I have the exact same experience.
The view of our judges is that we are creating art. We have a separate category called altered reality. You must enter it as that if you "add" anything to the photo that wasn't there. However, removing distracting elements, even people, is considered fair game.
I enjoy these kinds of discussions. Sharing diverse opinions. I wish there was more of that in this weekly thread.
And to be clear, I think the I think the gigantic crop is a better photograph. The advantage of today's high res cameras is you can make a photo out of a crop like that... certainly if you are posting it online... but as long as you are not posting a wall-size print you can be selective.
An appealing shot, but pay attention to your edges. That stuff is so easy to fix with today's software.
This one is perfect!
The first shouldn't work but it does. The lit grasses on the second are important.
Lots of atmosphere in this set, but I really like this shot with the food stall.
I accept the circle comment but the debris? Not so much. I did take plenty where the circle was intact but this had the best wave.
The last is my pick, beautiful. The horizontal bars tend to crop up a lot in these churches, are they lighting booms or structural supports?
May I join in. It is my experience too, that what I think are weaker shots in a set, often added to tell a story, turn out to be the most popular shots in a set. Maybe because they fall outside of my usual compositional practice.
I am not too keen on cloning out stuff, but I do it occasionally. A couple of shots I made during Covid had all those paper "do not sit here" markers fouling up the shot. So I removed them, in two different locations. I went back the year after and reshot both places as they were nearby. I feel more comfortable with un-cloned shots.
Thanks.
This is an interesting building, which I will explore again when they have finished working inside, as it is quite spectacular inside too.
The bars are structural, to stop the arches spreading out. An arch has a big horizontal thrust outwards at the base. Gothic flying arches are a much more attractive way of doing things, by taking the horizontal thrusts down to the foundations, if you have the space.
So, now you have me curious. Why do you think it shouldn't work?
Of course, you may. I totally understand the aversion to modifying photos. I used to have a more strict view myself. The longer I have engaged in this hobby the more liberal my views have become. I am creating my photos for viewing enjoyment NOT to document how a place looks. The viewer is never gone to know there was a Covid sign there, nor will they care. On the contrary, they will be glad they didn't have the distraction when viewing the photo.
I do have concerns about the progress in AI, though. I feel like a photo should be MOSTLY real. Your skill and eye when snapping the shutter should matter a lot.
Commonly, this shot would be approached from a low viewpoint, stretching into the distance. But I like this unusual perspective. I don't like the leaves on the bottom left and, unlike Nigel and Steve, would clone them out in a heartbeat. From my point of view, and it sounds rather grandiose when I say it but I don't mean it to be, I am trying to create art, rather than simply document something. If I like the shot, then I'm happy enough. I'll take on board any feedback but am generally confident in my own judgement nowadays. That doesn't necessarily apply to the stuff that I sell of course.
Looks lovely in the clean new snow.
That is a staggering amount of detail. I occasionally wish I had more to call on with my humble Oly, but then I would struggle to carry anything heavier on my mountain hikes. It does have a hi-res mode, but that would require a tripod. I tell myself that when I do my 'art' shots with ICM and multi-exposures, extra resolution becomes superfluous.
The Natural Landscape Photography Awards run via OnLandscape magazine does something similar.
www.onlandscape.co.uk/2023/11/natural-landscape-photographer-of-the-year-2023/
Things are going to get a whole lot more complicated in the near future, given the explosion in AI development.
[quote="@Vahur"]
Walk in old town day after snowfall.
Wrong thread, should go to "Lonely benches" instead?
Wow - some very pretty images here.
I like #3 but have to ask for #5, who would sit outside in that weather!?
I think we would all agree on that, but the ongoing lack of a threaded format makes it tiresome.
I have been known to remove rubbish bins and notice boards, but rarely overhead wires. I think I've become more tolerant of them over time 😁 Often things like a spider's web of wires are an important part of the local scene. I don't think I've ever added anything in except in fun.
Gabriele Basilico a famous Italian Architectural photographer made good use of the spiders web of wires that you see in Italian cities. It sort of marks out his work very often. So I just now tend to accept them in my pictures, along with all the other flotsam and jetsam of modern life.
