UKH

I'm intrigued as to why just about every shot of a winter scene automatically gets at least a 4 (with some relatively rare exceptions). Yes, snowy mountains look nice. Yes, a bit of colour against a white backdrop stands out and looks good. However, there are some downright poor/lazy shots which seem to get good votes based purely on the fact it's a snowy winter scene. Is it as simple as that?

In reply to Skyfall:

Ha ha, bang on, I was going to post something about this back in November - "Winter is here, prepare yourselves for all the 5 star bum shots!!"


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In reply to Skyfall:

Let's pull up a big sofa and get the popcorn out, whist you name some examples:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/photos/index.html?nstart=0&sort=&category...

In reply to everyone:

Oh by the way, there's nothing personal in this - I'm victim of this myself with some of my shots. You can't help what people vote for your photos.

E

In reply to ChrisJD:
To be fair, I had a look at the winter climbing/walking galleries as compared to the trad climbing gallery and the ratio of "yellow" votes (ie. 4/5's) is a lot higher in winter. Just looking at it very broad brush, it looks roughly as though 30-40% of trad shots gets 4 or 5. Whereas maybe 60-70% of winter shots get a 4 or 5. I don't want to single out any particular shots as this is not a go at any particular photo or person, whatsoever. However, it seems unlikely (to me) that the standard of shots in the summer vs winter environment are so markedly different.

In reply to Skyfall:

In my case, when I rarely do vote on winter climbing shots (not landscapes) I am influenced by the sheer difficulty of getting the camera out in those conditions, and will usually give it one more point for effort.

In reply to Blue Straggler:

Ansel Adams

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In reply to Skyfall:

At least part of it is probably that winter pics tend to have more visual impact than summer ones, e.g., contrast between more colourful clothing and monochrome surroundings. Summer tends to involve a much more muted palette. From a climbing purist's perspective it probably shouldn't make much difference as to how good a picture is perceived to be, but I bet it does.

One approach I use for assessing my own pictures is to look at them from different distance (or in practice different level of magnification on the screen). Is the picture attention grabbing from a distance (where you can't much detail)? As you get closer does the revealed detail enhance the picture and add to the 'richness'. Winter pictures tend to get an easier ride at that first stage even if they fall flat in the second.

In reply to Enty:



I taught him everything he knew!

In reply to Blue Straggler:

why post a picture you thought was crap?

In reply to mac fae stirling:


Wow, there are lots of reasons for that, it might be historically interesting, it might be informative, posting pictures on UKC is not all about ego.

In reply to Al Evans:

in the context of a thread about picture quality, i don't get it, but no matter.

i really liked the photo. i gave it a 4. sorry.

In reply to FactorXXX:

It was one of the example debated on this thread
http://www.ukhillwalking.com/forums/t.php?t=513514&v=1#x6953595

All ropes tend to lead you to a climber so I don't think anything should deserve special merit for that alone!

For the record _I_ actually kind of like it but that is because I was there, I took the pic, the climber is a mate, and it was my first winter climbing day. But OBJECTIVELY there's nothing about it that would make me want to even stick a 6*4 print of it onto my fridge door. Hence a 2 or 3

In reply to Skyfall:

Indeed - and remarkable that under exposed images, or those with poor colour correction / white balance still get a 5.

It seems who the photographer is, and where the image was taken, are the over riding factor as to the number of votes !

In reply to Henry Iddon:

It might be more to do with and under exposed image feels like winter climbing often feels and maybe people can relate to that?

In reply to Henry Iddon:

those with poor colour correction / white balance still get a 5


i agree with that - blue snow.... eek!

In reply to Blue Straggler:

All ropes tend to lead you to a climber so I don't think anything should deserve special merit for that alone!

Obviously yes, but it normally leads to the classic arse shot!

As for all the artefacts, etc. Even though they're not intentional, they do tend to portray what the weather is doing quite nicely.

Anyway, the best way to judge a climbing photo is to show it to a non-climber. That way they'll judge it on 'artistic' merit as opposed to being awestruck by Climber X, climbing something with big numbers.
Will get back to you...

PS. The cynic in me, reckons that you know it isn't that bad and you're denigrating it in an attempt to bolster votes

In reply to Skyfall:

My biggest gripe is washed out monochrome photos that everyone things are the bees knees.

If there's one thing my tutor always taught us it was to get your blacks black and your whites white, not the whole thing just shades of bloody grey. He was himself taught by Bill Brandt though, so make of that what you will.

In reply to LakesWinter:

I'm not referring to atmospheric shots where poor focus / exposure / composition can actually magnify the sense of 'place'.

What I mean is landscapes and shots taken on good days that are under exposed - something that can often be corrected easily in post.

In reply to mac fae stirling:

Yes - don't get me started on blue snow.

In reply to Skyfall:
12 now, except that if the average vote is about 4.3.[ish] it is rounded up to 5 so a lot of votes won't be at 5. i know cause i voted and didn't give it 5! i think it is a nice shot though, well composed with good lines etc. and the snow is white! [well, near enough not to be an issue for me anyway]. i thought it looked a bit flat [light-wise] and lacked a bit of oomph tho.

In reply to Skyfall:

Ha! you flaterer you!

In reply to Henry Iddon:
mind you.. i see a few shots i took in the past have the dreaded blue snow.. ooops, serves me right for being so smug.. i am a bit more fussy now and use better cameras now too, which helps a lot i think.