Two|One Contest #5 - ARCHITECTURE (July 21 - August 11, 2014)

[Meister]

ARCHITECTURE! Buildings, pools, monuments, skyscrapers, etc.
Roam around town and take some great shots!

NEEDFX has graciously funded a prize for the 1st Place winner. Although it is normally $2, we have had a couple of rollovers from previous contests, so the prize on this contest will be $8!

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Entries must be submitted by AUGUST 4, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. Forum Time.

Voting will begin once the submission period closes and will end on August 11, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. Forum Time.


Note: "Forum Time" is GMT -5. It can be found at the bottom of the page when you are NOT logged in.

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Two|One is an attempt at having a longer, parallel photography contest in which submissions are explicitly generated for the given subject and run in 21-day cycles. Two, one... are also the numbers you mutter prior to releasing your shutter in a controlled environment setting.

Contest Rules

• One photo only per contestant.
• Submissions are limited to original work that has not been formerly displayed in the forums.
• Photos are to be prepared and submitted within a 14-day submission period. The thread manager will close the contest at the end of the 14 days and voting will then begin.
• Winners are to be chosen by forum user votes.
• Please do not cast votes before the voting period begins. Forum users will have 7 days to cast their votes. Vote responsibly -- please cast only one vote. Votes will be counted at the end of the 7-day voting period. Please respect this in order to have a fair outcome.
• 1st place winner is to set new contest theme within 72 hours.
• Behind the scenes shots are strongly encouraged (where applicable). One of the goals of this contest is to encourage creativity and to to share your creative process.

Good luck, everyone!

 

[Oracle1729]

I was under the impression this contest was supposed to be different from the normal weekly one in that it was supposed to be more open topics subjective topics where we "created" original works to satisfy the theme. And showed how the images were constructed.

Much as needfx has been doing and I gave up on doing after the second contest.

I don't see how going out and shooting a picture of a building (or animals) is conducive to that goal. In spite of the good intentions of this threads, it's really just a sluggish version of the other contest now. Did you even read the boilerplate you pasted when you started the thread?

And even better, I can shoot building doors for the other contest and then the whole building for this one. Basically the same theme. I could knock of both contests with the same of any of 100 images in my collection.

I thought it would be great to see how photographers create images and the behind the scenes work they do. Not some snapshots from a petting zoo or buildings. Leave that in the other contest.

I imagine needfx is not too happy with this direction (though he's a better person than me), so perhaps if he's 'sponsoring' the contest, he should pick the themes. And maybe the winners as well.

 

[Meister]

You are probably right that this is not what this contest was intended for therefore I hand this over to you.

 

[needfx]

Hi guys,

Oracle does have a fair point theme wise Meister, but you are the winner of two|one #4, and you rolled over the prize, so it is your theme to choose.

Just make it a bit more creatively challenging. There's no need for a studio setting to have imagination.

Here's an idea

http://creativitygames.net/random-word-generator

 

[Oracle1729]

I am sorry that you are disappointed.
I tried to create a picture for the last theme and it is somewhat hard to have a studio setting for shooting animals. The shoot at the petting zoo was specifically for this contest but thats hard to proof since there was no formal setup.

As needfx said, it's not about taking studio pictures, it's about creativity. Topics that are conducive to it and submissions that can show off great creations. Look back to the first two contests to see the difference in style of the topic and the entries generated.

Even if it were all studio work, that would be too restrictive and become bland too.

 

[Apple fanboy]

a

????

 

[Meister]

Hi guys,

Oracle does have a fair point theme wise Meister, but you are the winner of two|one #4, and you rolled over the prize, so it is your theme to choose.

Just make it a bit more creatively challenging. There's no need for a studio setting to have imagination.

Here's an idea

http://creativitygames.net/random-word-generator

The reason why I chose architecture is because there werent many participants with "random word" topics like "d-day". I found the animal theme quite fun even though it might not be 100% in the spirit of this contest. Since I am the winner i choose to hand this over to oracle who no doubt went through great trouble for his submissions.

I kinda dislike the weekly contest because the winner is chosen not by popular vote but last weeks winner.
Its kinda sad because I enjoyed this, but you are the sponsor and oracle makes a valid point.

 

[Oracle1729]

????

Sorry, I typed my previous post in reply to something Meister deleted while I was typing. I just wanted to blank the post while I modified it to fit.

 

[needfx]

@all

there's really no need for drama, this is supposed to be a fun thread

please, everybody, just let it go and Meister, please pick a theme, or give a twist somehow to architecture

 

[Meister]

@all

there's really no need for drama, this is supposed to be a fun thread

please, everybody, just let it go and Meister, please pick a theme

You have to see this from a positive side. At least noone took the price money so far.

 

[needfx]

You have to see this from a positive side. At least noone took the price money so far.

funding creativity is a reward on its own

I'd even rather pay double that and see this contest take off creatively

 

[Oracle1729]

Since I am the winner i choose to hand this over to oracle who no doubt went through great trouble for his submissions.

For the animal contest I went to no effort. I took a trip to the zoo and posted a picture from it. The fact that I didn't have any meaningful bts shots, just less good shots of the same animal tells that there was no effort.

For my previous entry it probably was about 20 person-hours work in total (including the stylist and model's time and choosing a wardrobe, and of course post-production), but this is not a contest where the most effort means you win and nor should it be.

