Why did I get last place?

[David Pastern]

The subject (in this case flower) needs to be more isolated from the background - the background is simply too messy and distracting imho - I don't mean this in a mean way, but purely as honest advice. The flower petals appear to be over saturated too, I presume you're shooting with a Canon camera - Canon's sensors have long over saturated Reds/Pinks imho. I also agree with getting the entire flower in the shot, or having a very strong compositional reason to only include a part of the flower.

It also has one more issue that I see - it's slightly oof (out of focus). Now, this could have been due to camera shake, or perhaps wind, or simply misfocus. It's hard to tell, but I'd go with misfocus.

With macro - the closer you get to your subject, the shallower the depth of field will be. Try shooting the same subject again, from a bit further away with a medium telephoto (say, 200mm), with the entire flower in the frame. Choose something like f4 or f2.8 to isolate the background. Use a tripod, shutter release, and if the camera offers it, mirror lockup. Make sure you're focusing accurately - if your camera has live view and you can zoom in whilst using it, do so and check focus. Try and be parallel to the flower too, so the entire flower is in the zone of focus. By shooting at f2.8 or f4, you should be able to shoot at a reasonable ISO (say, 400) and keep noise to a minimum, and also shoot with a reasonable shutter speed to help with wind blur. I'd probably avoid shooting in the middle of the day as the light is harsh. Try later on in the afternoon when the lighting is softer and warmer.

Hope this helps.

Dave

 

[happy snapper uk]

This photo makes me want to puke...Its just crap to look at.....but maybe its the jack daniels i got in my hand

 

[David Pastern]

If you haven't got something nice to say, perhaps you shouldn't say anything?

Can you be constructive in your citicism so that the OP can learn and improve?

Dave

 

[happy snapper uk]

Say only nice things

If you haven't got something nice to say, perhaps you shouldn't say anything?

Can you be constructive in your citicism so that the OP can learn and improve?

Dave

Why is that? Say only nice things..I DONT analize photos when I take them or when I look at them..I just go with what I feel at the time..Im a snapper only..point and shooter..The photo is crap in my opinion.......should I lie?..And my advice to the taker is try a new hobby...IM a bad man ehh

 

[happy snapper uk]

If you haven't got something nice to say, perhaps you shouldn't say anything?

Can you be constructive in your citicism so that the OP can learn and improve?

Dave

Why is that? Say only nice things..I DONT analize photos when I take them or when I look at them..I just go with what I feel at the time..Im a snapper only..point and shooter..The photo is crap in my opinion.......should I lie?..And my advice to the taker is try a new hobby...IM a bad man ehh

Most in here are bonkers anyway...Only 2 controls on a camera apeture and shutter speed.And you all talk as if its rocket science.Pick a shutter speed.choose an apeture then point camera at the subject..Thats it ehh......OHH and if it looks a bit crap then tart it up a bit in Photoshop....

 

[santaman]

Well,The only way is to keep trying I feel disapointed at the results of my wedding entry but that wont stop me from having another go.

 

[glasswave]

...there appears to be little rhyme or reason that the flower is nearly chopped in half, that the majority of the subject is out of focus or that the subject itself is an unremarkable flower. If it was in a florist, I would consider too dead or dying, yet it is not dead enough to make a statement about dying flowers.

If you are having a tough time figuring out why your photos are placing so poorly, I would suggest a book or class on art history or composition and design. This is more important than the understanding of dof/shutter relationships.

Finally, don't take too much stock in the voters here or for that matter the challenge subject. Voters tend to pick what they like regardless of challenge subject or technical proficiency of the photo, many to most seem to vote in thumbnail.

If your only goal is to place high, which I can infer from your posts that it is not, you might try submitting photos of scantily clad beautiful women. These entries seem to do well in dpr challenges regardless of challenge subject or artistic/technical merit.

Hang in there, your nighttime cityscapes are very nice.

 

[John of Brisbane]

Yay i just got my first "last place" with this entry in "extreme filters"

http://www.dpreview.com/challenges/Entry.aspx?ID=531413

The entry which won barely had any filter effects let alone "extreme" In fact I got my highest level of 0.5 votes ever with this entry.

A 0.5 vote means it doesn't meet the entry criteria so go figure - they wanteed entries with "extreme" filter effects and creative post-processiing and somehow this entry doesn't meet those criteria.

So i wouldn't be too upset with your last place. The voters here sometimes have no idea and the previous post suggesting scantily clad young women is so very right.

 

[David Pastern]

Exactly!

Dave

Well,The only way is to keep trying I feel disapointed at the results of my wedding entry but that wont stop me from having another go.

 

[David Pastern]

What about ISO range?

Dave

If you haven't got something nice to say, perhaps you shouldn't say anything?

Can you be constructive in your citicism so that the OP can learn and improve?

Dave

Why is that? Say only nice things..I DONT analize photos when I take them or when I look at them..I just go with what I feel at the time..Im a snapper only..point and shooter..The photo is crap in my opinion.......should I lie?..And my advice to the taker is try a new hobby...IM a bad man ehh

Most in here are bonkers anyway...Only 2 controls on a camera apeture and shutter speed.And you all talk as if its rocket science.Pick a shutter speed.choose an apeture then point camera at the subject..Thats it ehh......OHH and if it looks a bit crap then tart it up a bit in Photoshop....

 

[cfh25]

I've had a 1st and a 205th in the last week. I just keep plugging away. Just look at some of the politicians who get 1st place from the voters.

 

[Gearóid Ó Laoi Garry Lee]

While there's no doubt that there's no accounting for taste, compositionally your shot doesn't gel in my head.

You've the middle bit of the flower at the left and that jars. Also the focus is off for the subject.

I don't think you can rescue this shot but don't be discouraged in the least. Most of the photos most people take are poor enough, including mine.

To take a good photo you need a good subject and either concentration and or luck. You can take many by just instictively pointing and framing using your gut, but some demand thought and consideration of other options, like viewpoint, degree of DOF, should you use a tripod etc.

Do not get discouraged. Keep at it!!

..and people who delight in telling you that you're a crap photographer etc. just have personality problems, assuming that they have a personality at all..