Contest Almost Human (Doll Photography Contest)

Wow, I am going to have to take several passes, noting my favorites and then weeding them out one by one! Everyone did an amazing job! I am filled with warm fuzzies for how much talent we have on DOA!!

 

LOL, this is how I'm doing it... so many it's hard to choose! I keep going back over all the photos and changing my mind... Too many amazing pics to choose just 3!

 

I know! Currently, I have, like, twenty, LOL. Sure we can't submit 20, mods?

I think I have my #1 and #2 faves picked. Strangely, it's going to be that #3 that's the hardest to narrow, I think.

 

Whew... finally figured it out! In the end, I decided to go with the entries that stuck most in my memory from my first look-through... I figured if they were that memorable, they were probably the ones that resonated with me the most.

 

This is going to be tough!!! First I've written down the numbers of all the ones that really popped out as being extra, super-duper realistic. Next I'll examine them closely for good composition and just generally being an interesting photo. I hope that gets me down to only a few but I don't know!!!!

 

I actually had a much easier time than I expected to. @__@ I just had a couple I instantly loved that (to me of course) stood out the most.

 

there are at least 10 VERY realistic shots. (_ _) can't we vote more than 3? *sigh*

 

I am completely blown away by the photographic talent here! There were a lot of amazing entries but I was able to quickly narrow it down to the top three. I debated a little bit on the third slot but then went with the one that really struck me as being lifelike the first time through. There was one really amazing photo that I really wanted to vote for but just couldn't because you could still see one of the joints This was so fun! Best of luck to all of the entrants!

 

It was really hard for me to choose, but unfortunately I had to narrow it down to three ;_; I congratulate everyone for taking such great pictures and thanks to the mods for putting it all together so quick!

 

Everyone who entered is extremely talented! Even those with the so-called 'not-so-great' cameras really found a way to showcase the humanity of their dolls. Voting was difficult, but I figured out my favs.

I find it helpful to make a list of the numbers of the photos you like and then revisit those photos again and again to narrow them down, based on the different criteria you have in mind. Like, I looked for the most human. Then of those, the best composition. Then the ones that really spoke or told a story or begged a question. I had my three after that.

Good luck to everyone who entered! This contest is making me want to go take more photos of doll humanity.

 

wow that was a very hard descision!

 

well the first one just was so realistic i fell into with the doll instead.... cough cough

then the second one was kinda like yummy, and the third just very artistic XD

will we know who took what pics at the end i sure want to start stalking the owner of the doll i fell in love with~~~

 

There are lots of good ones but still show the joints. Those are so unlucky... (_ _) I passed on them because I could see clearly that those are dolls. *sad*

 

It was hard to choose, I had at least 20 favorites! It took forever to narrow it down. Extra kudos to whoever did the Doctor Who shot, that cracked me up ^^

 

After multiple passes I finally chose my three, though with so many photos it was indeed very tough. There were two that made me double-take nearly every pass, one of which just took my breath away, so those got in right away, but sadly the third one that kept catching my eye and would have been voted in had things to it that kind of made me think twice, so I voted for the backup photo instead. Best of luck to everyone, it's great to see so many nice shots!

 

I think it was very cool they took my advice to let us vote for more than just 1 picture.

Boy was it hard to pick 3 to give my votes to.

I thought all these pictures looked almost human, in fact with some i think it was just the fact that i knew it was a doll that made the difference between that picture and a photo of a human.
Everybody who entered: well done your picture was awesome!

 

@ armeleia Thanks so much for all your hard work! We all know you have done a lot to make this contest work!


And as for the entries, a couple of entries did make me actually go wow! I think I will talk more about them when the voting is closed though. Well done everyone though there are some really creative shots and i am happy to say my excited was well deserved as i said a couple of times, some shots actually made me go WOW! Although it was a shame on some you could see joints, but oh well they where still impressive photo's!

I have cast my votes, but i think i am going to look though again to enjoy them again! They are really lovely and impressive and oozing with hard work and talent.

 

I don't think we should be telling people which pictures we liked or didn't like until after voting is over. I could be wrong, but mentioning your opinions on specific photos and calling them by number before they are actually done voting could effect how people vote, when it should be up to the individual to look through the pictures and decide on their own.

 

I kind of felt that way too, which is why i kept mine vague and general.

 

Probably for the best, I corrected my previous post to clarify the calling out of a picture by number. Sorry for any confusion.

