POTM September '07 POTM

Congrats to Nath for winning last month's competition, and thanks to the huge number of people who entered last month.

The theme for Sept is Technology so get out shooting! Good luck all.

 

Umm... whats technology????

 

Whatever you think it is

 

On a side note, I've been thinking of something for a while now and I've been wondering what others think. How do people feel about using feedback from POTM posts to alter and resubmit photos.

In one recent contest, someone posted a bunch of different shots and wanted to know which one was the best to submit. Another member pointed out that this was kind of like cheating; you should just pick one shot, submit it, and hope for the best. Is this similar to posting an image, collecting feedback, and altering/reshooting the image based on the things people would like to see?

I'd like to point out that I'm not crying foul at any particular post. I figured I would think out loud for a moment and see what other people think.

-monkey

 

That would be me on both counts, definitely a fair point though. I appreciate that last months request was unreasonable and not really fair but this didn't occur to me until it was pointed out by another member, I do however think it was unacceptable with hindsight.

As for altering photos based on feedback, in my case I'm just trying to learn what makes a good photograph. I've only been putting real effort in to this for the last couple of months and so far I've discovered I really don't have a natural eye for it. If other members have a problem with alterations then maybe something should be incorporated in to the rules?

Definitely interested to hear what others say about this.

 

I don't see what's unfair about asking for help in trying to improve your image and learn more about your craft. This is the way that other competitions that I have entered have always been run and it makes sense, imho. Whilst prizes have been recently introduced, there's no real high stakes on these competitions so although for some there is incentive to win (other than for pride), I like to think of it more as a friendly collection of photographers parading their wares and if people can help with others' development, all the better I say.

 

I agree that you should be able to improve on your photos based on criticism from others, but there should be a limit really. We can't have people resubmitting every day.

 

Fair enough. I wasn't really trying to target you, alastor. The situation just started to my brain turning.

I agree wholeheartedly that we can all learn from one another. Honest feedback is essential to any craft, and it's the only way we really grow and develop our talents. I would encourage anyone to post their photos, whether it's just to share or to get honest critique. I just wasn't sure how it fit into the contest.

-monkey

 

I think there should be official feedback threads after the contests finish, personally, seems the easiest way.

 

I agree that feedback and resubmitting is ok. There is a set deadline, that's it. As I see it the whole point of the competition is to motivate people to go out and use their camera. Letting the experience evolve with online feedback and the option to resubmit a photo seems very motivating in my book.
My only concern is photoshopping... I think doing basic post processing like contrast/color/levels/cropping/etc. is fine, but I think manipulation beyond that borders to graphics work. I like graphics work and image manipulation I just don't think it fits in a photography contest.

Just my 8bits of entertainment system ;-)

 

Remember you've got ONE MORE DAY to submit pictures for this month!

Feedback usually falls off after a day or so, but I think pictures should be submitted and tagged as normal photos if you want feedback specifically - then submit a single photo as a final one. Obviously if someone wants to change it slightly still we're not going to get too nazi about it because it's a light competition to encourage people to get better at photography. It's also hard to judge how much post processing has been done as well, but then again we've never had anything too OTT and by doing different processes it can teach others new ideas.

Proposed ideas though:
Public voting, but this time with user names registered with every vote so we can check who's voting. I'll have a chat with RTT about a minimum post count for voting like we've implemented in the main-site forum at the top. Forum users just get one vote but more people voting = more challenge, rather than just a few of us trying to remember every month.

A REQUIREMENT to let everyone know what you did in PS or other software, in the stages you did it and what settings you used when taking the photo. This will help other people keep a track and try the same effects for themselves, as well as learn what the settings mean. However some cameras don't tell you - not everyone is a pro-sumer++. It will also help differentiate between a good photo and a good PS job. It's more work for the submitter but might work out better??

 

Sounds good to me, I agree with those proposals. By settings used when taking the photo, I guess you mean exposure settings? If so then that's already on the POTM site but having them posted in threads as well would be useful for others.

 

That's cool Rich.

Please everyone also remember to try and follow the naming convention we use for POTM thread titles. I've just been through and done a load that did not and if you remember tbh it just saves me the hassle. I know we have tags now but that only cuts the forum down to POTM. If you then want to find everything for MAY07 you can use the [05/07] search string. Wahey!

 

Voting open, will close it on the evening of the 28th, giving 3 days to vote. GL all.

 

Only managed to get my password today (my fault though) so not can't include my entry. Bugger.

<A88>

 

I like the idea about explaining the shot setup and post-processing work, Rich. Friendly contests to get better don't do much if you can't figure out what anyone actually did!

Heck, if you did much more than just tweaking the levels a bit, it might be worth it to post the PSD file if you're willing. I've got spare bandwidth, though considering how big the files can get, I don't see it working well through a web form.

 

It seems I scootched my entry in just in time. I can't wait to see who wins.

And I'm not saying that because I think it will be me. I know it won't be me, I'm just curious to see if I get any votes.

 

Likewise, and it's tough working out who to vote for because there are some really good shot's again, argh, this could be harder than actually taking the pic to submit lol

 

Quick bump, not long left to vote now, those of you who haven't yet only have a couple of hours if you want to!

 

Aww... missed the vote and everyhing. Got called to the other end of the country for work. Hopefully I get off my feet in october before it's too late