First monthly Anandtech Photography contest! June 2007

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: drifter106
Food for thought...

Contestants submission is viewed with no name attached thus making any judgement totally objective in nature...

Great suggestion. I had originally intended to post captions to each photo in the gallery, but I guess those could be added after the contest is over so people may go back and look. If we end up using my gallery, then I'll keep the monthly contests posted for as long as I can.

 

[Anubis]

IMO 2 weeks is to short, IMO do one a month

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: Anubis
IMO 2 weeks is to short, IMO do one a month

Well, I thought it would be good to do one contest a month. Since it's already the 3rd, I gave a couple of days to get the rules straightened out, then a week at the end of the month for voting and tallying.

Next month, I was planning on starting it on the first, and following much the same timeline towards the end, giving a week for judging and such. I certainly do not want contests overlapping.

Would you agree that this is a good way to plan it out? Each month's contest will allow for 3+ weeks to take a picture you want to submit.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Can we crop in PS or must the photos be the full capture?

ZV

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Can we crop in PS or must the photos be the full capture?

ZV

I just added to the OP under submission rules. Submission must be atleast 1200 pixels on the smallest side. So, if you have the space to crop, by all means, go ahead.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

can this be run a little like the bit tech one?

winner gets to pick the theme for the next round....and the organiser keeps points tally to see who wins overall at the end of the year. its a pretty good way to do it.

although to stop the same themes coming up to regularly youd probably have to use a rotation or make a theme un-usable for the rest of the year or something, who knows.

id love to enter this month

saddly given my work load at the moment, i wont be able to get out shooting until after the closing date. which is infuriating because i recently bought a Canon 400d/XTi and i am dying to take pictures!

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
can this be run a little like the bit tech one?

winner gets to pick the theme for the next round....and the organiser keeps points tally to see who wins overall at the end of the year. its a pretty good way to do it.

although to stop the same themes coming up to regularly youd probably have to use a rotation or make a theme un-usable for the rest of the year or something, who knows.

id love to enter this month

saddly given my work load at the moment, i wont be able to get out shooting until after the closing date. which is infuriating because i recently bought a Canon 400d/XTi and i am dying to take pictures!

I don't mind the idea of letting the winner pick the next theme if everyone else doesn't mind. However, I would imagine we would need to set up some stipulations. For example, not everyone has the ability to shoot macro shots, and with some of the equipment members are sporting here, others wouldn't even be able to compete.

As for having a yearly winner, I guess we could name an overall winner at the end of each year, but personally, I like the emphasis being more on monthly winners. But, I have no problems giving points to the top 3 or 5 for each month, then naming a yearly, overall winner.

As for your work load, take your camera around with you and take pictures wherever you can. The theme is pretty simple to fit a picture into given the short time frame, so I'm sure you can come up with something!

 

[ZOXXO]

Originally posted by: drifter106
Food for thought...

Contestants submission is viewed with no name attached thus making any judgement totally objective in nature...

I very much agree with this sentiment.

AT forums in general and the Off Topic forum specifically has shown a tendency toward a clique mentality. Post count and popularity shouldn't play a role in the judging process. IMHO

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: ZOXXO

Originally posted by: drifter106
Food for thought...

Contestants submission is viewed with no name attached thus making any judgement totally objective in nature...

I very much agree with this sentiment.

AT forums in general and the Off Topic forum specifically has shown a tendency toward a clique mentality. Post count and popularity shouldn't play a role in the judging process. IMHO

this is how we do it at TFNN, we submit all shots to OdiN and he then makes a thread with all the shots in and a poll

nobody knows who's shot is who's apart from the one they took, and you are not allowed to say which is yours.

once the votes are in, OdiN then updates the thread with the positions and names. seems a good way to do it

 

[Jawo]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer

Originally posted by: ZOXXO

Originally posted by: drifter106
Food for thought...

Contestants submission is viewed with no name attached thus making any judgement totally objective in nature...

I very much agree with this sentiment.

