Scott Kelby, That Nikon Guy, and Frozen Butt (part) 4

     After a couple of days, I was pretty much happy with what I got from Suwon.  Despite the dreadful experience, I can't forget the adrenalin rush.  And I'm happy to shoot the same way (albeit more informed) from other places.  But I'm satisfied with what I got, that I decided to submit one of them to Thatnikonguy's competition.

     I had a bit of a problem on flickr as my uploads seem to suffer from banding.  Then again, even my uploads from the Double Trouble session was also too noisy.  Some things I noticed only on flickr.  I've learned that they were caused by my camera set to Adobe RGb instead of SRGB... whatever that means.  But I submitted my entry to the competition anyway... then the wait.

Wait For Sunrise
So I chose this out of all the shots.  I like it and at least my frozen butt should be highlighted.  I ended up cropping the image because I think the foreground was a bit much.  There was a bit of a clutter at the end of the rails on the left side so I cropped that as well.  You may also notice that I cleaned up the background.  Thank you, photoshop.  But that was all I did.

     Time has arrived and Matt from Thatnikonguy started reviewing all the entries.  To me, I'm pretty happy with mine.  The other stuff I saw, some of them were amazing, some of them I just nod, some of them I expected, and even one of them were pretty much like my Double Trouble... only poorly executed.

     But by the time Matt says something in the beginning of the video, I already knew I failed.  I realized that one crucial factor was missing.  The part where long exposure has to be obvious.  I know some people would be impressed on how long I stayed still for the 30 second shot.  But that doesn't say anything with regards to long exposure.  So yes, at the very beginning of the video, I know I have no chance of winning.  What I'm looking forward to, now, is what he'd say about my photo.

     My entry is at 1:16:31.  I had to keep rewinding 'cause I wanted to see his face while giving critique.  I was pleased.  Yes, I know I failed.  But despite that, what he said lifted up my spirit.  It was still a good picture, and I believe so, myself.

     In this video, the winner was chosen.  But there were so many complains and others revealed that the winner at the time bent the rules.  With careful consideration, Matt chose a different winner, and this was it:

"Chimney" by StephAnna G

     The first time I saw the image above, it took me a lot to figure what it was.  That was a good sign.  It took me to stare at the image and guess what it is and what's the story, without looking at the title and description.  That's what I believe, a good photo is.  And to be honest, I never figured out what it was until I watched the video.

     Losing from this photo competition didn't bother me at all.  I knew why I failed and I could chuck that up to experience.  As I mentioned before, photo critics tend to look at every detail in the image.  And I should be critical about my images myself... even before taking the shot.  I need practice.