Photo Finish : Episode Six : Photo Journalism

[ricktas]

Time for this week's poll.

Which photo do you think should have won the Photo Journalism assignment?

EDITED: available to watch on iView now : http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/24227

[Kerrie]

I recorded it ..... Will have an answer after the weekend when I watch it. :th3:

[agb]

He was the only one that really got a shot that fitted the bill.
Nice bit of equipment to be playing around with.

[ricktas]

I tend to think that while his photo was the most powerful of the three, it was also posed. I think all three of them missed the bit about not getting their subjects to post and whilst all three photos were well done, I don't think any of them truly met the brief they were given.

[Kym]

Again, giving people gear they are not familiar with - dumb!

Bevan captured an emotional X factor and deserved the win

[Steve Axford]

What makes you say it was posed, Rick? I wouldn't have said so.

[agb]

I too did not see the winning image as being posed. And the judges thought that because they could not see the carer's face they could not see her connecting with the old gentleman. I thought that the body language showed that .

[ricktas]

I thought it was just when it was captured, with them sitting at the table with him opposite and how he had been asking them look, smile etc.

[norwest]

The winner was a very strong, emotional image and one i'd be proud call my own.

[Paul G]

In a perfect world, and if we could turn back time, I'd like to have seen them covering the "attack" on Gillard and Abbott back on Australia Day.

- - - Updated - - -

As an aside, I wonder if they realised how many dollars worth of camera they each were holding.

[rellik666]

As an aside, I wonder if they realised how many dollars worth of camera they each were holding.

Blimey I didn't realise either.

Do they only have one card or something.....why didn't they just wander around and take a gazzilion shots...or is that just me?:scrtch:

There were loads of opportunities and the cameraman/woman filming the show seemed to see them......

As usual there were better pics shown during the show then the ones they picked.

I still think a portfolio would be better maybe 3 shots and the judges choose...esp for that round as an editor would choose the best for them not the photographer.

[HelenClaire]

I think all 3 shots were really good but agree they didn't really get the spontaneous photo journalism look though Bevan's was the closest by far. All 3 shots however were excellent marketing shots. I personally think they all would look very good in brochures advertising the respective organisations they visited.

I would have preferred them to have just been let loose on the city streets to capture real life as it happened. They may have been more realistic or is that another genre altogether?:confused013

[Mark L]

The best part of this week program was the guest judge!

[Kerrie]

I think a better approach would have been to walk around and look for a photo opportunity that represented the brief, after thinking about what it meant.

The old man photo to me shows an elderly gent being attended to by a carer. But only because I know she is a carer. It was still the best of the 3, but could have been better, based on the brief.

[WhoDo]

Again we see the contestants choosing shots that weren't their best for the brief. Bevan had a couple of far stronger images, including one where the carer and patient were forehead to forehead and clearly in a moment of spontaneous connection.

ABC is still looking for a "train wreck" moment, but this time we gained an insight into the mindset and motives of a real, Walkley award winning photojournalist. That makes up for the fluff IMHO.

Give me a Leica M9 and an hour or two to use it any of these environments ... please ... pretty please?

[Paul G]

In a perfect world, and if we could turn back time, I'd like to have seen them covering the "attack" on Gillard and Abbott back on Australia Day.


Hmmm. Have to be careful what I wish for around here.

I was just about to watch the episode again and was having a look at the background of the 3 photogs.

Have a look through the portfolio for Jodie Harris...

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/photofinish/pages/s3521355.htm

[ElizabethAtkinson]

I agree with the judges' choice. I JUST WISH I COULD AFFORD the same camera. :(

[agb]

Hmmm. Have to be careful what I wish for around here.

I was just about to watch the episode again and was having a look at the background of the 3 photogs.

Have a look through the portfolio for Jodie Harris...

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/photofinish/pages/s3521355.htm

What a coincidence.
She is a much better photographer than the results showed her to be.

[Kym]

What a coincidence.
She is a much better photographer than the results showed her to be.

I think that is because of being given unfamiliar gear and no time to learn it.
The whole premise of the show is going to have sub-standard results.
I.e. we are not seeing their best work.

[Mark L]

I think that is because of being given unfamiliar gear and no time to learn it.
The whole premise of the show is going to have sub-standard results.
I.e. we are not seeing their best work.

They are also only being given a very limited time to decide which image to submit for judgement. How often do you take some photos, go home and instantly select the "best" ones? Go back a few weeks later and see the value of others that where not rated so immediately highly, for what ever reason.
I still think the judges should go though all the participants photos and choose, or the participants should be able to select three photos each for consideration.
And why can't they PP?

[anon]

I think there's good and bad to the show,
And definitely agree with the train wreck comment,

And despite thinking of all the things I would do different,
I have to say that most of the shots chosen at the end are far better than I think I would produce.

I'd also like it if the judges put up their choices from the contestants pictures...

(Oh and for the record I liked the RSPCA one most, but agree it didn't fit the brief, and that the aged care one was the best one for the brief)

[chaosboi]

I loved the stare from the elderly gentleman, it carried so much emotion.
i often find the ccontestants awkward sand really holding back..they all just need to shoot, shoot, shoot!
i was a little jealous of them using the leica!

[Analog6]

I have stopped watching the show. It is too much 'reality TV' format and not enopugh photography. It's a great pity, it could have been brilliant. But forcing the particvipants to use unfamiliar gear and giving them such a tight time frame is unrealistic int he real photography world, so IMHO the viewer does not see a true reflection of any participant's ability.

[chaosboi]

@analog6 If you get foxtel, check out 'How to take stunning pictures' on Studio. It's next on Monday 30th at 4.30pm.
It's similar format, although time is spent with a professional photographer who mentors the amateurs before setting then on their way to get 'the shot' with their own camera.

[Analog6]

We don't have pay TV unfortunately, I'd like to have watched that.

[ricktas]

We don't have pay TV unfortunately, I'd like to have watched that.

You do not need pay tv. Use the link I posted in the original post of this thread and watch it on your PC.