Judges' comments

[P3D John Bercovitz <bercov@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Too many 12+ hour days at work so I'm staying home this morning.  
Was it Emerson who said that sometimes money costs too much?  My 
plan was to make a more serious dent in Boswell's Life of Johnson, 
but then I started thinking about Erlys' post and so, like a 
siren, the computer calls.
 
I don't easily understand the making of art.  I think people such 
as Dr. T and Eddie Hosey play by sense of smell like Tommy the Who.  
Erlys talked about judges' comments.  I wonder if it would be a 
good idea to make a FAQ of them. If I could keep enough of them in 
mind all at once, I might be able to at least not make obvious 
errors when I try to make a composition.  Probably a flawed 
premise, but I'll give it a go.
 
So how about it?  If you like, could you think of judges' comments 
and send them to me (bercov@xxxxxxxxxx) or to the list (keeping 
the subject line intact so I can find them) and then I will make 
up a FAQ.  I'll kick off the process with a few I've heard.
 
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Composition....
 
Errors of composition are errors of composition whether in 3D or 
2D - the same rules apply.
 
You should have a foreground, a middle ground, and a background.
 
The composition should lead the eye in a diagonal from lower left 
to upper right of the frame.
 
Reduce the sky to a minimum - crop it out unless it has something 
of interest like interesting clouds.
 
If you have a view of a person looking toward the side of the 
frame, don't crop to put his nose up against the frame.  Back him 
off to the other side of the frame so he has space to look into.
 
A little more technical....
 
If you're into nudes (should I rephrase that?), please _seriously_ 
consider an RBT with 50 to 70 mm lenses.  _Every_time there is a 
nude on the screen and the pose has a limb coming toward the 
judge, the judge will say it's an awkward pose.  The judge will 
_never_ understand that he's sitting two or three times as far 
from the screen as he should be for a picture taken with 35 mm 
focal length lenses.  I think this is because most judges aren't 
technically inclined.  (Which is probably good.)  This same 
problem will occur whenever a familiar object is presented close 
up and showing enough depth.
 
We all know we shouldn't amputate a person at the waist and then 
have them float out in front of the stereo window.  However, 
judges also get upset if you cut off part of a subject, say the 
ear of a kitten, with the left or right sides of the frame.
 
John B


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