 Meghan Gonski |
Upgrading How can one upgrade their photos in the contest to get better than a Editor's Pick? I understand that this is a huge contest and an EP is very honorable thing to get. However, I wonder why some advance and others don't. I've entered photos, one recently that I thought would get more than an EP, but that's all it got. Just a curious voiced thought...
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- Nikki McDonald Contact Nikki McDonald Nikki McDonald's Gallery |
Hi Meghan, This is a question that we often ask ourselves here in the BP community. Here's a link to a recent thread you might find interesting and informative. EP help Once you have read through it, either respond to it (most people who have responded to it already will get a notice of a new entry AND doing so will pop it to the top of the list of forum posts) or ask more specific questions here. As far as the "one recently that [you] thought would get more than an EP", I'd be happy to take a look and tell you what I think if you want to tell me which one it is -- most of the time when this happens, a simple resub from your gallery will pick up the EP you were expecting. Good luck and have fun!!
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- Peggy Pfister Contact Peggy Pfister Peggy Pfister's Gallery |
There are also some helpful guidelines and suggestions for contest success at: http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/guidelines.php (Sorry, I don't know how to insert a link in a post yet.)
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Meghan Gonski |
thanks Peggy, ;) I've had that bookmarked for a long time. Nikki http://www.betterphoto.com/Premium/Gallery.phpx?iPage=1&id=246358&cat=114410&mp=V2 it's the first one in my gallery, St. Michael I really love it
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chrisbudny.com - Chris Budny Contact Chris Budny Chris Budny's Gallery |
You're asking how to produce "contest-winning" images... certainly the assumed goal of every member who enters the contest, right? ;) The link Nikki sent is a good one to read (particularly as it saves me having to type out my opinion of the EP's here, which disagrees with your comment that they are a "very honorable thing to get". Not that I think they are dishonorable---just that they have no meaning in terms of comparative image quality and ultimate Contest Results.) But in the end, Nikki's link to the thread is about the vagaries of EP distribution and their meaning... not so much a thread about image improvement. However, there are already several threads buried in the Forums on the topic of producing "better" images, with lots of tips that often boil down to self-study (ie, scrutinizing the winning images, or your favorite photographer's imagery, etc., and comparing all of that, dispassionately and objectively, to your own images in an honest self-assessment) or else mastering a technique / composition / light. (Are you often crooked/tilted? Missed or soft focus? Harsh lighting/time of day missteps? Static, unimaginative compositions? Poor color/details, when the image in question should pop?) There isn't a single answer to your question, else everyone would theoretically make at least Finalist every time. (Can you imagine if the contest's 14,000 entries were 14,000 Finalists each month? Is that even a contest anymore?) But one thing that can be a huge help is to specifically seek out constructive feedback on your images, especially from other photography enthusiasts (ie, not necessarily friends and family who "love everything you do!") That kind of feedback is something the general BP membership doesn't do by default on individual image Discussion Threads. But there are some BP sub-groups that have formed to do just this (Nikki mentioned one recently); they review and constructively analyze/critique eachother's images. Don't do that exercise if you're not able to emotionally detach yourself from your own images, however! You have to have thick skin to have your images picked apart by others, even when their intention is to offer feedback for your improvement. (Hopefully objective feedback, but some likely to be 100% subjective.) If you can accept and process that feedback without emotional drama ("Boohoo---this is my all-time favorite image, everyone I know loves it; why are you being so mean about it?") what you hear/learn from the feedback (particularly from a group of folks assembled to do just this) can be quite valuable.
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- Nikki McDonald Contact Nikki McDonald Nikki McDonald's Gallery |
Thanks for the great additions to this discussion, Chris. I wrote Meghan personally and meant to get back here to post -- I mis-read her initial question and thought she was asking about a favorite image that had NOT received an EP. That's why I sent this particular link. Thanks for setting the thread back on the track Meghan intended in the first place LOL
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Meghan Gonski |
Thank you for such a long response Christopher. However, I do the things you have mentioned already. You may want to ask what things a person does already that then prompted the question posted before going into a long lecture. I review and constructive critique my images and others. And have been active on BP club that constructive critiques club photos. I even was club leader for one of them with many photo breakthroughs about how to take a better photo for me or other club members' photo. While Nikki's link was a little off-base to my question I still appreciated it and read the whole thing and added my opinion to the thread. We will just have to agree to disagree on the value of EP award.
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- Usman M. Bajwa Contact Usman M. Bajwa Usman M. Bajwa's Gallery |
"To EP or not to EP" that is the question for BP, I guess. With apologies to Shakespeare, lol! UB.
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Meghan Gonski |
HAHA nice to have humor Usman! :) thanks for the laugh :D
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