I kinda dislike the weekly contest because the winner is chosen not by popular vote but last weeks winner.

I do agree with you there. But this is not a clone of the other contest except with votes to pick a winner. I'm more interested in seeing the pictures than in who wins, and seeing the sort of things people are able to craft is a lot better than week after week of generic snapshots like we have in the other contest.

 

[Meister]

...

 

[Apple fanboy]

I like both contests, and I think there is a place for both.
Seeing how people interpret the theme in both types is interesting. I try and post in most even if I don't really have a shot that fits the theme.
Shall we move on?

 

[Meister]

For the animal contest I went to no effort. I took a trip to the zoo and posted a picture from it. The fact that I didn't have any meaningful bts shots, just less good shots of the same animal tells that there was no effort.

For my previous entry it probably was about 20 person-hours work in total (including the stylist and model's time and choosing a wardrobe, and of course post-production), but this is not a contest where the most effort means you win and nor should it be.

I do agree with you there. But this is not a clone of the other contest except with votes to pick a winner. I'm more interested in seeing the pictures than in who wins, and seeing the sort of things people are able to craft is a lot better than week after week of generic snapshots like we have in the other contest.

I already posted that you have a valid point and handed it over to you. What are you trying to prove?
You seem to know a lot about my efforts and I think you are jelous about this ridicolus contest.
I find this to get really really weird now. Bye bye.

 

[needfx]

Creativity is also not about a perfect studio setup.

I never said that, I don't own a studio, or have one to borrow/rent

I'm just an enthusiast

 

[MCH-1138]

For the animal contest I went to no effort. I took a trip to the zoo and posted a picture from it. The fact that I didn't have any meaningful bts shots, just less good shots of the same animal tells that there was no effort.

I'm sorry that you found animals to be uninspiring as a subject. As I noted when I posted the subject, I deliberately chose a broad topic in an effort to increase participation.

But I do not understand how it is the fault of the prompt that you went to "no effort" to make the photograph you submitted. I don't mean this to be critical of you at all, but couldn't you have opted to do something requiring "more effort" if you wanted? I agree 100% that the purpose of this contest was to encourage creativity and to share the creative process, but part of that is how you interpret the prompt.

And, at least in my mind, sharing the creative process doesn't have to be a BTS shot. Some things lend themselves to that, while others don't. I'd like to learn how you made your shot of the snow leopard, for example. I somehow doubt that the answer is just dumb luck.

 

[Meister]

Can a mod now please close this thread and move it to the wasteland?

 

[needfx]

well, I posted a topic based on Meister's idea.

I really do hope seeing all of you taking part in it and having fun in the process

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Can a mod now please close this thread and move it to the wasteland?

I certainly agree

 

[Oracle1729]

I'm sorry that you found animals to be uninspiring as a subject. As I noted when I posted the subject, I deliberately chose a broad topic in an effort to increase participation.

I really don't want to belabour the issue. But with a topic of "animals", I really did give it a lot of thought and couldn't come up with anything beyond "shoot a picture of an animal". And judging by the posts, that was a nearly universal reaction. What else did you think people could do? I'm doubly impressed by needfx's entry because he did come up with an idea. I was completely stumped. I wasn't even going to enter but when I saw what everyone else was doing, I dug around in my library. I also considered a picture of a squirrel in the park eating a peanut and a duck dunking its head. I didn't give any thought to what the picture should look like, I looked at what I had and said oh, that fits the theme and may get a few votes.

I don't mean this to be critical of you at all, but couldn't you have opted to do something requiring "more effort" if you wanted?

I really couldn't. Maybe I deserve criticism then since I did try, but I really couldn't. But then again, needfx is the only one who did.

And, at least in my mind, sharing the creative process doesn't have to be a BTS shot. Some things lend themselves to that, while others don't. I'd like to learn how you made your shot of the snow leopard, for example. I somehow doubt that the answer is just dumb luck.

I'm curious then what you mean creative process.

The Snow Leopard was shot years ago very shortly after I bought my first DSLR, I wasn't too familiar with the controls so I still had everything on auto. It went to the local zoo to try out my new camera. The animal was on a wooden platform and I shot it through a glass viewing window. I took about 15 pictures over 30 seconds, and in just that one it happened to face me. It's also quite cropped from the original image.

 

[needfx]

I'm sorry that you found animals to be uninspiring as a subject. As I noted when I posted the subject, I deliberately chose a broad topic in an effort to increase participation.

But I do not understand how it is the fault of the prompt that you went to "no effort" to make the photograph you submitted. I don't mean this to be critical of you at all, but couldn't you have opted to do something requiring "more effort" if you wanted? I agree 100% that the purpose of this contest was to encourage creativity and to share the creative process, but part of that is how you interpret the prompt.

And, at least in my mind, sharing the creative process doesn't have to be a BTS shot. Some things lend themselves to that, while others don't. I'd like to learn how you made your shot of the snow leopard, for example. I somehow doubt that the answer is just dumb luck.

I certainly agree. Thematic choice does not necessarily mean simple picture, but it's just that people unless challenged, or intrigued with something, they will take the easy way out instead of trying to interpret an idea. I've certainly been contemplating taking the easy way out quite a few times, and in some, I have.

But please people, instead of throwing fingers, let's create images

Pretty please, with sugar on top, make a F*king picture