Please vote for my photo (I'm not a presidential candidate!)

[phaleesy]

Dear SQTalkers

I have a cheeky request. I'm not used to self-promoting but this is something I have to do. I'm pulling out all the stops to facilitate my process of getting out of a boring day-job to something more graphic and exciting.

I need as many votes as possible to get one of my photos put through into an exhibition in London, and hopefully used as a book cover by a publisher.

The Daily Telegraph has an article about this. Facebook users can vote for their favourite photo.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/p...hotograph.html

You have to go to Milim gallery to 'like' the page first. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milim-...y/264046727936
Then go to http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater to 'like' my photo.

If you have a FB account, please 'like' my photo in FB, even if you hate it. If you can get friends, family, teddy bears, pets etc to vote, please do so too!

You can 'unlike' the gallery in two three weeks time, so you won't get anymore updates from them.

Marketing has extended to social media like Facebook, tweets and 'following' (sounds like stalking to me!) these days. I'm not an avid user of FB myself. I'm feeling like a schoolkid now, requesting friends and family to vote for me! MAN flyer is right about it being 'kindergarten' but if this is marketing these days, I'd go with the flow.

Thanks very much for reading this. Much more thanks if you have a FB account and vote for my picture!

[CarbonMan]

You got my vote, phaleesy! Good luck!

But having seen all the rest of the pics, I think your fellow competitors are putting up a hard fight. All the best!

[nykelaz]

Done

[phaleesy]

Thanks for the votes so far.

CarbonMan, you are right about the competition. Most (if not all) of the participants are pros or graduates/undergrads of art/photography schools. Some of the cvs show them having held solo/group exhibitions and private commissions.

It is very difficult for an amateur to compete with the pros. We just do not have the time to get 'that shot'. If each of us average one decent shot in 500 shutters, we only get a handful of decent crop in one year. Pros do it full time, so the probability of getting a sizeable crop is higher. Same for the students, they spend all their time 'staging' and working through their shots for their projects and assignments.

Amateurs who have full time jobs outside of photography just do not have the time or resources to compete with these big boys! I cannot realistically take two-four months off work to wander off to Greenland/Iceland/Alaska to shoot the perfect Northern Lights photos or snowy landscapes. Neither do I have the time or resources to sit in a hide for weeks waiting for the brown bear or her cubs. Or spending time stalking cranes and eagles all over the world. I don't even have time to post-process all my current photos! The whole process takes a lot of effort, time and $$$. Travelling costs, equipment and post-processing programmes are not cheap.

The pros and the grads of photography schools are also a lot more skilled. They spent three years in univ perfecting the 'art' of photography and are practising what they've learnt in their current jobs. I spent my univ years looking down microscopes and playing with test tubes, and now I'm in a silly boring job peering up at IV bags and being a professional dogsbody.

All my photos are random shots taken whilst on holidays. I really wish I was on holiday every day and can do what I really like.

At the moment, I feel like a little guppy let loose into a tank with the big tunas and sharks. How much can a little guppy achieve? But I'm always optimistic and hopeful that magic exists!

[adityabudi]

Done. All the best..

[CarbonMan]

... Or spending time stalking cranes and eagles all over the world. I don't even have time to post-process all my current photos! The whole process takes a lot of effort, time and $$$. Travelling costs, equipment and post-processing programmes are not cheap.

I hear your pain, phaleesy, and I do sympathise. For me, at the very most, I get 4 weeks in a year to play with my hobby (for which I shouldn't complain about really!) And even then, I have to be nice to my dear wife, who does not quite see the need for stalking - "quick take the pic, and let's go" was her motto. Fortunately, I've shown her some of the ones I've taken and she is impressed that our friends are impressed(!) by them. So now, I get a few more minutes to set the shot up in the cold of winter and far less complaints that I drag so much hardware while on holidays.

It's getting tougher to be a professional photographer - there are so many now. To stand out one needs to be radically different from the competition. From taking photos on an expensive heli to risking life and limb as a war correspondent. I once had the privilege of learning from a group of foreign correspondents in Siem Reap - and I can tell you that they give up on a lot of normality in life, to work their craft. But that is what they crave to do - I did learn alot of quick and dirty tricks from them on how to keep taking pictures for weeks on end in brutal conditions. To them, I salute!

For me, simple street photography is the way to go!

[phaleesy]

Not so much as pain but frustration really. I've been told I'd be successful eventually. It's just the process of getting there. Trying to get accreditation with the Royal Photographic Society, compiling portfolios (taking more photos, post-processing), getting out to show the work in exhibitions, art galleries and specialist image galleries... it all takes time and a lot of effort. I do not have that kind of time to spare since I'm in a full time job. Very unfortunate that it is a job that is indoors (where is the sun?! I hate being chained to the same place indoors the whole day!) and energy draining because I have to provide a professional service to gormless people.

I know the perfect solution for the wife! Some of the Japanese photographers bring their wives along for their photo shoots. These wives would wait patiently with them the whole day in the cold! The solution is to get them a camera of their own! So the Master Photographer has his Nikon D3 with a 600mm lens, while his dear wife has a D70 and a smaller lens. Since the wife is also busy composing and trying to get her shots, she can't complain anymore. I've also noticed some wives in the UK being sent off for photography courses by their husbands and children. There! Now I can add providing relationship advice to my long list of skills and accomplishments.

