Final Results!
Going to quickly shoot through the rest of these results from Round 24-Round 29:
Round 24: FFA–James with “Curious Internet”
Round 25: Creepy–James with “Count the Legs”
Round 26: Negative Space–Nathan with “Fetch”
Round 27: Abstract–TIE
Round 28: Window–James with “Of the Face”
Round 29: The End–James with “Withered”
The Overall results:
James secured 25 wins, Nathan secured 6 wins (ties included for both).
Congratulations James, for winning Photo Fight 3!
Thank you to Nathan for fighting the good fight and seeing this project through to the end!
Also a hearty thanks to all the faithful voters and viewers–this sort of thing is a pretty futile gesture without audience participation. 🙂
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Photo Fight will be taking the month of August off–we’re setting up logistics for the next few fights.
We’re looking to come up with a fresh list of themes, as well as try making some changes to our system.
Suggestions are appreciated and welcome as we continue to make this project beneficial to photographers and enjoyable for you viewers.
In the meantime, y’all should be out taking pictures, making art, and hunting down those unexpected moments!
See you in September!
Round 30: Self Portraits and Reflections
Well, here we are! Day 30 of Photo Fight 3.
Today is not so much a proper Photo Fight round as it is a chance to hear from our two combatant photographers as they reflect on what it’s like to shoot an image every day for a month. Not just to shoot, but to submit it for public viewing and scrutiny.
For that willingness to be subjected to constant critique from strangers, I want to thank and congratulate James and Nathan for being willing to take this chance and for successfully coming to the end of it.
Before we get on to self-portraits and reflections, a couple of notes on results and voting! Tomorrow, the 31st, is the proper last day of Photo Fight 3. Which is to say, all results from these last several rounds will be posted. So please vote for the next 24 hours on all the still-open polls! Tomorrow afternoon I will make the final announcement and we’ll bring this puppy to an official close.
Enough from me! On to the Photo Fighters!
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Nathan
Digital photography makes it possible to try a lot of different things without consideration for the cost of developing film. During the photo fight, I learned that taking lots of different photos was key for finding the right photo to submit.
This was the first time that I had ever done photography in an artistic capacity, and as I went further in the photo fight, I discovered how complex photography can be.
I learned a lot about different styles of photography (abstract, negative space, etc.), and I saw how photographers could use them to express different feelings or ideas. Because photography deals with objects that exist in the real world (as opposed to images manipulated in Photoshop), real photography involves being ready for scenes to appear and actively seeking good scenes to capture. As it is said, a picture is worth a thousand cliches.
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James
Taking pictures as an art form was an entirely new experience for me. I’d obviously taken pictures in the way many people had, for family vacations and of friends at special events, but I had never attempted to convey anything beyond ‘Hey, remember when we all did this thing together?’ It was a growing experience for me.
I ‘signed up’ for this contest almost by accident; I wrote a message to one of the admins (who write those oh-so-hilarious introductions to each vote) to let them know that I appreciated the site. The next thing I knew, I was finding opponents and competing.
Thirty days later, I learned a lot. I took some pictures I’m proud of, some that I felt were just last-minute gotta-hit-the-deadline pictures, and at least a few that are somewhere between the two. Sometimes my eyes were more capable then my lens, but other times the picture came out better than I expected. One way or the other, pictures are powerful methods of communication.
Round 29: The End (Results for Round 23)
Round 23: Free For All, James’ “Ambition” attained victory over Nathan’s “Tools at Rest”, which are now Resting In Peace.
Round 29: The End! Due to some understandable confusion over whether or not “The End” was a theme or the declaration of the legitimate end of Photo Fight 3, this update is a tad late. But The End is no longer nigh, it is here!
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- Things Without All Remedy
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- Withered
Round 28: Windows (Results for Round 22)
Round 22: Water results had James’ “Flow” catching a big wave of victory and leaving Nathan’s “Dry Humor” all wet. Or high and dry.
