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Photo Contest?

Pruddock said:
That's what I figured Susan. I was just proposing that it might be more... effective and probably more definitive if a smaller group of more versed and anonymous people were voting rather than the entire forum. I know that on the photography forums that I'm a member of that's the ONLY way they do it now because of the effects of having open forum voting on the outcome of a contest. I've never seen any complaints there and I've seen a lot of issues on different snake forum photo contests that use the membership poll avenue. With that said, I've never been a part of the contests on here so I am speaking from my experiences as a whole rather than on this forum and merely proposing an alternative idea. :cheers:
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We've found the membership poll to be the most acceptable here. The photos are not labeled as to who the photographer is so favoritism for the member and not the photo is minimized. And who gets to determine who the judges are and how are you going to guarantee they will remain anonymous? By what standards are they going to judge the photos? And what happens if they can't agree on the winners because each judge is actually using their opinions and as we all know, there is a huge variance in opinions around here. ;)

Isn't setting these things up so much FUN?! ;)
 
The pic I posted was not a contest winning pic. Ok,I know that. That was a quick outside shot with a point and shoot. I wasn't looking for the pic to be judged or anything. Was simply trying to explain dept. Was not looking for a fancy bg ASBIT. And the focal of a pic doesn't necessarily have to be in the middle LUCKYCHARM318
 
in order to solve the whole "professional vs amateur" thing, would it be feasable to separate the contest by camera type? there are camera phones, point and shoots, and D/SLR's.

obviously, a camera phone photo CANNOT compete with D/SLR.

and obviously, if the user really knows their camera and how to work it, a DSLR *usually* can't compete with a point and shoot.

DSLR's are fully manual, simple as that. point and shoots and camera phones both don't give you that much control over the photo.

it's late for me and i've worked a 12 hour day though, so i'm sure all you smarties will come up with some reasons of why this won't work! :p

just a thought, though.
 
whoty said:
This pic shows great dept. The entire bg is not blurry or too blurry.
100_1885.jpg
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Depth is really all in opinion. I am by NO means a professional photographer or critic of photographer, but I have mastered what I find to be great pictures. Some are my own, some are photos that others have taken, but I am quite particular about what I find attractive about a photo.

And I mean no disrespect, as I really admire any form of creativity (respectively), so I don't usually like to be critical, however, I do feel obligated to respond if someone either a) asks for advice, or b) makes a statement of their own opinions as though it were an absolute truth... so, here's my opinion.

Your photo just doesn't appeal to me. I'm not a fan of photos that show a snake stretched out to begin with, then to add that it's full body is cut out of the picture and it's against another streamlined background (the branch), it really just gives the appearance that the photo has no depth, in my opinion. Also, the fact that the snake is in blue is quite unappealing to me.

To me, Shiari's photo has very good depth. First off, what captures my attention, and what immediately appeals to me, is the colors. I love that the background color coincides with the color of the snake, and that the snake is the main focus and has great detail, yet it blends smoothly with the rest of the color pallet. Also, the pose of the snake is very appealing. The snake is in such an interesting pose that you tend not to focus on where the body leaves the photo, unlike the photo above where all I can focus on is that the body is cut out.


Here's a photo that my brother took, and it covers a lot of what appeals to my personal taste. The snake is in really good focus, in my opinion, and it also has great composition to the rest of the image, again, in my opinion. Like Shiari's photo, I like that the snake effortlessly drapes off of the back of the photo, so your attention is geared towards the face, with a smooth transition out.

Now, the critic in me doesn't particularly like photos that are taken indoors. I LOVE natural backgrounds, so this photo loses a point in my book, because my brother photographed him on a boring surface, with a slightly distracting wallpaper background.

Butter1.jpg



Again, this is all MY opinion. I really encourage everyone to be creative, and don't mean to judge anyone's photos, or their appeal in photos, too harshly.

