As professional photographer for the past 40 years, I found it refreshing to watch this series that gives insight to the real world of commercial photography. Connecting with the viewer, telling the story and of course pleasing the client. Thank god this was not some goofy reality production, looking for cheap thrills . Well done Rankin, you brought some great new talent out.
4 Reviews
A winning series to inspire
fgerryts15 June 2021
There's a wealth of programs where people compete for a prize. This one is different as each week no one is eliminated. Instead all the photographers are challenged to take photos that stretch them. They use their smartphones as cameras in some challenges or work with models on a fashion shoot, try street photography or action shots. In the process they have mentoring from Rankin and other photographers. You can watch them improve. But the best thing is that you'll probably be inspired to pick up your camera or phone and have a go yourself. (Dear Reader, I know because I did!)
The show ends with the participants putting on a show of their work to be judged. You can see the quality of their work and also how supportive the judges and other participants are of each other. They are all winners.
The show ends with the participants putting on a show of their work to be judged. You can see the quality of their work and also how supportive the judges and other participants are of each other. They are all winners.
Watching Paint Dry
KathyAndHerDogs21 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I like photography (studied it at university many years ago) and I love shows where contestants get set challenges each week like Bake Off and Sewing Bee, so I was excited to see there's a new show about photography "The Great British Photography Challenge".
Just watched all 4 episodes and Im left feeling disappointed. There was none of that camaraderie among the contestants you get in other shows and Rankin came over as a grumpy Lord Sugar......on a bad day.
While I understand why the producers wanted to avoid the show getting into the technicalities of photography, I think some tips would have been well received from the viewers. I mean each week's cameraphone challenge was a missed opportunity for a quick master class on how to get the best from a cameraphone and would have made that particular challenge more interesting for the viewer, and helped to appreciate the skill put into the final shots.
In fact Rankin didn't pass on any worth while advice and I was left wondering how much he actually knows about different genres of photography?
When presented with an exceptionally dull landscape shot in the final he clearly was at a loss to feedback on it. Nothing about what worked well or what could be improved. And even within his own genre of fashion photography, he sang the praises of one contestant but failed to mention the elephant in the room that everyone in my house was shouting at the telly "she's cropped the model's foot off!" Unforgivable in a studio setting where the photographer is in control of everything, a basic compositional error like that should have been pointed out or at least ask the photographer why she choice to crop the foot off.
When another contestant had to shoot a model wearing reflective materials Rankin couldn't help but step in and "show him how it's done". There then followed a scene of Rankin shooting a model - but there was no commentary, no explanation of what he was doing! Pretty poor tv really.
Then there was the embarrassing scene with the large format camera - how many times can you watch someone disappearing under the cameras cape and say "oh, it's back to front and upside down".
In the final it felt like the producers were desperate to inject some of that camaraderie these shows are known for. So no negativity from grumpy Rankin. (He even acted like a warmup man at the start - "morning everyone! Oh come on you can you better! MORNING EVERYONE!") At one point he even says "you all get on really well, don't you" but it felt more like a desperate plea than a statement of fact.
A missed opportunity from the BBC, I'd be surprised if they commission another series, but if they do I'll be painting a wall and watching that dry instead.
Just watched all 4 episodes and Im left feeling disappointed. There was none of that camaraderie among the contestants you get in other shows and Rankin came over as a grumpy Lord Sugar......on a bad day.
While I understand why the producers wanted to avoid the show getting into the technicalities of photography, I think some tips would have been well received from the viewers. I mean each week's cameraphone challenge was a missed opportunity for a quick master class on how to get the best from a cameraphone and would have made that particular challenge more interesting for the viewer, and helped to appreciate the skill put into the final shots.
In fact Rankin didn't pass on any worth while advice and I was left wondering how much he actually knows about different genres of photography?
When presented with an exceptionally dull landscape shot in the final he clearly was at a loss to feedback on it. Nothing about what worked well or what could be improved. And even within his own genre of fashion photography, he sang the praises of one contestant but failed to mention the elephant in the room that everyone in my house was shouting at the telly "she's cropped the model's foot off!" Unforgivable in a studio setting where the photographer is in control of everything, a basic compositional error like that should have been pointed out or at least ask the photographer why she choice to crop the foot off.
When another contestant had to shoot a model wearing reflective materials Rankin couldn't help but step in and "show him how it's done". There then followed a scene of Rankin shooting a model - but there was no commentary, no explanation of what he was doing! Pretty poor tv really.
Then there was the embarrassing scene with the large format camera - how many times can you watch someone disappearing under the cameras cape and say "oh, it's back to front and upside down".
In the final it felt like the producers were desperate to inject some of that camaraderie these shows are known for. So no negativity from grumpy Rankin. (He even acted like a warmup man at the start - "morning everyone! Oh come on you can you better! MORNING EVERYONE!") At one point he even says "you all get on really well, don't you" but it felt more like a desperate plea than a statement of fact.
A missed opportunity from the BBC, I'd be surprised if they commission another series, but if they do I'll be painting a wall and watching that dry instead.
Stick To What You're Good At Rankin
info-8870716 June 2021
If you've after a show where you get to know the contestants and you follow the trials and tribulations of your favourite as they face elimination each week, then this isn't the show for you.
Firstly, no faces elimination, which may or may not be a good thing, but it's only 4 episodes so no time at all to get to know and develop an on-screen rapport with any of the contestants . On top of that each episode they have 3 assignments to complete so you're quickly moved from one contestant to the other. It also didn't help that none of them had particularly strong personalities to start with and you had to be constantly reminded who they were and what pictures they took.
So maybe you want a show where you get an insight from a world class expert in their field, in this case Rankin and photography.
Sorry, but you're going to be disappointed again.
Rankin's main contribution was to give feedback each week on the contestants work. Unfortunately his feedback was as bland and nondescript as his choice of clothes. Positive comments consisted of "I like it", "It's a good shot", and "I'd have that in my magazine". Nice one Rankin! How much did you get paid to come up with these pearls of wisdom!
Negative comments included "I don't like it", "It doesn't work for me", and "It's like the pictures my granny takes".
What the contestants gleaned from this and how they were able to improve is anybody's guess, and from the viewers point of view we were left feeling short changed.
Sorry Rankin, photographing super models and celebrities may be your thing, but stay away from this type of TV work please.
Firstly, no faces elimination, which may or may not be a good thing, but it's only 4 episodes so no time at all to get to know and develop an on-screen rapport with any of the contestants . On top of that each episode they have 3 assignments to complete so you're quickly moved from one contestant to the other. It also didn't help that none of them had particularly strong personalities to start with and you had to be constantly reminded who they were and what pictures they took.
So maybe you want a show where you get an insight from a world class expert in their field, in this case Rankin and photography.
Sorry, but you're going to be disappointed again.
Rankin's main contribution was to give feedback each week on the contestants work. Unfortunately his feedback was as bland and nondescript as his choice of clothes. Positive comments consisted of "I like it", "It's a good shot", and "I'd have that in my magazine". Nice one Rankin! How much did you get paid to come up with these pearls of wisdom!
Negative comments included "I don't like it", "It doesn't work for me", and "It's like the pictures my granny takes".
What the contestants gleaned from this and how they were able to improve is anybody's guess, and from the viewers point of view we were left feeling short changed.
Sorry Rankin, photographing super models and celebrities may be your thing, but stay away from this type of TV work please.
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