The use of Photoshop for SL Photo Contests.

[Reem Lorefield]

In my view photos of SL entered into contests should not be retouched or edited in Adobe Photoshop. Surely such use would give an unfair advantage to the photographer depending on how skilled his use was of the software.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

In general I agree.  Many contests specifically forbid it.  However, it is up to the people running the contest to set the rules.  In some cases it may be legitimate to allow it if they are having the contest to find someone who can take the best pictures and do quality post processing.

[Reem Lorefield]

I have never seen a contest where it is clearly stated that photoshop is forbidden. Even if it was in the small print most Second Lifers would not be aware that they were beaten by a Photoshop treated production. Photoshop professionals would generally have an unfair advantage so therefore why would anybody not proficient at Photoshop ever enter a contest in SL?

[Tamara Artis]

Is it fair to see a person teleporting group of her alts and friends to vote for her in a "free voting" contest? 

Or people who can invest some amount of money to pay their friends to come and vote for them?

Or shop that runs a contest but accepts only pics where your avatar is wearing clothes from that shop, no freebies or group gifts items?

Or any place that runs a contest purely for self-promotion and sets it so that no matter how good other entries are, every time winners are either owner's friends, managers, their alts or partners?

We all have our own advantages, you just need to find out whats yours and use it the best you can, where you can! And the best way to have a contest that will make you happy is to organize it on your own, and it is not guaranteed its going to work lol

[Amethyst Jetaime]

---

Reem Lorefield wrote:

I have never seen a contest where it is clearly stated that photoshop is forbidden.

---

Just because you aven't seen one doesn't mean there aren't any,  The contests run by LL on this board don't allow it.  I've also seen plenty in world that don't either.  The rules may not mention photoshp by name.  They probably say no retouching or no post processing or something like that.  If they only said no photoshop people could use another program.

[Kobuk Farshore]

Personally I see no issue with post-processed photos. Ruling out the use of editing limits your choice of winners to the people with the best hardware to run the best graphics on their machines, while leaving it open gives access to SLers who have skill in both taking the shot, cleaning it up and (where applicable) adding their own creativity.

It depends what the contest is for. If it's something cosmetic like a skin-store they'll often state they'll only accept entries with minimal editing, for the obvious reason that the photo should clearly show the product without too much over-enhancement. If it's something more open-ended such as a winter-themed contest though, why stifle anyone's creativity?

[greek Wingtips]

Most contests are not fair tam stole my thunder , but as for the question about using photoshop I see no problem with it,

art is art in whatever format and how it was achived , its all down to the eye of the beholder

[Reem Lorefield]

Why do contributors to these forums slice sentences from posts and comment only on those sentences and ignore the rest. One sentence or even a paragraph may not reflect the meaning of the post in general. I do not say rules do not exist ...that is really silly...

I still say that most people entering photo contests in SL do so for the fun.....and they assume that the photograph should be taken by the equipment contained in the Second Life viewer.

Use your technical process skills and expensive software and equipment to produce creative imagery.... but use it please for personal albums and advertising products if you are unfortunate enough to have to make money in SL.

[Theresa Tennyson]

---

Reem Lorefield wrote:

Why do contributors to these forums slice sentences from posts and comment only on those sentences and ignore the rest. One sentence or even a paragraph may not reflect the meaning of the post in general. I do not say rules do not exist ...that is really silly...

I still say that most people entering photo contests in SL do so for the fun.....and they assume that the photograph should be taken by the equipment contained in the Second Life viewer.

Use your technical process skills and expensive software and equipment to produce creative imagery.... but use it please for personal albums and advertising products if you are unfortunate enough to have to make money in SL.

 

 

---

What about GIMP, which is free?

[Tamara Artis]

Gimp is great, I still use it sometimes.

And about the thread in general, photo contests are a nice way to advertise yourself. You don't need to win, its enough to make a great photo and put it there on the wall for people to see. If the pic is good enough people will hunt you down and ask to make them one!

Our viewers and avatars are amazing, much better then when I started SL, which was 2 years ago. Now you can make a great photo inworld using windlights and your own creativity. Everything is out there, you just need to use it!

And always remember to keep your shape sliders proportional and adjust attachments to fit right

[greek Wingtips]

I tend to sway with disagreement, because then we can say RL photographers should not use fitlers,wide angle lens, ISO film speed, and now with digtial cameras, it like having photoshop in the camera,

 

I do belive that if the main shot is SL oritainted then I see no problem using affects and so forth with photoshop, I resent more the false voting in the contests, and at the end of the day there are no rules with ART however its been made.

 

these are my views, most great photoworks have been touched up or made better than how it was taken