End of Season Finale : Photo Comp

TerraS

TerraS

TerraS

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,648
Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Like any good television drama, the photo comp season has come to an end and what a dramatic end it promises to be...

But before the results are announced I wanted to create a thread so people can share their opinions on what they thought of the competition this season and how they think it has affected their photography etc. You can also use this thread to predict winners and talk about the season in general. You might want to list your favourite photos / photographers or say who you think has improved the most. Please keep it positive. No comments on who is the worst photographer etc!

I'll keep my comments private until the results of this season have been announced.

Stay tuned. :)
 
Any chance of being able to see all the winning photos from the competitions? Just to jog the memory.

It's the first season I've really been involved in the compo but it seems that the overall level of quality is going up and up. Nothing against CyKey here as I think he's a top class photographer but it's been good to see some competition to his shots this season. From what I saw of the last season CyKey was well above everyone else. I don't think that's the case now and Dod particularly has been consistently excellent throughout the season.

Personally I think my photography is much better now than it was at the start of the season but I just can't seem to get shots right for the competitions. I always seem to find my shots a bit cliched and more often than not just pick shots as they fit the theme rather than being good in themselves.
 
ranarama said:
Any chance of being able to see all the winning photos from the competitions? Just to jog the memory.

It's the first season I've really been involved in the compo but it seems that the overall level of quality is going up and up. Nothing against CyKey here as I think he's a top class photographer but it's been good to see some competition to his shots this season. From what I saw of the last season CyKey was well above everyone else. I don't think that's the case now and Dod particularly has been consistently excellent throughout the season.

Personally I think my photography is much better now than it was at the start of the season but I just can't seem to get shots right for the competitions. I always seem to find my shots a bit cliched and more often than not just pick shots as they fit the theme rather than being good in themselves.
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I totally agree. Dod has come on leaps and bounds this season and been a real thorn in my side ;) He's gone from taking great motorcross pictures to taking great anything pictures. I have no doubts that he'll win the season and I have no regrets about loosing to a great photographer.

One thing I have learnt is that I can be too abstract sometimes. In my quest to enter unique pictures for the themes rather than what I think would be an easy entry to score points it has let me down this season. Maybe I've been thinking too far outside the box, maybe I let the success of previous rounds goto my head. Either way the best photographs have won each round and people should be proud of their growth this year.

I'd like to name people that have stood out, but I feel like I might be missing out on someone. Its been good to see older members still entering, and newer members scoring highly.

Thanks to TerraS for doing a great job at keeping things together, even with moving to Toronto. Thanks also to Raymond and Richday for adding their voices to the judging panel.

Roll on Season 5 (?)
 
I have only entered the last round but have been watching from the wings and all of the great photography in seasons compo just makes me go wow! Not only the compo threads but the general standard of the photography in this forum is unreal! Keep it up guys, I can only learn from you. :)

It inspires me to learn more about my camera and to try to improve my own techniques, especially composition. :D
 
I thought the season was very challenging from a theme perspective. So much so, that I never really did enter any photos that were that great - a few crackers here and there, but the quality was never consistent.

There is so much talent on here! Although the overall season winner will deserve the honour :)
 
Umm thanks both for the compliments but this season isn't finished, I've only got a three point lead from cyKey which over the course of a year is irrelevant. We'll just have to wait and see what the judges think. Ronny and Gregeff are really close as well, it's not impossible that either of them could still nick it.

I certainly wouldn't mind finishing behind those guys and I know that since starting to pull up the ranks every new theme has made me think all the harder about what to submit. The thing that disappoints me is that I tend to fall back into a comfort zone rather than really trying new stuff. People photography, for example, is a mystery to me.

As far as the season itself is concerned I've really enjoyed it. Even more I've enjoyed seeing the quality of entries each month being higher and higher, there really are some very good guys in here. It's good seeing the guys saying "first post, what do you think?" and then a few months later really putting out quality work :)

As far as a favourite photo of the year is concerned there were a couple of standouts for me. Ronny's skateboarder early on was fantastic. So was cyKey's modern world entry. There were others but the energy of the skateboarder and the message of the globe really struck me.

