Camera Craniums: The Photography Community for Enthusiasts

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 08:16:44 AM

Title: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 08:16:44 AM
After months of waiting we get to hear who's the DCM photographer of the year. The judge's video was interesting. Just had another look through the categories. For me the Portrait section is the strongest [speaking as someone with no technical knowledge of portraiture this is simply on impact] - and of course the overall winning shot is usually a people shot of some type. Funny how pictures of glamourous young women are used to sell magazines of all sorts but are almost totally absent from this section! Wrinkles rule!!
So, any bets on the overall winner. I'm still backing Hong kong to produce a couple of contenders. Still think the This is Britain section is pretty dire - I think many of the shots would work as part of an exhibition but can't imagine them as competition winners. And the winner never comes from the UK anyway! [Go on prove me wrong!!]
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 08, 2009, 08:56:57 AM
To be honest- i'm not bothered either way.

Everything that was DM is now PR and as such is tainted with the 'what a carry on' image.
Come to think of it- i'm betting Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques et all would do a better job.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Nemesis on December 08, 2009, 10:36:07 AM
My grandfather was Sid James... 
Kinda forgotten whether the contest was photographer or photograph of the year  ???
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Jonathan on December 08, 2009, 10:52:35 AM
Quote from: Nemesis on December 08, 2009, 10:36:07 AM
Kinda forgotten whether the contest was photographer or photograph of the year  ???

It's possible they don't understand the difference......

Just fell for one of Amy's Tweetbaits and watched a video on some famous photographer photographing eyes with a phone.  The production of the video is just shocking.  As more and more cameras add video and quality take a huge leap forwards PR are struggling with the concept of lighting.  A lot.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 08, 2009, 11:04:15 AM
Quote from: Jonathan on December 08, 2009, 10:52:35 AM
Quote from: Nemesis on December 08, 2009, 10:36:07 AM
Kinda forgotten whether the contest was photographer or photograph of the year  ???

It's possible they don't understand the difference......

Just fell for one of Amy's Tweetbaits and watched a video on some famous photographer photographing eyes with a phone.  The production of the video is just shocking.  As more and more cameras add video and quality take a huge leap forwards PR are struggling with the concept of lighting.  A lot.

Too many words Jonathan. "PR are struggling" is more than enough!

Quote from: Nemesis on December 08, 2009, 10:36:07 AM
My grandfather was Sid James... 
It would be fair to say you have a different take on the 'Carry On' films, 'Hancocks Half Hour' etc then the rest of us!
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 01:44:49 PM
It's called photographer of the year but is actually for best photo taken during the past five years ::) It's a bit like the Eurovision song contest - no point in watching the actual songs but the voting is often interesting :2funny:  Just waiting for the controversy when the result is announced.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Graham on December 08, 2009, 04:56:17 PM
    Let's all go over there and criticise their curtains! :2funny:
                      Graham. :D
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 08, 2009, 05:18:40 PM
What the closing curtains?

Will next years comp be called Photo Radar Photographer of the Year?

With their organisation you'll need a radar to find out how to successfully enter a picture!  :D
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 08:04:19 PM
 :tup: :tup: :tup: Winner announced - can't believe it - loved this one in the nature section but, bearing in mind previous winners, could'nt think it had a chance. Commercial image too i'd think. Well done judges - although there's bound to be some controversy somewhere  :2funny:
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Forseti on December 08, 2009, 08:34:28 PM
Quote from: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 08:04:19 PM
........ although there's bound to be some controversy somewhere  :2funny:

Go on then, I'll bite  :2funny: :2funny:

10 Categories = 30 places (counting only first, second and third).

18 places awarded to Canon - 8 of which a  5D was used and which took not only all the top places in the Landscape category but also took the 10K prize money to boot.

12 places to Nikon - surprisingly, only 1 D3.

Moral of the story: want to win big buy a Canon........ :legit:

I do like the overall winning entry though.......a lot. Now off to take a look at them all more CLOSELY
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Hinfrance on December 08, 2009, 08:42:29 PM
Oldboy is going to have to eat his hat. And buy a 5D  ;D

Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Oldboy on December 08, 2009, 08:52:12 PM
Quote from: Tringle WP on December 08, 2009, 08:42:29 PM
Oldboy is going to have to eat his hat. And buy a 5D  ;D



I only use Cannons to fire at people!  :2funny:

Well done to Bootneck47 for second place in "This is Britian" section. After all the flack they got last year I think they took notice.   :tup:
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 08:58:42 PM
Nice to see second in the nature section was taken with a D80 and the 70-300vr - good swan combo! I'd taken a quick second look at the contenders earlier today and, once again the Icelandic ponies had stuck in my head but could't really think a non people shot would win - nice to be proved wrong. Had'nt really considered the winner of the portrait section but it's rather effective really - the second is very striking and the third the 'banker' shot. Thought the shot that won the This is Britain section would win - given the tone of the section! Landscapes perhaps a little stylised. No interest in the fashion or manipulated sections I'm afraid. World in motion winners were  nice. Preferred the 2nd and 3rd in the b/w to be honest. Destination everywhere kept the wrinkly Asian quota up!
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Oldboy on December 08, 2009, 09:42:20 PM
Quote from: greypoint on December 08, 2009, 08:58:42 PM
Destination everywhere kept the wrinkly Asian quota up!

