P3D entering stereo contests & postcards

["Andrea Blair" <asblair@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

George Themelis has defended the competition viewpoint well, but as much 
as I enjoy competitions (I am VERY  competitive), I have to support 
those who do not like this format of viewing images. Some people just do 
not enjoy the competitive atmosphere. I have also seen *good judges* and 
*bad judges*. Most of this determination comes from the way they present 
their critique (if they offer any at all). Competition can also change 
the attitude of otherwise nice people. I was in a club once where there 
was a real nice guy who did wonderful work most of the time. But he was 
so wrapped up in winning all the time, that he became a poor winner 
(crowing a lot) AND a poor loser (sulking a lot).

And there is nothing wrong with *postcard* images. As a postcard 
collector, I have seen literally thousands of images. It was actually 
this hobby that led me to photography. Now I enjoy both, although I am 
much more active in photography.

I often hear judges remark that they DON'T score high for sunsets or 
typical *postcard* scenes, because they've seen them before. This is 
unfair to the photographer who is currently presenting this image, who 
may not know that their shot of a farm or a mill (or whatever) is very 
popular. And so what if you've seen 1000 sunsets; was THIS sunset well 
presented? This is where I disagree with a lot of judges. Don't penalize 
the photographer for having something similar to something you've seen 
before. Judge this shot objectively. If you really don't like it, that's 
o.k. Just don't use this poor excuse to eliminate it. Be honest.

Set topics in club competitions have to be narrow enough to cut out the 
majority of other themes, but broad enough to allow all of the 
photographers to record something fairly easily.

And on the subject of competing against photographs from around the 
world when you can only step outside into your own backyard - stop 
worrying and take more pictures! I have heard this complaint time and 
time again in clubs, and it just doesn't make sense. Why would an image 
from an exotic land win just because of where it is? A bad image is a 
bad image; and a good image is a good image. If you can photograph a bug 
in your backyard better than the other person can photograph a church in 
Italy, you are going to win (most of the time). I know; I've done it. 
I've seen lots others do it. Once you compete in international 
competitions, this fear of being "lesser traveled" soon disappears (or 
it should). Your backyard suddenly becomes someone else's exotic place!

Just my HO, as usual,

Andrea Blair
asblair@xxxxxxxxxxx



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