Round 28: Windows. There are a number of ways to interpret “windows”. One way could be an operating system preferred by computer-owners who don’t like apples and penguins. Here are two other ways of seeing windows.
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- Windows of the Face
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- Just Out of Reach
Round 27: Abstract (Results for Round 21)
Well well. Results for Round 21 are in, and we’ve got a tie! With 6 votes each, James’ “Shy” and Nathan’s “Aggressive Course in Botany” grew into one harmonious clump! Awww…
As for Round 27 it’s abstractions all the way. Abstractions with the camera can be one of the most painterly things the mechanical camera can manage. Whether it’s blurring the focus or zooming in to find unexpected patterns in every-day details, abstract photography is the purest expression of “finding the unexpected in the everyday”.
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- Stain
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- Only One Way to Look
Round 26: Negative Space (Results Round 20)
Round 20 was the toy-round with castles and creatures escaping other creatures. The results are in, and it seems James’ “Model Warfare” won with a 2 vote lead over Nathan’s “Renown and Grace is Dead”.
Round 26 is all about negative space. Not that kind of space that’s full of grumpy people but the kind of space that has nothing in it, even grumpy people. Or properly, the emptiness which exists around a something. Which, now that I think about it, is kind of the definition of space–absence, as opposed to presence. If something is there, it’s not space, it’s place.
Anyway! Vote away!
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- Fetch
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- Hospitality
Round 25: Creepy (Results for Round 19)
Round 19-Texture. Whooooooa. Apparently you viewers were extremely hungry because James’ “Popcorn” received 17 votes more than Nathan’s “Ruff”. Though in retrospect, if you all *were* hungry, I’m glad you went for the ceiling popcorn and not mobbing to eat the puppy.
Round 25: Creepy! Ooky-spooky, oogy-boogy, etc. When I think of creepy things, I think of disembodied hands floating down to land lightly on my shoulder. Or a screaming face appearing in the middle of TV static. Or being stuck in the middle of freeway traffic and realizing your tank is empty. OoooOOOoooooh! *finger wiggle*
Anyway! Here it comes… Creepy!
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- Signs of Things to Come
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- Count the Legs
Round 24: Free For All (Results for Round 18)
Round 18: Sunrise/Sunset–James’ “Mental Sunrise” won over Nathan’s “Name a Shade of Paint After It” by a margin of merely 3 votes.
Round 24: Free For All! Which will you choose–the tankards for bookworms or the LAN cable that wants to be your friend?
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- Books and Tankards
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- Curious Internet
Round 23: Free For All (Results for Round 17)
So it turns out I DO have internet access while I’m out, so here’s the post anyway!
Results for Round 17: Free For All, James’ “Looking Up” distracted all the wedding guests in Nathan’s “What Bwings Us Togevah Today” and won the day.
Round 23! Ah, Free For Alls. So eclectic. So full of lazy kitchen-cleaning utensils and wheel-chair-bound stickmen who dream of better things.
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- Tools At Rest
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- Ambition
Round 22: Water (Results for Round 16)
I will be gone this weekend so we’ll have to cram posts on Monday! My apologies in advance.
Round 16 saw James’ “The Takeover” creep into victory over Nathan’s “Woof” by the margin of a single vote. (Side note: Interestingly, the total number of votes for Round 16 was 9. The total number of votes for Round 11 was 23. Not sure what happened between Round 11 and Round 16!)
For Round 22, our theme is water!
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- Dry Humor
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- Flow
Round 21: Flowers (Results for Round 15)
Round 15: Portrait–James’ “Captain, My Captain” jutted his manly chin into the rarified aether of victory, while Nathan’s “Poor Trait, Indeed” languished in its gilded frame.
Meanwhile, out in the garden, flowers are blooming (or in this weather, scorched to death by the rays of the jealous sun). Gaze upon them, gather them while ye may (tis near August besides!) and vote for which type of flower you like best–aggressive and “in your face” or shy and demure?
