Assignment Discussion Thread

Martron

As suggested by homer, i think its a good idea to keep the discussion of assignment details in here . C&C is still welcome in the main assignment thread. ( Mods can delete this but i think it should be a sticky!)

homer simpson

Great job i didnt want to be the one making the thread and then having it fail , now you've made the thread its your fault if it does! i was thinking along the lines of every time a new assignment is posted the OP (winner of last assignment) posts a thread entitled Discussion of Assignment no X at the same time.

I think some people are taking the assignments way to serious lately, i suppose that they are entitled to do so but (there is always a but with me ) i thinks its best to keep the theme of them as simple as possable to encourage people to enter, if they want more serious ones resart the photo challanges again.....

Martron

yeah but you need some resemblance of rules or the assignemt would be so vague and you could enter anything you want. i see these assignemts more as exercises and lessons more than anything else. and i think you could achieve more personally if you stick to the topic.

Martron

i think it would be abvious about what assignemnt we are talking about as there is only one assignment running at a time.

trooney

Martron wrote: »

yeah but you need some resemblance of rules or the assignemt would be so vague and you could enter anything you want. i see these assignemts more as exercises and lessons more than anything else. and i think you could achieve more personally if you stick to the topic.

Perhaps. But tying the creative hands of people too much can stifle the very thing that is trying to be expanded upon. Its interesting to see how different people interpret differently the guides set by the person choosing the task. Sometimes its very obvious, according to the subject. But sometimes its a little looser. Both work... I think there is no problem having the last winner set some parameters, but that they should only be taken as a guide and only used as a guide. Controlling it too much is going to take the fun out of it.

If its not broken don't fix it. I don't think its broken. IMO.

Martron

i dont think we are trying to fix anything. possibly the parameters need to be set out better when assignments are similar to previous ones to prevent repetition

Martron

a bit of controversy now........... assignemt discussion.

its about placebo picture although awesome. it was not taken within the date , which means was not taken with the assignment in mind. i think thats a big part of these assignemnts. whether its 5 secs before the subject posted its still outside time .

there so many rules broken or misinterpreted in last few assignments that it will make it pointless to enter and come close to random phot thread in main forum

homer simpson

Well its simple really if its not within the rules given at the start of the thread then it really doenst qualify and sohuld be excluded, them rules have basiclly been copied and pasted from the very first assignment and i think we need some rules or,as matron says, it might as well just be a glirified random photo thread.

Although i do think that maybe a mod could cast his eye on the thread and maybe move discussions from the assigment thread to the discussion thread, of late the assignments have become way to cluttered sometimes with one or two postsof photos per page and it makes finding the photos too hard to find, it should be relativly straight forward if someone stumbles into the thread to find his/her fav photo and vote rather than sifling through countless pages of argueing and settings explained ect....


I remember not that long ago that it was customery to disclose your settings when you won and other than that the discussion was minnimal, now there is nothing wrong with the banter i actully enjoy it, but i feel it is really cluttering the assingment thread far far too much

sprinkles

Think this is a great idea. There have been full pages in the last couple of assignments with no pictures posted. C&C is fine and welcome but the discussions are definitely taking away from the threads imo.

As for your point about Placebo, I reckon the while the rules are open to interpretation you can't really argue with a deadline or start date.

For what it's worth I think a separate discussion thread for each assignment would be better for 2 reasons. 1 - ongoing discussion might over lap the new assignment and it becomes confusing. 2 - it's more obvious for new contributers that there is a specific discussions thread for the assignment.

Martron

yeah you are right . so basically when someone starts a new assignment they should open a thread on disscussion too. the assignemnt poster can then keep an eye on that thread to anwer any queries about their assignment possibly

i think that also in the assignment brief that is issued at start of the assignment a definition should be posted too as to avoid confusion ( or as some people say misinterpretation)

trooney

Martron wrote: »

...to avoid confusion...

I think we're waaay past that!

Martron

well we can start a clean slate next assignemnt

Martron

Any one any good tips or tricks to help achieve a good monochrome pic?

as in does it need to be high contrast? etc

projectgtr

Im finding it alot like HDR doesnt suit every picture, ive a good set of B/W and monochrome tuitorials on disk if you want it. Id be glad to see what tips others have too though

oshead

Martron wrote: »

Any one any good tips or tricks to help achieve a good monochrome pic?

as in does it need to be high contrast? etc

Matron, Dosn't have to be anything except monochrome. Though, I get your drift, sometimes highcontrast suits a b&w pic.