By the way, I LOVE your photos, Katie. Your RO is absolutely gorgeous, and you captured him/her very well.
 
whoty said:
The pic I posted was not a contest winning pic. Ok,I know that. That was a quick outside shot with a point and shoot. I wasn't looking for the pic to be judged or anything. Was simply trying to explain dept. Was not looking for a fancy bg ASBIT. And the focal of a pic doesn't necessarily have to be in the middle LUCKYCHARM318
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The focal point of your avatar is in the middle. :sidestep:

I realize that it doesn't HAVE to be centered, thank you. I was just stating that the snake in your photo, had it been centered, might have been a more appealing photo to look at.

Just my two cents, take it or leave it.
 
Also, what is this "dept" you are referring to? If you are referring to depth, then I would say that your photo has shallow depth as the background is out of focus and blurred. (But then again, so is the subject.)
 
whoty, I simple said I had to disagree with your opinion of your photo and in my explaination I said nothing about needing a fancy background, that would be the last thing you want as it draws the viewers attention away from the focal point. Here are two of my ameture photos, which in my opinion and several other peoples, are quite well done BUT having said that beauty is subjective and I would like to see what people like Katie, Susan and Shiari to name a few of the members here whose pics I have seen and admired.

Aug520091072.jpg


Robin.jpg
 
OMG SERIOUSLY :smash:

If you guys want to educate yourselves on Depth of Field, be my guest.
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm

There really WAS once upon a time this place was able to do something as SIMPLE as a FLIPPING PHOTO CONTEST without it turning into a circus.

Seriously.

Do I think there should be separate categories? No. Crap photos can be taken with DSLR's Crap photos can be taken with P&S cameras. Stunning Photos can be taken with DSLR's, just as Stunning Photos can be taken with P&S cameras.

The whole, "I just have a P&S" is nonsence. P&S Cameras have come a long way. Learn to use it effectively.

Heck there are camera phones that have more MP's than my crappy DSLR or even the P&S I had won contest's with in the past & seriously... you dont KNOW anyone WITH a camera if you HONESTLY wanted to enter with a better photo than a camera phone picture? 'just sayin' :shrugs:

& since we are throwing around 'hey look at my photo' pictures here...

In 2007 I won a contest with the following photo Taken YES WITH A P&S camera Imagine that :rolleyes: with all of its 5 megapixels it delivered a win. It can be done...

& just throwing out there I'm *not* looking for any Comments or Critiques on my photo. Merely used as an example that 5 MP Cameras can take pictures that 'apparently' can be considered a winning photo & Clearly they make even better P&S cameras today ;)

4481020094_92d34de9ab_o.jpg
 
WOW!!!! Shiari, honestly, that is a great photo... And it is well balanced and captured beautifully... I don't know why the person who started this whole arguement would even do so... Look up and attack your avatar, I don't get it... You think you can take a better picture?????? WEll then....enter the contest when it happens.... Simple as that...

But back onto the subject at hand.... What you could do is put people who have won a few photo contests into the pro catagory, and people who haven't yet into the amateur Catagory.... This will work well for a more professionally planned photo contest in the long run.. Someone keeps tallies of who has won each contest. And if you have won a certain amount, say 2 or more, then the next entry you must enter into the pro catagory.. That makes it a bit more fair to people that are a little less experienced at winning photo contests.. But this photo contest would be the first done that way, so you would have to question everyone... Have you ever won a photo contest before?? And if yes, how many??? That is just an idea, it is how we do entires into our CSSSN shows.... But for out cool little forum here... It might now be that serious to even consider... What do you think??
 
I've tried saying this a few times. IF you're planning on having multiple categories, the way you do it is you allow people to choose between Pro and Am. The benefit of being in the pro category is that you are competing against the "best" photos and you have a shot at a BETTER prize. There is a bigger payoff for entering a more competitive competition. The amateur competition is good for people who are entering more for "fun" than for the major prize, but still get to win a prize of lesser value if they do win the amateur competition. That is how just about EVERY major photo competition I have ever seen/entered/won seperates their categories. Most times there is also an entry fee (which I suggest you wave in this case as it may seriously deter people from entering and this is a friendly forum photo contest) for the Pro category to make people really think about where they want to enter their image. It normally weeds out a few that may not have been as competitive and helps to pay for the "grand prize" of a higher value.
 