Interesting that, as they are locals who took the photos, but destinations don't include the rest of the world.  :doh:
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Nemesis on December 08, 2009, 10:02:30 PM
What was the Year of the Photograph again? 
Very few of the final list held my interest, too much artwork for my simple tastes.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Sarasocke on December 08, 2009, 10:22:38 PM
I must say I really like the winner, but then Icelandic horses are really high on my favourite animal list - I used to ride them.
The photos in the Planet Earth category are all super, I love the swans.

This is Britain - well now we know, we really are either drunken slobs, old and poor or overweight and boozy.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Hinfrance on December 09, 2009, 07:06:39 AM
I'm the opposite of Carol, although I think the winner is a fine photograph (and any one of hundreds could have been chosen, they have to pick someone) wildlife pictures just don't float my boat. And perhaps they should have a comp next year for cameras costing less than the national debt.

I think that overall the choices are somewhat better than last year's travesty, but I am struggling to understand how a couple of the category winners fit the brief, in particular the Destination Everywhere winner. Great picture, but it doesn't say travel to me it, it says religion. The black and whites are pretty average too imho.

Oldboy, it does look like Iceland is the place to take your entry for next year - last year there was a category winner from there too.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 09, 2009, 08:02:46 AM
The judges, of course, only have the shortlist to pick from so it's always going to be a winner from someone else's original choice. Overall I thought the nature category was good and the shortlisted pictures competent stuff but only a few seemed to have that extra something. We all have our favourites when it comes to subject I suppose.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Jonathan on December 09, 2009, 08:12:45 AM
I've wanted to go to Iceland for years.  The winner does nothing to cure me of that :)

Reminds me of Tim Flach's pics - which is no bad thing at all.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 08:29:54 AM
Sue makes the valid comment about short lists, so don't shoot the judges, they are presented with images chosen by a very mediocre bunch of so called photographic experts.

The winning picture is very unexciting, scanning through the rest of the images I think there are others that could easily have been chosen as the 'top shot'. My favourite is the second placed picture in the under 10 category of JPOTY. What a fertile mind that young person must have, along with trusting parents allowing him/her to play around a swimming pool with some high tech camera in hand! ::)

B+W category is disappointing, and not being much of a landscaper I'm surprised that the same bloke got 1st and 2nd place with the usual low angle shot and the overmanipulated green and pleasant land cliche, looks like slow speed rock strewn beaches have had their day.

Ah well congratulations to the winners and commiserations to the whiners!

All in all
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 09, 2009, 10:06:00 AM
Mmm perhaps the winner is not exciting - to those whose tastes are elsewhere anyway - but it does have the advantage of being, in itself at least, not as controversial as previous years. I'm sure there are those busily googling to find another shot it's been copied from!
Perhaps its also a case of this one being a picture everyone could agree on liking but others had one judge being really positive but others more negative about it? Agree about the landscapes often being a bit OTT. The one I liked was a bluebell wood with sunlight through the trees - not spectacular but evocative.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Oldboy on December 09, 2009, 10:26:47 AM
The one I liked was the cave shot but needs to be seen full size. It would look fantastic printed as A0 or A1. Some do look like they have gone over the top with the help of photoshop, but most of the photos have been good and varied which hasn't been the case in past years.  ;D
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 09, 2009, 10:49:21 AM
I finally went and found ithem. That site doesn't get any better.

What i noticed that some pictures from Hong Kong were listed amongst the places - as predicted in earlier discussions.
Tim Wallace's shot was very nice - but not his best work (my opinion).

Not all are of my choosing - but generally they are all very well taken.

