October 'Pink' contest Final 50

Wow, not to be all sour grapes or anything, but most of the choices are not very interesting, nor do they evoke the theme very well.

I agree 100% with Veronica. I was very, very surprised at the choices. The photographers should have been informed beforehand about the "emotions" their photo were to exude. The "pink" theme, in hindsight, seems like it was totally irrelevant in the judge's eyes!

Too many flowers! The pink of October is supposed to embrace the cause of breast cancer ... where is the human emotion? The struggle / pain / joy / overcoming emotions that this can bring out?

There are some very fine photos among the top 50, but to my eye, there are quite a few disappointments.

If one follows the guidelines of a month's challenge and tries to incorporate good photography, then their entry should have a fair chance of selection.

If after the fact the judge changes the things she is looking for, what is the purpose of the original subject?

I know that photography, like all art, is subjective, but give me a break.

We should all at least start on the same page.

The rules of the contest were to simply have something pink in your photograph. It didn't need to relate to breast cancer. Also - all good photographs should evoke some emotion from the viewer. I applaud Sharon for selecting photos that "came from the heart, not from the camera." I think a lot of people get lucky with nature - a beautiful sunset, a pretty flower - it's hard to screw those pictures up. It's much more difficult to photograph someone or something and convey an emotion. When a viewer can feel this emotion, the photo is inspiring.
I agree, however, about the flowers. I'm sick of seeing so many flowers in contests. They're easy to photograph, in my opinion.

Favorites? The ones that stepped outside the box.

Any photograph can get messed up, whether it is a person, object or flower. Give credit where credit is due! The best pictures were selected, ones that displayed pink as the color.

The art of photography is always subjective. What one person likes, another may dislike. Moreover, like any good art form, invoking emotion is an essential ingredient for a successful piece.

Personally, I like quite a few of the top 50, however, I will agree that I'm tired of flowers...flowers and more flowers. But that's me; most flower compositions (and I emphasize "most" -- not all) just do not inspire me as much as other sorts of compositions.

Good luck to the final 50 contestants!

Elizabeth is right on. Amateurs typically limit their genres to "pretty" flowers and landscapes. And that's a real shame. There are tons of these already done to death, and they can only elicit a single emotional response from the viewers: "Yeah, it's pretty." It is difficult for these eye-candies to catch a (bored to tears) judge's attention, or leave viewers with lasting impressions.

Photography is visual communication. A good photographer would create an image with this in mind before releasing the shutter, just like a good writer would before putting down the first word on a page. They would both ask themselves, "What am I trying to communicate, and how best can I get the message across?" A good piece of work should elicit joy, sadness, anger, curiosity, etc. from the viewers/readers. Far more than just "pretty".

Critiques here tend to focus on techniques, with very limited comments on emotional responses.

Where are the results from the 'Pink' contest?? The link isn't even up on the main page anymore! Hope I didn't miss them, this was an interesting contest this month. Looking forward to the results.