Photographers do give up a lot for their craft. Most seem to have abnormal sleep and eating patterns. Some get out of their beds at 3am to nail the sunrise shots, some stay out all night to get the night shots. You have breakfast on-the go- if you do the sunrise shots. I could be furthering my acquaintance with an interesting man I just met by having dinner with him at the pub but I find myself heading off to take my sunset/twilight photos instead because I want that sunset shot at low tide. I don't know about brutal conditions but it can be very inconvenient at times. Going back home with muddy or sandy shoes and clothes. There was a stage when my clothes/shoes/bags/camera/car/tripod/room were always wet and sandy! Or trekking out in thick snow and standing out in the cold and snow the whole day.

I don't think I'm that interested in street photography. I'm more passionate about landscape and wildlife. At the moment, I'm looking to do more seascapes. I have been advised to continue with this project but I don't know how i could find time to go along the coasts in Great Britain (this photography depends so much on the weather and tide times!) getting these shots. Hence the frustration which you're hearing.

Yes, competition is keen. Everyone owns a DSLR these days. Everyone claims he/she is a photographer. But I also think a lot depends on luck and magic.

[phaleesy]

Done. All the best..

Thanks.

[Kyo]

By my counting, if they vote is counted by 'Likes', you're still short by 7 votes as of a minute ago.

Also, what's the theme actually? Peaches & Cream? The use of a Telephoto lens?

I voted for you this time but I prefer to vote based on merit, in general. Some good photos but I'm still not sure what the theme was...

[SuperJonJon]

1 more vote from me...

[Nick C]

41st 'like' from me!

[Aulia Harun]

phaleesy, I personally love your photo. I enjoy landscape and nature photography as well as sunrise/sunset photos. The majestic sky in your photo vividly reminded me of the glorious sunrise above SIN during my recent SQ flight DXB-SIN this past summer!

You got the 43rd 'like' from me and I wish you all the best!

[phaleesy]

Thanks, SuperJJ, NickC, Aulia Harun and the anonymous voters.

phaleesy, I personally love your photo. I enjoy landscape and nature photography as well as sunrise/sunset photos. The majestic sky in your photo vividly reminded me of the glorious sunrise above SIN during my recent SQ flight DXB-SIN this past summer!

Thanks, Aulia. I 'liked' a few photos this evening and realised that like you, I was partial towards the landscape and nature ones. Portraits just don't do much for me. I don't see the beauty of those photos with people standing/sitting around and staring aimlessly at the camera.

I know what you mean about the sky on the planes. I've tried so hard to take photos from the plane but there is always glare and reflection from the window. We can't do long exposures either since the plane is moving.

[phaleesy]

By my counting, if they vote is counted by 'Likes', you're still short by 7 votes as of a minute ago.

Also, what's the theme actually? Peaches & Cream? The use of a Telephoto lens?

I voted for you this time but I prefer to vote based on merit, in general. Some good photos but I'm still not sure what the theme was...

Of course I'd always be short. That guy has got his extended family to vote for him, plus his 300+ FB friends. Very bizarre but he has even voted for himself. I'm just trying to put up a good fight because I'm stubborn and persistent.

You're thinking too much into this. There is no theme. Peaches and cream is just some silly name the gallery has come up with. I have no clue why peaches. I presume they're referring to the pro photographers as peaches, and the recent grads/undergrads as cream (as in cream of the crop?).

Same for the Telephoto terminology. The Daily Telegraph has called their photography section in the papers Telephoto.

It is really that simple. No complex symbolism or themes. It's just art talk. There is a lot of this in contemporary art. Just submit your rubbish and if the judges like it, you could be the winner. A RPS Fellow recently mentioned that contemporary photography has a stronger emphasis on the photographer making a statement than making a visual impact (as opposed to visual art which focuses more on the aesthetic merits). So you could submit a photo of a broken chair sitting forlornly in a room. Make an artistic statement like 'I came across this chair in the room in the unoccupied house. The state of dilapidation of the house and its contents reflect the loneliness inside me. My spirit is utterly broken like the chair.' Just come up with some rubbish like that, and some people do lap it all up. Tracey Emin is a good example. Her stained bed, complete with stained underwear and condoms was embraced by the public.

The point I'm trying to make is art/photography is subjective. You might not like my photo but prefer tilted horizons, high ISOs and blocked shadows. I don't. Judges always differ in their opinions. I had a photo which won first prize at a photo competition but was rejected by a Fellow from the RPS who felt it was not an Associate standard. Same for one of the other photos which was a runner-up in a nature competition. But he chose some photos which he loved for the panel. These photos were also entered in the same competition but were not winners. So it is all so subjective. Some people like this, some people don't. You can't keep everyone happy.

Anyway, thanks for voting (albeit reluctantly) for my photo. I believe the request was to vote for my photo. I did not say not to vote for the other photos you like too. So I would have voted the photo as requested as a favour and voted for the photos I genuinely like at the same time. I'm a supersmart girl who thinks laterally.

Yes, there are some really marvellous photos. The judges would pick the best ones the traditional fair way. The fifth photographer is through facebook votes which is so childish. I'm just going with the flow and playing the game. I think the gallery is doing this FB thing to get publicity. They need to get as many 'likes' on FB too to get listed I believe? This is free publicity for them. Now we've got a crowd of SQTalkers knowing about the existence of the gallery.

Thanks for reminding me about the other good photos. I popped round to vote for a few myself this evening. No skin off my nose since they're genuinely good ones which I think the judges would have picked in the first place anyway! At least no one can criticize me for not showing good sportsmanship!

[Kyo]

Thanks for the explanation, rather odd that a photography competition has no theme, though. If there was a theme, I'd have been able to view each picture from the theme's perspective, hence I asked for some clarification in order to vote. If FB likes are not the decider in this instance, and strictly up to the subjectiveness of the judges, 10,000 FB votes will not change anything.