(Note: This may or may not reflect on the temperament of your ideal significant other…)
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- Shy
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- Aggressive Course in Botany
Round 20: Toy (Results for Round 14)
Round 14: Food was a resounding win for Nathan’s “Embrace the Refrigerator”. But James’ “Sweet Smile” was an excellent sport, and continues to smile regardless.
Toys toys toys toys, everywhere for Round 20! Whether disguised as a piece of “technology” utilized by “grownups” (*cough*iPad*cough*) or that stuffed buddy you’ve managed to preserve, through sheer strength of sentiment, from infancy till now, toys still play an integral part of our lives, ranging from providing entertainment, comfort and important lessons like “gravity is not good for my Kindle”.
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- Renown and Grace is Dead
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- Model Warfare
Round 19: Texture (Results for Round 13)
Round 13: Product was a landslide victory for James’ “Microsoft Mouse” over Nathan’s “Glencoe”.
Round 19: Texture–the touchy-feely post of our fight. Or it would’ve been, if inventors had created computer screens to project touch as well as sight. As it stands, you’ll just have to content yourself with our less-than-futuristic approach with simulated and suggested texture, while scientists hurry up and produce texture-o-vision along with smell-o-vision. We’re waiting, guys! Also, where is my flying car?
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- Ruff
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- Popcorn
Round 18: Sunrise/Sunset (Results for Round 12)
Round 12: Close Up brought in appropriately close results. By the margin of a single vote, Nathan’s “Nothing Closer” snuggled up and stole the win, with James’ “Water Cap” contemplating the emptiness of life.
Round 18 brings us into the wild and wonderful world of Broadway! No. Wait. Wrong kind of Sunrise, Sunset. Our sunrises and sunsets are of the “Good Morning, Dear Coffee Cup” and “Goodnight, Sweet Suburbia” variety.
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- Name a Shade of Paint After It
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- Mental Sunrise
Round 17: Free For All (Results for Round 11)
Round 11: Black and White wound down with me still not having a Black and Tan. But I do have the results for that round! “Time for Class” captured the majority of the votes to ring in victory over the cryptic “Sicilian Message”.
For Round 17, we have a competition between those who gaze to the heavens and those who gaze deeply into the eyes of another. Or windows and weddings. You pick.
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- What Bwings Us Togevah Today
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- Looking Up
Round 16: Free For All (Results for Round 10)
Whooops! Sorry for such a late update folks! When I can’t get to the internet, these sorts of things tend to fall behind.
Anyway, Round 10! (Which was apparently Nature version 2) I am pleased to announce we have a surprise turn-around! Nathan’s “Flower in the Face” prodded defeat in the face with various flora to achieve a win over James’ “Rising Trees”, who must go do their rhythmic growing elsewhere.
As for Round 16, our Free For All brings us a meowing dog and the beginnings of the world’s hostile takeover by plants. An event that might be forewarned by the meowing dog, if only we spoke confused dog-speak! If only.
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- The Takeover
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- Woof
Round 15: Portrait (Results for Round 9)
Voting for Round 9: Free For All (aka Animals V2!) wound up with “Peek-a-Boo” sneaking past “A Case of the Mondays” to pounce on victory. Actually, I’d say this result reveals something beyond just “who won the round”. I think… people who like photos also seem to prefer cats? This preference is marked to such a degree I would wager to say no dog-themed image has won yet in the two (now three) round history of Photo fight. Curious and curioser.
But without further ado, here comes Round 15 with portraits, portraits, portraits! (Well, only 2 portraits… but y’know…)
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- Poor Trait Indeed
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- Captain My Captain
Round 14: Food (Results for Round 8)
In Round 8: Pattern, you the voting viewer (The VV? V2?) were asked to consider patterns and the unexpected places they appear. (Like that shirt you’re wearing… which I hope is not the *same* shirt you were wearing a week ago.) The competition was pretty close, again, but in this round, “Decay” ate away the pattern faster than “Self-Replicating” could replace it. Fierce!
