OcUK Photo Comp - Season Eight : Round Eight - "Cosmic" DISCUSSION

Oxygen said:
What are the judges view on more of a digital art take on the theme? Asking because I'm considering using 5-6 images for my idea so would like to know if i have to take all the images in this month for the entry to be valid....or just the majority of them? :confused:
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So long as the digital art is produced from an underlying photograph and not just pure graphic design they we would see no problem with this, as for when the picture was taken we would expect that the main image generating photograph would be supplied with valid exif data and we could leave it to your desecration the images you used for the artistic production.

Hope that clears things up.
 
ScarySquirrel said:
Ok, so the definition of 'cosmic' is here - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cosmic

The first point mentions 'cosmic laws'.

These appear to be detailed here - http://globalvisions.org/cl/swn/cosmiclaws/index.html

Does that mean that an image depicting love, for example, would meet the theme? I fear that whilst in theory this is correct, it will be seen as not cosmic as it doesn't have star trails or other space stuff!

Thoughts?
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How you depict the theme is personal interpretation, but you must bare in mind that not everyone will see the theme the same way that you may and more importantly you are trying to portrait that theme to the viewer (being the Judges).
 
Where do we draw the line between what is considered a photo and the step into digital art. I feel saddened that we seem to be embracing digital art into our photography. Whilst I apply a level of post processing, I still maintain a level of realism and aim not to add somethign that was not there in the first place. Is there some instruction as to what can be considered 'too much'? Whilst not everyone would agree with me, and equally I am not looking to upset anyone it would be nice for us all to be clear about what we can and cannot do. Last months winner is a prime example of a level of contention.

I also have a question about the theme itself. If I was to say take a macro shot of somethign that was a little abstract and looked perhaps a little 'out of this world' would it be considered fitting to the theme. I do not own a telephoto and certainly would consider a 'moon shot' to be somewhat boring. Cannot say I really want to shoot star trails either, so just trying to think outside the box a little. Its quite a tough subject which normally would be much easier to be quite diverse, but I fear that interpretation is going to be a problem for some.

Thanks for reading :)
 
ichabod crane said:
So long as the digital art is produced from an underlying photograph and not just pure graphic design they we would see no problem with this, as for when the picture was taken we would expect that the main image generating photograph would be supplied with valid exif data and we could leave it to your desecration the images you used for the artistic production.

Hope that clears things up.
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Perfect. Thanks ichabod :D

martinturner said:
I also have a question about the theme itself. If I was to say take a macro shot of somethign that was a little abstract and looked perhaps a little 'out of this world' would it be considered fitting to the theme. .
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I'm in agreement martin and am personally aiming to use photos, layers and scaling in the main to create my image. I guess i wanted to be clear, prior to experimenting with the theme, in case it was going to be ruled out as a step too far.

I do think you raise an interesting question and hopefully this theme will get everyone out taking pics and learning new skills. That’s what i think the OCUK comp has always done best - produce creativity in people.
 
Oxygen said:
I do think you raise an interesting question and hopefully this theme will get everyone out taking pics and learning new skills. That’s what i think the OCUK comp has always done best - produce creativity in people.
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Hehe I think it will come as no surprise that I agree whole heartedly with this :D
 
ichabod crane said:
How you depict the theme is personal interpretation, but you must bare in mind that not everyone will see the theme the same way that you may and more importantly you are trying to portrait that theme to the viewer (being the Judges).
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Fair enough. I would hope the judges would take the time to read the definition of Cosmic (or any theme), so this should be ok :)
 
martinturner said:
I also have a question about the theme itself. If I was to say take a macro shot of somethign that was a little abstract and looked perhaps a little 'out of this world' would it be considered fitting to the theme. I do not own a telephoto and certainly would consider a 'moon shot' to be somewhat boring. Cannot say I really want to shoot star trails either, so just trying to think outside the box a little. Its quite a tough subject which normally would be much easier to be quite diverse, but I fear that interpretation is going to be a problem for some.
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We can't really discuss our interpretation of the theme, but as long as your interpretation is visible in the image, then I don't see a particular problem. After all, it's boring marking 30 images that are identical, so get out there and see what you can do.
 
