BBC WPTY Results

[Bob Blanchard]

I am sorry to disagree, but do you all really think that that particular Snow Leopard shot was pure luck? What about studying the subject to know where he will walk thru, don't we do that too? What about knowing where to locate the camera to get a plaesent composition and know where to locate the flashes and how to usde them to get good light, aren't those great photographer skills? I am sorry, but in a forum where Photoshop skills are celebrated with so much enthusiasm it is hard for me to understand what has happened here where suddenly if you are not there to press the trigger you are not a photographer but if you can save whites or ad a whole wing to a bird you are a great photographer... I use photoshop, I am not at all against it as I think it is a fundamental tool in digital photography, but infrared barrier is, to me, a much greater and hard to use tool that PS, you REALLY have to know a lot to work with barriers when with PS you can always go back and restart.. I am just trying to be coherent with myself here... I respectfully disagree with you, I think that winning shot it is the result of a LOT of a photographer hard work and skills.

Ps: Still, the image I really loved the best was Miguel Lasa's Polar Bear silhuette!

I definitely respect what you are saying, and I do believe that there is skill involved here. Of course it was not ALL luck. But I feel that this image was more luck than skill, and not the other way around. Of course we all know where to find the animals, and where the light needs to be....but that's only part of it. it's the pose, the composition, the subtle angles, the adjustments to changing light, etc. etc. that seperate the great photographers from the rest of the herd. Sorry, but you can't achieve those details remotely without luck. Just not possible. I feel that skill should be awarded, and luck should be envied ;)

Again, this photographer is obviously a good one (maybe even a geat one). He has certainly accomplished far more than I have....So who am I to judge? I congratulate and applaud that. I simply disagree with this award in this contest. Heck, I wasn't even competing in this one, so it shouldn't bother me as much as it does.

FWIW - I still suck at Photoshop, so I HAVE to rely on my photography skills to get it right out of the camera. Maybe as I ..."ahem"... evolve as a digital photographer, I'll become lousy with the camera, and better at Photoshop :D

[Ramon M. Casares]

it's the pose, the composition, the subtle angles, the adjustments to changing light, etc. etc

But except for the pose, isn't the rest after months of study something you can foresee (light, comp, speed, ISO, etc) and so get the parameters right? He didn't had a SUPER camera or anything, that shot was taken wiht an Xt!!! That tells me a lot about skills more luck. Plus, pose is not luck? Sure? Didn't you ever get a great pose from a bird or animal just out of pure luck and you got it thanks to the camera continous burst? I know I did, so why is this case any different? That is way I think in photography skills and luck go together preety much as one thing, sometimes we have more luck than skills and somedays skill are all we need but, but these two things to me, go preety much toghether, such as in the snow leopard case and so many other cases that we can all see here in BPN and everywhere else. :)

Maybe as I ..."ahem"... evolve as a digital photographer, I'll become lousy with the camera, and better at Photoshop :D

Sadly, that is happening a lot, there are a lot of folks out there who relay on PS way to much in stead of getting better as photographers... :(

[Bob Blanchard]

But except for the pose, isn't the rest after months of study something you can foresee (light, comp, speed, ISO, etc) and so get the parameters right? He didn't had a SUPER camera or anything, that shot was taken wiht an Xt!!! That tells me a lot about skills more luck. Plus, pose is not luck? Sure? Didn't you ever get a great pose from a bird or animal just out of pure luck and you got it thanks to the camera continous burst?

We have all had "luck" shots. Heck, just last weekend I was working a group of Spoonbills, and they all took off suddenly. I knew that meant a Bald Eagle was flying over. I immediately grabbed my 40d which was lying next to me, and fired off about 4 frames at him on a prayer that one would come out. Sure enough, one did! The other three were oof. Now the BIG difference here is I won't be posting my Bald Eagle to any contests, trying to say what a great photographer I am. I know it was pure luck. I have no problem being transparent about such things.

Perhaps it's due to the fact that I shoot with a relatively slow full frame camera as my primary, so I HAVE to be somewhat frugal with my frame buffer, and wait on the right moment to start the sequence. In fact, many folks on this forum have been out in the field with me, and probably think I'm a bit nuts because of the way I talk to the birds while photographing them! I'm always speaking aloud things like "c'mon, turn that head....give me that catchlight!". LOL - It think half the time I get the shot because the bird's curiosity gets piqued from all my self-chatter :D They all have that "What the heck is he talking about" look on their face!:D Most of my composition time is spent moving a single focusing point around to firmly place it on the eye, with the bird framed where I want it. You sure won't do THAT with a remote trip camera! I believe that the luck ends when the animal presents itself. It is then up to the photographer to craft that lucky moment into a work of art. Most people NEVER achieve that (as evidenced by the plethora of boring wildlife images out there).

The way I see this debate is that it boils down to two possible points....Luck or Skill. I clearly feel that luck was the domintant in the case of this particular image (thus making it non-deserving of the award it received), and you feel that skill was dominant (making it a justified award). Clearly, the judges agree with you. I don't think that either of us will have much luck convincing the other to change his opinion, so I'm content to just "agree to disagree". Besides, it will give us something fun to debate while we're hanging out in the bar after some fantastic photo shoot one day!

I will say that I agree with you 100 percent on the Photoshop discussion, though! But alas....that's another whole debate to be had another day in another thread ;)