Press:
The much-talked-about 2023 China Star Geographic Image Competition has recently announced the awards (see: What works can be worth 10,000 yuan!). The annual Star Geography Film Contest award announced! This is the fourth year of the event. Today, I would like to invite Jiang Chenming, the co-sponsor of Starlink CSVA and the planner of this event, to comment on the event and help you understand the trend and focus of the event.
One of the runners-up of the 4th session, Yang Youli - Eyes of the NightThe original intention determines the positioning
Starlink CSVA:The China Star Geographic Image Contest is the fourth year, please make an overall comment.
Jiang Chenming:Let's talk about why this film competition is held first, and now the number of people who pay attention to starry sky photography has increased exponentially, and students who are just getting started may not know much about the thinking behind this film competition.
Friends from all walks of life who know Starlink CSVA should know that this event is part of the "Looking for the Most Beautiful Starry Sky in China" project, which determines its positioning from the original intention - with a strong geographical concept, so unlike other starry sky events, we are not called "Astronomical Photography Competition", but "Starry Sky Geographic Image Competition".
"Star Geography" conceptually speaking, simply put, it is what we usually say "Star Field", which not only emphasizes the sky, but also cares for the earth, the ancients did not say that "the upper knows astronomy, the lower knows the geography", which is reflected very profoundly in the Chinese Star Geographic Image Competition.
Indeed, a very contented Hoshino work must "know astronomy", what are those celestial bodies in the night sky, why do you want to shoot it, not only the external beauty, but also a lot of inner thinking; At the same time, you must also "know the geography", what is the subject of the ground you want to express, and you even have to know what the connotation is different between when you shoot this landscape during the day and when you shoot it under the starry sky.
The overall review of this tournament can be summarized by several "maintenances": maintaining the rules of previous events and consistent pursuits; Maintaining the trend of increasing the number of entries; The trend of the quality of the works becoming more and more volatile has been maintained.
Why did Star Track win the championship again?
Starlink CSVA:Every year, everyone is most concerned about the two awards of champion and photographer of the year. Analyzing these two awards will also allow you to grasp the characteristics of this competition more clearly. Let's talk about the champion work first.
The fourth champion, Dai Ling, Cao Xiao - Secret Mirror BaseJiang Chenming:Speaking of champions, I think some people are already analyzing "what works are easy to win". Let's talk about one of the topics that everyone is most concerned about this year, how did Star Track win the championship again.
It's an interesting topic! Indeed, since the launch of the Star Geography Film Competition, three of the four champions have been Star Track:
The third champion, Xu Xiaoping - Minqin Dome Star Trail
Coincidentally, one of the runners-up of this year's champion Kuangwei-Gongga Star Track is also Star Track:
Runner-up, Lu does not drink - stars in the sky and fireflies on the groundRegarding the Star Track award, I will talk about it in several aspects.
1. It does not mean that "the geography of the starry sky is to shoot star tracks". All three are star tracks, which can only be described as coincidences.
2, it's not that "the judges are too partial to the star track".
In fact, careful friends may find that the jury structure of the Star Geography Film Contest may be a little different from other competitions, one is that the judges do not specifically invite academic authorities in the photography industry, nor do they invite academic authorities in the astronomical community, but more professional experts in the starry sky photography industry. Because starry sky photography has its particularity, to put it bluntly, it is necessary to understand both astronomy and photography in order to make scientific judgments on starry sky photography, so we must believe in the professional ability and practical level of these judges. The second is that the number of judges is relatively large, because we watch many film competitions, each judge will have a large difference in the evaluation score of the same work based on his own preferences, and the smaller the number of judges, the greater the impact of a single judge's preference on the results of the competition.
Therefore, professional scoring, multi-person scoring, and finally winning awards entirely based on the strength of the score are important characteristics of the Star Geography Film Competition.
3, which reflects the positioning of the Star Geography Film Competition, "both and mode".It is necessary not only to have a high-quality starry sky, but also to have a high-quality landscape. These champions all use the expression of star tracks, which perfectly presents "the most beautiful starry sky in China".
4, it can't be said that the star track is worthless if it is good to shoot. There are some opinions in the starry sky photography industry that the star track is too easy to shoot, the equipment requirements are low, the post-production is also easy, and there is no technical content. In fact, the three-time champion has refuted this view. Everything speaks according to the results and the content you express, not the technical difficulty of PK equipment PK post-PK.
This year's champion photographed the Dunhuang molten salt tower solar thermal power station in Gansu Province, where the stars between heaven and earth are integrated, which is a very rare shooting angle. Therefore, the judges unanimously gave high marks.
As for summarizing the rules, what works are easy to win the championship in the Starry Sky Geography Film Competition? I have done an analysis during the previous analysis, and I will not repeat it today, but I can review: the gods fought, why did they win. From this past summary, it can also explain the release of this year's champion, from which you can clearly perceive how important the "uniqueness" of the work is, not just the requirement of "good".
Star Photographer of the Year competes
Starlink CSVA:Let's talk about the selection process for Star Photographer of the Year.