I find I can make the blacks look like 255 black and it looks fine. On the other hand white @ absolute 0 (zero) can look off, too hot, in a lot of circumstances. But that's just my opinion.

Here's a link for a number of conversion methods.

Hope this helps.

Martron

thanks.

just trying to think of a good subject......

homer simpson

Here's an idea maybe if your discussing a persons photo i might be an idea to put a link to the individual post or can we quote photos here too?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=65563696&postcount=13

Hey ProjectGTR how'd ya get your dog to look uninterested/not pay attention to you, every time i try to take a photo of my dog "in thought" he is always more interested in what im doing, no matter how much i sneek up on him, he has even been known to wake himself up just am i'm about to press the shutter button,lol!


*lightbulb* just had an idea for a photo (if i ever get my lense this evening that is)...

I was also thinking that i have never really seen a great photo of cars in B+W, i have seen ok ones yeah but no striking ones, there is a rally on tomorrow in monaghan so i might try and get a photo that might suit the monotone theme..

projectgtr

homer_simpson wrote: »

Here's an idea maybe if your discussing a persons photo i might be an idea to put a link to the individual post or can we quote photos here too?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=65563696&postcount=13

Hey ProjectGTR how'd ya get your dog to look uninterested/not pay attention to you, every time i try to take a photo of my dog "in thought" he is always more interested in what im doing, no matter how much i sneek up on him, he has even been known to wake himself up just am i'm about to press the shutter button,lol!


*lightbulb* just had an idea for a photo (if i ever get my lense this evening that is)...

I was also thinking that i have never really seen a great photo of cars in B+W, i have seen ok ones yeah but no striking ones, there is a rally on tomorrow in monaghan so i might try and get a photo that might suit the monotone theme..

She had just came back from the beach so she was knackered, other wise i would never have been able to take it she allways moves before i take a pic of her.

On the car pic i think old wrecks look good in B/W something with a bit of character not the new ones with flowing lines,so the rally could be perfect, is it the rally in killarney?

homer simpson

projectgtr wrote: »

She had just came back from the beach so she was knackered, other wise i would never have been able to take it she allways moves before i take a pic of her.

On the car pic i think old wrecks look good in B/W something with a bit of character not the new ones with flowing lines,so the rally could be perfect, is it the rally in killarney?

Nope monaghan castleblaney area wont know the exact area till i go down in the morn, killarney is on may BH weekend, too far for me to go me thinks.

Ah that would explain why she was lying like that, thanks for sharing that i must try that ther next day with max, i started experimenting with dog photos since i heard the assignment topic, to see if i could find a format i could use and try and retake the photo, but the 2 i have done so far ain't too hot, but they were taken before the date so they wouldnt count anyways, just toying around to get setting right.

P.S. heres a link to the photos if your interested...http://picasaweb.google.com/110077960140202901749/BoardsIeUploads#

projectgtr

homer_simpson wrote: »

Nope monaghan castleblaney area wont know the exact area till i go down in the morn, killarney is on may BH weekend, too far for me to go me thinks.

Ah that would explain why she was lying like that, thanks for sharing that i must try that ther next day with max, i started experimenting with dog photos since i heard the assignment topic, to see if i could find a format i could use and try and retake the photo, but the 2 i have done so far ain't too hot, but they were taken before the date so they wouldnt count anyways, just toying around to get setting right.

P.S. heres a link to the photos if your interested...http://picasaweb.google.com/110077960140202901749/BoardsIeUploads#

i like them, max looks really cute as soon as i opened the pics all i heard was AAAAAWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHH from my girlfriend sitting beside me i love the second one, maybe darken it a touch?? i allways find the best shots i take of dogs were ones that focus more on their face not a full body shot, their faces really tell a story.

Took another one today myself may aswell throw it in for the assignment

projectgtr

while this is the discussion thread, could someone explain what mono is exactly i thought it was one colour, was looking at petes entry which is making me think im getting it wrong

oshead

projectgtr wrote: »

while this is the discussion thread, could someone explain what mono is exactly i thought it was one colour, was looking at petes entry which is making me think im getting it wrong

I presume you are talking about the one with the blue in it, over the water the frame of an old pier. That looks fine to me. Looks like he did a conversion, then added a blue adjustment layer.

