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01/31/2010 10:07:27 PM · #1 |
Maybe its just me, but i feel like so many voters put too much emphasis and importance on the title of a photograph. i mean is this a photo name challenge or a photo taking challenge. should ones score be so drastically reduced by voters just based off the tile they choose. i personally ignore the title until after ive made my decision on what to vote, because i feel the photo should be judged on its content and character, instead of as they say judging a book by its cover, or title in this case. any thoughts?
Message edited by author 2010-02-01 03:08:44. |
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01/31/2010 10:13:25 PM · #2 |
| I think a photograph, if well made, "comes" without headlines or words (and should be so)... but I could see that many people try to give a major title or an effect title hoping that might help the picture to come out from the crowd ... |
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01/31/2010 10:15:10 PM · #3 |
I think a title helps specilly if itis for ex a lndscape its nice to know where its taken, also I enjoy the quirky or cryptic ones can make you think outside the square just my2c worth
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01/31/2010 10:21:49 PM · #4 |
| but should a voter bias a photo due to its name? |
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01/31/2010 10:28:59 PM · #5 |
Originally posted by stepwalker87:
but should a voter bias a photo due to its name? |
No, I think, but I also believe that happens very often... |
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02/01/2010 03:41:36 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by stepwalker87:
but should a voter bias a photo due to its name? |
I don't think a title should go against a photo, but sometimes it helps tie a shot together. I photo/picture/painting is meant to convey a feeling or concept, but they can convey different concepts to different people. Being in a challenge gives them a context, and guides us to the concept being expressed, but a title can also give us insight into the thought of the creator and to me can add to my feelings about a shot.
I'm not a fan though of using a title to shoe horn a photo into a challenge ( though I'm sure I'm as guilty as many others :) ) |
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02/01/2010 03:53:51 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by stepwalker87:
... i personally ignore the title until after ive made my decision on what to vote ... |
I do the same thing, Stephen. Occasionally a title will add icing to the cake and nudge my vote, but in general I agree with you. This has been discussed often in the forums, though, and others here feel differently. |
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02/01/2010 04:41:10 AM · #8 |
I can certainly see both sides of the argument and often feel voters are overly critical on numerous things that have nothing to do with photo quality... I try to counterbalance those people by complimenting the things I think are important.
On the side that the title may matter: Would "The Thinker" be a masterpiece if it had been titled "Lazy Guy Resting His Head". |
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02/01/2010 05:02:57 AM · #9 |
I think it would be interesting to have a "no title allowed" challenge to see if the images can hold their weight on their own.
Edited to add: I just added this to the challenge suggestions. : )
Message edited by author 2010-02-01 10:07:02. |
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02/01/2010 05:09:15 AM · #10 |
| I really enjoy coming up with titles for my images. It's something i always do last of all though. I enjoy the titles of others as well when voting but i'll not look at the title until after i've studied the photograph so as not to influence my thoughts on the image as it is. I haven't seen any evidence of voters voting on titles though. |
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02/01/2010 05:10:35 AM · #11 |
| I have trouble with the choice others make in their titles. They are almost always not apropos, or clunky, or silly, or over-the-top. My least favourite titles are single-word adjectives or adverbs that are apparently supposed to tell the viewer how to feel about the subject; titles with questions marks at the end that are supposed to tell us what the pun in the photograph is; titles with emoticons. The best titles are those that are plain and obvious, or that are numbered titles in a series, or that don't force the viewer to feel any particular way about the photograph. |
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02/01/2010 05:28:23 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by Louis:
... titles with questions marks at the end that are supposed to tell us what the pun in the photograph is; titles with emoticons... |
You can add "exclamation points" and "multiple exclamation points" to that list. |
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02/01/2010 05:31:45 AM · #13 |
I normally get killed for titles. I've never been good at titling my shots. I've been told that my shot was good but voted down because the title was too long...I've been told that i've been voted lower because my title doesn't fit what they feel in the shot. The hardest part of entering a photo is what to title it for me because i don't really care for the title. I'd like to title them just the name of the item I'm shooting. "beer", "fruit", "woman", or the persons name....but then you get told that the title is too boring, simplistic, or not appealing enough.