Jiang Chenming:Star Photographer of the Year is a new award, and this is the second edition of our awards. The first winner was Wang Tianwei, whose theme focused on the starry sky and oriental culture (detailed review: why did he win the "Star Photographer of the Year"); This year's is Wei Wenjun, and the theme is karst landforms and starry sky (review for details: "Star Photographer of the Year" is too volume!) But why did he win in the end? ）。
With the foundation of the first edition, the competition for this award in the second session is very fierce! In the final round, according to the results of the judges' scoring, there were three people tied for the first place, and the scores of the three were exactly the same. They are Wei Wenjun (the theme is karst landforms and starry sky), Chen Geshuang (the theme is snow mountains, the sun, moon and stars), and Shen Ran (the city and the moon).
According to the rules of the competition, only one player can be decided in this award. So the jury re-scored the three groups of works, and finally Wei Wenjun won the award with a one-point advantage.
This year's Star Photographer of the Year, Wei Wenjun, is one of the works of the Karst Star seriesHow to become a Star Photographer of the Year
Starlink CSVA:What should I pay attention to when participating in the Star Photographer of the Year? What does it take to become a Star Photographer of the Year?
Jiang Chenming:Star Photographer of the Year is not only to recognize the more diligent and high-quality star photographers who shoot this season, but also to evaluate the theme of their shooting. So if you use the elimination method, the following may not make it to the finals:
1. It's just that there are many works, but there is a lack of thematic thread, and the author lacks thinking;
2. Although there is a main theme, its theme value is not large, or it deviates far from the starry sky geography;
3. Although the value of the main theme is greater, the effect of image expression is not good.
Therefore, this is still a "both and want", testing a star photographer's thinking, perseverance and manipulation ability.
What are the trends in the volume
Starlink CSVA:What are the trends in starry sky photography from the perspective of the annual event? Or is there any new direction for the "volume"?
Jiang Chenming:The general trend characteristics are still obvious, and my personal feeling is probably mainly manifested in several aspects:
1. More detailed:From pre-shooting to post-processing, they are more concerned about details and image quality performance, and in the past few years, simply shooting a single photo and simple post-processing have felt a bit outdated;
2. More extreme:The pursuit of the landscape is more extreme, and it is no longer possible to get a stall at the door of the house, and many photographers do not hesitate to run thousands of miles in order to pursue a special landscape; The ultimate pursuit of the starry sky has also begun to use a large number of deep space means to deal with it;
3. More innovative:Some senior photographers are no longer satisfied with ordinary shooting, and are creative in concept, composition, light and shadow, etc., in order to obtain otherworldly visual effects;
Excellence Award, Wang Xia Jin - Haidao Silver Arch4. More Depth:Similar to the Star Photographer of the Year mentioned above, some photographers are looking for in-depth photography on a certain subject, and I am personally particularly optimistic about this trend, which will inevitably incorporate deeper thinking about the image and the starry sky.
5. More abundant:Combined with a variety of celestial phenomena, such as solar and lunar eclipses, comets, auroras, elven lightning, zodiacal light, etc.; In addition, it has also become a trend to combine space station transit and space launch and other aerospace themes. In short, as long as there is something in heaven, no one will be spared.
Third runner-up, Wu Zhengjie - Changbai Mountain total lunar eclipse
Excellence Award, Wang Jin-Meili Thirteen Peaks Winter Night, Zodiac Light and Milky WayGo to the "deep field".
Starlink CSVA:Is the combination of deep space also a new direction?
Jiang Chenming:Yes, this is also a concrete embodiment of the above more detailed, more extreme, and more innovative. Hoshino photography is different from deep space photography, but now it seems that the boundaries are becoming more and more blurred. When Hoshino was creating, some photographers began to pursue the combination of deep space objects; Friends who shoot deep space, some are not satisfied with the same and difficult to have new shots, and begin to add scenery. In this way, the boundaries of the two began to intersect, and a new word came out, which was estimated to be called "deep field". It can be seen how far it has gotten now.
The following is this year's Excellence Award "Light Years Distance Between Me and You", which is expressed in the form of **
Excellence Award, Liang Wenyi**: Light Years Away from You - California Nebula.
Excellence Award, Liang Wenyi**: Light years away from me and you - Pleiades.
Excellence Award, Liang Wenyi**: I am light years away from you - Scorpio.
Excellence Award, Liang Wenyi**: Light Years Distance Between Me and You - Andromeda GalaxyLead and accompany
Starlink CSVA:The appearance of "Deep Field" is also related to the Starry Sky Geography Film Competition, such as the runner-up of the second session is a typical example.
Jiang Chenming:Yes, it should be said that the China Star Geography Film Contest has always played the role of "leading" and "accompaniing". In terms of leadership, the appearance of Liu Zhen's second runner-up "Deep Field" work has led a group of photographers to begin to use this technique to express the relationship between heaven and earth.
The second runner-up, Liu Zhen - Xuanniao Ding Kyoto, such as the second champion "Tulou Starry Sky", after winning the award from such a unique perspective, we began to see a large number of works of Tulou Starry Sky, and the leading role is indeed very obvious. Including the above-mentioned Star Photographer of the Year's advocacy of in-depth topics, it reflects the driving value of our event.
The second champion, Cai Yinlin-Yuchanglou Galaxy, what is more volatile and worthy of leading in the future, it's really hard to say, the starry sky is infinite, creativity is unbounded, and the pursuit is unbounded.
As for "companionship", from day one, we have been with us all the way and have grown with everyone. We believe that the China Star Geographic Image Contest will accompany various development trends, give birth to a variety of innovations along the way, and accompany everyone all the way into the sea of stars.
Just like what we're after:Keep the love, there is always a sea of stars!
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