Sky Arts Master of Photography TV prog

I'll be amazed if they try macro or wildlife, as much as anything because looking at Leica's website they don't appear to have anything longer than 35mm, I suspect they'll cover product and landscape though

But yeah, if I were to start street based on what I saw on there I would rightfully be beaten to death!
 
JohnN said:
I'll be amazed if they try macro or wildlife, as much as anything because looking at Leica's website they don't appear to have anything longer than 35mm, I suspect they'll cover product and landscape though

But yeah, if I were to start street based on what I saw on there I would rightfully be beaten to death!
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There's a 90-280 zoom for FF DSLRs
 
I missed that, still not enough for wildlife, certainly not for half a day and expect them to get lucky.
 
Really like the Asian guys image, stunning, best of the series so far.

Mirror one was also good.
 
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Gyles said:
Yup flowers in the crack..........makes sense now.
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Well, not thrown at it this time, two hours with 6 models and time to plan before hand, so they had time to plan what to do. With some of the recent trends it's a safeish bet reproducing an old master, but the lighting was pretty flat on some of them. I think I'd have taken one like that then moved the light around, voice operated light stand.

I liked the guy using the model as a dancer, thought his images interesting, good use of shapes, dynamic. Not sure why he chose the hand pose image, because I thought the ones of the model in the air were better, but I liked the processing.

The guy who went out deserved to. His image was far stronger before he cropped it centrally, leaving the blank space on the right posed questions as to what was missing.
 
Oh and is it part of the programme brief that all guest judges have to produce cutting remarks about the work? Again, I thought some of the guest photographer remarks were extremely harsh
 
I've yet to see it (the mother in law is visiting so I'm thinking this episode may not be the best!), however I'm not surprised to read that the guest is an arrogant arse.

It's a shame as I'm sure there must be nice pro photographers out there
 
Byker28i said:
Oh and is it part of the programme brief that all guest judges have to produce cutting remarks about the work? Again, I thought some of the guest photographer remarks were extremely harsh
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Listening to the judges is like reading some regular posters on the forum; they have a bank of comments and just blurt them out whether they are relevant or not.
 
It's some sort of odd, Simon Cowell-esque trend where judges on talent-shows (which is what this is at the end of the day) have to behave like obnoxious pr*cks. It's perfectly possible to give honest (even blunt) critique without being rude about it, but there seems to be a demand for Mr Nasty type behaviour. How much of this is down to the individuals concerned, and how much is down to the production and editing of the show, I'm uncertain, although I would suggest the latter will probably have a considerable part in it. Given the inherent subjectiveness that surrounds the appreciation of artistic photography (or any art, for that matter) then the critics really need to be able to demonstrate why something doesn't work for them in order to be taken seriously (by me, at least). Again, I suspect they are probably very able to do this but the programme running time will prevent it.
 
There is certainly an element of needing the "cowell" type judge on these talent shows but in my limited experience of the painting side and photography side of things it also just seems to be the way photographers are. After watching the portrait and landscape painting shows, compare the judges on those 2 to these and the painters are far more laid back and open to new ideas and different ways of doing things and gave much better critique. Ive also seen it on the OCA course i was studying, i did a photography and art history module, the tutors on the art history module were far more open to things being different compared to the photography tutors who, i felt, expected shots to be composed in a traditional manner and woe betide your marks if you did it differently. Photography just seems to be a little too up itself at the moment and needs to learn a few things from the art side.
 
Byker28i said:
Well, not thrown at it this time, two hours with 6 models and time to plan before hand, so they had time to plan what to do. With some of the recent trends it's a safeish bet reproducing an old master, but the lighting was pretty flat on some of them. I think I'd have taken one like that then moved the light around, voice operated light stand.

I liked the guy using the model as a dancer, thought his images interesting, good use of shapes, dynamic. Not sure why he chose the hand pose image, because I thought the ones of the model in the air were better, but I liked the processing.

The guy who went out deserved to. His image was far stronger before he cropped it centrally, leaving the blank space on the right posed questions as to what was missing.
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Again I thought the German girls image was good, better than the other group ones, and the mirror image was the standout one.

I couldn't believe the guy who went out... sorry but my wife could have taken that picture... no ambition, no skill at all. Just 2 people standing in front of the camera. At least the others had a go. Didn't get the guy who did the close up on the tattooed lady, poorly lit and dull. The judge gushing over that is an idiot!

Enjoy the program but cannot believe how pretentious some are!!
 
