Last edited Sat Dec 27, 2014, 04:11 PM - Edit history (1)

I thought the theme was Still Life--with qualifications.

To me, that meant they needed to be purposely arranged compositions--by the photographer--of inanimate objects.

I have to say that there are several photos in the contest that to me, are not still lifes.

From Wikipedia:

Still life photography is the depiction of inanimate subject matter, most typically a small grouping of objects. Still life photography, more so than other types of photography, such as landscape or portraiture, gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition.

Still life photography is a demanding art, one in which the photographers are expected to be able to form their work with a refined sense of lighting, coupled with compositional skills. The still life photographer makes pictures rather than takes them. Knowing where to look for propping and surfaces also is a required skill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_life_photography

Here's a discussion on another photography board about what constitutes "still life".

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?38790-What-is-a-still-life


Does anyone else have any thoughts about this?

But since the theme was so restrictive, I think we should just take out the still life requirement.

Or, how about bonus points if it really is a still life?

Right now, the leaders in the voting are all landscape photos.

If we were going to do ANY photo of something OLD, NEW, BORROWED, BLUE, we should
have all known it.

Bah, humbug!

which is why I didn't enter anything because my brain just doesn't work that way. Still life is out of my wheelhouse. Being something of a loner, I have no one to "borrow" something from anyway. .

That question would normally be decided by the host, but since the original host isn't here for whatever reason I (as substitute host) will accept all the entries that we have and take the blame if someone isn't happy. In previous contests for as long as I can remember hosts have always been fairly liberal with entries in order to have as many people as possible participate. If nothing else I suppose anyone who has a complaint can request to have their entry fee returned .

This entire situation was tricky for you, and you pulled it out in order for us to start over in the New Year.
You ran with a theme you did not chose, and persevered in giving us a contest.

About the still life:
I was tickled to run across my photo of the borrowed old streetcorner granting a rest to the new baby and the Mom in blue pants I declared it a still life - even though I did not arrange it. To ME looking at it actually is one. But I knew it had that strike against it, yet I liked it so I entered it anyway.
I sincerely believe that the voting public has discernment and vigilance in my observation over the years. They weigh the theme against what is presented to them, they even comment on it at times, I think maybe this time they weren't all that clear, and they are just voting on what they like.
I have not run across a host rejecting a photo that did not fit the criteria given by the way, unless he or she was asked.
But for now, it's all good. Let's get along, take note, and be more careful next year.

to groundloop

The contest looked like it needed more entries, and I waited until the end.

I haven't been entering contests in the last few months because I am just doing a fraction of the amount of photography I used to do, for now anyway. So I just skimmed the rules quickly and looked at the entries ahead of mine, and mine seemed to fit in, LOL. I guess I was counting on the people entering ahead of me to read the rules correctly. I won't feel too guilty because my photo seems unlikely to make the finals. Hopefully the winning photo will be a still life.

Thanks for your work, groundloop.