What's bad about this? C & C Please.

During my club's final digital competition of the season the judge slated this imaging and said that it fell well short of an acceptable standard for the middle group of the three classes we have - he didn't say why other than he didn't like the dark foliage on the right. I know that it's not exactly the best image ever produced, but I don't get why it falls so far short of 'acceptable' - can anyone explain please, as that's the only way I can improve.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Phil

Whilst I accept his comment regarding the green stuff on the right I'm not sure what else (if anything) is wrong.
To me the image is of some wind blown large grass/reed type plants... if that's what it is then I think "acceptable" needs defining. Other than that nothing strikes me as obviously wrong.

I'm not used to judging things against any pre-conceived standard, rather seeing photos individually and judging then against their own terms. Here, there are 2 key elements to the image ... The foreground backlit reeds and the sky. It's a tough job balancing the contrast , and you've managed that well ... The blend in the highlight areas is good. Perhaps it needs shadow raising at the bottom?

So in the context of its style ... 2 key contrasting elements ...... Unfortunately the extra element over to the right really counts as a distraction. So I think this is really the aspect that weakens it. Do you have it shot at different angles without those trees?

Doesn't seem to be to much wrong technically, but maybe the judge was commenting more on overall impact/subject matter compared to other images in the competition. Having said that, it's always personal opinion and often we assume that because they're judging that the must be an expert or even just a good photographer, but it's not always the case

I had one judge tell me that a urban night shot I entered was amazing and would have got a twenty but he knocked off 1 point each for three stars he could see in the sky as they distracted his attention ! Glad it wasn't a shot of the milky way !

I wouldn't worry about it to much and don't let it put you off entering images, mostly it's great fun and can often get useful feedback...

It's unfortunate that the judge wasn't more helpful, so that something could be learned from entering the competition.

I like the low viewpoint, that's a good choice as it adds more drama to the shot. The darker foliage maybe isn't needed and it does seem to unbalance the composition. What I like least is the bending of all the stalks to the right, which seems to give a leaning effect to the picture as a whole. The contrast within the stalks is also a little weak, so darkening the whole might help.

Content-wise it isn't the most exciting shot. In summary, changing the composition, darkening the exposure and perhaps having some more dramatic lighting would help to improve the image.

Hope that helps!

I like it.

Perhaps try a crop to get rid of that foliage on the right?

Opinions and critiques will always be subjective. Constructive criticism helps......!

Cheers

Mac

"The foliage on the right detracts a little from the simplicity of the grasses that are the main subject." That's how I would phrase what should have been a constructive criticism instead of a destructive one.

When we are visualising an image we tend to concentrate on the main subject and don't always notice the small details towards the edges, in the background, etc - this can sometimes be dealt with by cropping, but with this shot you would lose a significant part of the grasses at the right. A slightly different taking position is probably what was needed.

I hope I don't sound overly-critical, it's not a poor photograph at all!

As a member of a Surrey camera club not far from you, I may well have suffered at the hands of the same judge. An effective critique requires both photographic knowledge and personal relations skills and unfortunately some of our judges are sadly deficient in the latter and can often do a lot of damage in demotivating the authors of the images. I agree with other respondents that the greenery is a minor distraction. I think the image is however a very decent attempt to show the windblown grasses, even if it maybe lacks a bit in overall impact, but to say that the image is not acceptable is in my view pretty wide of the mark. Do not let the judges grind you down - if you like it , then it is enough!

the only thing i think is we normally read right to left so a horizontal switch seems to make the offending bit not so obtrusive as your eye is led across the scene to the brighter area. see what you think, hope you don't mind

Personally I think the judge's comments fall "well short of an acceptable standard" for judges comments.

Not an uncommon situation and one of the reasons I rarely seek my images being judged - other than by you honest lot

Not that I am qualified to judge anything - but had I been judging this - my comments would have been that it is a perfectly pleasant shot of grasses blowing in the wind and the low angle works well. There are however a few distractions - the greenery to the right and the long straight leaves pointing down towards the right on the 2 longest grasses. My overall feeling in a non technical summary is "it just lacks a bit of oomph!"

Ignore and move on.

Carl

I like it and see nothing wrong. A judge needs to be able to back up their comments with reasons, how else could someone be expected to improve? And how else can judges be expected to be held accountable for their judgements?

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions - rather more helpful than the judge!!!

Phil

That judge needs to judge one more competition then give up. This is not a great image but it's more than acceptable. What these "experts" must do is to offer constructive criticism rather than simply arrogantly dismissive remarks.

No schoolmaster worth his salt ever says "That's rubbish" any more without giving guidance as to how improvement can be made. One of the reasons I don't like photographic clubs or competitions is stories like this.

As Nigel says: it's best not to have preconceived standards when assessing a picture. You lie what you see or you don't.

Don't let it put you off: our portfolio's (well mine, anyway) are full of pictures that no one likes or thinks anything of. You liked your shot enough to enter it and that alone gives it stature.

As above, the judge should provide more feedback if they're going to be that harsh.

My thoughts are:

I'm not liking the colours, as it's all a big washed out with the sun being so bright in the middle. I suspect you've had to bring up the shadows a lot, as the camera probably metered for the sun highlights. In hindsight I would have gone with a lower perspective, and hidden the sun further down. This would give nicer tones to the brushes and the sky, and maybe the green of the leaves.

Composition wise, the clutter on the right doesn't help and a tighter crop would probably have helped.

As it stands it's one of those ideas that didn't quite work out in practise and looks like it would take too much to rescue it in post.
I'd tend on the boring side for a description really.
Put it down as something to learn from. Everyone has these days, everyone.

It's nice to be able to present in a place such as this and to get constructive feedback.
Hopefully you've got far more information than the original judge provided