What did I do wrong?

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
In a recent Weekly Challenge where the subject was "Books" I posted the following picture, a diptych I titled "Married Life":

Book Diptych.jpg

The first part of the diptych was composed using two softboxes, one to either side of me, and a reflector that acted as a halo light and also lit up the globe, decanter, and bottle of scotch in the background. I clicked an IR remote and then had 2 seconds to throw the remote to the side, grab the snifter, and pose before the shutter fired. That motion took a number of takes.

The second half of the diptych used both softboxes, but no reflector so as to cut down on glare on the glossy page.

It took a while to position the lights, the camera, the props, and the reflector. But eventually I got a shots where I was happy with the focus and exposure. I then went online and managed to figure out how to stitch two pictures into one, making a diptych.

However, when I posted the picture early in the competition it only garnered 2 "Likes".

I'm really curious about this. In previous challenges my pictures receive quite a few more votes than that, even though I didn't think those pictures were that much better than this one. What made a difference this time, a difference I can't seem to discern?

I am genuinely looking to learn from this, as someone who only recently took up the hobby. What am I missing here? What can improve on? Did I completely misjudge the lighting and subsequent exposure? Was my little jape at married life offensive, rather than amusing as I intended? Is it that it's a diptych, and so not considered a single photo? Am I really that ugly?? (Ok, I do know the answer to that last one, so don't bother. I'm in radio, not TV, for a reason.) ;)

So if you have any thoughts about how I can improve my technique when it comes to shots like this I would really appreciate if you could pass them on to me. I'm not concerned about faring well in the competitions. Win, lose, or draw I'm having fun just testing my abilities by trying to get creative with the posted topic. But I would like to improve as a photographer overall, and I think taking advice from the more seasoned members here would be a great way to go about that. Thanks very much!
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
​You did nothing wrong. The members liked other photos better. If you look back at other challenges you will see many post with one or two likes.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
My opinion is this photo didn't quite capture the subject of Books. The subject is plural, and while there are other books in the background, clearly the subject in your image is someone being captivated by the book. Adding in the second image (in my humble opinion) detracted even further from the subject by placing attention on the info contained inside the book.

So for me, your image didn't capture the original subject as well as some of the other photos that simply showed a variety of books.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
I get the humor and I like the humor. Also, from a purely technical standpoint, I think you did quite well.

From a creative, aesthetic standpoint the shot really doesn't do much for me.
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
My opinion is this photo didn't quite capture the subject of Books. The subject is plural, and while there are other books in the background, clearly the subject in your image is someone being captivated by the book. Adding in the second image (in my humble opinion) detracted even further from the subject by placing attention on the info contained inside the book.

So for me, your image didn't capture the original subject as well as some of the other photos that simply showed a variety of books.

I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the elucidation.
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
For the topic “books” I’m afraid these didn’t do anything for me.
I look for something interesting, whether it’s clever use of light, or positioning of a model, or something.
Keep in mind that the topic sets the theme, but your imagination inspires the photo.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thank you for that, Patrick. I might argue that it took a certain amount of imagination to come up with this photo, rather than something that might instantly spring to mind - like, say, a front-on photo of a bunch of books. But I appreciate that my effort didn't do anything for you, and I very much appreciate your input. Cheers.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I could have sworn I liked your photo,(I just checked- I didn't) believe me- I laughed out loud when I saw it! I liked the creativity and I see multiple books, so to me it fit the bill for the photo contest. Knowing a bit more about your process of lighting and composure makes me like it even more. I liked everyone's photos more than what I could come up with- so I didn't post one. Lewzer, I know. Keep at it @Dangerspouse I like the way you think!
 

Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
This is a very small audience, and humor is a hit or miss proposition. I thought you did a good job technically, and your idea was creative and well thought out. FWIW I only liked one photo out of the whole bunch. I guess I'm a tough customer. :)
 

nickt

Senior Member
I've been away from the computer a lot, I totally missed seeing this challenge. I went back to take a look. It was a tough topic. Pictures of books can be dry. One in particular stood out to me, the theater turned bookstore. Your shot made me smile, certainly not offensive. I'd like to think we all keep some school-kid fun in our lives even as we grow older. I think maybe that it was a diptych, the 2-in-1 and the joke aspect took away from the book theme for me. I think the left half of your shot on its own might have done better for this topic. Maybe if the topic was 'married life' or 'big kids' it would have done better. I'm still iffy on diptychs and triptychs in general though.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Sometimes as photographers its not easy to see why some one would like one of our images more than another

I put some shots on flickr, this one got more like than the second one, i much prefer the second as i see more character in the face.

P8080018.jpg



P8080012.jpg
 

nickt

Senior Member
Sometimes as photographers its not easy to see why some one would like one of our images more than another

I put some shots on flickr, this one got more like than the second one, i much prefer the second as i see more character in the face.

I like the first! Haha, I do the same in a local facebook group. So many times I tell my wife, "They're liking the WRONG picture!"
 

Chris@sabor

Senior Member
I think it was very clever and well executed. I'm finding that a lot of people just don't spend much time examining and contemplating photos. It has to GRAB them at about 1/1000 of a second or they move on. We live in an extremely fast paced world. especially online, so it's our responsibility to get peoples attention or we won't. My only critique is, perhaps it was too well lit. Some moody, dramatic lighting might have caught the viewer attention more. Maybe.
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I could have sworn I liked your photo,(I just checked- I didn't) believe me- I laughed out loud when I saw it! I liked the creativity and I see multiple books, so to me it fit the bill for the photo contest. Knowing a bit more about your process of lighting and composure makes me like it even more. I liked everyone's photos more than what I could come up with- so I didn't post one. Lewzer, I know. Keep at it @Dangerspouse I like the way you think!

Oh sure. "I could have sworn..." Sorry pal, if it doesn't work on my wife, it ain't gonna work on me.

Lol. No sweat - the fact that you came crawling back with fawning praise makes up for it. (Seriously, thanks very much!)

And you're not a lewzer. You just can't spell ;)
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
This is a very small audience, and humor is a hit or miss proposition. I thought you did a good job technically, and your idea was creative and well thought out. FWIW I only liked one photo out of the whole bunch. I guess I'm a tough customer. :)

You're right of course. If the audience doesn't like it, technique is moot. The middle of the bell curve always wins. We on either end don't usually stand a chance.

Good for you, holding to your standards. Frankly I prefer playing to tough customers. No one gets better if they only play to sycophants. Fly that curmudgeon flag high, Woody!

;)
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I've been away from the computer a lot, I totally missed seeing this challenge. I went back to take a look. It was a tough topic. Pictures of books can be dry. One in particular stood out to me, the theater turned bookstore. Your shot made me smile, certainly not offensive. I'd like to think we all keep some school-kid fun in our lives even as we grow older. I think maybe that it was a diptych, the 2-in-1 and the joke aspect took away from the book theme for me. I think the left half of your shot on its own might have done better for this topic. Maybe if the topic was 'married life' or 'big kids' it would have done better. I'm still iffy on diptychs and triptychs in general though.

Thank you for all that, it was very insightful and I appreciate it all. It made a lot of sense, particularly about the 2-in-1 style reducing the overall impact. Thanks!
 
Top