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The other one
#101 Old 21st Dec 2009 at 5:28 PM Last edited by missroxor : 21st Dec 2009 at 6:29 PM.
Noel, I think we're at risk of going completely off topic here but since you addressed this particular contest; I think it's a good thing that you were able to recognise from the first post that this contest is perhaps not suited to your abilities. As long as the contest host makes their intentions and expectations clear from the start there's not really any reason to feel bad that you couldn't enter.

The one and only contest I've ever joined as a contestant I did so without looking at previous contest entrants. I had no idea how tough the competition would be and even though I know how to use photoshop it didn't occur to me to use it until it was too late and I was out I didn't realise people took these contests that seriously until then. That said, I didn't put a great deal of effort into composition and creativity either. I mistakenly thought that I could dress up my sim and it didn't matter about the rest of the pic because the judges just wanted to see how the sim looks.

Amazing photoshop skills won't save you if you can't meet the criteria or have no clue about setting up a scene or composition and colour etc. Likewise, if you really do know all this stuff and can plan and compose a shot to perfection then it really doesn't matter if you haven't shopped it. In fact, as I've said before, sometimes when people think they're improving something really they're just ruining a perfectly good shot.

In the case of this particular contest which has more to do with how the contestants characters present the model than the model herself (feel free to correct me Solid) I think photoshopping should be positively encouraged since in the real world a modern day photographer/image editor/whatever would rather tear out their own eyeballs than publish a raw image with no touch ups whatsoever.

Disclaimer: someone kindly PM'd me to point out my hastily typed out words were perhaps lacking one particular point: Many old school photographers (I know a lot of them) would choke on their breakfast at the mention of the word 'photoshop' believing that wet film is the only way to take a good pic. What I was thinking of when I made that last statement was photos taken for advertising purposes and to go into magazines etc...unless it happens to be a photography magazine (and even then) I really doubt that photos get published in for example fashion magazines without any sort of touch up.

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
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Field Researcher
#102 Old 21st Dec 2009 at 7:08 PM
I have nothing against photoshopping. Each to their own. I personally havent done that much photoshopping to my pictures apart from the advertisement about makeup where I think it was needed but then again it was all very basic stuff.

So far, the photoshopping I have done on my other pictures is make them lighter/darker, add borders and sharpen (yup, that is all).

The other reason to why I am limiting myself is that I dont really know how beyond the basics and its not something I have time for in great detail at the moment (too busy celebrating the festive season and buying gifts!). All I do is just make a scene/setting according to the round requirements (this is when my downloads folder screams in mercy), add the model and take as many shots at different angles as I can. I then take a look back on what I have and see what I think will work or not.

Im only in this contest to have fun and what I can personally do creativity wise. Im not expecting too much! :P
The other one
#103 Old 21st Dec 2009 at 7:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Meeka
Im only in this contest to have fun and what I can personally do creativity wise. Im not expecting too much! :P

...and that's why I can't wait for someone to do another TS3 contest. I just wanna do it for fun and see how far I can get now that I have a better understanding of how high the competition really is :D

Guys, rules are good! Rules help control the fun. ~ Monica E. Geller
Lab Assistant
#104 Old 21st Dec 2009 at 9:52 PM Last edited by aba23 : 21st Dec 2009 at 10:21 PM.
Quote:
Comments: I think you should try looking at actual advertisements to see how they're supposed to look. It's obvious that you tried your best but I think you need more practice in your graphics program. The edges of the makeup that you cut out are too obvious.


Ok how do I get rid of these edges?



EDIT: I think I got it....