Generally, in a photographic sense, monochromatic means of having one colour or none. Pete's has one by the looks of it, and lots of different shades of light and darkness.

pete4130

1) Add 1 Nikon D3

2) Use 1 Nikon 80-200mm 2.8 D

3)Slight bit of -4 Grad ND filter for the sky

4)Adjust white balance for good measure

5)Some small level/curves adjustment

6)Slight sharpening

7)Post!


Pot stirred & serve

oshead

The only real way to tell (that I know of ), if an image is true MONO is by taking it into Photoshop, converting to the LAB color space and taking some readings off different points using the Info panel and color sampler. The L channel corresponds to lightness and should read lots of different values. Depending on how dark the image is. Both the A and B channels should have individual readings that are the same no matter what point of the image is being sampled.

projectgtr

oshead wrote: »

The only real way to tell (that I know of ), if an image is true MONO is by taking it into Photoshop, converting to the LAB color space and taking some readings off different points using the Info panel and color sampler. The L channel corresponds to lightness and should read lots of different values. Depending on how dark the image is. Both the A and B channels should have individual readings that are the same no matter what point of the image is being sampled.

thats why i asked, i thought it was as simple as one colour, to me petes shot has alot of (be it subtle) colour, looks like a normal shot with a gradient filter, not taking away from the shot at all i love it but i didnt think it was mono and well im still not sure

pete4130

If its predominantly blue to the naked eye, then its blue...no?

The sky was blue....the sea reflected this blue....the pier is silhoutted....blue up top, blue down the bottom. Grad ND filter to accentuate the sky is still a blue sky...no?

This is great fun!

oshead

pete4130 wrote: »

Pot stirred & serve

The pots certainly been stirred and served.

projectgtr wrote: »

thats why i asked, i thought it was as simple as one colour, to me petes shot has alot of (be it subtle) colour, looks like a normal shot with a gradient filter, not taking away from the shot at all i love it but i didnt think it was mono and well im still not sure

On closer inspection, I have to agree with you. I viewed it on my other machine and there is definitely more than one colour in there. True MONO, if such a thing exists, needs to be converted to grey scale first (ie, all colour removed) and one hue added after the fact.

homer simpson

Well if pete photo is mono if i take a picture of my golden labrador running across a beach, its mono tone, they are both yellow sure, as pete said , its all yellow, lol!

pete4130

Are we REALLY going to pixel peep, seeing as animals were voted for in the last thread....indoor, model cars on a floormat WON a previous thread.....for all intent and purpose, its a blue image. Blue sky, blue sea......the word "predominanlty" was used and I think mine is predominantly blue.


Gets bigger spoon

homer simpson

ive just gone over and read the assignment thread there now, and cos i dont want to spoil the actuall thread (hint hint :P) i'll post here...


No disrespect to you pete but there is always an arguement of some sorts over your entry/topic, as you've said yourself there are always comments in of the opinion that this is now really really spoiling the assignments, and i dont want to see them spoiled.

You made all sorts of spicifics in one of your assignments and some people agreed some disagreed, thats fair enough you won the previous and are entitled to post assignment you wished, but i feel that because of the assignment you posted some people might be inclined to "examine your entries" to see if it qualifies and in this case i really feel yours doesn't it wasnt taken within the date given (excuse about japan or something :rolleyes:) now these are just my opinions.

I used to enjoy the assignments and seen them as a bit of fun, but i feel the fun has somewhat gone out of them:(, granted you do take some craking photos i give you that but...well...you make your bed you ly in it.....

P.S. just read over my post agin and it seems a bit arogent , its not ment as an attack more on observation of your posts, dont take it the wrong may consider it as constructive criticism,lol.

pete4130

homer_simpson wrote: »

P.S. just read over my post agin and it seems a bit arogent , its not ment as an attack more on observation of your posts, dont take it the wrong may consider it as constructive criticism,lol.

Is it blue?

*Your post doesn't seem arrogant and I don't see it as an attack. I whole heartedly just want people/photographers to see outside the box/digital photo magazine and push their own boundaries. When I saw this challenge I went out of my way NOT to enter any bw/greyscale images and knew I would come in for critism for entering colour mono images. It's already educated a few people that monochrome doesn't have to mean black and white only, so far that alone it's been worth it I think.

I'm not out to antagonize people or to create enemies on here. I LOVE photography to my bones and always try to shoot something I've never shot before (which is hard!!) which I love to see in other people.