All in all, a good year for the P&V section, roll on next season :)
 
Ive enjoyed this seasons competition and look forwards to next, I have disappointed myself this year by not taking enough time over the shots, this has mainly been work related as just started a new job half way through the year which took up a lot of my free time. I have been impressed this year by the consistantly fantastic shots submitted by Ronny, Dod and cyKey.

My favorite shot of the competition that I remember is cyKey Transportation entry.
 
cyKey said:
Dod has come on leaps and bounds this season and been a real thorn in my side ;) He's gone from taking great motorcross pictures to taking great anything pictures.
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I have to agree with cyKey. Consistently good and considering where he was this time last year (which wasn't bad !) he's improved immensely.

cyKey said:
Its been good to see older members still entering
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Oi. I'll ignore the dig about being old ;). To be honest I haven't really tried this year as it's been a big year of change for me and I haven't devoted much time to any entry. Hopefully this year I can get back to the haydays of being in the top 3 :D
 
The OcUK photo comp is THE forum competition that makes me reach for my camera. At the moment, being extremely busy with a new baby I find myself too busy for photography, and going out anywhere with the intention of indulging my hobby is difficult at best.

I am hoping next season sees some real improvement from my photography, as so far I feel I have failed in my attempts to improve - mainly down to time constraints but in no small part down to my skill and knowledge.

The level of skill displayed in the competition month by month never fails to impress me, obviously there are a few that stand out above the rest and this is shown by the leaderboard.

At the end of the last round I copied all the info from the leaderboard into a spreadsheet so that I could look at the total scores per person and divide those scores by the amount of rounds they have entered to see an average - mainly because I wanted to see how I compared but also so I could see the "stars" of the competition - it was an interesting read and would be even better if I could see the better photographs of the year.

I am looking forward very much to seeing next seasons pictures, and I am sure the standard will continue to improve.

My heartfelt thanks go to the organisers and judges - without you my camera would stay firmly entrenched in my bag in the cupboard under the stairs...
 
Well for me, the past year in photography has gone very slowly for me. It was around this time last year that I got my first camera. I had played around quite a bit before that, but took it to another level being at Uni, and let loose with a camera.

I'm now on my second camera, and it feels like I have been taking photos for a lot longer than I actually have. I am enjoying it more than ever, and hopefully am getting better as well! I haven't always had time to do the cometition justice to be honest, but I have managed to enter every round so far, which is the only reason I am towards the topish end of the board!

Keep producing good photos guys, I'm looking forward to the next competition, and trying to improve my skills further.

And as a footnote, I have now passed the camera onto my brother who has started taking lots of photos, and entering these competitions as well :).

Kimmett
 
KIMMETT said:
And as a footnote, I have now passed the camera onto my brother who has started taking lots of photos, and entering these competitions as well :).
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I did pay for it :rolleyes: . And yes I've entered the last two rounds, although haven't been fully satisfied with my shots. Hope to get out and take photos a bit more often this year :) .
 
Round one coincided with the purchase of my first camera. The score seems to have reflected it as a first attempt (although I still think it deserved better ;)). I'm sure I've improved over the last year and I know I'm now thinking more about the shot rather than just pointing and shooting.

Disappointed that life has been too hectic for the last two rounds. Would certainly like to have pipped the third spot, but there is always next season :)

Thanks to everyone for making this such a fun competition, I always enjoy seeing how everyone interprets the themes. And big thanks to the judges for giving up their time and making the compo possible.
 
I happened to purchase a camera just before christmas, and I've been messing around with it since then on and off. I submitted my piccy as a last minute effort but I know it's not totally on subject. I see myself as having a pretty good eye for a picture, but not being technically competent enough to totally pull it off yet 9though Photoshop always helps)!

I've been very impressed by cykey's photography since browsing the photography forum, and some of the efforts in the comp have really impressed me. I think Dod is in with a very good chance, but only time will tell! :)
 
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