Camera Craniums: The Photography Community for Enthusiasts

 . .with votes and winners and everything.

Taking forward the banter that has been variously going on over at the DCM weekend comp chat and the temporary weekend comp home.

I'm thinking along the lines of the rules being similar to the weekend comp ones, only applied over a longer timescale - I think this has already been suggested.

I'm adding a poll so that preference can be expressed - when/if we decide how to go ahead, we can cobble the details together then.

Please add any and all comments as you see fit.

Ta,

Howard

I think monthly and fortnightly are too long. In the end, everyone waits until the last minute anyway. Weekend clashes with the DCM one, so I'm putting my vote down for weekly.

I prefer to have it monthly. I just think that it would give people a bit more time to get the pic right, they could try out several ideas of the same subject and if someone else has done their idea already, its not such a rush to get something else together.
Also it wouldn't clash with the pic of the week or even end up with the same subject on both sites but I'm happy enough to go with the flow
Irv

I voted for weekly. The image of the week could be displayed Saturday & Sunday and the winning competition image could be displayed Monday to Friday :legit:

Some great ideas being thrown about.  ;)  I'll go with the flow, and hopefully the forum software will do what you require.

By the way I've added a new "Competition Ideas"  :idea: forum, which this discussion has now been moved into.  ;) 

I've voted for the weekly option because sometimes you just can't get out at weekends  :beer: and the extra few days gives you a better chance of finding something you're vaguely happy with.

Can I ask why is the poll up for so long do we think that there will many more people voting?
Irv

Dunno why Tringle picked two weeks for the poll. It's a bit of a runaway story right now.

One thing with a comp. that lasts 1 week, how do we organise the voting/selection process. Usually at DCM we've got 2.5 days to get the photos taken and entered, 3 days for voting and then another couple of days to get the new topic posted.

If it's weekly, i.e. take the photo between (say) Friday and Friday, then there isn't any time to get the voting in or for the new topic to be posted. One solution to this is to run two comps simultaneously, with one voting while the other is open for entries. So the whole process takes 2 weeks for a single competition, but as there are two, there's a new one every week.

Just a thought.

Quote from: hevans on February 05, 2009, 08:55:12 PM
Dunno why Tringle picked two weeks for the poll. It's a bit of a runaway story right now.

One thing with a comp. that lasts 1 week, how do we organise the voting/selection process. Usually at DCM we've got 2.5 days to get the photos taken and entered, 3 days for voting and then another couple of days to get the new topic posted.

If it's weekly, i.e. take the photo between (say) Friday and Friday, then there isn't any time to get the voting in or for the new topic to be posted. One solution to this is to run two comps simultaneously, with one voting while the other is open for entries. So the whole process takes 2 weeks for a single competition, but as there are two, there's a new one every week.

Just a thought.

I think you are right in both counts Hugh I would say you could stop the voting now it pretty conclusive and to run the comp simultaneously would be best option

I agree with Hugh and Irv.  :tup:

agreed here too, might as well call the poll results, and what hugh sais makes sense as usual, not so much 2 comps, just that the first week, Skellum :) will have to choose 2 topics, post the first one, then a week later post the second, from then on its just winner picks and on we go :)

Quote from: oRGie on February 06, 2009, 02:27:18 AM
agreed here too, might as well call the poll results, and what Hugh says makes sense as usual, not so much 2 comps, just that the first week, Skellum :) will have to choose 2 topics, post the first one, then a week later post the second, from then on its just winner picks and on we go :)

I agree that vote is very firmly for a weekly competition, so I'll close the poll now. I also think that Hugh's suggestion is eminently sensible and workable.

So that just leaves the other rules - Hugh is definitely the rule expert . . .

Time for Skellum to get his thinking cap on.

The final item to decide is which day marks the start/end of each competition.

I recommend a wednesday or a friday as the deadline, as it's nicely out of sync with the weekend competition, etc. Monday would coincide with the other comps.

H.

Wednesday is sort of nice and in the middle  :)

I would suggest we start next week same rules as DCM ect ( pictures to be taken between monday & friday ) vote saturday & sunday then display winning image all the next week untill friday. I also think we should run the poll for 48 hours from 7.00 pm friday to 7.00 pm sunday which will allow the winner to set the subject for the next week.
This would allow the image of the week to be diplayed saturday & sunday while we vote. Let me know what you all think :legit:

I think maybe Mon-Fri might be one day too many. No time allowed for time differences,posting of pics,48hr voting,choosing topic. May I suggest pictures to be taken from 00:01 Monday-23:59 Thursday, posting allowed until 12:00 Friday(lunch) voting to start shortly after 12 for 48 hrs which takes us to Sunday Noon where upon the winner then has 12 hrs to choose new subject for the following week. A bit hectic but without knocking a day off, you just wouldn't have time.

