DPChallenge #3

Going downhill on scores.  Last weeks challenge was "Take a photo in which two similar subjects are captured at once."


I titled the picture "My Eye is Fuller than my Vase" which is from a poem by Emily Dickenson.  

Received my lowest score of 20%.  


Two comments:
 1)  Nice Composition harmonious use of color.  The on camera flash is a big detraction.
2)  You got hit because the items weren't similar enough - but this is an exquisite shot. Beautifully done!


But despite the score - two people gave me a 10.  So I was pleased.  
(and no you cannot vote for your own)

DPChallenge #2

Did better on my second attempt at the DPChallenge.  This time the topic was "Family".  The instructions were "take a photograph that conveys the idea of family.  Your photo need not contain a person."  


This time I managed to get in the top 50% (barely - with a 53%).  The last time was a 15% (or they rated 85% of the other photos better than yours).  I feel pretty good about it. 


I titled the picture "Fading Immortality" and it is below:

Some of you may recognize who this is -- the snapshot is an old picture of my grandparents (my dad's parents).  The picture on the left is part of an encaustic collage I had made in a workshop I had attended.  It is a collage technique using colored wax.  The family tree on the left if from a copy of the Lolli family tree that my dad had done.


So far - I am having fun with this.  I have another picture I submitted yesterday for this weeks challenge - looking forward to see how I come out.  Looking at the other pictures - I don't think I will make the 50% goal.

More Views from the Back Yard

DPChallenge #1

A friend of mine talked me into entering the DPChallenge which is a web site that has a weekly photography contest based on a topic.  Last weeks topic was "Other Art Forms".  You needed to take a picture of another piece of art that you do.    I entered a picture of one of the scarfs I wove.  Ended up 125 of 146 with an average score of 4.8 (out of 10).  Why I really entered is to start trying to get more creative with my photos and also to get ideas about how to improve.  I received three comments and two were constructive (the third was a pat on the back).

One person suggested I crop it differently to concentrate more on the fringe against the black.  I tend to agree.

The other comment was "Looks just a bit low in contrast: there could be brighter color in your image to display those colors".  Now I have to figure out what she/he means and how to do that!   Life is a learning experience.

May Be Changing My Favorite Flower

I have always loved lily of the valley.  Those of who have seen my bathroom you would see that I have a lily of the valley them going.  But I find I have not learned how to photograph them very well.  My pictures always turn out to be fairly blah.

But I love how iris's come out.  I have printed up one of my iris pictures from last year and hung it in my other bathroom.  Here are a couple of my latest pictures from my yard.