*blinks* HmmmHMMMmmm..... Well now, this is quite the predicament still, yes?

Here are what the categories I'm thinking of are: Corn Snake, Non-Corn Snake, and All Reptile Digital Manipulation

How about I add a fourth category that is called the "Fresh Entrant" contest. The entry requirement will be that you have NEVER won a photo contest on CornSnakes.com before. Then when the next contest comes about, those who had placings in "Fresh Entrant" category this time won't be able to enter that category anymore. Sound fair?? I think that may be a good option...

Pruddock said:
Who will be judging the contest, just out of curiousity? I would suggest putting together a group of people that will be willing to stay out of the contest and judge and REMAIN ANONYMOUS in order to have a fair judging. Too many feelings, social groups, and ties are present on the forum for it to be socially determined IMO. I've been involved in many photo contests and the ones with a specified and anonymous board of judges ALWAYS works better than the entire forum society. I've been completely screwed in the past and it just gets too cut throat. People have friends join just to vote and create false entities to vote and it's just not pretty. If I were you, I would ask a select, odd-numbered group of people (don't limit it to the mods as it is too easy for people to determine) and have them swear to remain anonymous until after the contest is over. Anybody else think this is a more effective idea?
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As for who will be judging, I think this needs to remain "Community Based". I entered photos in two of the contests before and won multiple placings without cheating in the least. The fact is that if you have a good photo there are so many members here voting it would be really difficult to try to cheat, and while it's possible, I think if a mediocre photo won over a really amazing photo then people would know something was up. That will just have to be a bridge we cross if we get there. Which I hope it doesn't come to that. What's the joy in winning if you know it wasn't a real win?
 
I'm feeling good about adding the extra "Fresh Entrant" category. Here's what the stipulations are, atm:

This new category is being implemented in order to give everyone a fair chance at winning. To qualify for the "Fresh Entrant" category, the entrant must have never won a Photo Contest on CornSnakes.com. Adjustment of brightness/contrast/lighting/color or basic Filters does NOT disqualify an entrant from the category, however it may flag you in the eyes of the organizer. If the organizer deems your photo to be exemplary or superior, he/she may encourage you to enter a more challenging contest, at which point you'd have a shot for a higher ranking in prize distribution list (see the prize pattern at the very end of this post, below Prizes). Please recognize any suggestions of this nature as a compliment.

I'm ready to post the announcement, but I wanted to wait another 24 hours for more suggestions/opinions to come in, in regard to the "Fresh Entrant" category.
 
I have never participated in a photo contest, but I'm in the mood for giving it a go (*if* I can take a pic that I'm content with :)).
So just a little question, can you participate in only one category or in more? So in my case, I could enter a pic for all four categories? (*if*... :))
And just one other question: the non-corn category, is that for other reptiles, or for any other animal?
 
You will be able to enter one photo per category :D

Rule #1. A maximum of one entry per category per contestant.
 
Kali said:
Ok, thank you. And the non-corn category? reptiles or all animals?
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Oh.. I hadn't even considered that! Non-Corn means any other type of reptile (or amphibian, I'm sure ;))... but wouldn't that be fun to have an "any animal" category too? Thanks for the suggestion! That could be interesting especially since I know that a lot of members on here raise rodents, which can means some pretty darn cute pictures.

I'd have to see quite a bit of interest for this, however, and at least one more prize donation if I was going to add a furry category. Right now we have one more prize than we need (which is great! That means the person who places second in the 4th category isn't stuck with the last prize; they get two to choose from), but we'd need at least one more so the furry category could have two placings.
 
Well I'm going to start being irritating by now with all my questions... :D but an "any animal" category and a "furry" category isn't thesame eh... Like for instance I took a pic I'm reasonably content with of one of the penguins I care for at work. Or a black vulture, he's great in his pic too...
But I don't want to be a nuisance... just want to be sure of what I can or cannot enter.
These aren't pets at home, so maybe they aren't the goal of the contest.
 
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