 

I had my kids and hubby help me out... amazingly there was only three where they all said
"PERSON NOT DOLL" LOL

 

I thought there where a lot of good ones where people used amazing backgrounds which is harder to scale with! I think it is a bit silly if people go, oh that sculpt looks human. That's not the photographers job and it is not cudos to them, it is cudos to the dolly company, with that one they are the artist.

I mean 2 people even used humans in the photo! which is amazing, and i think the one with the car is good too. And what about all the people that made their dolls look like they where doing everyday things like cooking and things like that. Then the is the one with the doll holding a small doll head! To me these are the ones that show skill and creativity They are all examples of good photographer skills, then i bought my doll from a company who sells realistic dolls.

 

I can't wait for the results though and then we can all talk about our entries and get feedback and things like that. But it is good to give so long for the voting so everyone has a chance to get their votes in.

 

My implications were I found it simple to make the decision based on the "almost human" topic and not to over analyse - my husband and children have absolutely no familiarity with any of the doll sculpts and therefore that was not a deciding factor.....

Because they and I selected the three images that were the most "almost human" and one of which was a total stand out to us that I'm certain that it will win. Scale, proportion, colour lighting etc were all factors in all images - it wasnt an analytical decision and it wasnt about paiting or which company could sculpt the most realistic head either, it was my 4 and 6 year old saying "Woah Mum that looks like a real person - are you sure its a doll?" that cinched it for me

I hardly think anyone who has entered would be upset that my son and daughter agree absolutely (in their juvenile 4 and 6 yo minds) that the pictures was of a person not a doll - if anything its a testament to the skill used to take the image

 

I don't see why people immediately discard pictures with joints in them. Because there's a few that look really amazing, even with the joints showing. They are more human than doll.
I had only about 6 numbers written down that caught me, strangely enough. Most of the pictures were just still obvious doll.
I don't think mine will do well tho. There's some amazing entries, and in the past my taste has always been different than the atste of the masses xD

 

My thoughts exactly. I thought about that a lot while I was shooting. Personally, I don't think joints play a part in what makes the shot "almost human." Its more about color, tone and overall feeling of the photo.

 

The mods advised us to "hide the joints" in the first post. >.>

That's why I discarded all that have "joints" showing on them! ^^ Humans don't have joints and balls and holes in their bodies.

 

Advising is something different than forbidding. Some entries are amazing and human, despite the joints.
And humans do have ball joints, they just don't show.

 

It's a matter of personal opinion. Those who find the jointing jarring will not include those in consideration. Those who do not, will not.

 

Exactly. XDDDD

Yup... Agree... XDD

 

LOL. I really need to stop going back through them because now I am changing my mind again! XD I might just have to go with my first choices!

 

Mods-Since there are so many beautiful entries, I was wondering if it would be possible to post a list of the top ten vote-getters? Only three can get prizes, but there are plenty of these that deserve recognition. Or perhaps the top ten should go in Gallery+?

 

I have to agree with Snow and ceramic_samurai on this one. "This may involve" seems more like a suggestion than a rule to me. There were some photos that actually made me forget that any joints were showing, through the use of lighting, props, mood, etc. The photos had such a realistic human emotion and "feel"... I think that's actually a remarkable achievement, to make the viewer (in my case at least) completely disregard any visible joints in the overall composition.

I just think it'll be interesting to see how people vote! Some more literal and "by the book", some in a more emotive and subjective manner.

 

Nicely said!!!

 

The photos are fabulous, but it was easier to vote than I expected! There were a few that jumped out at me, that if I hadn't known this was a doll forum, I would have had to look twice to realize they are dolls. Strangely enough, one of them did have visible joints, but the photo was so good, I barely noticed.

 

Eeee, I just cast my votes! It was very hard, but I am satisfied with my choices!

 

Just cast my votes - Sooooo many awesome entries!! But I am really glad that I picked the ones I did!

 

I'm so happy that size wasn't a problem finally... my picture ended up in the list, yaay !

It's hard to choose ! Most pictures are beautiful, but I'm trying to keep the theme in mind, and select pictures where dolls really look like humans. I selected about 10, gotta keep narrowing...

 

I am happy yours is on the list i know you where really worried. And yes there was some very cool ones, i went for ones that made me go wow

 

There were some pictures that looked "almost human" that showed a very small area of the doll and/or were in black and white. Although this technique was very effective and even artistic, I felt it took a lot more effort and ingenuity to take a color, full-face shot that could still look real. Just IMO.

 

So many amazing photos! I had 13 favorites, and it was very difficult to come down to three. For me the main criterion was the complexity of concept and execution, I myself prefer not to take an easy road and expect the same from the others.