I think Jims way of thinking will work best unless someone has a better idea. If not I will dream up a topic for next week and post it here ASAP. :legit:

Quote from: skellum on February 06, 2009, 11:15:05 AM
I would suggest we start next week same rules as DCM ect ( pictures to be taken between monday & friday ) vote saturday & sunday then display winning image all the next week untill friday. I also think we should run the poll for 48 hours from 7.00 pm friday to 7.00 pm sunday which will allow the winner to set the subject for the next week.
This would allow the image of the week to be diplayed saturday & sunday while we vote. Let me know what you all think :legit:

The downside to this is the lack of a weekend to also take photos. For me, that's the only spare time going (family permitting, of course :().

As JimtheTrain pointed out, this is also a very hectic schedule - ideal if your not at work on thurs. or friday (to set up the poll and post a new topic). Experience with DCM shows that people generally need at least a day (usually 2) to post the new idea, and the only reason the poll goes up on Monday with reasonable reliability is because there are people with a bit of time to do it.

This is why I suggested having two comps running at the same time, the first would have the topic posted, and people out photographing (odd numbered weeks) and the other would have the poll up and people voting (even number of weeks). While it does provide for a longer period between the individual competitions, there is always one open for entries to be made.

H.

I thought you wanted to keep the weekend comp to DCM, this weekly comp on CC will give you something extra to do during the week :legit:

For me it will only really work if the time to take the pic is 7 days, so a full week to get the shot and then a couple of days to put the poll up and few days for the poll, then a couple of days for the next idea to be posted, as Hugh sais its kind of like 2 comps running alternatate weeks.

Just as an idea for the pot, shots to be taken 00.01 monday to sunday 23.59.. posted by monday 23.59.. poll runs tuesday/wednesday to friday 23.59.. next topic posted before sunday 23.59.. while the poll is being done and voting is open for week 1 subject, week 2 subject photos are taken.

Quote from: skellum on February 06, 2009, 02:37:20 PM
I thought you wanted to keep the weekend comp to DCM, this weekly comp on CC will give you something extra to do during the week :legit:

Ah I see now, I didn't make my comment clear. My point was to avoid have two weekend comps running that might distract people from each of them. Having one that ran over a week for taking the photos would allow more time for everyone to fit it into their schedule (either at the weekend or during the week, or whenever they found time in their week :)). I'm pretty flexible about the timing, just so there's a reasonable amount of time for everyone to take a photo, process it, submit it, get the poll up, vote, and select a new topic. I think the absolute minimum feasible amount of time for any of those activities should be a day each.

H.

So I take it that skellum will set the subject this time. The only thing we need to decide is when do we start it this sunday night/monday morning or leave it for a week and start next week?

I would like to start the competition this Monday if all agree with the setup being as Jim the train suggested in this thread. In the meantime I  will contact Mick ( about the technicalities ), think of a theme and wait for any other suggestions from you all. :legit:

That's OK with me.  :tup:
It says the poll is open until 18th but it is locked, and no I haven't voted.  :-\

I was wondering whether as part of the challenge would it be good for everyone to have a go at reviewing the comp photos. I certainly am not a seasoned photographer so would find it difficult, so the comments would all have to be taken in the right manner but I feel it would improve peoples thought processes when taking their pics -I know it would mine -plus it will give everyone the feedback they want on their shots (look on the main page for the lack of comments on some terrific pictures) finally it would make the comp on here slightly different to the one on dcm - only a suggestion what does everyone think?
Irv

Quote from: skellum on February 06, 2009, 09:59:55 PM
I would like to start the competition this Monday if all agree with the setup being as Jim the train suggested in this thread. In the meantime I  will contact Mick ( about the technicalities ), think of a theme and wait for any other suggestions from you all. :legit:

Fine by me skellum - ready and possibly waiting although having PC problems at the moment - having to start up in safe mode - and for once it's not Windows causing the problem, I think my chip is nearly fried . .

Quote from: oRGie on February 06, 2009, 03:12:30 PM
For me it will only really work if the time to take the pic is 7 days, so a full week to get the shot and then a couple of days to put the poll up and few days for the poll, then a couple of days for the next idea to be posted, as Hugh sais its kind of like 2 comps running alternatate weeks.

