Rejects from the Pentax Photo Gallery

[Edward Bussa]

I submitted a bunch of photos to the Pentax Photo Gallery (http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/index-flash.jsp) and they accepted a few and rejected others. Here are the rejects! Why post the rejects here? Well, because you can see the accepted ones here (http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/edwardbussa)!

Seriously, I'm curious as to why these might have been rejected. Any ideas?

I've always found cherry blossoms difficult with regards to color balance. Is there anything obviously wrong with the color balance?

http://www.threadster.com/opf/ppgreject/reject1.jpg

http://www.threadster.com/opf/ppgreject/reject2.jpg

http://www.threadster.com/opf/ppgreject/reject3.jpg

[Asher Kelman]

Congrats Ed!

Asher

[Michael Fontana]

Hi Edward

>Seriously, I'm curious as to why these might have been rejected. Any ideas? <

like Asher, have my congrats for the accepted ones!

As for the rest: a jury is "just" a bunch of humans; therefore personal preferences, taste, attitudes etc of the jury members do play a role. If you nail it down to the bottom, it might even depend too, if someone likes cherries, etc ; sometimes it's called luck, sometimes it's called subjective judgement.....

I find it more interesting, what you personally will find the best of your selection, maybe in one or two years. Because you as a author are subjective, too: after working nearly 30 years with pictures on a daily base, I sometimes realise, that a shot, intended to be a keeper, isn't really so good as I thought; meanwhile a low-rated one starts to shine after a while only.....

BTW: I didn't find your picts in the collection, maybe you should give a hint.

[Cem_Usakligil]

Likewise, congratulations are in order Ed! Fantastic :-).

....BTW: I didn't find your picts in the collection, maybe you should give a hint.
Michael: the direct link is http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/edwardbussa.
Also, you can choose the artist category and scroll down to Edward Bussa.
HTH.

Regards,

[Michael Fontana]

Thanks, Cem; now I found them!

Well, I think the jury took rather the cherry-images with a certain type of perspective....

Just for the subjectiveness: Years ago, I paid my study with beeing a stockmen in the swiss alps (7000 ft) during holidays, I appreciate the cattle's shot a lot; not only cause I see cows, but the snow AND sunset reminds me these occasions, when there was snow during high sommer, and the entire pack had to be moved down into the lower valleys; not alwith a easy job, as the younger calfs tend to run up to the highest peaks (8'000 feets), when havin snow.... ;-)

With that background, the reading of that photo might be pretty differently, than some urban people would do.

[Ray West]

Hi Edward,

I don't know if there is a limit on the number of photos they can select, but the ones they have selected are the best of your bunch, for what they want to present - something a bit different - I guess. The cherry blossom cloud image, sort of gets you to take a second look. Is it clouds in the background, or dense blossom? That photo is more interesting than the photos of blossom shown here, imho. The second image on this page is sort of similar, but I am looking for something at the top of the photo, the first and third are nothing special wrt needing selecting.

I think what they want to show is if you use pentax, you will take imaginative pictures, ergo you are a person with imagination - it's not the photographer, its the camera ;-) - then the purchaser associates the camera with the unique images he's seen, and the clever folk who made them.


Best wishes,

Ray

[Edward Bussa]

Thanks for the Congrats! everyone,

Hi Edward,
The cherry blossom cloud image, sort of gets you to take a second look. Is it clouds in the background, or dense blossom?


Yes! Some pictures are easier to title than others - "Blossom Clouds" played a decided trick on my eye as well (hence the name)


The second image on this page is sort of similar, but I am looking for something at the top of the photo, the first and third are nothing special wrt needing selecting.

Thanks for the perspective! Actually, I really like the blossom close-up (#3 here). I've had that as my wallpaper for a few weeks now. It is not quite as sharp as I'd like, and I wonder if the color balance could somehow be a bit better, but I find rest and beauty in the image. I like the transparent petals and foggy edges in the corners...


then the purchaser associates the camera with the unique images he's seen, and the clever folk who made them.

You didn't know that clever people choose Pentax? Of course you did! :)

Thanks for the feedback Ray.

[Edward Bussa]

Michael,

Thanks for the comments. I re-read the thread and found that I didn't read your post correctly the first time...


meanwhile a low-rated one starts to shine after a while only.....


Yes, that's an odd thing about a juried gallery: my collection of work on display but chosen by someone else.


Well, I think the jury took rather the cherry-images with a certain type of perspective....


What type of perspective do you mean? physical or interpretive?

I appreciate the cattle's shot a lot; not only cause I see cows, but the snow AND sunset reminds me these occasions

I completely disregarded the cattle image in the first sort. I did actually distribute it for friends to view because I had taken the picture on a friend's land and thought they would appreciate seeing the cows across the street.

However, people started commenting on it and so I decided it was "popular". I am still not terribly enamored with it but the snow hooks me sometimes. :)

[Michael Fontana]

Michael,
.........What type of perspective do you mean? physical or interpretive?

I completely disregarded the cattle image in the first sort. I did actually distribute it for friends to view because I had taken the picture on a friend's land and thought they would appreciate seeing the cows across the street.

However, people started commenting on it and so I decided it was "popular". I am still not terribly enamored with it but the snow hooks me sometimes. :)


I mean the visual perspective of the trees at the Pentax-site:

- one shows the "foreground"- tree at the center of the image, while the're two lines of trees rather at the border..

- meanwhile the second image is somehow a inversion: no trees at the center (just the boxes) and two symmetrical tree lines at the border...

Personally, I find the first more interesting, as the cam's position wasn't orientated strictly at the tree-lines, sort of "disturbed" symmetrie, and the eye takes a moment, to get it.

As for the cattle: I used it just as a example for subjectiveness, as parth of a personal biography.

[Edward Bussa]

As for the cattle: I used it just as a example for subjectiveness, as parth of a personal biography.

... which is why I think it has been "popular"... it evokes something from their experience

[Jeff Donovan]

Edward,

If the judges were Japanese, they have been looking for the most asthetically pleasing sakura (cherry blossom) picture their entire lives and have probably seen millions of them. Yours would almost have to be transcendent to gain their attention.

The ones they picked all seemed to illustrate certain things. The field and trees had a deep depth of field the barn had a great monochrome/color mix, etc.

Just an amateur's take, I'd have trouble picking the six best and then being able to tell you why :)

[Edward Bussa]

Edward,

If the judges were Japanese, they have been looking for the most asthetically pleasing sakura (cherry blossom) picture their entire lives and have probably seen millions of them.

Good point! I hadn't thought of it this way.

I'm not sure what the make up of the judging panel was when these were submitted or who is on the final judging panel now. However, recently the screening process was opened up to the gallery artist community and any artist in the gallery can vote on the images being submitted.


The ones they picked all seemed to illustrate certain things. The field and trees had a deep depth of field the barn had a great monochrome/color mix, etc.


I'm still refining how I screen my own images. Feedback from others is important so thanks. Also, being able to critique other gallery submissions has been helpful too. The process helps me seperate out my thoughts about "a good photograph" and my own sentimental attachments to my own photographs.