AT forums in general and the Off Topic forum specifically has shown a tendency toward a clique mentality. Post count and popularity shouldn't play a role in the judging process. IMHO

this is how we do it at TFNN, we submit all shots to OdiN and he then makes a thread with all the shots in and a poll

nobody knows who's shot is who's apart from the one they took, and you are not allowed to say which is yours.

once the votes are in, OdiN then updates the thread with the positions and names. seems a good way to do it

That sounds like a good way to do it. Is EXIF data going to be included or will it be stripped out of the picture? I've seen awesome pictures from P&S and crappy photos from a dSLR.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
this is how we do it at TFNN, we submit all shots to OdiN and he then makes a thread with all the shots in and a poll

I very much like the idea of having a self-sustained poll here, instead of the method I've suggested. But, do you think that everyone can be trusted to vote only once and not create new accounts to vote more? I know most everyone of us are legit, but there are always a couple of bad ones out there. Plus, this gives people a chance to vote for themselves, too, which I was hoping to stay away from.

But, having a poll in the thread would make things a TON easier.

 

[pontifex]

why such strict rules, especially if there isn't any kind of prize?

 

[randomlinh]

NO filters.. not even a noise filter? altho, I suppose that is a bit unfair for folks that don't have it (eg, Neat Image/Noise Ninja filters).

Now... to actually somehow motivate myself to take more pictures.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: pontifex
why such strict rules, especially if there isn't any kind of prize?

Because it's a photography contest, not a photoshop contest. And only one entry per person is allowed so as not to receive dozens of entries. Those are basically the only rules you might be talking about. It's all about giving everybody an equal shot.

 

[blurredvision]

Alright guys, the contest will start tomorrow, and run for 2+ weeks. In the coming months, you will have 3+ weeks to make a submission. If I left anything out in the rules, or something isn't clear, let me know, and I'll fix/clarify it. If anyone else agrees with pontiflex that the rules are too strict, let me know. I don't feel that you've been contrained at all, and are pretty wide open to do what you please in the realm of photography, but I could always be biased .

I will create a gallery to house the submissions, and the gallery link will be posted in the OP soon for everybody to look at. I will post any submissions when I get them, so you can view any of them as time goes along. Only I will know who has submitted which picture. I will not label each picture with their owner until after voting has ended. I will post all pictures in the OP anonymously, and people can vote for their favorite. Should be a pretty simple process.

 

[Aharami]

so glad to see this finally taking off. gotta think up summertime fun ideas now. :thumbsup:

 

[blurredvision]

Just a reminder to everyone, that I will accept your entry at anytime from the start of the contest (today), until end of day, June 23rd. Don't post your picture here, as we are keeping the vote anonymous.

 

[Patt]

Thanks for organizing blurredvision ... looking forward to getting out with my new setup soon!

 

[episodic]

So can we have a photoshop contest too?

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: episodic
So can we have a photoshop contest too?

Sure, the Software forum is that'a way ---->.

 

[beatle]

Why not have the contest run the full month and then vote the first week of the next month?

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: beatle
Why not have the contest run the full month and then vote the first week of the next month?

A month is too long; people will lose interest. 2 weeks is plenty of time, and if I've read this thread correctly, there will be more than one contest, so it isn't like you are going to be missing out forever on the contest.

 

[fierydemise]

Originally posted by: beatle
Why not have the contest run the full month and then vote the first week of the next month?

I think the goal is to get onto have monthly contests so this first contest is a little shorter so we can start doing one each month.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: beatle
Why not have the contest run the full month and then vote the first week of the next month?

The above two replies are correct. I agree with the setiment earlier that 2 weeks is probably too short, but a month is too long. And, to keep the contest within easy confines of a monthly timetable, I've settled on 3 weeks to take your photo, and a week to judge. That way, we don't have each monthly contest overlapping onto each other. I didn't want a new month's contest starting while we were voting on the last one. It's just more simple and more streamlined.

Besides, it's just a friendly contest for us AT'ers to enjoy. Like previous attempts to get something like this started, it's mainly to get everyone the motivation to actually get out and use their cameras. Also, maybe we can teach other some things while we're at it.

 

[episodic]

In all honesty - why are so many people against photoshop. Ansel Adams himself was an expert dodger and burner, and I have no doubt had he lived in the time of digital photography he would have used all tools available to enhance his vision.

Under these rules, Adams could not submit his photos to this contest. I find that odd, but then I understand the need for rules. . .

It just seems strange thats all. . .

For instance - a guy named orton just to photograph in slides. He'd photograph one overexposed, on sharp and exposed, and one blurred. When they are stacked they create a wonderful effect. Now you can do the effect with photoshop. . .

Was it photography when it was done on slides? What makes it less a photo now?

Not trying to argue - just thought this would be a cool discussion