POTM POTM Rules

[Nath]

POTM SITE AT HTTP://POTM.WEBSHAPED.COM

This thread is for discussion/questions ONLY

Don't be put off if you don't have an eye-wateringly expensive dSLR, entries can be from any type of camera, whether it's a professional standard one, a disposable point and shoot or a camera phone. Let me just run through the provisional rules.

• A theme will be chosen each month.
  
• Up to two photos may be entered per person each month.
  
• You must be the author of the image entered.
  
• Entries may be posted from the 1st of each month and the competition will close at 11PM GMT the 25th.
  
• Each entrant can vote fives times on which photos they think have achieved the best overall results for the month, taking into account technical skill and artistic talent. These votes range in 'weight', with 5 points through to 1 point being given.
  
• Near the end of the month (most likely around the 28th) the results will be analysed and the person with the most votes will be notified, then will choose the theme for the next month.

Please resize your photos to a reasonable size (filesize & dimensions) when posting in the thread so that people don't have to wait for a 40MB TIFF to load before viewing posts.

So to summarise:

• Feel free to create a thread for each of your entries. As regards withdrawing submissions, please just update the original post with your updated entry and a link to the original entry. Thread titles should be in the format "[month/year] Title of image" for easy reference when they're moved to the archive.
• Small photo in your thread, both filesize and dimensions (thinking maybe 800x600px)

I'd like to keep everyone happy about the terms of entering but I know that's not always true so here's what I think can be done.

• Photos must be taken after the theme has been announced.
• No requirement for EXIF information will be made due to unreliability of whether the info's present in absolutely every camera. If you want to post EXIF information then go ahead, it backs up people's trust.
• If you want to cheat and enter something from before the month before, nothing is stopping you but this is just a friendly competition, there are no prizes, and you won't be gaining anything by breaking the rules.

If everyone can show some integrity and not enter photos from before this month I'm sure the competition can run smoothly without needing everyone to be interrogated for each entry.

Thanks, Nath

[Cardan]

do they have to be photos? or can they also be say... a building made in photoshop or other 3d program?

[Nath]

Originally Posted by Cardan

do they have to be photos? or can they also be say... a building made in photoshop or other 3d program?

Sorry, photographs only.

[RTT]

Excellent! Can't wait to go snapping for this

[Pookeyhead]

Originally Posted by J-Pepper

Does it matter if it was taken about a couple of months ago?

I think having a rule that says it must be shot within the running period of the competition is unfair on those who's work schedule doesn't always permit them to go out shooting as often as they'd like. I think we'll keep it an open competition in the interest of fairness to all.

Just use your common sense... nothing taken 20 years ago or anything.. so long as it's recent, I'm happy with that. Obviously feedback from the other mods will decide it finally, but it does seem the sensible thing to do.

[Bindibadgi]

I'd say within a year of the month of the competition. But it's not like you dont have 4 weekends to go out and take pictures also.

[olv]

A year is taking the piss imo. unless you have gone out specifically to shoot for the competition then you are just finding a previous photo that fits, which to me kind of defeats the point as you could just enter every competition with a photo you've taken ages ago. To me i see photo competitions like this as encouragement to go out and shoot for a specific theme, get new ideas and have fun with your camera. rather then "LOLZ!!11 COMPETITION, TOOK THIS PIC RANDOMLY AGES AGO LOL BUT IT'S AN ELEPHANT SO I CAN ENTER IT WIN PLOPBBQETC"

So personally I'll only shoot within the month and i'd encourage others to do the same.

[Nath]

Originally Posted by olv

A year is taking the piss imo. unless you have gone out specifically to shoot for the competition then you are just finding a previous photo that fits, which to me kind of defeats the point as you could just enter every competition with a photo you've taken ages ago. To me i see photo competitions like this as encouragement to go out and shoot for a specific theme, get new ideas and have fun with your camera. rather then "LOLZ!!11 COMPETITION, TOOK THIS PIC RANDOMLY AGES AGO LOL BUT IT'S AN ELEPHANT SO I CAN ENTER IT WIN PLOPBBQETC"

So personally I'll only shoot within the month and i'd encourage others to do the same.

I agree. The idea of having a different theme each month is to encourage people to go out that month and take photos. It seems to be the mods finalising the rules regarding this but I know I'm not going to be entering anything taken before tomorrow.

