March 05 Contest Discussion

[1STLITE]

This was such a fun contest. Thanks to those of you who are responsible for its being! THis place is so awesome.

[byRo]

One thing that was not specified for this contest was the final image size to be posted - there were entries all the way from 470 pixels (short side) to 1400 pixels.
Maybe, next time, it would be a good idea to include the image size as one of the rules / guidelines.
Comments?

Rô

[T Paul]

A good idea and one that will be added to the April contest rules.

~T

[T Paul]

Now that the contest is over I’d love to know how some people accomplished certain things…

Flora – the skin tone in your entry was so real. How do you create your skin tone and achieve the lovely softness to your image?

Vikki – your image just beamed with light. What steps did you take to create such a radiating glow to your image?

Righthanddesign – What was your technique for creating such a realistic rose?

[righthanddesign]

Hey everyone I loved the contest and it was a great first one. I think Vikki was the rightful winner of this contest but there were great entires all around. Here are few suggestions I have for the next contest. Maybe they will work maybe not. I hope they help.

1. Love the idea of the entries being hidden from who did them. Vikkis idea of numbers was a great way to view them. I saw some people voting for some pictures that I had to really question there sanity or eye sight (no offense please) This lead me to believe they were voting for the person and not the picture.

2. Dont display all the entires until the end then display them all at one time. This is just an idea but I would like it. If it stays the way it is now I will wait until the last minute next time to submit so I can see how high the bar is set.

3. Let other people vote besides just the people who submitted. Some other members just couldnt get the time to submit but have great eyes and opinions. I just feel limiting the voting to people who are so close to the subject matter may hinder their subjectivity. I would like to have as many people voting as possible.

That is just my little ideas. Can't wait till the next one.

4. Be clearer for the rules as to what exactly we will be voting on. I noticed some people voting on technique some people voting on color some voting on how it made them feel when they saw it. And some I dont know what they were voting on.

[Vikki]

I must say, with so many excellent entries, I was surprised I won. Who knew there were so many talented colorist amongst us!!
What I found most interesting about this contest, was the range of people's taste and perception. It's good to see how individual styles are embraced.
This was a good opportunity to have one's work critiqued by such a fine group of artists. Thanks to all who voted for mine.

p.s. I think righthanddesign has some excellent suggestions.

[Legacy~Art]

I personally think that the people entering the contest should not get to vote and that there should be a voting panel that chooses the winner.

Gary everyone has an opinion and if someone sees a quality in a picture does not mean they are voting for the artist but what they see, as in the saying "beauty in the eye of the beholder" would you not agree?

[cedwar]

Congratulations Vikki! You did an outstanding job on your photo. I feel priviledged to be able to compete in a contest with so many great photo retouchers. Good luck in April!

Cedwar

[Doug Nelson]

I am so pleased with how things went I can't adequately express myself. Everyone did a great job, and special congratulations to Vikki!

Keep the suggestions coming, we are listening (as we proved early in this round). Don't be impatient or hurt if we don't immediately act on your advice. As in any experiment you can't change lots of things every cycle (and we'll have lots of cycles).

[Gary Richardson]

First of all, congratulations to Vicky on winning the contest.

Secondly Legacy, I haven't expressed any opinions yet, and I would never criticise another persons taste for being different to my own. The post to which you took exception was by Righthanddesign, who also happens to use Gargamel as his avatar. I've changed mine a little to avoid future confusions.

I'm currently downloading Aprils images, (which are going to take a long time on dial up). Looking forward to the contest, hope its as well subscribed to as March's, and wish everyone good luck with their attempts.

[soleah]

Vikki - Congratulations! You ought to write a book about restoration with emphasis on colorization. I'll be the first one to buy it!

righthanddesign - I hope you didn't question my sanity. I voted for you.

I must say, this contest turned out well. Despite differences in opinion, the best work still stood out. A lot of great suggestions here for future contests. But please, let's not forget the very purpose of this forum: sharing of techniques and ideas. It need not be a cutthroat competition.

The current rules are simple and fair enough. Just my opinion.

[MargaretM]

Congrats. to everyone who participated and who made the contest so interesting and diverse and fun, and especially to Vikki.
I agree the contest should be as simple as possible and like the suggestion that no names, just numbers should show on entries. Like the idea that only entrants can vote - this is definitely an incentive to enter.
Also more guidance on size would be nice.
Maybe part of the winner's prize should be to write a tutorial on their approach, or in this case on skin tones??

MargaretM

[righthanddesign]

I agree with everyone and did not mean to offend anyone. I was just saying that the voting should be on the rules set forth by the moderator, just not on certain things you like. The rules for April seem great and much clearer, good job. It was just weird how the voting was following a certain pattern and then some people were voting for people way out in left field. I have a bluntness with words and I didn't mean I was really questioning peoples sanity just merely if they were looking the same pictures I was looking at. I am excited at this months contest and look forward to entering. Good luck to all..

[Legacy~Art]

Gary i am sorry i got you mixed up, as i associate that little man as you, not a new member.

[Gary Richardson]

No problem, I realised when I saw the other Gargamel, what had happened.

My Gargamel's now green, it matches my complexion after a good night on the Guiness.

[CJ Swartz]

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

...My Gargamel's now green, it matches my complexion after a good night on the Guiness.

I didn't know the name of your avatar until now, and after looking it up, I understand that you could paint it any color except "Smurf blue" without doing it any disservice.

[Flora]

Hi everybody!!

Sorry for not reacting earlier .... been busy with the flu....

First of all, congratulations to Vikki for her first place!!!! Like always, when I saw her entry I just went "WOW" ....

Congratulations to all 'competitors' for their excellent entries ... The high quality of the results made voting a very hard task ....

Great contest!!!

Originally Posted by T Paul

Flora – the skin tone in your entry was so real. How do you create your skin tone and achieve the lovely softness to your image?

Thanks T Paul! ....
Mostly, I used the method described in the 'worth1000' tutorial for colorizing this picture ... for the restoration I just went through my usual routine ....

Colorizing is a procedure I've seldom done and while I feel very comfortable with plain 'restorations', I never feel really satisfied with my colouring .... that's why I feel and always say that "it's not my thing" and I take as a great compliment wooden_bender's comment:

i think she's fibbing about coloring not being her thing

Using now a different and differently calibrated monitor (gosh I hate this 'calibration' thing!! ) I can see and agree with all the critics about my 'vignette' .... too light and distracting .... Before submitting, I was undecided on the 3 different versions of my final result .... no vignette, dark vignette, light vignette .... my husband liked the light one ......

Thanks again to everyone for a great Contest and for the votes!!!

P.S. Gary, the new colour of your 'Gargamel' (like CJ, I never knew the name of your avatar before...) is very similar to my colour after the flu!!!

[Gary Richardson]

Glad you're over your flu. Don't think looking like Gargamel would suit you, and a green Gargamel even less.

As for your March contest entry, I'm like your husband, I liked the pale vignette.

So, now you're feeling better, I look forward to seeing what you can do with April's contest.

[Flora]

Thanks Gary!!

Originally Posted by Gary Richardson

So, now you're feeling better, I look forward to seeing what you can do with April's contest.

Downloaded the pictures .....