BBC 4: The Great British Photography Challenge

All looks pretty beginner avarage to me, defo not the next great photographer like it says on the tin. interesting watch nevertheless.
 
Ajophotog said:
All looks pretty beginner avarage to me, defo not the next great photographer like it says on the tin. interesting watch nevertheless.
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It's a (probably deliberately) ambiguous title. The Photography Challenge of Great Britain. The Great Challenge of British Photography. The British Challenge of Great Photography. And so on. None of them are true. I do think we're seeing two or three of them become very good photographers, though, simply by being challenged to think and to see things in different ways.
 
garryknight said:
It's a (probably deliberately) ambiguous title. The Photography Challenge of Great Britain. The Great Challenge of British Photography. The British Challenge of Great Photography. And so on. None of them are true. I do think we're seeing two or three of them become very good photographers, though, simply by being challenged to think and to see things in different ways.
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What's in a name?

I agree with you about them improving by learning to think and see differently.
 
So the three youngsters all got something out of this.
Paul produced some strong stuff.
Georgie was unlucky not to win.
 
I wanted Georgie to win as she's a street photographer and possibly the most versatile at the beginning. But I think that Ali and Chelsea passed her by, and I would have split the award between those two. I'm glad I'm not Rankin, though! Really glad!
 
I disagreed with his choice. I think Paul did the best but maybe they did not choose him because of his age. It was never made clear what the criteria was for wining or the purpose. Rankin seemed to imply that they would all like to be professional photographers but would they? I would never have considered being a professional photographer myself. There is a big difference between a hobby and professional as a friend discovered. He was a keen amateur portrait photographer but when he turned professional, his initial work was photographing oil storage tanks which is not very glamorous but paid his wages. He soon gave up and went back to being an amateur.

Dave
 
I found myself getting more and more frustrated with the lack of constructive criticism towards the end. It looked like all the judges were trying their best to "nice" to all the contestants but in a different way to the others. One of them even got the offer of "an internship" - well, Perkins or whatever his name was said he would look for an internship for her. So, I know i'm being a bit cynical, but have any of the contestants got the people skills and the persistence to make it in the commercial world? I wonder if we will ever know.

But with the exception mentioned above, it was quite a good watch.
 
Dave Canon said:
I disagreed with his choice. I think Paul did the best but maybe they did not choose him because of his age. It was never made clear what the criteria was for wining or the purpose. Rankin seemed to imply that they would all like to be professional photographers but would they?
Dave
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Paul's been around a bit.
www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk

The Kendal-born photographer competing to win TV contest

A PHOTOGRAPHER from Kendal is vying to become Britain’s greatest snapper in a new television competition.
www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk
 
Bake off, Master Chef, etc. always are positive in the final week. I guess you have to look a bit harder to find the subtleties in the judges comments in final week of these things, they were there non-the-less.

Also I wonder if a number of posters in this thread ever consider that they might not be the target audience for this programme?
 
jerry12953 said:
One of them even got the offer of "an internship" - well, Perkins or whatever his name was said he would look for an internship for her. So, I know i'm being a bit cynical, but have any of the contestants got the people skills and the persistence to make it in the commercial world? I wonder if we will ever know.
But with the exception mentioned above, it was quite a good watch.
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I go the impression Rankin was offering an internship with him? Maybe not.
Blubbing and breaking down on set you would probably be shown the door in real life.
 
sirch said:
Also I wonder if a number of posters in this thread ever consider that they might not be the target audience for this programme?
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As it was shown on BBC4 I assumed it was people like "us."
 
sirch said:
Bake off, Master Chef, etc. always are positive in the final week.
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I wouldn't know about that...... ;)

As for the target audience, it's a bit more niche than baking but presumably it would have attracted quite a wide range of photographers from real wannabees to us old fogeys. My partner enjoyed it and she's not into photography at all. Maybe she just liked hearing me moaning and groaning.......:LOL:. (Although she gets enough of that as it is anyway......)
 
I enjoyed it but felt the "result" was a bit of a cop out. I suspect they really struggled to "judge" and in the end tried to help the youngsters who were clearly looking to become pros and encourage the rest. Given that the last two years the Turner prize has declined to pick a winner I have some sympathy with the dilemma.

The young woman who wants to shoot fashion doesn't get to the last 2, but is offered a Rankin internship and appeared delighted.
The two young guys who are stylistically so far apart it's hard to compare them are given a shared title to help them on their way.
All the older competitors are told they're good enough to be professionals and I assume as they're all "grown ups" are expected to get on with it under their own steam or remain happy amateurs.

I heard Rankin on the radio last week saying one of the reasons he initially refused the idea was he didn't want to have to kick a contestant off each week, so the format was changed so they all "went on a journey" together. If they'd been kicking someone after each assignment then the cactus debacle would have resulted in a very different outcome!
One of the things I really hate about the Sky Arts Master of Photography is them kicking people out who had a bad week and then the contestant having to give some piece to camera about how right the judges are - has me shouting at the telly!

Judging aside I really enjoyed watching it. As a keen amateur with no professional aspiration, it was interesting to see how they got on outside their own areas of expertise.
I'd have loved to have a go with that large format camera or 30min to shoot a celebrity but I know I wouldn't have done as well as they all did!
I thought they all took some great pictures and they all got better along the way.
 
But with the exception mentioned above, it was quite a good watch.
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I also thought it was OK.

TV shows like this tend to try and tell their own story and it all feels rather forced. I thought the format was abit uncomfortable. The requirement to have a phone assignment each episode was IMO a bit contrived. I think a single assignment and more discussion of failures and post processing options/advice would have improved the show for those looking to learn.

Good use of BBC 4 for something a bit less mainstream.
 
