[thoughton]

I do not see the cause for concern here - never have I stated that artistic creativity is overshadowed or is not important compared to technical competence. At almost every opportunity I continually assert that *both* are essential to excellent photography. Of course there will be exceptions to the rule, as with one-in-a-million moments, but *generally* it is important for effective work to render subjects sharply and follow the simple guideline of having a subject, a background, and nothing else. The PEG approval page makes it clear: All photos must stand out in terms of composition, and also be flawless technically.

I can sort of see where jheu02 is coming from. I distinctly remember the PEG being announced, and it was for 10, and only 10, shots from every member of the forum. The way the announcements were written made it sound like it was each person's 10 best shots, no matter what their standard of photography was. Having said that, I must say I prefer it to be based on a standardised level of quality they way it is now. If only there was more consistency in the judging! I don't want to name names but some of the successful entries are diabolical on the 'technically flawless' front.

[Tamia]

...If only there was more consistency in the judging! I don't want to name names but some of the successful entries are diabolical on the 'technically flawless' front.

I have to agree with this. Encouraged by someone's successful entry of a similar subject, I entered one of my own that was an unusual capture, and here were some of the comments for my rejection:

Busy background

...isn't sharp enough ... looks like there's some motion blur.

Lacks clarity and contrast.

I can take exception to all of these in my photo, but they would be quibbles. And they could also be equally applied to the other photographer's photo which was accepted.

No bitter feelings here, by the way. Just bemusement, and I am glad the other person's photo was accepted because I like it quite a lot.

[Ash]

Indeed there is an element of truth in all this, and unfortunately it's very difficult to standardise voting with the current system (randomly assigned voters to submissions). If there is standardisation by having the same judges using clearly defined criteria, then there may be the very phenomenon we're all wishing to avert: a loss of the subjectiveness of artistic photography - submitters just looking to gain admission to PEG by simply meeting the 'assessment criteria' according to the 'rules' laid out by the standardisation.

You know, in the end, PEG is as presented - a gallery of images admitted by a democratic vote by imperfect volunteer judges (and who isn't?) that is only as good as the input provided by those judges.

And another example:

After a couple of different versions submitted with adjustments made according to suggestions - "This one doesn't look like it's going to get through - noise is the problem now"
I do see this and reserve to agree.

[Ash]

Yay, more rejections :P

The comments on 3 of them were fair enough, just differences in opinion. This one I can sort of see where a couple of comments are coming from, but not entirely. I do have to wonder if comments like 'bright red' merely indicate poor descriptive skills or a poorly calibrated monitor.

Does anyone else think this is too dark?



- Distracting cord at bottom of frame.
- Otherwise interesting arrangement and lighting of an ordinary scene.
- not really interesting to me. The bright red portions on the bottom are distracting and draw my eyes there.
- Close, but just a bit too dark

Some subjective comments indeed, such is life - personally I don't think 'darkness' nor the 'redness' are the problem with this image, but the cord is a big imperfection IMO, significant enough to swing an opinion of the overall shot.

[thoughton]

I didn't know it was randomly selected judges. If we resubmit does it always go back to the same judges? (I guess the answer is probably 'no' due to difficulties keeping track of who judged what).

Thanks for the opinion on the stairs image, I think I will darken that lowest support strut and see how it gets on as a resubmission.

[atupdate]

Here is one from last week. The original image is the top left corner.



Comments:


- Very nice piece of art, but not really a photo in the classical sense.

- Image imperfections evident around tomato stalk (JPEG artefacts). Good idea, though.

- Where's Andy (Warholl)?

- ?

- I didn't like Andy Warhol either. Sorry, not my cup of tea.


Not straight out of the camera enough for them I guess.

Tim

[atupdate]

Thanks for the opinion on the stairs image, I think I will darken that lowest support strut and see how it gets on as a resubmission.

A square crop would remove most of the bright area on the bottom and would leave only a little darkening on the far right side of a couple of steps to complete. You might also want to sharpen it just a little after you resize it for posting.

I really like this image. Well spotted.

Tim

[yeatzee]

Here is one from last week. The original image is the top left corner.



Comments:


- Very nice piece of art, but not really a photo in the classical sense.

- Image imperfections evident around tomato stalk (JPEG artefacts). Good idea, though.

- Where's Andy (Warholl)?

- ?

- I didn't like Andy Warhol either. Sorry, not my cup of tea.


Not straight out of the camera enough for them I guess.

Tim

Really cool

[atupdate]

Really cool

Thanks. The interesting part was that after masking the areas I wanted to keep original, the color change was achieved with a simple hue shift.

Tim

[yeatzee]

Thanks. The interesting part was that after masking the areas I wanted to keep original, the color change was achieved with a simple hue shift.

Tim

Interesting! Definite inspiration for future "rainy day" photography

[jheu02]

Tim,

Not having seen the original, I can't comment on artifacts, etc. I would have to say from a "single" photograph standpoint, I agree, it doesn't quite fit for an electronic gallery. I could definitely see it on an actual gallery wall, either in it's current format, or as single photos, hung in series. Great work!

[atupdate]

Tim,

Not having seen the original, I can't comment on artifacts, etc. I would have to say from a "single" photograph standpoint, I agree, it doesn't quite fit for an electronic gallery. I could definitely see it on an actual gallery wall, either in it's current format, or as single photos, hung in series. Great work!

I didn't expect it to make it into the gallery. I just thought it would be a fun image to post in this thread. I also have a six color version that I printed for my wall. Makes for great wallpaper for my laptop.



Tim

[Ash]

They're cleverly done Tim, and both definitely a worthy wall photo - though truly not quite fitting in with PEG. Again, this is where disputable lines are drawn between good work that is and isn't suitable for PEG.

[thoughton]

- Subject of image too small in the frame to appreciate it well. The hazy capture is not much to look at.
- Nice mood, very subtle!
- Just love it - typical for the weather here, this winter :-)!

The first comment made me smile. Perhaps I should have zoomed in on the man, and waited until a sunny day

[Ash]

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it isn't a bad image at all.
Just a matter of deciding whether it is 'exclusive' material or not... that's harder to agree upon.
Just keep the good entries going and don't be disheartened over the imperfections of the system.