 

After the contest is done. Can we get a showing of which photo got how many votes?
I'd love to know if my picture got a vote at all.

 

I found 3 photos were I had to do a double take on if they were human or not and one that I just think had a WONDERFUL theme/thought process behind it. I was very impressed by the sets some people built for their dolls and the amount of work it had to take to cover the joints the way they did. Bravo to all those that entered!

 

I am not sure i would want to know because part of me thinks i won't do very well ^^; i think they might do though and on the plus side if i don't get any votes i can think, oh it must because there are so many entries ^^; I am happy i entered though

 

Voting was pretty easy for me, actually. C: There were just a few that really, really stood out, where the concept itself was amazing and well-executed, not just a good-looking doll ^^

 

I want this too!

 

I agree with this !

I'm also impressed with many pictures with realistic props and settings, but I'm trying to focus on the doll...

 

Personally i think there is many ways to do it and i think the previous comment each picture should be judged on it's own merit. For some of the photo's i felt the B&W and only part of the doll worked, for others not so much and others i did feel the coloured ones where better executed.

We where all faced with a challenge and we all took a different way to approach that, and i am happy there was some very varying results because this is what makes looking at them far more interesting and i think it shows how creative some people can be. It has been said before, there is more then one way to make a doll look human.

 

I am so amazed by all of the talent we have on this board. I was totally blown away by quite a few of the photos!

 

I agree. Like I said yesterday, you just can't judge all the pictures based on one set of criteria because not all of them fit the same criteria--the contest was not that structured. So, you just have to decide when you look at each picture what works or doesn't work about it. I definitely did not use the same criteria for each, yet still arrived at the conclusion I think is most correct for the ones that were the most realistic.

 

I know it was previously said ^^ but yeah that is how i voted too, i looked at each one and thought right OK in this picture they have gone for this approach, i see that, how well have they done that. And thought about how it fits the theme of the contest. I didn't just think about the doll i thought about the whole picture.

 

Wow, those were all amazing!! That was a very hard decision for voting...we should be able to vote top 20 haha! :P

 

In the end, I voted on the "human-ness" of the overall photo... which photos evoked a feeling that made me connect with the subject the same way I would a human portrait. So it was a combination of concept and technique. There wasn't any particular technique that was an "instant non-vote" for me, really.

As for those who didn't take full-face shots, or took black-and-white... I think it's a matter of the entrants working with what they have. Those who own extremely realistic sculpts can take a humanlike facial portrait far more easily than those with very stylized dolls... so I think each photographer probably just decided to emphasize the most humanlike aspects of their particular doll. Same goes for black-and-white... for those who have extremely yellowed dolls or fantasy resin colors, it would be a technique to add realism to an otherwise unrealistic-looking doll.

Overall, I think everyone did an amazing job of making their particular doll look as realistic as possible. There were some real doozies in there! I'd be flattered if my entry gets any votes, really. I meant to try more photo shoots before the deadline (to try to perfect my entry) but I ended up running out of time and just submitted what I'd done in my first "take", so to speak.

Though like others, I'd be interested to see the breakdown of votes, out of sheer curiousity to see how many my photo received.

 

I think that's exactly right!

I feel the same way!

 

I was just wondering, and correct me if this has already been answered or I am misunderstanding something, but how does the two entries thing work exactly?

I can tell with some of the entries that there were two photos submitted from the same shoot, but the entries have different numbers. Do the votes for these entries get tallied together, as in user DOA submits two photos, each photo gets 5 points so user DOA gets 10 points in all. Or are these pictures in direct competition with each other? I am most specifically referring to when two photos appear to be different shots from the same photoshoot, not two entirely different entries.

If the pictures are in competition to each other is it too late to withdraw one of the two entries in the Human to Doll competition before they are posted?

Thank you for any clarity on this issue.

 

I don't think the votes get tallied together. If a user submits two photos that are obviously a set (two photos from the same shoot) but you vote on one of them, they won't get double the points. They will only get points for the one you vote on--the fact that they submitted two is irrelevant.

 

That is actually a very good questions, i get the impression that both photo's are competing.

 

I could have sworn that they did say they were going to do this, but I can't find where.
I would like to see the voting results also. At this point, I would be thrilled if one of my pics got even one vote more than my own

 

After seeing the amazing photos from this contest, I can't wait to see what people have done in the other one.

 

I am most curious about that one because I couldn't come up with any good ideas for it!