I was torn about entering any of my photos into the photo contest for The Stand this year, but ultimately decided that the events, meetups, and photo walks are held as a means for the paper to generate content and awareness, so the more photos that are contributed the better, even if they aren’t that good.
There are a lot of phrases out there that remind me of what I did to the 2 images that I submitted for the contest. “Lipstick on a pig” comes to mind, but “Polishing a turd” seems most apt, I think.
The first image was only half good.
I very much loved the expression of the woman on the right, and I was really happy with how I elicited their expressions in the moment (although I don’t recall no what I said). Still, the expression on the right (while authentic) is not conventionally photographic, so I cropped her out for my submission. But after the crop, there remained an issue depth of field, so I took some time to simulate a more shallow depth of field and create a vignette around the subject.
The other image, just so that I could say that I submitted two, was one that I ended up being less-than thrilled with, but throughout it out there anyway to see if other people liked it: a double exposure.
I actually prefer each image more on it’s own, but felt that the shot of AMP on the stage needed a crowd to illustrate the intent of the contest (together again), so I liked the idea of having a crown double exposed with the musician so that the viewer could see that the band could see. Unfortunately, my selection of images with an audience was a bit lacking, so I was left to make do with what I had:
I like the idea. I even like the execution. I like the boy with the cell phone in the building. I like how I successfully moved the taller guy with glasses in the buildings too. I like the splash of pink that draws the eye to the performer’s silhouette. I explored a monochrome treatment, but the colors help more than hinder the image. I just don’t love the crowd overall and it feels mismatched to me. Perhaps that is because I know the image that I culled them from? I don’t know.
Either way, both images were submitted for consideration in the photo contest. I genuinely think the portrait has a chance for consideration. As for the double exposure, I can very much see this being a “love it or hate it”-type of image.
As is always the case, time will tell. I’ll find out what folks thought of the images in a couple weeks.