Over processed, Digitally manipulated photos.

[northbeach]

Carolyn, I didn't know Leo's images had been pulled...I assume he just took them off at the end of the week. He told me once he does that.

I do think the rules aren't too clear and that sometimes changes get made and somehow they don't get communicated to the members.

I recall Paul posting a written notice in the contest to draw our attention to a prize that was being offered by an advertiser. Why can't changes be communicated to us in this way...as in the "new" rating system that is wreaking havoc with ratings because we're not all using the same criteria!

Sheila.

[Aladyforty]

<<<<<<<<< ’‚’‚…‚’‚‚ Levels, brightness, contrast, curves, gamma, intensity, tone, hue, saturation, desaturation, lightness, channel adjustment, colour balance, tint, resizing, cropping, burning and dodging selective areas. Various filters to sharpen, soften, blur, despeckle, add grain and remove noise, can also be used to create a better final image. Remember photos should only be edited to improve the final image not totally change it. >>>>>>>>>>>.


All the above is OK, so what is over manipulation? Im getting more confused each week here.

My photos this week I used
Crop
contrast
brightness
and noise removal

I see there is heaps more one can use, apart from a few shots Ive seen that were obvious altering filters such as a swirl filter Ive seen little that I could call over done so can someone please tell me what is too much?

[bluezmn]

Hello. I was following this thread and am now confused. I thought that was what the Abstract/Digital Art/Other category was for. I havre found HDR photography is a wonderful way to get something that looks like (and sometimes more intense than) what I saw to begin with. This is right out of the camera but heavily processed. So, is there any room for this kind of photography here?

[RTaylor]

Hi Jerry, yes, room for any type of photography except nude or violence of course. When I see an image that is intentionally processed HDR to make it way beyond being natural, I have been placing them in Abstract/Digital Art/Other so that could be considered the "Other" category

[RTaylor]

here is the link with info on how I make decisions of what categories to place the finalists.

Home - Finalist Categories

or, so you don't have to click the link... right here

CATEGORY PLACEMENT

Category	Description
People / Journalism	Any image of People including Portraiture, Journalism or Candid, as long as there is a person or persons included. Can also include a scenic image with people, or people with animals or any other animate or inanimate object, especially when it leans toward Journalism. May include color or black & white.
Scenic / Nature	Any outdoor landscape, seascape or nature related scene including cityscape. People and animals may be included but not as the main subject at close up range. Structures and buildings may be included, but are not limited to this category. May include color or black & white.
Animals / Wildlife	Includes all Animals and can also include Insects. May also include people if they are interacting with the animals such as horse races or similar. May include color or black & white.
Still Life / Structures/ Macro	Still Life - Includes inanimate objects; for example, plants, flowers or food arranged in a pleasing layout. Can also include buildings or structures since they are considered inanimate objects. May include color or black & white. Macro - Includes close-ups of subject. Entries should be 1:1 or larger but not required. Subject can include flowers, insects but is not limited to any specific subject. May include color or black & white.]
Black & White / Sepia	Includes any subject in a gray scale, sepia or monotone with subject matter in any of the 5 other categories.
Abstract / Digital Art / Other	Abstract - Includes subjects like close ups of buildings, inanimate objects when the design and lines at close up range are presented in an abstract format. May also include people or animals. Can also include in camera intended motion blur shots with the idea of creating an abstract view. May include color or black & white. Digital Art - Includes any photograph taken by the photographer where computer technology is used to create a unique piece of artwork. The photo and all components of photo must be the members own photography and/or creation. The use of public domain images is NOT allowed. Images that are in the "Public Domain" are not allowed in whole or part in any of the above categories. Other - Includes any image for whatever reason does not fit within any of the above categories. Extreme HDR may fit into this category depending on the subject.

[ImKayd1]

If I understand Shootem correctly. . .Maybe we should have an HD or similar section. I am also not a fan of 'overprocessing' or CSI Miami colors in everyday landscapes, but they are eye catching, which makes it harder for those who use regular color levels to stand out. Most definitely Topaz is one of my favorite plug-ins and sometimes it feels like I'm going to have to use it on a regular basis to keep up. The use of more saturation and vibrance than I would consider normal just seems to be the mood at this site at the moment. I also find that a great many 'super vibrance' photos are also suberb photos and it's only my preference that they not be so 'bright'.

OK just my 2 cents.

Suzan

I didn't realize that this post started in 2004, interesting the things that change and yet again stay the same for years and in every year someone's got a new twist to the subject.

[RTaylor]

Suzan, this is a 6 year old message that Carolyn started this thread way back in 2005 when HDR was in its infancy and not many photographers took advantage of it, nor were there all the plugins we have today. We had a certain previous member that used to complain when others used a little contrast. Pretty sure it was during the time you used to participate, so you may remember
As far as having another category for HDR, we don't have any more room on the front page, nor do we have more time to create another 6 finalists. Each category of 6 with all the little things that we do each week for the process takes at minimum 1 hour, times 6 categories making it 6 hours per week for the Photo of the Week contest.
It used to take the previous owner Paul, 1 hour each week to select the 6 finalists and do the code for voting not including when he did the announcement for the then 1 winner. Doing the announcement along with the graphics of 6 1st place and 6 2nd place each week takes between 1-2 hours to put together between Steve and I.

So that was why I made the decision to place any over the top HDR or plugins that are beyond what most call natural today, into the Digital Art/ Abstract / Other

Remember, if one of your images doesn't make it to the finals, you have the option to resubmit it at least close to 1 month later just so same images are not submitted every week or every other week

Every week there are images that I wish I could have included but ran out of room. There were quite a few this week, everyone just keeps getting better.

[Kyotie]

I don,t believe that there is such a thing as over processing, ether you like the picture or you don't.
I build pictures, I don't just record events like a photo journalist, not to say that that is bad, I do that too. The possibilities are endless, with the software today one can create anything with photos. It would be like telling Rembrandt he can only paint what he sees, He's not allowed to put a sky in his painting that wasn't there when he painted it, or make the water blue instead of mud? Why is it that some think that photography is the only art medium that the artist is not allowed to use without restricting it to what is in front of the camera? The portrait photographer can paint a canvas background, but not layer one in from another photo, or it is no longer a photograph?
Norman Rockwell used photography to photo his subjects, pose them the way he wanted, projected them on paper and drew them. Many photos for each illustration, and built pictures he envision, not what was in front of him. Why can't the photographer do the same, that is paint what he envisions rather than to be told that what he does is not photography? Is it more difficult to get great photos using only the camera? yes! And it is a class of photo by itself, and we all admire it, but photography don't stop there, it starts there. If you are a photo journalist then you must have those restrictions, and it too is an art all by it self, but that is not and should not be fine art photography. It is photo journalism that needs it's own category of art.