Yeah thought the tatooed lady shot was dull, needed more light, shadow, thought the composition ok but the choice of model and close up was a good idea.

I'm quite drawn to tatoos as I'll never have ne myself (needle phobia) but its the artwork, the story behind them that interests me. I've a project in there somewhere.

The mirror shot I thought there were more interesting variations, but it looked like he picked the image with the boobs in two bits of the mirror. I didn't think that was needed as the symbology of stripped bare was already obvious. I liked the one with odd body parts showing, an eye, a hand.
 
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cambsno said:
Again I thought the German girls image was good, better than the other group ones, and the mirror image was the standout one.

I couldn't believe the guy who went out... sorry but my wife could have taken that picture... no ambition, no skill at all. Just 2 people standing in front of the camera. At least the others had a go. Didn't get the guy who did the close up on the tattooed lady, poorly lit and dull. The judge gushing over that is an idiot!

Enjoy the program but cannot believe how pretentious some are!!
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Funny isn't it. The group shots did nothing for me and as for trying to copy someone elses art....Mmmmmm.
Agree the mirror one was the best but oddly, I thought the two guys standing next to each other was a great idea and a good shot. He blew it by cropping the space on the right of shot out and i agreed with the judge re symmetry. The fact your wife could have taken it is neither here nor there, I'm sure with the studio techs she could have taken all of them tbh. It was the ideas that were important. A good pic doesn't have to be technically difficult does it?
My worst two were the dancer guy and the racist one. Sooooo over done a million times and i think dancer scraped it because of the beard but again the judges were right, it didn't say anything or do anything for me. Racist one again didn't actually mean or say anything. An eclectic threesome of different races with one holding a flower? No idea what he was trying to say with it.
 
Rich_Ellis said:
Funny isn't it. The group shots did nothing for me and as for trying to copy someone elses art....Mmmmmm.
Agree the mirror one was the best but oddly, I thought the two guys standing next to each other was a great idea and a good shot. He blew it by cropping the space on the right of shot out and i agreed with the judge re symmetry. The fact your wife could have taken it is neither here nor there, I'm sure with the studio techs she could have taken all of them tbh. It was the ideas that were important. A good pic doesn't have to be technically difficult does it?
My worst two were the dancer guy and the racist one. Sooooo over done a million times and i think dancer scraped it because of the beard but again the judges were right, it didn't say anything or do anything for me. Racist one again didn't actually mean or say anything. An eclectic threesome of different races with one holding a flower? No idea what he was trying to say with it.
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Agree on the race one, shame as I liked him in the first 2.

My point about the two guys was that there was nothing there. 2 people stood next to each other. At least everyone else tried to do something, be it flowers in the bum crack or beard or tattoos etc... Its a bit like going out on an architecture project and just going out my front door and taking a snap of the house.
 
cambsno said:
Agree on the race one, shame as I liked him in the first 2.

My point about the two guys was that there was nothing there. 2 people stood next to each other. At least everyone else tried to do something, be it flowers in the bum crack or beard or tattoos etc... Its a bit like going out on an architecture project and just going out my front door and taking a snap of the house.
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I think he was trying to show a perfect confident model versus a guy far less confident and body perfect. However, he didn't succeed but at least he wasn't trying to copy someone else's art like flower crack girl!
 
Copying masters is a tried and tested formula, if done well. Think Tom hunters woman reading a possession order, a copy of vemeers girl reading a letter. Observing the skills of the old masters, is worthwhile.
 
I thought all of them with the exception of the fella who used the mirror were a little lacking in imagination.
It was disappointing to see them go for a white background (with varying shades of grey). They had the brief clothed/nude, just thought it would be a little more varied.
The three group shots proved this, the female with the short blonde hair looked less than impressed when the judges pointed out that hers and the other two could have been shot by the same photographer.

That aside, I have thoroughly enjoyed this series so far.
 
blakester said:
I thought all of them with the exception of the fella who used the mirror were a little lacking in imagination.
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Thats an interesting thought and could possibly be leveled at most of the photographers in all three programmes so far. So is it the fault of the photographers, being taken outside their normal areas of comfort and expertise, or is it the brief from the judges / programme maker? I hadnt realised with the two previous street exercises that they had preprepared, but it was obvious with the studio work they had.

In the studio they were presented with a white infinite wall, lighting and a few props and models and I think they were told this, hence the concentration on the form and not anything else. In attempting to link to a painting I think they were hoping to show the judges depth of knowledge, to impress them (since they've been underwhelmed so far) but the image lost out. I think thats why the mirror ans close up image of the tatooed lady were praised as not making the studio environment so obvious
 
I'd love one of those mirrors. Anyone know where I could get one.
 