As for OTT Photoshopping - sadly it is a fact of life and Photoshop skills of today are the equivalent of dark room skills of yesterday.
And how many can remember the debates over whether a picture had been to 'over processed' in the dark room?
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 02:10:04 PM
Looks like it's happening all over again! ::)

http://www.photoradar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8754#post8754
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 09, 2009, 02:23:45 PM
Well at least it solves the problem of next years competition.
No one will be eligible!  :tup:
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 09, 2009, 02:45:42 PM
Many of these problems might be solved if it was a true POTY contest - photos to be taken for the contest during one month and uploaded for judging during the next month - rather than just being able to upload anything that you've had on your hard drive for several years.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Sarasocke on December 09, 2009, 03:59:10 PM
Or at least within 12 months of closing date.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Nemesis on December 09, 2009, 05:27:37 PM
Now its starting to resemble the site and forum that we knew  ;)

On the subject of over processing, in the old days of wet darkrooms and resultant photos, I really don't recall looking at countless images that looked as if they had been taken on an alien planet  :legit:
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Oldboy on December 09, 2009, 05:31:14 PM
Quote from: Nemesis on December 09, 2009, 05:27:37 PM
On the subject of over processing, in the old days of wet darkrooms and resultant photos, I really don't recall looking at countless images that looked as if they had been taken on an alien planet  :legit:

Yes, but in them days no one knew what a alien looked like!  :2funny: :2funny:
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 06:38:24 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 02:10:04 PM
Looks like it's happening all over again! ::)

http://www.photoradar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8754#post8754
I didn't know whether to post this in Joke of the Day, but look who's got in to the act now. :o
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 09, 2009, 07:01:03 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 06:38:24 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 02:10:04 PM
Looks like it's happening all over again! ::)

http://www.photoradar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8754#post8754
I didn't know whether to post this in Joke of the Day, but look who's got in to the act now. :o
It's a sad day when you have to agree with him over something - especially something involving the judging pictures.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Graham on December 10, 2009, 06:33:52 AM
Quote from: picsfor on December 09, 2009, 07:01:03 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 06:38:24 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 02:10:04 PM
Looks like it's happening all over again! ::)

http://www.photoradar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8754#post8754
I didn't know whether to post this in Joke of the Day, but look who's got in to the act now. :o
It's a sad day when you have to agree with him over something - especially something involving the judging pictures.

        "We have had enough scandals regarding "cheats" in other walks of life - sport/politics etc etc "
         Oh the irony!  :2funny:
                                                        Graham. :)
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: greypoint on December 10, 2009, 12:40:13 PM
Just watched the video of the exhibition and some input from the winners - mostly unpretentious!
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Forseti on December 10, 2009, 01:48:31 PM
Quote from: greypoint on December 10, 2009, 12:40:13 PM
Just watched the video of the exhibition and some input from the winners

Well lucky you.  :2funny: When I press the play button all I get is a black video screen with a white rotating circle in the middle and that's it - nothing more no matter how long I wait.   >:(  I've tried turning off add blocker from my security suite (Kaspersky) without it making any difference whatsoever and that's as far as I'm prepared to go in attempting to watch this video. I can't for the life of me understand why I'm expected to play around with various security suite settings as well as IE settings (as PR once suggested) just to get their videos to work. Although me and others seem to have difficulty in watching PR videos whilst with other sites there is no problem, PR just carry on believing the fault lies with everyone else apart from themselves. I suppose one could say that it's pretty naive of me believing that they'd get this aspect (videos) right when nothing else that they organise runs smoothly.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: Alfonso_Frisk on December 10, 2009, 02:28:44 PM
I had to turn it off 3 mins in due to falling asleep.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: picsfor on December 10, 2009, 04:43:26 PM
Quote from: Forseti on December 10, 2009, 01:48:31 PM
Quote from: greypoint on December 10, 2009, 12:40:13 PM
Just watched the video of the exhibition and some input from the winners
Well lucky you. 
I'm still on my subscription for another couple of months and got the new edition of DC Mag through the door this morning. It had all of the winning entries contained within it. Actually that's about all they did have - oh yes they had a review comparing the 7D with a D300s (I'm gonna let you guess which one was editors choice  :-X) and a feature on how to use your DSLR. It is the quickest i have ever looked through a magazine. :beer: I'm not even gonna leave it in the hospital waiting room tomorrow morning because it might push some manic depressive over the top. I don't want that on my conscience.  :tup:

Anyway - generally speaking - whilst there are without doubt some great entries and deserving prize winners, about half of the winners or runners up etc were actually no better than i've seen on this site from some of our more notable togs.
Title: Re: Today's the day!
Post by: top totty on December 11, 2009, 05:54:07 PM
Quote from: Graham on December 10, 2009, 06:33:52 AM
Quote from: picsfor on December 09, 2009, 07:01:03 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 06:38:24 PM
Quote from: ABERS on December 09, 2009, 02:10:04 PM
Looks like it's happening all over again! ::)

http://www.photoradar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8754#post8754
I didn't know whether to post this in Joke of the Day, but look who's got in to the act now. :o
It's a sad day when you have to agree with him over something - especially something involving the judging pictures.

        "We have had enough scandals regarding "cheats" in other walks of life - sport/politics etc etc "
         Oh the irony!  :2funny:
                                                        Graham. :)

I hope his bums on fire, the liar, said he didn't enter......he so did I saw at least two of his holiday snaps.