[will.]

can we have a photoshop contest also? For the poor *******s without fancy doody cameras

[Bindibadgi]

Originally Posted by will.

can we have a photoshop contest also? For the poor *******s without fancy doody cameras

You dont need a fancy camera, just an eye for a good image and some post processing skills. Photoshop contests just end up with having people adding as many layers and filters as humanly possible to a crap image.

OK, Nath, fair point. People DO have a whole month to go and take pictures but then how do you verify they are posting pictures taken in this last month? Get them to post the EXIF as well? I suppose it IS your idea, so your say.

1st entry accepted tonight at 12am GMT? (so, 1am BST? to keep this international), and people must prove they took it this month.

[Nath]

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi

OK, Nath, fair point. People DO have a whole month to go and take pictures but then how do you verify they are posting pictures taken in this last month? Get them to post the EXIF as well? I suppose it IS your idea, so your say.

I'd like to keep everyone happy about the terms of entering but I know that's not always true so here's what I think can be done.

• Photos must be taken after the theme has been announced.
• Entries can be made, as Bindi said, from midnight tonight GMT, 1AM BST
• No requirement for EXIF information will be made due to unreliability of whether the info's present in absolutely every camera. If you want to post EXIF information then go ahead, it backs up people's trust.
• If you want to cheat and enter something from before the month before, nothing is stopping you but this is just a friendly competition, there are no prizes, and you won't be gaining anything by breaking the rules.

If everyone can show some integrity and not enter photos from before this month I'm sure the competition can run smoothly without needing everyone to be interrogated for each entry.

Edit :: And as said earlier in the thread, even if you have a particularly hectic work schedule, there are four weekends to do this.

[RTT]

I also think it's only 'fair' to enter a photo if the photo has been taken in the competition time period - the idea is to go out specifically with your camera to shoot for the competition, surely?

[Nath]

Originally Posted by RTT

I also think it's only 'fair' to enter a photo if the photo has been taken in the competition time period - the idea is to go out specifically with your camera to shoot for the competition, surely?

Exactly, and the rules in the entry thread have been updated to include the points made in my last post.

[RTT]

i see now!

[ajack]

Also very much agreed on the shot being taken within the competition time limits, entirely defeats the point otherwise. A month is a pretty long time tbh.

Edit: Too slow

[Hwulex]

Might I suggest something along the lines of the CSLR competitions at dpreview?

Taken from the CSLR FAQ.

Originally Posted by CSLR FAQ

The Galleries
There are two galleries/categories that you can enter submissions into: Eligible and Exhibition.


Eligible
Entries must be taken with a Canon Digital SLR camera during the Challenge period. At the start of each new challenge, the dates are posted in the challenge thread. Typically this runs from 0:00 on a Friday, covering two weekends for shooting and closes at 23:59 on a Tuesday. All times are based on UTC Universal Time. Links are provided in the current challenge thread to check the start and finish times in your part of the world.


Exhibition
Entries for this gallery can be taken with any camera at any time, meaning this is the perfect place to show off your favourite items from your existing portfolio (of course providing they are on topic)


How many images can I enter?
You are allowed to enter 3 images in each gallery, making a total of 6 altogether.

Obviously, we'll remove the bit about "Must be taken with a Canon DSLR", and we can adjust the time-frame for eligible to what we like, so to run from 1st to 25th inclusive - though I'd probably be more in favor of a 2-weekly competition than a monthly.

There's also auto voting software, with backlinks, available. It's used on those challenges and can be seen here: http://www.liteserv.com/cslrvotebooth/index.php

[Nath]

So if I'm understanding it rightly there'd be competitions going on as planned whereby photos must be taken within the 25 days, and another competition going on at the same time, with the same theme, but images can be taken at any time as long as they fit the theme?

Sounds like a good idea but maybe it'd be best to run the July comp and then see how it goes so any necessary changes can be made for the months following?

[Pookeyhead]

OK... agreed then. Entries accepted from 00:00 on the 1st of each month until 23:59 on the 25th of each month.

[J-Pepper]

hmm.. this little compo has me twitching to go out and buy the 350D sooner rather than later!

[Bindibadgi]

Originally Posted by J-Pepper

hmm.. this little compo has me twitching to go out and buy the 350D sooner rather than later!

LOL! I know what you mean. It's a nice weekend, I just got paid, my Powershot S20 battery is as good as perma-dead so Im taking it as an indication.

Know anywhere that does the best kit prices??