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Byker28i said:
Thats an interesting thought and could possibly be leveled at most of the photographers in all three programmes so far. So is it the fault of the photographers, being taken outside their normal areas of comfort and expertise, or is it the brief from the judges / programme maker? I hadnt realised with the two previous street exercises that they had preprepared, but it was obvious with the studio work they had.

In the studio they were presented with a white infinite wall, lighting and a few props and models and I think they were told this, hence the concentration on the form and not anything else. In attempting to link to a painting I think they were hoping to show the judges depth of knowledge, to impress them (since they've been underwhelmed so far) but the image lost out. I think thats why the mirror ans close up image of the tatooed lady were praised as not making the studio environment so obvious
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That's a good question @Byker28i about who's at fault.
The photographers do have a narrow brief or certainly did within the studio. I just thought that more use of props/clothing could have taken the images away from "here's a nude person in front of a white infinity background"

The majority of the judges raved about the mirror shot.
The guy who was eliminated was so far out of his comfort zone in the studio, he said as much at the start of his segment of filming.

I don't envy their task, shooting to a brief, in a genre they're not familiar with, up against those judges. Whoever wins will certainly deserve the title.
 
considering simon frederick thinks everyones images are too derivative and unsurprising, his studio shoots are nice enough but pretty unsurprising and run of the mill themselves!

I like Oliviero's stuff, i recognise a lot of the advertising shots, but you get the impression his stuff is shooting a freak show simply for the outrage it would of generated. Is there any other message that he is trying to make other than "let me try and wind the viewer up"
 
Exactly that, guest photographer, Jason Bell, last night was encouraging, informative and full of useful hints and advice.

So I liked Ruperts shot in the pool, thought it suited the character, I liked Mary's idea of using the lift mirrors. Laura's outside portrait of him leaning on the wooden fence was good, but I thought the colour image was better. The woodshed image I also liked.

The bedroom shot was very staged and didn't look good on the tv, but the final image, the staging, bed very central was great. As the judges commented, the central light from the light panel was all wrong and showed, she didnt appear to warm it up as Jason Bell suggested.

Really enjoyed last nights programme
 
It was pleasing to watch last night. Criticism was constructive and not rude and the guest star was also very positive and friendly which I thought was welcoming.

The two top pics were above and beyond the others for me. The simplicity of the first was refreshing and the second with the flag and expression of the second was superb. It's s shame it wasn't a real flag rather than a towel as that lost a little of the magic for me.

All in I was surprised at the turn of attitude in the show and the positivity of the pleasant pro tog was a direction the show needed to go before the Simon Cowell mr nasty attitude firmly set in.
 
who is the old judge? don't think I've heard him say any think good about the women on the show
 
I just saw last nights, how refreshing to see a judge who was not only nice but also helpful as well.

Not only that but the challenge was interesting and I think it reflected in the shots.

You're probably right about Simon Cowell, erm, I mean the old judge, he's just a grump so I pretty much ignore him
 
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Yes, what a difference the last guest made. Good that he felt No need for rudeness, sarcasm.. And as for the miserable judge.. Bah humbug to him ..
 
Byker28i said:
Exactly that, guest photographer, Jason Bell, last night was encouraging, informative and full of useful hints and advice.

So I liked Ruperts shot in the pool, thought it suited the character, I liked Mary's idea of using the lift mirrors. Laura's outside portrait of him leaning on the wooden fence was good, but I thought the colour image was better. The woodshed image I also liked.

The bedroom shot was very staged and didn't look good on the tv, but the final image, the staging, bed very central was great. As the judges commented, the central light from the light panel was all wrong and showed, she didnt appear to warm it up as Jason Bell suggested.

Really enjoyed last nights programme
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Really liked the lift image but should have executed better. The wood/axe one was also good, but again, not quite there. The B&W on the fence I thought was good too and the pool one was interesting. Like the week before, it was quite obvious who was the weakest, that shot was pretty terrible!
 
Caught this last night and I have to agree it was the best so far.

Also the loser was obvious - it was appalling.
 
Yep, the selected image was very poor, but one of his other ones would have scored very highly and been up there with the best.

That shows how vital shot selection is.
 
I think the older grumpy judge is just exasperated by the banality of the images and really wants the contestants to pull off an image that will make him speechless.

I use the word banality as I believe that's what he thinks, not me.
 
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