Not sure you'll get many answers Tim since answering will force disclosure of the PEG panel who may not want to be identified.

But just out of interest: Desktop is a 2560 x 1440 LED-backlit glossy TFT active-matrix liquid crystal display with IPS, Laptop is a 1280 x 800 LCD. While the LED screen is simply brilliant with a lot more contrast, the LCD is very good for viewing images true-to-original if set to at near-maximum brightness.

[virgilr]

Woot, Ash! IPS panel LED backlit! Not the HP Dreamcolor by any chance?

I happened across a 22" 16:9 IPS CCFL backlit HP for 225.00. Unfortunately doesn't have the polarization technology to correct contrast when viewed at extreme angles, but at least the colors are consistent at all angles and contrast is fine when viewing within +- 25 degrees off-axis.. Costs thousands to get a monitor that will be accurate in color with contrast correction, and I don't have that right now!

[Ash]

The specs sound great indeed, and the performance of the screen absolutely amazing - I even have to turn *down* the brightness of the screen to 1/2 to 3/4 power just so I don't get overwhelmed by the brightness in the early morning and late evenings, but it's readily available in a system a few may scoff at:


Apple - iMac - All-in-one desktop design.

[virgilr]

That's what I thought- they do have fantastic displays, seen them in person- obviously you have the 27" version at that pixel resolution. Must be a treat to work on!

One thing I do like about this HP display is the fact that there is no front glass- matte screen.

I totally get the turning down the brightness aspect of these displays: I run mine at 40% daytime, 35% night, since I found it was so ridiculously bright in comparison to my CRT at levels much higher than those.

From what I've read, the iMac displays do not use an A-TW polarizer, which keeps contrast levels under control when viewing off-axis on the horizontal plane. An A-TW polarizer is very complex to implement, and can actually cause problems with color reproduction- that's why they're usually found only on very expensive displays (High-end NEC's, LaCie, EIZO, etc).

[K McCall]

Ahoy to another Florida Pentaxian! I'm up in Gainesville, myself

I read this thread with interest because it really seems like one of the most useful things I've seen on any forum. It's so rare to get really honest feedback on anything - our photos, our cooking, how we look in our jeans...

I wanted to chime in on a couple of things here:

In some cases, the "flaws" that were commented on are uncorrectable given the subject matter of the photo. Taking a photo of a black or grey gator laying beside a dark lake with any follage present showing it's wintered paleness and having the judges comment that the photo has "flat colors", well, there's not much that can be done with that one in the darkroom and there weren't a lot of vibrant colors present. Yes, I suppose the photographer could PP in some purple or yellow or red or orange....but would it look natural? Nope! Would it be an accurate representation of the scene that the photo was seeking to capture? Nope!

I spent a glorious year unemployed with plenty of hours on the trails around these parts and saw more than my fair share of gators. And I took hundreds - if not thousands - of photos of them. But I could never find them in the right light, or they weren't facing the direction I needed them to be facing, or they'd yawn at an inappropriate time....either way, I have never gotten a great photo of a gator. I think that lots of "great" photos are often just as much a matter of luck and patience as skill with the camera. And patience just might be the most important - I've got my fingers crossed that if I go out at least twice a week during mating season, I might end up with a gator photo I'm happy with

[atupdate]

Keitha,

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. We don't always agree with what the judges say but we do appreciate their comments.

Tim

[slowpez]

Thought I would give everyone a "Take Heart" message. I had so many rejected by the PEG that discouraged was not an accurate description. The C&C, when there was any, was either spot on or way off. For example, I submitted a photo of Mt. St. Helens and was told I should have had some trees to frame the mountain. Hello, Mt. St. Helens, volcano, not a tree in site. I finally posted one here and the great folks who lurk here helped me to improve it to where it did get accepted. The last one I had accepted has gotten a rating of 1 or 2 stars which tells me it is just not a good photo. So, why is it in the gallery? Who knows. I like it, the judges must have liked it but no one else did. Photography is just too subjective and there will never be a consensus of opinion on whether a photo is good or not. Someone will always hate it. That being said, keep on trying because you will never get one accepted if you don't. Ultimately, I have decided that if I like it and my husband likes it than it is a great photo.
Remember that there are lots of great people on this forum who are willing and helpful. Use them.
By the way feel free to go the the PEG and add a couple of stars to Antelope Canyon 3. It would make me feel so much better.

[Tamia]

I've got an iMac and it has a super display. It was the cheapest iMac available at the time (three years ago) and it's still going strong. Renders photos wonderfully well. My two-year-old MacBook g5 has a beautiful clear LCD display as well, though it's smaller, of course.

Susan, I second your encouraging comments. But don't let the star ratings get to you. If you hover the pointer of your curser over them you'll see how many people have voted on a photo. I'd wager that there are as many (or more) high ranking votes than low rankings on your PEG photos.

[JeffJS]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the star ratings. I've put up photos that everybody Said they liked yet, 2 or 3 stars.

[virgilr]

slowpez-

I completely understand your point about not getting too discouraged. Maybe I'm too much of a control freak, but if I'm going to take some time to evaluate my images, edit them, etc, I would like to know that I'm not throwing them into such a closed box. But that's OK, that's my choice!

I'd love to rate your photo- unfortunately I do not have enough rep points (been here three years, but I don't post enough, too much of a reader!). I do love that series, and it is well deserved to be included in the PEG!

Loved your comment about St. Helen's- I'm from western Montana originally, and I clearly remember the day she "blew" in the 1980- I was all of twelve years old and my family was collecting berries and mushrooms in a field behind our property, and on our way back the black cloud loomed over the western Rockies- I thought it was a nuclear attack!

We were covered in ~2 inches of grey ash for weeks after- what an event!

[Ash]

Susan et al., do not let the rejection into *any* gallery get you down. The pleasure is in knowing *you* like your work, and it should be considered a bonus that others should like it also. We are after all doing the vocation because we love it, and is not dependent on others' opinions. If it were, I would have given up long time ago.

My own results attest to this: see here, here and here. And in trying to express my own opinions in the past I've back-peddled and had to explain myself a lot - likely for my own shortcomings, which causes me to feel somewhat downhearted.

If for just developing skills this forum is quite helpful, but I too could get discouraged when I see the amazing work some of the guys here produce knowing that I could not do the same. But it's rather encouraging to see what they can do and motivates learning. We can get heavily invested in our own work that we fail to see how someone could criticise it or disagree with us that it's good work that we end up feeling offended by the negative comments. Instead, choose to expect the criticism and be confident in yourself that your work, whilst never perfect, is a source of joy and self-worth.

The striving for that elusive perfection is what we ought to keep in mind rather than feeling bad that we can never be perfect. I consider photography like kind of like a game of golf - we're all not trying to compete with each other, we compete against the course. Reaching par is nice, because it means we get a good result, but we can never always get the perfection of a hole in one.