Currently contestant in picturePERFECT; cycle three
Contest results so far:
3rd in Para Anoma and 3rd in Rising Star
Lab Assistant
#105 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 1:50 AM Last edited by Freelala : 22nd Dec 2009 at 2:15 AM.
Default Round 2
It was very difficult to come up with a theme for this photo shoot, and while I was mulling it over, my mind would not let go of one word used to describe the rock genre. That word was "legendary." I took it to my team, and we decided to build our theme off of that word. The theme we chose was a subject that has made a huge impact on heavy metal music: Norse mythology. We took a lot of liberty, of course, but ultimately we wanted to make Christina look like a valkyrie, if a valkyrie were to join a Vættir heavy metal band. To complete Christina's transformation into a valkyrie, we gave her wings, tipped her hair with red, made it into a night shoot in a forest to add elements of mystery and danger, and brought in a replica of Gene Simmons' Axe Bass. Our Nordic rock-warrior was almost ready.



For the hair, my makeup artist consulted a salon in Copenhagen, and the final product came from their test shots. It was their suggestion to add the red, which symbolizes fire and blood, and by extension, the warrior nature of the valkyrie. We paid tribute to them with this advertisement.



Here is the "before" version of the best frame from the photo shoot. (cropped from the original screenshot, here)



Because my photographer, Linus, is a lighting genius, the amount of touchup we had to do was minimal. First, I adjusted the levels to bring a truer black to the darkest parts of the picture and add extra pop to the colors. Next, I used the dodge tool on Christina's face to help it stand out more. For a bit more emphasis, I used a sharpening filter, then faded the effect to 25%. Finally, we added a simple black border, reasoning that anything more complicated would take away from the picture rather than add to it.



This picture was the runner-up for best shot. I like the angle and intensity, but I don't like the effects the fire and lighting had on the wings.


"Passion makes no accommodation for self-preservation."
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#106 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 3:34 AM
I didn't read all of the comments here because they seem a bit off topic. Ringz, you do not have to use a lot of photoshop to create a beautiful sims picture. It's the fact that you used photoshop and it didn't work out too well. lf you want help acheiving certain effects all you have to do is ask. I have no problem helping any of the contestants and I don't think it's against any rules to do so. And to make her have LESS expression you could have used Decorgal's pose box or just waited until she wasn't smiling. That isn't her face like you claim it to be. If that were just her face all of your pictures of her would appear the same. To me every contestant made her stand out in a different way which was really the point. I think every contest is a learning process, I created this one because I thought it would be fun. If you're not having fun then you don't have to continue I won't be upset, I won't hold any grudges and the contest will continue. I just want to thank everyone who isn't complaining about the comments. They are really there to help you not to hurt you. I'm actually learning some things from all of the contestants and the judges.

Oh and aba, if you still need help removing those edges then I will help you. Just let me know.
#107 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 3:48 AM
=S sorry if it was off topic ^^;; I was just wondering, I'm actually not a contestant ._.
Lab Assistant
#108 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 4:14 AM
On the set
A few weeks have already gone by since I met Christina and she really got close to my heart. Before she had to pose in front of the camera again I used the time for me, Christina and my Son Jerome to talk a bit and catch up. Christina has so little time left that I just wanted her to calm down for a minute and just hang out with us. We got a good cup of espresso and chilled out in the interview area of the set. It was a really needed downtime for all of us. Christina just joined us from the hairstylist and was still in her very normal comfortable cloth. So it was a good chance for me to get to know her even better.


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Christina is a demanded face for advertisements and commercials. Until now that made her always appear as the beauty, the lovely cover girl and the sunshine in house. Which is good, no doubt, but as a model one has to be alterable and multifarious. Only then you get jobs and you will be booked for various projects.

This time I arranged a photo shoot with BC Rick, they wanted to have their guitars promoted and needed new pictures for their posters in their shops. Christina had to undergo a radical metamorphose from pretty girl to rock chick. For that matter I arranged another deal with Bailelizabet. They would provide one of their famous colorful extreme hairstyles for Christina and in exchange they could use pictures of her for their advertisement.


Untouched shot
First I was shocked when I saw her coming out but once she was on stage she really was in her element. From being one with the guitar to playing with the imaginative audience she did a good job. We let her play in front of big speakers and just plain black walls so we could go in many directions. I think the photographer took about a hundred pictures. A few of them I really liked, however this one here talked the most to me.


We tried various styles with this picture but nothing wanted to fit. But then – I had that song in my head – Purple Rain – and as it happened I came up with – Purple flame. Not sure why but we tried it. We changed the background of the picture into a purple flame theme and just blended Christina and the microphone in. Then we cropped it until it had the right focus and there it was. I think it looks great. BC Rick decided for this picture for their posters.


Second runner up
I had another favorite – just because how Christina looked into the camera here. For BC Rick it was not suitable because the Microphone did block the view on Christina’s face a little too much for them. However I actually absolutely love that about the picture. I think it has something really powerful – don’t you think?

Currently contestant in picturePERFECT; cycle three
Contest results so far:
3rd in Para Anoma and 3rd in Rising Star
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#109 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 5:21 AM
Ok, I've just read everyone's comments...

noel, so far the judges have pointed out something positive (something done well) and things that need more work. I made that the requirements because I didn't want to discourage anyone. This competition isn't about discouraging anyone and I think you coming here complaining about "Who is who to say such and such?" is only making things worse. I can understand if I or any of the other judges have given criticism that was so off the wall but we haven't. If anyone's feelings are hurt then I do apologize but like I said earlier, I am here to help not discourage. And from what I've seen of the one contest that I was in composition, layout and picture quality wasn't even an issue and it should have been. I've made my intentions clear from the beginning because that contest really left a bad taste in my mouth. The deserved winner only won because someone else dropped out. It isn't fair to give everyone an "A" for effort just because they may have a "different" style. missroxor is correct, this contest is about presentation. It's obvious to me that EVERYONE worked hard on their pictures but, that isn't what they were being judged on. If a contestant is going to make the choice to use a graphics editing program then they should be proficient at it. And if they're not, that's what the host is here for and that's what tutorials are for. I am not that good at photoshop and all of my pictures have very MINIMAL photoshopping so it's not like I'm really judging, I'm telling them what I think and what I do know.

I'm sorry Ringz I jumbled yours and aba's posts together but, that was the issue with aba's entry. Also aba, it would have been fine if the shots were actually clean and simple but they weren't. Your shots seemed to NEED more to accentuate your theme. Had she been able to pull off the doll theme all alone then that would have been more than fine but since you could not portray her as a doll in her facial expression and pose alone you should have used props.

As stated earlier, if anyone isn't happy participating I would rather you just drop out because this is supposed to be fun and it's not going to be if people are coming in here making a "fuss" about things that don't matter. Like I said, I said what this contest was all about from the beginning so there are no surprises. Not only did I outline this in the introduction but I am also stating what the contestants are being judged on each round. I figured people would want to join for the same reason Meeka stated, to see how creative you can get. Even if the judges don't like the pictures, if you know that it's your best work then so be it. In the Next Top Model Contest, ALL but the last of those pictures represented my all and I still received low scores but that didn't matter to me. I loved my pictures and I had fun doing them.
Test Subject
#110 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 5:44 AM
As a judge I can honestly say that my judging has absolutely nothing to do with photoshop. I focus on whether or not the contestant is doing what is asked of them. You can have the greatest photoshopping skills but if you submit something other than what is asked of you then you will be scored accordingly. I'm certain that if we cared about photoshop it would have been stated in the rules. Every contestant is very talented whether their work is photoshopped or not.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#111 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 6:29 AM
Default Round 3: Christina DiVinci?
Here is Round 3... I am extending Round 2 for 2 more days and the rest of the judges scores will be posted after I post this...

Round 3: Christina... DaVinci?





Introduction: Another fun fact about Christina is that she once duplicated, with her talented left hand, the infamous painting, The Mona Lisa! For this round, you will feature Christina as MonaLisa with a twist. You should have 4 images for this round. Below is what should be in each image.
Total Maximum Points: 100

Photo 1: REAL MONA LISA... This photograph should be as close to the original painting as you can get.
Judgine Guidelines: For this photo you will be judged on how close you came to the real thing. Of course it is not possible to get it to look exact but the effort that you show in recreating this masterpiece will be considered and there you can receive a maximum of 25 points.

Photo 2: MONA LISA WITH ATTITUDE... This photograph should show mystery but with a hint of attitude. You can veer as far away from the original painting as you'd like but we should still be able to tell that the Mona Lisa was your inspiration for this shoot.
Judging Guidelines: For this photo, you will be judged on how creative you are in conveying an attitude. You can receive a maximum of 25 points for this photograph.

Photo 3: MONA LISA WITH YOUR OWN TWIST... This photograph should feature Christina as MonaLisa with your own original twist.
Judging Guidelines: For this photo you will be judged on creativity, how well you used color, and how unique your twist is. You can receive a maximum of 25 points for this photo.

Photo 4: MONA LISA NOW... This photograph should feature Christina as you would picture Mona Lisa to appear today. Be creative with this because this can mean a number of things.
Judging Guidelines: This photograph will be judged on how creative you were in bringing her to 2009, how unique your modern concept is and how well you executed this task. You can receive a maximum of 25 points for this photo.
Lab Assistant
#112 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 12:14 PM
I was not complaining, I was asking and giving my opinion. I feel that you are attacking me for that. Just because I have an opinion and tell it, it does not mean that I am not happy participating.

Currently contestant in picturePERFECT; cycle three
Contest results so far:
3rd in Para Anoma and 3rd in Rising Star
Forum Resident
#113 Old 22nd Dec 2009 at 1:34 PM Last edited by singing_Noel : 23rd Dec 2009 at 3:27 AM.
I'd just like to apologize, I know it probably doesn't make a difference if I do and I wouldn't blame you guys if you didn't take it, but I'm going to anyway.

I went out of line, and instead of being the bigger person in this I tried to level only to turn out more malicious than I planned to be. This is just a tender issue to me, and something that's been for years. I didn't say what I said to get on anyone's nerves, but it did anyway...and again I'm sorry.

My bad experiences has made me bias, and this was actually the main reason why I didn't joined, even though I wanted to participate to help myself, and the host...who I consider a good friend.

I've made a mistake, and I'm not going to make it again, and I know is too late but I wanna be the bigger person now...and better now than never, I think...

Well anyway, again...I'm sorry.

-Noel
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#114 Old 23rd Dec 2009 at 3:31 AM
noel, I was not being unprofessional, I was being honest. There aren't any unfair advantages because photoshop is NOT required, it's allowed! And, how was I unclear, I said I was looking for high fashion, and high quality? I don't think there's anything unclear about that. You are actually the one being unprofessional. You act like you're the voice of reason among everyone and therefore you must be right. You should have taken any issues you thought you saw up with me and no one else.

To aba, you were quite rude in your response to the comments and I'm sorry if you feel attacked but that was not my intention. I was explaining my reasoning behind your scores because those scores and comments came from me. I stated from the very beginning that if anyone needs help to let me know. You nor anyone else did that so what am I supposed to do?

I am going to ask boolprop to close this contest and I want to apologize to all of the contestants who were actually having fun and taking everything for what it was worth. I will send the participation prizes to everyone and send some winner prizes to Freelala and Meeka as soon as I can.

Also, noel, you can expect a PM from me!
Forum Resident
#115 Old 23rd Dec 2009 at 3:40 AM
Slow your roll Solid, and look up, I edited my post. The matter has already been dealt with.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#116 Old 23rd Dec 2009 at 5:29 AM
Noel, I've PMed you. To everyone else, I've just PMed beeps to ask her to close the contest. Once again, I apologize. I hope no one is upset and I hope that there won't be any grudges. I will post the rest of the judges scores for the previous round.
 
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