I don't take these assignments as seriously as people might think. I think they are amazing fun and I get bummed how people take me too seriously. I'm the mischevious kid at the back of the class.

homer simpson

lol the mischevious kid at the back!

i know what your saying but i interpertaded (<----Wth i know im mildly dyslexic but WTH ) the assignment to be B + W images, but then again i suppose each persons interpretation (thats better) is going to be different but i think that there is a limit, the last few assignements (the last one excluded) has had more arguements than photos, although as great as the banter is its spoiling the assignments. If the OP ment mono as the way you describe it fine but i took it as mono as in on tone, and surely your photo has more than one tone of blue.

oshead

OK, I got this from wikipedia/monochrome

For an image, the term monochrome is usually taken to mean the same as black-and-white or, more likely, grayscale, but may also be used to refer to other combinations containing only tones of a single color, such as green-and-white or green-and-black. It may also refer to sepia displaying tones from light tan to dark brown or cyanotype (“blueprint”) images, and early photographic methods such as Ambrotype, Tintype and Daguerreotype, each of which may be used to produce a monochromatic image.

For simplicity, I paraphrased the above when I set the rules out,

The image must be either black and white (grey scale) or have just one colour present through out.

We can't get clearer than that. If the image has more than one colour in it, then it isn't monochrome.

pete4130

Wiki Vs. Dictionary
I think definition 4 suits best???? being or made in the shades of a single color: a blue monochrome seascape.


My entry is blue and black, maybe with some white. All intent and purpose its blue. Blue sky, blue sea.....blue. One colour to the naked eye. Blue. Never, I say never has there been this sort of scrutiny....some people take these things far too seriously!


What is the stigmatism against me....Jaysus. You'd swear I'd rubbed people up the wrong way? Has AR hacked my account or something

Thecageyone

There's green in that picture, I think you are all colour blind.

It aint no mono.

Martron

was just thinking. for it to be monochrome. would the colour that mainly makes up the picture have to be a primary colour. because surely anything after that will be a mix of 2 colours

ie orange = red and yellow.

projectgtr

pete4130 wrote: »

Are we REALLY going to pixel peep, seeing as animals were voted for in the last thread....indoor, model cars on a floormat WON a previous thread.....for all intent and purpose, its a blue image. Blue sky, blue sea......the word "predominanlty" was used and I think mine is predominantly blue.


Gets bigger spoon

my question is, is it mono?? im a complete newb when it comes to photography and i use these assignments to learn, now as ive said its a cracking shot but after reading up on what mono is im having trouble seeing that as a mono shot, i think it would tale like 10 seconds to turn it into a mono shot but as it standsits a great shot that happens to have alot of blue in it??? like i said pete im a newb so im very open to correction

thank god for the discussion thread, glad this crap isnt clogging up the main thread, good idea homer

Martron

was homer_simpsons idea!!!

i aint taking the wrap for this when it goes sour. ha ha

YeGods

pete4130 wrote: »

Wiki Vs. Dictionary
I think definition 4 suits best???? being or made in the shades of a single color: a blue monochrome seascape.


My entry is blue and black, maybe with some white. All intent and purpose its blue. Blue sky, blue sea.....blue. One colour to the naked eye. Blue. Never, I say never has there been this sort of scrutiny....some people take these things far too seriously!


What is the stigmatism against me....Jaysus. You'd swear I'd rubbed people up the wrong way? Has AR hacked my account or something

a classic case if...if you said black they'd say white !!

homer simpson

YeGods wrote: »

a classic case if...if you said black they'd say white !!

Boom Boom ....


I reckon cant argue with what Oshead said above, after all he is the one who set the assignment so what he says goes here...

Anyways so it turns out B+W cars are just plain boring so me not being a great fan of Tampering with photos i just done a quick B+W conversion and soft focus in Picasa, took 2 seconds but saying i said i was going to try it i thought id better show the result of my attempt.

Some cracking photos in there already, shaping up for another decent assignment:cool:

YeGods

homer_simpson wrote: »

Boom Boom ....


I reckon cant argue with what Oshead said above, after all he is the one who set the assignment so what he says goes here...

Anyways so it turns out B+W cars are just plain boring so me not being a great fan of Tampering with photos i just done a quick B+W conversion and soft focus in Picasa, took 2 seconds but saying i said i was going to try it i thought id better show the result of my attempt.