Just as an idea for the pot, shots to be taken 00.01 monday to sunday 23.59.. posted by monday 23.59.. poll runs tuesday/wednesday to friday 23.59.. next topic posted before sunday 23.59.. while the poll is being done and voting is open for week 1 subject, week 2 subject photos are taken.

oRGie's idea sounds best to me, it gives more time, to more people, to take part. There is no conflict with DCM either.

Bob

Quote from: Oldboy on February 07, 2009, 09:19:48 PM
That's OK with me.  :tup:
It says the poll is open until 18th but it is locked, and no I haven't voted.  :-\

Sorry oldboy, just noticed this.  ???   I've un-locked it again.  ;)

I have come up with a theme for the first competition ( Local or National Icons ) something that describes or is typical of the area we live in.
Could be landmarks, Industries ( whats left ) or street / market life etc.

I need to know if most people are happy to start this week and are agreeable to the weekly setup. I can't see the point of waiting till the 18th, most people may have lost interest by then.

Dave.   :legit:

I think that you should go ahead with it Dave and she what kind of response we get?
Irv

Dave - I guess you mean the area or country each of us lives in, in my case Germany ?
Got lots of ieas already  :D

Quote from: lurkalot on February 08, 2009, 05:28:32 PM

Quote from: Oldboy on February 07, 2009, 09:19:48 PM
That's OK with me.  :tup:
It says the poll is open until 18th but it is locked, and no I haven't voted.  :-\

Sorry oldboy, just noticed this.  ???   I've un-locked it again.  ;)

Thanks Lurkalot.  :2funny:

Go for it Dave, start a thread with the subject  :tup:

Hello All,
I have sent Mick a PM so we should have somewhere to post to in the morning, I suggested ( International Weekly Comp Entries ) as there now seems to be members from all corners of the globe, plus it sounds quite impressive ( especially when you win )............Another thought was to make comments on posted images, be they in the gallery or competitions as this will generate a community spirit, but please remember constructive criticism helps but rudeness destroys confidence.  So good luck to all and we will see how it goes.     PS  if you have any suggestions let me know by PMs or the forum.

Bye for now, Dave.......... :legit:

I do like the idea of the participants (and others) providing a critique of the entered shots. It's not so difficult, you just have to look at the shot, and try to work out what would have made it better (ok, there's the odd filter99, or D. Bracher that produce something that I can't think of how to improve). The only trick is to make sure the comments are constructive and provide enough information to allow the photographer (and others lurking in the shadows) to learn.

From my experiences with critiquing on the DCM poll (a year or so ago...when I had spare time... and before fizzio started to do a grand job) I found that the critiquing probably helped me more than the photographer, as it made me think about why I do/don't like a shot, which I then started to apply to my own work. So, it's not just for the benefit of the author of the photograph.

H.

I'd love to participate, but being at work mon to sat 9am to 8pm is going to make it hard if entries are to be taken mon to thursday each week..  good luck chaps ..

I also work strange hours covering football matches evening & weekends, Have you thought of taking a night shot.......... I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the competition. Anyway the summer months will be here soon so plenty of opportunities for all after work.
Hope you can manage something for this week......Dave  :legit:

I thought the point of a week long comp was to give as many people as possible the chance to get a shot, sure i could grab a snap at any time, but to think of a good shot, find time to go get it wont be possible after work, have to eat and do other mundane stuff too  :)

Quote from: oRGie on February 09, 2009, 02:44:44 PM
I thought the point of a week long comp was to give as many people as possible the chance to get a shot, sure i could grab a snap at any time, but to think of a good shot, find time to go get it wont be possible after work, have to eat and do other mundane stuff too  :)

What was that saying "LUNCH IS FOR WIMPS"   ;) :legit:
It'll be a pity if you can't find time to get a snap in but how can we arrange it to make it more inclusive? short of making it a two week comp but that would still only leave you a sunday and I'm sure you'll have plenty to do to on that day :(

lol Irv  :)  I was hoping it would be as discussed above, ie a week to take the pics and a week to set up poll, vote and post new idea, and a second comp if you like running consecutive weeks :)

The point of the competition is to build a photographic community on this site, to quote another saying " Its not the winning its the taking part ". Nobody will win a Nobel prize for photography, but someone will, I hope win our first competition.
Some weeks & weekends ( mainly summer ) I may have loads of time to think of possible photo opportunities and setups but most of the time I am like everyone else ( Preoccupied with daily life ).
We set this competition up as an extra / alternative to the DCM competition and need to keep it uncomplicated.