A.N.Other said:
We can't really discuss our interpretation of the theme, but as long as your interpretation is visible in the image, then I don't see a particular problem. After all, it's boring marking 30 images that are identical, so get out there and see what you can do.
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I could shoot a macro as I have discussed which to me has a real 'cosmic' feel to it but a judge says 'naaaa, it is not something that is not of this earth' and therefore am marked down?

I am not trying to be awkward, I just feel thats much easier to apply to a more straightforward subject. The subject this time round is really quite tricky and feel we should have a little more guidance in this instance. I basically want to know if I am restricted to only 'stuff' thats not on planet Earth (hence moon shots, star trails). :)
 
martinturner said:
I could shoot a macro as I have discussed which to me has a real 'cosmic' feel to it but a judge says 'naaaa, it is not something that is not of this earth' and therefore am marked down?

I am not trying to be awkward, I just feel thats much easier to apply to a more straightforward subject. The subject this time round is really quite tricky and feel we should have a little more guidance in this instance. I basically want to know if I am restricted to only 'stuff' thats not on planet Earth (hence moon shots, star trails). :)
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robertgilbert86 said:
but also still life photos of space related toys/models. Hopefully it doesn't put people off!
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Does that help any?
 
martinturner said:
I could shoot a macro as I have discussed which to me has a real 'cosmic' feel to it but a judge says 'naaaa, it is not something that is not of this earth' and therefore am marked down?
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I agree that it's a slightly tricky subject to get a grip of, but it's also interesting and different and will get people thinking. As it is a bit tricky, I will say the following ... for me, 'cosmic' does not necessarily restrict you to things that aren't on the earth.

As I said above, as long as your interpretation comes across clearly in the image, then I don't see a problem with it. If you think your interpretation is particularly abstract, then maybe submit a brief explanation along with it in the entries thread.
 
martinturner, I don't think you should worry less about points and more about a) enjoying yourself and b) expanding your photography.

If you want to do macro's then go for it. Don't hold back just because you might not get a top score. :)

I'm gutted this theme hasn't come a month later as I'm off to Florida in September and there's a rocket launch while I'm there.

Panzer
 
A.N.Other said:
I will say the following ... for me, 'cosmic' does not necessarily restrict you to things that aren't on the earth.
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In relation to what a couple of entries were last month I would say they would fit into this months theme as well. Wedges being the obvious choice with the star trails but also I'd say Oxygens spooky green face with light trails also. something a bit 'cosmic' about his entry :D two very different styles of photo but fitting to this months theme as well in my opinion.
 
personally i dont have a problem with people entering what ever they like, whether it be digital art, abstract, macro etc,
as long as you enjoy taking the picture and think it fits the theme then its all good, one of the reasons i like the ocuk comp so much is to see the creativity of people. If it feels right DO IT!
 
I'm off to Norway in 2 weeks so there might be options in the night sky there. But as i won't be back before the 30th it's going to be difficult unless i pack the laptop.

hmmm...thinking about it, I don't really fancy all the extra bother on my holiday and explaining it to my partner that I had to bring it cause OCUK comp was Cosmic this month :D ..can see her rolling eyes already.
 
Oxygen said:
I'm off to Norway in 2 weeks so there might be options in the night sky there. But as i won't be back before the 30th it's going to be difficult unless i pack the laptop.

hmmm...thinking about it, I don't really fancy all the extra bother on my holiday and explaining it to my partner that I had to bring it cause OCUK comp was Cosmic this month :D ..can see her rolling eyes already.
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Would you not want photos of the northern lights anyway? I'm dying for an opportunity to get some shots :(
 
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