Some cracking photos in there already, shaping up for another decent assignment:cool:

Aw now Homer - after I've just spent my day taking shots of cars in B&W.
Back to the drawing board.ie

homer simpson

YeGods wrote: »

Aw now Homer - after I've just spent my day taking shots of cars in B&W.
Back to the drawing board.ie

Lol what i should has said was converting my pictures of rallycars , in the middle of a stage, were boring! Some cars do lood good, i have another idea but dont think there are any vintage rallys near me before the end of the assignnment

Martron

ok so i am still getting used to all this monochrome stuff. but Stabos Moody skies Post #50 . surely there is may colours in it. or am i missing something?

PopeBuckfastXVI

Martron wrote: »

ok so i am still getting used to all this monochrome stuff. but Stabos Moody skies Post #50 . surely there is may colours in it. or am i missing something?

It's a selective desaturation, if anything, it's certainly not monochrome.

All this talk of what is, or isn't monochrome, shouldn't really matter.

The votes are what counts, if enough people vote for a non-monochrome (like Pete's or this image) then so what? They obviously feel it fits the bill.

I personally won't vote for a non-monochrome image, and if most people do likewise a non-monochrome image won't win the monochrome challenge. Outside of pics taken outside the date range, then let the vote decide what's what.

Martron

that what bugs me about these assignment people voting on a picture that does not follow the assignments brief.

Is it that people just vote for the sake of voting , or they vote because they think its a pretty picture.

i think it shows a lack of understanding about the topic a) if you post a oicture thats not what the assignment is about ( which is far enough especially if you are new to photography) b) if you vote for a picture that does not follow the assignemnt.

I think there is a lot of sympathy votes/popularity votes here.

if you are looking for votes based solely on the picture rather than the assignment post it in the random photo thread and get all the votes you want.

just bugs me. and i know the next post will be relax its only for fun but i am only telling the truth.

( my one vote system would help solve this...... where only the good pictures will get voted!!:D)

homer simpson

I have to agree with matron (not on the one vote thing though) the assignments are pretty much turning into a glorified random photo thread now, sure its a bit of fun and nothing serious, but what is the point of setting pirimators if a picture that doesn't follow them wins, just cos its a good photo doesn't mean that its a good photo in regards the topic!

YeGods

Martron wrote: »

that what bugs me about these assignment people voting on a picture that does not follow the assignments brief.

Is it that people just vote for the sake of voting , or they vote because they think its a pretty picture.

i think it shows a lack of understanding about the topic a) if you post a oicture thats not what the assignment is about ( which is far enough especially if you are new to photography) b) if you vote for a picture that does not follow the assignemnt.

I think there is a lot of sympathy votes/popularity votes here.

if you are looking for votes based solely on the picture rather than the assignment post it in the random photo thread and get all the votes you want.

just bugs me. and i know the next post will be relax its only for fun but i am only telling the truth.

( my one vote system would help solve this...... where only the good pictures will get voted!!:D)

1 vote per person is too flawed. even our current democratic system allows us to give our 1st, 2nd, 3rd preference etc. As for "only the good pictures will get voted" we all see things differently and trying to force us to choose is against the spirit of what I believe this forum was founded upon - common interest in taking and viewing photographs from all different types of people. I do agree that if you thing the shot was out of context then don't vote for it. it's your choice.

Martron

one voting is less flawed than multiple voting. it gives your vote more value if you have only one and it will make you think twice about voting for photos that have nothing to do with the assignemnt.

beside i am over trying tho change the voting here. and i added that comment on the end of a post as a joke.

and i dont see how people think by having rules about sticking to a topic or subject is not fun. all the great games have rules. thats what makes them different. ie assignment vs random thread

Martron

and i suppose what i meant that only good pictures will get voted is that votes wont be wasted on mediocre photos .and of course this is all open to personal choice.

Thecageyone

One entry per person would work better than just the one vote. There's probably not enough people enter every month to only allow one vote each? [this is only my second time entering]

homer simpson

Thecageyone wrote: »

One entry per person would work better than just the one vote. There's probably not enough people enter every month to only allow one vote each? [this is only my second time entering]

but you dont need to enter to vote, anybody can vote its not an exclusive thing, i think one entry per person really doesnt work because if you enter at the start of the assignment and find a better subject/photo later in the fortnight it means you cant enter it.