Take a Bow
I took this pic at Hogle Zoo when we were there in May. There was a bird show going on, and this owl had done its performance, bowed, and got a treat. I was thrilled to get it as it was bowing.
For the alteration of the pic, I erased all of the background that was irrelevant and distracting, then cartoonized the owl. I adore it! I think it should be an illustration in a book :)
This next picture is one that one of the judges liked a lot, giving it a 7 out of a 9. From the club's website: "7 – 8: Exceptional – Exhibiting very good to excellent photographic technique, composition and technical merit; however the image is lacking in a small way." 9's are virtually impossible, so I am thrilled with the judge's score of 7! If only the other judge would have felt the same way! ;)
Hiding
I took this picture at the Hogle Zoo as well. I have other pictures of this bird, but I love the split lighting on its face and especially the way that the light is landing on the left eye. It is one of my favorites.
This one fell flat at the competition. Perhaps I'll enter the original, unaltered picture next time around and see how it does then.
Breakfast to Go
This was a pic I took on my lawn (I happen to think of dandelions as children's favorite flower to pic, so I have quite a few of them on my lawn. ;) ) To photograph a bee in motion and have it come out in focus is a small miracle, so I enjoy it whenever it happens.
I love the colors in lilacs - in fact, aside from the glorious scent they provide, the color is my favorite part. This was a macro picture I took as the lilacs were blooming. I rather like it for its simplicity and beauty, but it too fell flat at the competition. Ah well, you can't please everyone!
Color in Bloom
There were no awards for me last night. I have to admit to a flaw I have: I am a sore loser. As soon as the competition was over, I wanted to leave, but I made myself stay put during the critiques. We stayed until 8 o'clock, and I was fortunate enough to have one of my pictures critiqued. "Hiding" was that picture, and the first judge went on to find many parts of the picture that he found distracting - he is a commercial photographer, so all of his pictures are set up and skillfully arranged; he would joke every once in a while about the fact that he wished that this or that could have been removed from the picture - unfortunately, real-life doesn't work like that (at one point he said, "You should have had that guy move his boat.") He said that I should crop it on the right to make it obey rule of thirds. The second judge offered the suggestion that I could have followed rule of thirds by cropping on the left, and said that most of the things that distracted the first judge hadn't bothered him - I am assuming he is the one that gave me the score of 7.
I intentionally didn't crop it to rule of thirds. I intentionally left it absolutely centered, which is seen as a no-no to many photographers. I have heard, and live by the adage, learn the rules and then break them if they don't suit you - but you better know why you broke it. I kept it centered because while the shot is about the bird, it is also about it hiding. It is about the bird thinking that I can't see it because it is behind a limb. I felt that if I cropped in deeper, which is what the first judge offered up too, it would be only about the bird - not about the bird's feelings about me - it is trying to hide, it is trying to be inconspicuous, it is trying to not be in my focus - anyway, all of those things went into my choice, but the even more honest answer is that I *like* it in the center.
The competition went fine, even though I didn't win, but I'll tell you my biggest beef that made me want to leave: as they were showing all of the pictures under the section of "Altered", out of 10 pictures entered, less than half were actually altered. When I saw that, I thought mine was a shoo-in! I thought that the lowest place I'd rank is Honorable Mention. Imagine my surprise (and terror!!) when a totally unaltered picture placed!
I hold in high esteem the virtue of Fairness - I felt like the entering of an unaltered pic was in poor choice (perhaps the entrant was new and didn't know better), but I felt that the point that it wasn't disqualified was unfair. I want those pictures to be disqualified unless the photographer can defend them being in the altered category. If all of the pics that were altered had won, and mine had not, I would feel disappointed, true, but this goes beyond disappointment to injustice.
Ah well, yes, I am not always a good sport, though I clapped for all of the winning pictures - they were good!
When I got home last night, I posted to facebook, "So I'm tired and grouchy. I just got home from my photography competition. Let's just say that I do better at sports competitions when I can yell, "The Ref is blind!!" You just can't do that at photography competitions. Go figure. ;) "
That about summed it up :)
♥ Melody
P.S. I went and cropped the bird pic like the 2nd judge had suggested - I'm surprised that I like it even better than the original! :) What do you think of it?
