They had me stay back, even though the allowed me to shoot the rescue. (rescue of a truck that totally sank into the river while a man was trying to unload his jet ski).

This was the best I could do with the conditions of the situation.

Thank you for the comment.

oh well.

I tried.

my little boring snapshot. :P

Mark, you bring up a really interesting thought inside my head. You said my shot was "more of a snapshot than a WS submission" and it makes me wonder if there is some sort of criteria that makes this 'less than' worthy of weekly shots? I mean....seriously, this is /weekly shots,/ not some professional site in which our shots are being bought and we're making money. It's a little place in which our 'peers' can give us ideas and suggestions about making our shots better. You have basically said (in a 'nice' way) that my shot is boring and doesn't rate a WS submission. I guess I wonder if you're the only one that has this 'higher standard' you speak of when it comes to submitting work here? Do you hold all the shots to a professional standard, or do you take the 'layman's' work into account when you rate?

Hi Anna and welcome back.
Your musings gave me something to think about. I approach WeeklyShot as I approach all of my photographic efforts. For me WS is an online venue where photographers from all walks of life are able to improve their craft, at least that is how I view the intent of this site. Creative endeavors are all subjective and the comparison of ‘professional versus amateur’ does not apply in my book in terms of pure art. I view a wide variety of photographic, music dance and art exhibits in books, studios and galleries and on any given day, many of the images that I view here at WS compare to those images. Professionals simply have to deal with the business side of this craft – finances, client wants, etc. Pros don’t necessarily produce better work, they are simply ‘paid’ for that work and for me that is not an indication of fine art, only commerce.

I judge all images here at WS with the same criteria. And that criterion specifically encompasses great subject matter presented in a way that draws my eye toward the focal point of what the artist is trying to convey. Adding the element of mystery and thought provoking content which move me emotionally puts the piece over the top. I’m sure that everyone here has their own judging criteria which is what makes any open blog interesting. If I was to simply conform to how other people view art, than my need to participate here would be of no value to me or others. I have looked at fine art hung in galleries by world renowned artists and not gotten what they were trying to convey. That does NOT mean that their work is rubbish, it simply means that I didn’t ‘get it.’

So in the words of Annie Leibovitz, ‘go with your gut’ and produce art that you enjoy and means something to yourself. That is the real measure of what we all produce and should be the motivating factor behind your art. Features here at WS are merely a function of ratings and so many times I enjoy pieces here that are NOT featured more than those that are.

Hope this helps and thanks for asking something that makes me think Ana.

Thank you for your reply. Your thoughts do help in that they make me understand where you're coming from and how you look at things, and why you said what you said to me.

I guess I chose the wrong shot for the theme, but I can't figure out a way I could have made this scene any less 'snapshot'ish. I thought a fire/ rescue/dive team was pretty damn interesting, myself.
I did my best with what I had.
Take care. :)

Ana,what a fine dialogue you have going here.
I am often embarrassed of my'snapshot'photos.
I may regret posting mine,but I never regret having taken them.My family snapshots are more precious to me that any work of art.
I'll keep shooting Ana,and hope for honest caring guys like Mark,to help me see.
Hope you keep it up too!