Granted...I do look at titles sometimes, but most of the time its for challenges where you title is supposed to tie the picture together...ie rock song titles or something like that. |
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02/01/2010 06:06:27 AM · #14 |
I think that titles can help and hurt a photograph. Normally what i will do is look through the challenge and not look at the titles, I see what I see in teh shot, then I go back and look at the titles. Titles can change a whole photographs meaning.
Here is one where I screwed up, coudnt think of a name, so just stuck something in till I could, then promplty forgot all about it  which I am sure didnt help the score too much, but I don't think it took a whole lot off the score.
This one has a latin name, some people looked it up, some didnt. But the title fits the shot very well.  It would have been a borning title if I had just named it "Two dead cactus spikes"
This I could have just titled "Man with a white curtain"  but the title really makes you see it in a differernt light.
So titles, yes I think they are important. I also do not think that they hurt your score TOO much if , BUT I think that they do nudge the person that is viewing the shot into the world that you want them to think, it can help your scores!
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02/01/2010 06:23:22 AM · #15 |
Sometimes a title can help explain the photographer's thinking. However, a really good image trancends any title we put on it.
Would Adams half dome image been regarded differently if the title would have been "Mountain at night"?
I doubt the titles influence the winners. It might turn a 4 into a 5, but not a 4 into a 10.
Lord knows I've tried.... ;-) |
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02/01/2010 06:51:47 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by ambaker:
Sometimes a title can help explain the photographer's thinking. ....
I doubt the titles influence the winners. It might turn a 4 into a 5, but not a 4 into a 10.
Lord knows I've tried.... ;-) |
I so agree with this.
I have a hard time titling my work. I try for compelling names or ones to explain my thoughts and help the viewer see what I see; but usually I fall short.
Normally a title doesn't influence the score I give, but I will question one from time to time.
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02/01/2010 08:20:09 AM · #17 |
A fair number of my images have their birth in poetry, in lines of poetry, and I will try to set that stage in the title; this can lead to wordy titles but I don't much care. It's not about the voters, it's about what I choose to do :-)
REASON FOR NOT WRITING ORTHODOX NATURE POETRY
This January sky is deep and calm.
The mountain sprawls in comfort, and the sea
Sleeps in the crook of that enormous arm.
And Nature from a simple recipe --
Rocks, water, mist, a sunlit winter's day --
Has brewed a cup whose strength has dizzied me.
So little beauty is enough to pay;
The heart so soon yields up its store of love,
And where you love you cannot break away.
So sages never found it hard to prove
Nor prophets to declare in metaphor
That God and Nature must be hand in glove,
And this became the basis of their lore.
Then later poets found it easy going
To give the public what they bargained for,
And like a spectacled curator showing
The wares of his museum to the crowd,
They yearly waxed more eloquent and knowing,
More slick, more photographic, and more proud:
From Tennyson with notebook in his hand
(His truth to Nature fits him like a shroud)
To moderns who devoutly hymn the land.
So be it: each is welcome to his voice;
They are a gentle, if a useless, band.
But leave me free to make a sterner choice;
Content, without embellishment, to note
How little beauty bids the heart rejoice,
How little beauty catches at the throat.
Simply, I love this mountain and this bay
With love that I can never speak by rote,
And where you love you cannot break away.
-- John Wain
R.
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02/01/2010 08:25:38 AM · #18 |
Each photo is different, but if the title helps the viewer enjoy or understand an image better, or gets them closer to the perspective of of the photographer, good for them.
I've actually had titles that people argue against while voting ... so a title can hurt the image too.
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02/01/2010 08:40:10 AM · #19 |
Maybe a good pair of open challenges would be;
(No Title Challenge) A special rule challenge, where none of the images show titles until after voting is over.
(Titles Count Challenge) A special rule challenge, where voting is about how well the title works to convey the spirit of the image, with voting on the title instead of the image.
I don't think that has been done before. It would be an opportunity to see what people think about as they are voting and commenting.
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