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Peter123 said:
You are going to have to explain that one to me.
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It was a reference to Jerry's tongue-in-cheek reference, above, that I was referring to. The post that you quoted in your previous post.

jerry12953 said:
One of them even got the offer of "an internship" - well, Perkins or whatever his name was said he would look for an internship for her.
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I've just watched the final, and really rather enjoyed it. It's a relaxing way to spend an hour, and overall I think they all did well with the work they produced.

As I said in an earlier post, I hope they run it again, but in a slightly modified format.

I inevitably liked the Thomas Joshua Cooper bit, and just as inevitably, I am now desperate to dig out my 5x4, but I will recover in few days :)

For anyone who wants a bit more of Thomas Joshua Cooper, here is the video of the talk he gave at the OnLandscape conference a few years ago.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQEF1c0Q0AY
 
garryknight said:
I watched Chelsea working with the models and it looks like she has it in spades. I'm not surprised she was offered an internship.
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Wasn’t it her going “it’s soooooo hard” trying to photograph the bike the week before? Who also got great comments from Rankin about the portrait of the woman with a prosthetic who cropped half a boot out?
 
I really enjoyed the series. The constructive criticism was very much on the constructive and encouraging side which makes a change from some of these reality type shows. It was incredible what little knowledge some of the photographers had of the basics but that didn't spoil it for me. I think they all produced some good work and all improved which is something we could all take out of the show. I know when I first got a DSLR I shot every type of subject and constantly challenged myself. I need to do more of that. Hope there is a second series as it was a good watch
 
Reality TV shows in general are, obviously, anything but.

Several people have commented on the lack of knowledge/experience of some of the participants on this show. Having a group of competent, experienced, calm, level-headed people walk around, take some snaps and then present perfectly fine shots for comment really doesn't make for an entertaining show, it would be quite dull. The producers pick a mix of people as much for their character and personality as their abilities.
 
At least Master of photography showed the camera settings for each chosen shot.
When they were in the studio using a Hassleblad I got the feeling that the camera had been set up for them?
 
hashcake said:
At least Master of photography showed the camera settings for each chosen shot.
When they were in the studio using a Hassleblad I got the feeling that the camera had been set up for them?
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to be fair, there isn't much setting up to do when in the studio in terms of camera settings. There is more skill required with lighting, etc.

And though showing the settings could be useful, it wasn't a very technical program so it made sense in a way not to display them. The way the program was presented, i think it made photography very assessable to a wider audience and that's a good thing
 
I will never understand this obsession with camera settings, especially with digital cameras. Unless you are shooting the same subject from the same distance in the same light with the same focal length lens and same sensor you may need to, oh I don't know, err, may be use a light meter to determine the settings that you need.
 
sirch said:
I will never understand this obsession with camera settings, especially with digital cameras. Unless you are shooting the same subject from the same distance in the same light with the same focal length lens and same sensor you may need to, oh I don't know, err, may be use a light meter to determine the settings that you need.
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Or if you're a digital monkey - chimp. :giggle:
 
hashcake said:
When they were in the studio using a Hassleblad I got the feeling that the camera had been set up for them?
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Of course it had been set up for them. That how studios work, otherwise the1st/2nd assistant wouldn't have a job.

Manny even said "Don't worry, I've set it all up for you" to one of the contestants, if you were paying attention.
 
StewC said:
Think the previous show was the Sky Arts Masters of Photography.

Am prefering this series though as the criticism feels more constructive and Rankin (and colleagues) seem much more invested in helping the contestants do well - something that was always lacking in MoP where it felt like if you didn't get on Toscani's wavelength then you were doomed, regardless of what the other judges thought.
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I preferred the Sky Arts series, it had better photographers. Most of the ones on this could have done with Toscani putting a rocket up their arse.

Is Rankin normally this generous with his criticism? There was some terrible photos he was very polite with.
 
DemiLion said:
Manny even said "Don't worry, I've set it all up for you" to one of the contestants, if you were paying attention.
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I have zero interest in studio photography and I've never paid attention to the camera set up for this type of photography.
Obviously I wasn't paying attention.
 
sirch said:
I will never understand this obsession with camera settings, especially with digital cameras. Unless you are shooting the same subject from the same distance in the same light with the same focal length lens and same sensor you may need to, oh I don't know, err, may be use a light meter to determine the settings that you need.
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There are a number of occasions where knowing the settings (or more often, one of the settings) can be helpful as guidance for a less experienced photographer.

While exact values are very much image dependent, seeing the shutter speeds used on long exposure images, or shots of prop aircraft give an idea of the numbers for the 'blur' required, for example, so when out shooting you have a starting point to experiment from.
 
I quite liked the show overall, more than I thought I would.

It was refreshing for it not to be a knockout competition, makes much more sense to judge based on the entirety of their works. Pleased that Rankin deferred a little to photographers that shoot different subjects to him rather than making out he knows everything about all types. Good range of subject challenges and that the contestants were allowed to be themselves.

Some of the critique sections could have been better, there were definitely some constructive points about composition that were strangely left out, but it was encouraging that they were largely focusing on the positive aspects and encouraging people rather than just slating them. I felt like it needed more than 4 episodes though, and I was very susprised that there was at least one person in the competition who didn't even seem to understand the very basic technical requirements of photography (she had a good eye and ideas so her inclusion wasn't a bad thing, but it put her at a big disadvantage).
 
I have been watching this on iplayer and I enjoyed it. One thing I have learnt is that what I like as photography is quite different from commercial photographers as often photos Rankin liked I didn't like (I am not a fan of abstract photos). Good thing I have no plan to change careers.

When they did the Parkour bit I told my wife - I bet the wildlife photographer does best - and was pleased to be proved right.
 
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