bummed

[lizziebelle]

I'm a bit bummed that my pic didn't make the final 50 for the November boston.com RAW contest. The theme was silhouettes, and I was rather proud of the pic I took to enter:



Now take a look at the pix they chose for the final 50, and tell me that it's not just sour grapes. I really do think my pic is better than a lot of the ones they chose. Is it me? Am I just being a brat? Is my taste that different from theirs? They have a different judge each month, and they're all photo pros.

*sigh*

I think I'm giving up on entering this. It just hurts too much when they choose a pic taken in a car wash over my pretty tree.

Comments

[anghara.livejournal.com]

Frankly at least two of those (What the heck IS #47? And if you have to ask, is it a good photograph at all...?) are inferior to the one you've posted above.

But there ARE some shots in those 50 that are... FABULOUS. That one with the bird taking off from the water - in mirrored silhouette - is probably a once-in-a-lifetime shot...

[ami-1.livejournal.com]

Don't give up. I still looove this picture and you never know what happened behind the scenes. Please keep entering. You are so close to being *the* winner! (((HUGS)))

[joanofarchetype.livejournal.com]

They suck and their brains are crappity. I love your tree, especially the colors, and made it my desktop wallpaper. I do wish you will keep entering, though.

[dalbino83.livejournal.com]

Keep entering! It looks as if they prefer people in the photos, though. That may continue to work against you.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

That's the thing, though - they have a different judge every month. I can't change what I am and what appeals to me, especially when I don't know what the next judge is looking for!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I liked your tree one better than the tree ones that were in there--your tree one was beautiful. And some of the ones they had were kind of tired or cliched, but a few were really gorgeous. Still, I think yours definitely could have been among them. I'm sorry they didn't see it that way :-(

[tehuti.livejournal.com]

I think that the fact that lots of tree silhouettes made the top 50 worked against you. I do think that your shot was superior to some of the ones they chose. Some of the "silhouette" shots were not proper silhouettes! But just because you didn't make the cut this time doesn't mean you should quit. It's kinda like submitting a manuscript. Gonna take a whole lot of "no" to get to the "yes".

[lamentables.livejournal.com]

For a while I used to participate in the Lonely Planet photo competitions on Flickr, but the choices people made infuriated me so much that I had to stop. It wasn't just the fact that I didn't win, it was all the other good photos that go no attention at all and the really clichéd stuff that attracted most of the popular vote.

Maybe, one day, there will be a judge who's on the same wavelength as you.

[singingnettle.livejournal.com]

It's hard to figure out why people in judging positions make the choices they do.

You do have beautiful colors in your photo. I noticed in large view the top branches were a little fuzzy on focus. Still, it's a beautiful photo. And some of those choices in the top 50? Utterly mystifying. Like, great big clumps of black against a background.

[sea-dark-wine.livejournal.com]

If the judge were me, you'd have beaten out a bunch of those, for sure. But "good" art is in the eye of the beholder, and so you just never know what someone will choose. I've had to get used to this as an artist. If it doesn't cost anything to enter, I'd encourage you to keep trying; as someone else here said, someday there will be a judge who understands what you're after.

[justjanus.livejournal.com]

Many of the photos were very very good, but I thought your lovely tree was better than several of them. Keep repeating this mantra: "There's no accounting for taste".

Don't give up.

[vicki-sine.livejournal.com]

I actually liked the car wash.

But there were several that basically did the same thing you did, but yours is better.

And there was several that I think just totally missed the concept of silhouettes.

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

I can tell you honestly that I like your picture better than the majority of the pictures they chose. In fact, there were only 4 out of the 50 that I actually liked.

Some were too abstract and some even looked Photoshopped to me.

Don't give up. Not ever. Your photography work is amazing!

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon! I'll never give up on photography. I might even give this contest another go.