Chit Chat for the November Photography Contest

[fred]

Chit Chat for the November Photography Contest

If you have any comments in regards to any of the November competition photos please use this thread

thank you

[syndywindy]

I was thinking of this in the past and it was brought up in the thread currently being discussed"orchid geek orchid show". It has to do with the use of photoshop. I know several people use it to enhance their photos which under most circumstances is fine. But if the idea of the photo contest is to judge one's photos, why is using photoshop acceptable? I could take a really poor photo and turn it into a very good photo, but if I win an award it's not really an award based on the merits of my photography, but on what a computer program has done. I don't know if this is opening a can of worms, but it's just something to chew on a bit. I have photoshop, but have never used it when entering one of my photos in the photo contest(And I'm sure it shows)

[orchidlover55]

Your so funny Synda

[Hummer344]

With Photoshop you can make a bad picture look better but not really good. IMHO. BUT you can take a good photo and make it really good.

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by Hummer344

With Photoshop you can make a bad picture look better but not really good. IMHO. BUT you can take a good photo and make it really good.

Thats just the point. Shouldn't the photo contest be based on your actual photo skills and not those enhanced by a computer program. You may win, but to me its a false win.

[rcb]

ok my photoshop skills are even worse than my picture taking skills, so maybe my question is overly simple, but is cropping a picture to have the flower more centered and remove distracting backgrounds considered enhancing it?

And can you tell if a photo has been enhanced just by viewing it?

[dtje2000]

I don't use photoshop at all, but that's not to say I don't crop photos! The rest is a tad beyond my skill set...

[NancyG]

You use photoshop the same way you would have adjusted your image if you were working in a dark room. It is another tool for the photographer. It can't take an out of focus shot and make it in focus. It can't take a bad photo and make it a winner.

[fred]

Synda
the photo contest is is meant to be just for fun
I am not trying to sound nasty so please don't take this the wrong way but we have rules in the photo comp for each category

Novice
Intermediate
Open

the photo comp is also set up to help our fellow geeks improve the photography skills.
I will use myself as am example have a look at my early photos and have a look at the difference of my photos now
the photos I posted in the early days I would not use today as my skill level as improved
I started as a Novice I sought advice on how to improve my photography skills over time I won the Novice Award 3 times and with the skills I now have I can post in the Intermediate category

anyone will notice a big difference of my photography skills because I sought advice from our resident photography expert Anton

that is why its called the photo contest

let me also just say at this point
we are lucky enough to have secret judges that have judged the contest are experts.

as the comp has been set up as a fun section I don't have any problems with anyone using photoshop or any other photo editing program

the photo comp will never be be treated the same as an orchid show

its all about having fun to win an award and also to have a winning photo make our yearly calendar

[syndywindy]

Originally Posted by fred

Synda
the photo contest is is meant to be just for fun
I am not trying to sound nasty so please don't take this the wrong way but we have rules in the photo comp for each category

Novice
Intermediate
Open


let me also just say at this point
we are lucky enough to have secret judges that have judged the contest are experts.

as the comp has been set up as a fun section I don't have any problems with anyone using photoshop or any other photo editing program

the photo comp will never be be treated the same as an orchid show

its all about having fun to win an award and also to have a winning photo make our yearly calendar

No problem, Fred, you weren't nasty at all. I appreciate your comments. I only was trying to point out that if one wants to improve his or her photography skills, then you work on that aspect instead of using a program to improve a picture. It would seem if you use photoshop to always enhance a picture, then the incentive to really try and improve your skills is diminished. Maybe my thinking is wrong, I don't know. I have worked hard at improving my photographs and for me personally, I want to be judged on what I can do, not what a program can do.
I agree with you 100% that we are fortunate to have wonderful judges that take the time to judge so many great pictures each month. I know their task is not an easy one. And I also agree this is a fun aspect of the forum. I enjoy seeing everyone's pictures probably even more than I do entering one of my own. If I enter a picture, it's never with the intention of winning, it's just fun being amongst so many orchid enthusiasts excited to share a mutual love.

[benetay]

I have heard this debate going on & on in other photography forum. Let's take this back to the days when SLR (film) was used. The colours are replicated by the film used, hence if you get a vivid colour film, your photos look a tad more vibrant as compared to the normal film. People are paying 15-20 bucks per roll and it's really expensive to do so. Now coming back to the digital era, the CMOS sensors do not capture colours the way they do back in the old days of film. Therefore, whatever you might captured on the digital camera is not the exact replica of the subject (object). So what can we do to make sure what we're trying to post up here is the right coloured flower? We use PS to get the colours right, just very minimum adjustment if required. Not all the time the CMOS sensor can pick up the colours, since everything is program inside the camera itself. The colours are fix in either the embedded profile of sRGB or Adobe RGB, that's the maximum you can go - a value set for you.

So if you look at the picture and the flower side by side, if they're not the right colours, how am i going to portray the right colours? Having said that, with today's technology, they're going one step closer to film but still far from it. I'm sure those who have used SLR will keep saying, the colours look better. It's true. Digital cameras are made with flaws and so we try to match what we shoot to be as close as what we intend to let other people see. Another reason for the use of PS, most DSLR/Digital camera photos turn out soft and perhaps just a grain of sharpening will allow users to actually see the subject more prominently. Frankly, cropping, resizing, a lil' sharpening are the norms in the digital world but having said that, there are people who are really masterful in their PS skills, they can certainly turn a bad picture great but they cannot make a dead picture superb. It still boils down to the skills of photography.

Another set to note is that indoor macro or things like fishes, flowers, etc that are taken indoor looks great with a black background but in the world of nature photography, black background is seriously frown upon. So there are really a lot criterion set by people who deems fit, but all we have to do is to enjoy what we truly want. Yes almost 95% of all photographers in a photography forum uses PS one way or another but not to enhance the look but to correct the flaws digital technology have given to us.

Another perspective is the on going debate on purist species hobbyist collectors and hybrid hobbyist. I guess there are no hard and fast rule on these issues, just be cool to it.

Cheers!

[dtje2000]

That close-up of the purple den is beeeeee-utiful!!!!

[-k-]

Thanks! That Den just won't stop putting off displays and new growth, it's so much fun watching what it will do next.

[benetay]

I love the Den closeup picture #1. Love the lighting and such. Very well captured.

Cheers!

[benetay]

This month contest has gone up a level with all the excellent photos!

I love all the pictures posted and well done all.

Cheers!

[frostychic]

Lots of yummy November photos...

Best of luck to everyone

[benetay]

After viewing the Nov contest again, i would say this is going to be a very very challenging month and best of luck to everyone! Gorgeous bloom that lit up the mood.

Cheers!

[Anton]

A couple of years ago, Fred and I took the Executive Decision to set up the Photo Comp.

The reason was that members kept posting crappy images of various pests and diseases that were so bad you couldn't help with a diagnosis, plus pictures of great flowers that were so far out of focus you couldn't see detail, had cluttered backgrounds such as back yards with all sorts of distracting elements, and over and under exposed.

To help I set up the first Photo 101 courses which I think are still on line as stickies to help people improve their skills, and this months contest shows how far we have come since those early days.

These days, members are posting excellent images of their flowers, pests and diseases and as a result it is easier to ID flowers, pests and diseases.

I fully concur with Benetay, PS mainly corrects the shortcomings of digital chips, and I personally use it to try to match the original colours of the flower as close as possible.

As digital chips have filters at the infra red and ultraviolet ends of the spectrum, blues and reds don't appear as expected, so don't panic if you can't reproduce these colours, IT JUST WON'T HAPPEN !

[NancyG]

Excellent images!