Here in Round 14, however, we find some levity as the photographers look at food! Ah, food. In the fridge. On your face. Or being your face as you listen to the siren call of the refrigerator, beckoning to you with its leftover potato salad and popsicles.
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- Embrace the Refrigerator
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- Sweet Smile
Round 13: Product (Results for Round 7)
Wow. Round 7: Architecture wrapped up with a near photo-finish! “Shade” still managed to come in first over “Made in China” but only by a single vote! Only goes to show, dear readers, that your votes really, really do count. Every last one of them.
On to Round 13… Product Photography! Today we’re examining those sneaky, brand-name items in your house and their hidden lives when you aren’t watching. Like computer mice who dream of real-mouse-glory… and ancient Scottish feuds played out over-and-over on your kitchen counter.
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- Glencoe
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- Microsoft Mouse
Round 12: Close Up (Results for Round 6)
Round 4: Nature wound down with “Illumination” blinding “If You Squint” and sweeping up the majority of the votes.
For Round 12, we’re going close up. Just like that ride Disneyland doesn’t have anymore. Actually, both rides that I know of involving shrinking and going “close up” are gone from Disneyland. One just built clean over, and the other was replaced by Michael Jackson and a cadre of dancing men and women in terrifying “costumes”. Hopefully our photographers can avoid the latter fate as they tread where only camera-phones may go. Which is to say, flat against the surface of a mirror and invading the privacy of bottle caps.
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- Nothing Closer
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- Close Up Water Cap
Round 11: Black and White (Results for Round 5)
Round 5: Extreeeeeme Perspective results are in, with “Thirsty” quenching itself on the sweet waters of victory while “New Subway” must leave for the next station.
Today’s theme is Black and White. I wish it were Black and Tan, because then I would be enjoying an expertly mixed glass of lager and ale as well as looking over photos. But this Elysian future is not to be. Instead, I will console myself with these photos featuring both “black and white” as a photographic concept and “black and white” as a conceptual photograph!
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- Sicillian Message: Nothing to See Here
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- Time For Class
Round 10: Free For All (Results for Round 4)
Round 4: Family brought a tie–both “Distance” and “The Closest We Can Get” received the same number of votes. Which seems fitting since both images depicted meeting your family at the exact middle between non-contact and in-person.
For the Free For All in Round 10, we find out the secret lives of flowers and trees. Which is to say, flowers are aggressive little buggers that poke things in the face at every opportunity. Trees on the other hand, like to boogie when no-one is watching. Or bop. Boogie and bop.
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- Flower in the Face
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- Rising Trees
Round 9: Free For All (Results for Round 3)
In Round 3 we find “Hidden” winning over “Important People In Their Natural Habitat”, which just goes to show–you may be important and possibly even natural, but without purple flowers to hide you, it is all for naught.
Today’s Free For All is like Animals all over again. But the animals are shy and inclined to napping. After all, it’s hard work playing peekaboo on a Monday.
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- A Case of the Mondays
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- Peek-a-Boo
Round 8: Pattern (Results for Round 2)
Well, looking over the results of Round 2: Free For All, it would seem our viewers really have a thing for chain-link fences. James’ “Escape” won over Nathan’s “Teachers in Action”. (Also, while FFAs rarely share themes, I think it’s interesting that one photo is about teachers and the other is about escaping… I’m sure I’m not the only one who noticed it. Freshman year. 7am math class. Escape? Oh yeah…you remember!)
Round 8 is about patterns. Patterns are one of my personal favorite things to seek out and photograph. They are so ubiquitous that we spend most of our days forgetting to see them. But the instant I decide to look for patterns, I am overwhelmed by the sheer variety of textures and patterns we interact with every day. (Sometime, when you have a second, examine the weave of your shirt. See? Crazy pattern…) Our photo-fighters today have brought samplings of natural patterns from both ends of the spectrum–texture created by natural decay and the tangle of new life.
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- Decay
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- Self-Replicated
PHOTO FIGHT 