Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Portfolio Analysis - How judges pick winning portfolios and sports photos

1. Runner-up Videos

Nick Adams
The general focus of the portfolio are the people and the story behind the photo. While many of the photos include sport shots, the majority of the photos are centered on the story.
Dislikes: The judges note that many of these photos do not have much originality, often times the judges have to read the caption in order to understand what the photo is conveying and the photographer does not correctly use elements and many of the photo's composition, framing, and balance is off.
Likes: The first photo displays a severely disfigured man and one of the photographers notes that it would have taken a strong-willed person to take this photo and a strong-willed man to be comfortable for the photo to be taken. They also note later on that a photo of a girl reaching up towards birds in the sky is "okay", though it lacks composition.
To me, the photographer seems a little sloppy and lacks creativity that causes his photos to come off as mediocre and amateur. There are a couple of photos that were visually appealing to look at, but many of the photos weren't interesting and didn't draw me in.

Sam Adams
The general focus of this portfolio are sports.
Dislikes: According to the judges, one of the photos (of a man who is sitting on a pier next to a duck boat) does not convey feeling or emotion like the photo seems to be intended to be doing. The judges are also not fans of a recurring theme in the photographer's photos, which is to show a silhouette against the a simple background, and they also comment that there is a lack of variety in the photos and that most of them compose of a group of men sitting on bikes and looking away from the camera.
Likes: The judges particularly like one of the photos where three woman are bracing themselves as a ball hurtles down on them, but they do not give further comment about the photo. Later on, the judges comment that some of the photos are visually appealing.
I liked this photographer much more than the last one. The photos seemed more creative and well-shot, and many of the photos were just visually appealing to look at. I didn't like how some of the photos just seemed random and that they were trying to convey emotion, even though it didn't work out.

Daryl Peveto
The general focus of this portfolio are stories.
Dislikes: The very first photo is not well-taken and is not clear, which confuses the judges straight off. It doesn't help that the photo is paired with the wrong caption. This happens again in which the photo is confusing and the subject is not clear. Many times, the photos are just not interesting and do not capture the judges' attention. The judges frequently comment that there is a lack of interest in the photos and some, again, do not have the proper caption.
Likes: The judges note that some of the photos have very nice lighting and visual elements and later comment that one photo has a nice color balance that contrasts the two sides in the photo. They also agree that many of these photos were well-taken and have very good composition.
I actually really liked this photographer. A lot of the photos were visually appealing and quite a few caught my eye. The photos were shot at a creative angle and many of them appeared to convey a dramatic mood, though that might have been the black and white film.

2. The Winner

Dustin Snipes
a. The judges commented that many of the photographer's photos were well-taken and visually appealing. They liked that in some of the photos, everyone in the photo was doing something which conveyed a certain emotion or mood in the photo. The photographer took many creative shots that really got the judges' approval, and all the photos showed the subject's reaction to what was going on in the photo.
b. I saw a lot more strengths than weaknesses. Compared to the runner-up portfolios, and the photos in this one were very creative and very interesting. Many of the photos were appealing to look at and some were chaotic but in a way that made the photo very appealing to look at. The photos conveyed emotion and expression which was another thing that really stood out to me. No two photos were exactly the same and I really liked that.

3. The Judging Process

In order to decide the winner, the judges first viewed all the photos altogether to decide whether or not the photos were appealing at first glance and then if the photos had variety and were not repeats of the same thing. If the judges liked what they saw, they would zoom in to view the photos separately and comment on the photos and if the photographer accomplished what they intended to do.

Part 2. Individual Images

1. I agree with the photographers on one photo where a woman is looking away as a goose impacts with her arm. The photographers praise the photo for being interesting, humorous, and spontaneous. Additionally, the photo itself is telling the story and you don't need to read the captions to figure out what's going on in photo. The photographer also gets a lot of credit for taking the shot, since a moment like that would have been fast paced and not so easy to shoot.

2. When the judges are choosing the photos for the Photos of the Year category, I think that there were a lot of choices that would have been better than the ones they chose (except for the goose photo). I liked that the judges considered the goose photo and the escalator photo, however I think that the other two photos could have been better chosen and might've even been better than those two photos.



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