fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Trying to keep it real. This is as close as I can get to how my memory would expect it to be.

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lloydl2 Loc: Gilbert, AZ

a very nice scene (I am partial to seashore scenes). Using Lightroom I tried to emphasize the dynamics of the lighting the sun on the right the high shadow on the house rocks cart character and the shore in general. I hope you like it and thanks for posting and giving us a crack at honing our editing skills....

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SoHillGuy Loc: Washington

Worked with the jpg.

Edits in CS5 and Perfect Effects.

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Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Memory, to quote Jorge Luis Borges, is like a sieve. Not to disparage anyone else's work, you've not only come pretty doggone close to what it actually looked like that evening, you've come pretty doggone close to what it might look like right this very minute.

Yeah, I know its too early to vote and all that, but so far, you've got mine. Other's versions might be more or less imaginative or whatever, but having been at a place, and felt the breeze or smelled the air or stood on that same sand --as you have-- can sometimes infuse that 'ineffable something' that people can never know unless they've been there. Well done.

fergmark Loc: norwalk connecticut

Its gratifying to read this Cany. Its a feeling you can't forget.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

You succinctly point out the problem with voting. If I want a "realistic" feeling from a photo, I will vote for one type. If I want a powerful emphasis of something in a "real" world (think Ansel Adams), I will vote for another. Suppose I most like beauty and technique (think Weston), I vote for another photo. Perhaps I favor imagination (think Uelsmann), I vote my "prejudice" for a piece different from the other three "prejudices."

Contests for "Best" are so random as to be be nearly laughable. However, that does not mean that "My Image Your Look" is not a great thread, as it does expose so many different ways of looking, creating, and techniques.

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

I'm not so sure --at least from the potential points of view I --or anyone- might variously hold from one image to another-- find your argument as understandable, Bob. On the one hand, you rightly mention the probabilities of 'liking' (i.e., voting 'for') one treatment in favor of another as inevitable, then undercut that argument by claiming that to do so is laughable. I find this confusing. Or antithetical. Its at least something beyond my grasp.

Something 'realistic'? What is that? It is certainly NOT a photograph. Realistic is being in the place and smelling, tasting, touching, seeing, and etc. and more importantly, mentally interpreting that totality in whatever way is deemed 'best' by the beholder. 'Reality' was most definitely NOT a concept of Adams', who never produced a 'straight' print at any time during his career. Nor could the same be said of Weston, who, better than most, saw beyond the 'reality' of a pepper or a view on Point Lobos and touched on something subliminal and archetypical and played with the other than merely actual. Uelsmann, and his imaginative acolytes, didn't give a rat's ass for recreating reality. He/they wanted to create an alternate reality, using reality as a sourdough starter of sorts. So why mention those guys? What's that got to do with anything?

I agree with your assessment of 'contests' though. They're pretty silly. And prejudiced beyond a doubt. They should be outlawed, in much the same way as infantile 'I like' assessments should likewise be.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

And therein lies its value. Its purpose isn't just to determine a "best". Some of the entries can justifiably be described as exceptional and they are very often voted into first place. The voting can be justified because it gives us a chance to identify those exceptional entries and I'm sure they will get voted for regardless of which category they fall under and which categories the voters had a preference for. I'm not being unrealistically fanciful when I suggest that voting isn't all purely subjective and based on just personal preference. I'm sure most of us can recognise and appreciate exceptional talent when we see it, even if it's in a genre that we don't normally relate to or prefer.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

To clarify. Voting for the "Best" as actually determining the best is "laughable" because the best is not able to be determined. Let's vote on the best between DaVinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Laughable.

However, this thread is very valuable, not so much for its supposed outcome, but for appreciating and learning, ideas and techniques. (BTW, I did win the voting, and it made me feel good.)

As for contests, as a juror I suggest all understand: generally, 1/2 the entries COULD be accepted, but various constraints limit actual acceptance rate to about 10%. As for "Best," never have all the judges agreed on any one's "Best" nominee. "Best" is usually a compromise, someone's second or third choice considered good enough to not embarrass the panel or the exhibition.

All of this is fine, just the way it is, given the human condition. It is good to know, if you enter contests. Usually you deserve the recognition you get. If you didn’t get in, keep on. It would be a good idea to discover if your work, objectively speaking, measured up in creativity, composition, and technique, and then decide on that basis how you will proceed with your photography.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

To be honest, MIYL was conceived more as an activity than a serious contest. There's plenty of contests already, even just on UHH. MIYL was invented to be a fun interchange between companions in our friendly "coffee shop", a way to experiment with photos not our own and practice editing on images we didn't take of places/people/things we usually have never seen. Like most of FYC, it is more a learn-and-share than a competition. As such, it's been fun for quite a few years now.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Hear! Hear! I sincerly hope MIYL continues in its intended vein. Personally, I would probably loose interest if it were to become a serios contest.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Just in case my comments were taken as some kind of criticism of this section, I write again that that is not so. Since voting is a part of this, and some picked a favorite (properly giving a reason), I wanted to share how voting and even compliments are not objective, although there are objective standards involved. The value of MIYL is quite outside any voting, as others have pointed out.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Just in case my comments were taken as some kind of criticism of this section, I write again that that is not so. Since voting is a part of this, and some picked a favorite (properly giving a reason), I wanted to share how voting and even compliments are not objective, although there are objective standards involved. The value of MIYL is quite outside any voting, as others have pointed out.

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

Ok here is my take. Once again there are many who have entered their "interpretation of the scene. I find this to be very interesting, how there can be so many takes on one shot.
Personally I enjoy working on another photographers photo . For me it takes out my personal feeling when I try and create a photograph. I can work on it unencumbered.
With that being said here is my entry.

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R.G. Loc: Scotland

I think your point is understood. We shouldn't attach too much significance to voting or its outcome. But you must admit it's an effective way to determine who posts the next image for editing .