This is the trouble with not having a table to sit around and discuss things all together - I have to admit that I thought we were agreeing that there would be a rolling weekly competition - a whole 7 days to get you picture, one or two to spruce it up and then four or five days to vote followed by a day to set up the next one.

However, Dave has put in the effort to set up this week's, so I think we should complete this one as it has been set up. Do we need to do another poll to sort out which system is preferred by the majority?

I'm happy to participate either way, but as I said, my preference is for the rolling format.

TTFN,

Howard

Although it doesn't make much difference to me as I am at home anyway, like Howard I was under the impression we had the sort of rolling version  :legit:

But I really don't mind either way  :)

Quote from: skellum ( Dave ) on February 10, 2009, 01:35:30 AM
The point of the competition is to build a photographic community on this site, to quote another saying " Its not the winning its the taking part ". Nobody will win a Nobel prize for photography, but someone will, I hope win our first competition.
Some weeks & weekends ( mainly summer ) I may have loads of time to think of possible photo opportunities and setups but most of the time I am like everyone else ( Preoccupied with daily life ).
We set this competition up as an extra / alternative to the DCM competition and need to keep it uncomplicated.

Hi Dave,

I get that of course, same here, just want to be part of a growing community  :)  and whatever the setup I will if i can take part. I was just trying to say that imho the easier it is for a wider audience to take part the better, everyone has different schedules and by having it a rolling system with a week to take a photo it should suit the majority of people, those with only a free sunday and those with free time during the day during the week..  It seems to me also that the people who like the dcm weekend comp might join in here if they have made time for that one they can also do a shot for this one at the weekends.

:beer:

I think you better get another poll set up sooner rather than later Howard ;D

Just a thought, could we create a gallery for each weeks comp, add the pics and use the voting function to determine a winner and of course then there is a good place to comment on the photos! seem slike a neat alternative to creating polls, pics in a thread etc ?  maybe a gallery can be closed on a certain date to new pics but remain open to voting ? and can that be closed to voting also but leave open to comments.. Went out armed with Camera today, but work took over, dang it  :'( 

oops forgot to ask if a comp gallery can be stuck on the front page ?

As an alternative can a thread be started and the person who post their pic comments/critiques on the previous pic?
Irv

Quote from: oRGie on February 11, 2009, 07:51:39 PM
Just a thought, could we create a gallery for each weeks comp, add the pics and use the voting function to determine a winner and of course then there is a good place to comment on the photos! seem slike a neat alternative to creating polls, pics in a thread etc ?  maybe a gallery can be closed on a certain date to new pics but remain open to voting ? and can that be closed to voting also but leave open to comments.. Went out armed with Camera today, but work took over, dang it  :'( 

oops forgot to ask if a comp gallery can be stuck on the front page ?

oRGie, not sure I can do this and have it work in the way we want.   Also noticed some people tend to embed their pics from flckr / photobucket etc, so this might confuse things a bit.   I don't want to discourage linking from other sites, as it save on my server space, (currently unlimited, but It has an inode limit).

That said, it's worth looking into.  ;)

Quote from: irv_b on February 11, 2009, 11:13:53 PM
As an alternative can a thread be started and the person who post their pic comments/critiques on the previous pic?
Irv

Irv, would this be a compulsory element to the competition?   My feeling is, some people might be put off by this, and feel uncomfortable having to critique others work.  Worth discussing further though. ;)

Because of the small amount of entries for this weeks competition it may be an idea to extend it to Sunday 23.59 for entries. This will make it a 4 day competition to include weekends which is what we were trying to avoid in the first place so that it wouldn't clash with DCM.
Anyway if it generates more interest then it could be the best option. Apologies to all who rushed to submit your entries by 12.00 today please contact me ASAP if you do not agree with the extension.  Dave    :legit:

I personally think it is fine if it runs for the whole week and weekend - the overlap with the DCM competition may even be helpful - entrants could edit both of their pictures at once, but more importantly there is potentially more opportunity over a weekend to take a couple of shots than there is during the week.

So overall, I'm happy about this.

I'm off into town this afternoon to try for a DCM comp shot, but I don't think I'll be changing my entry here - but you never know, another local or national icon may present itself.

I appreciate all the time and effort you have put into running this first International Competition Dave.

Cheers,

Howard

Thanks for the comments Howard and good luck with the DCM comp. I might have ago myself, I wonder if I can find a Icon to look down on and kill two birds with one stone............... :legit: