November Zgeek Photography Competition, any takers?

[StygiaN]

What do you think people? We should have ourselves a little photo competition. Something like everyone has the whole of November to take the coolest photo they can take, then we put a poll up on the main page or the general forum and see which one zgeek votes to be photo of the month.

Ideas?

[Willcow]

Anything with a Sheep in it

Bonus points for multiple

Bonus points for dancing sheep

Bonus points for sexual related sheep content

[Fitty]

Whatta you mean ideas? If I had a good idea, I'd keep it to myself then take the photo. Also how do you verify that I took the photo?

[108]

Sounds fun. Maybe choose a topic to give people an idea on where to start? Or would it better to give people a free reign?

[Thyrd]

Anything with a Sheep in it

Bonus points for multiple

Bonus points for dancing sheep

Bonus points for sexual related sheep content

You from NZ?

[StygiaN]

Whatta you mean ideas? If I had a good idea, I'd keep it to myself then take the photo. Also how do you verify that I took the photo?

I guess you can't really verify when someone took the photo, it's a bit of an honesty thing.

Sounds fun. Maybe choose a topic to give people an idea on where to start? Or would it better to give people a free reign?

Maybe free reign first off, then later on make it a specific subject. I was just wanting to get a bit more action going on in here. I've gotten into take photo's and want to make it a bit more fun.

Dave

[Willcow]

Nah, but they remind me of a nice hairy woman.

They speak the same language as women too.

[Canalien]

Maybe ensure that the zgeek logo is in the pictures to verify that they're legit... may I also suggest no photochopping

[Hippy Vindalou]

I'm in. I have gotten the photography bug as well. This will encourage me to make a bit more time for it as I have been too busy lately.
Any particular guidelines or rules about editing the pics?

[Urban3300]

I would allow adjusting the brightness and contrast.

[fastfood]

how about long exposures?

*giggles*

[Deimos]

I think the generally accepted method of guaranteeing that a photo was taken by a ZGeeker is to have something in the photo that says "ZGeek" that is clearly not photochopped. In the "ZGeek Treasure Hunt" thread that happened a while back people generally just had a piece of paper with it scrawled in pen that they held up in frame. However, this would certainly detract from an awesome photo of the view from Mt St Claire or whatever stunning photo somebody decided to enter...

[kleph]

i'm in. let me know when you set the final deadline.

[dozer]

i would impose a 1 month limit on time of take, then have an ongoing monthly comp with a theme decided by last months winner

[kleph]

if there is a theme i may not be able to participate.

i take a decent amount of photos during the month as part of my work covering peru and i could toss one or two of those into the mix now and then. but financial restraints keep me from heading afield and taking shots that are not somewhat work related.

my suggestion is this. have the first one be for open submissions. set the last day of the month as the deadline. have the submissions sent directly to you (or whoever will be managing this) and make a thread with one photo per post and a poll. it might be best to make it anonymous as well, just for fairness. after one week, let the poll tell the tale and announce the winner.

[m0loch]

I like to take pictures.
I'm in.

[StygiaN]

Good ideas people. Kleph, I think you're on the ball. First one at least should be wide open to whatever people want to photograph. Later down the track we can give it a theme or something.

So yeah. Here it goes. Will make a real post about it after discussion on the follow txt. Any questions/complaints/ideas?



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LINK (http://forum.zgeek.com/showthread.php?t=25177) TO NEWS ARTICLE WITH THE DETAILS FOR THE COMP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[timace]

will mobile phone photography count?

edit: d'oh re: min res

[Hippy Vindalou]

How many entrys are we allowed?

[Kyle]

Hell yeah I'm totally up for it.

[StygiaN]

How many entrys are we allowed?

One ;)

[Hippy Vindalou]

Yeah, I think one would be best.
I think your inbox will be empty till the last few days, as everyone holds off in case they take a better photo later in the month.
I know I will have trouble picking the best looking of an average bunch of photos:D

[banga]

this is gunna be cool , pity its got to be this month , coz i took a pic of two navy choppers face to face in the air real close at last months airshow looks kinda good ok i gfuess its pics of my pets then lol

[minorproblem]

I recon a few nice photos of my gf would do the trick :D

[Deimos]

I recon a few nice photos of my gf would do the trick :D
Does she go? Eh? Know what I mean? Nudge, nudge - Wink wink, say no more.

You mean like candid photography? 'e asked 'im knowingly!

[fastfood]

do we have to get the subjects permission?

upskirt? :D

[kré]

In like a motherfucker.

[kleph]

i am down with it. but i might need some help on your end resizing the bastard since all i got in peru is a cybercafe scanner. also, photos of chicks sound great but why don't we keep keep pron in the pron section and our 1337 photo skills in this thread?

[metalhed00]

I'm in.

Hopefully, a cop won't come up to me to "investigate" if I am a terrorist taking pictures of trees to knock down with planes.

(Yes this did happen to me, but instead he cleverly asked me if I was lost or looking for my dog. Yea, copper, I like to take pictures in walking shoes when I'm looking for my lost dog. DINGUS!)

[StygiaN]

lol Metalhead, where were you when that happened?

on a side note I went to a local creek today and took a bunch of photo's, some good ones I think ;)

I am having a lot of fun, I wish I had a better camera though!

[biomechanic]

I'm totally in.

However the aspect ratio on most digital cameras is 4:3, so the image size should be 1280 x 960. :)

[Kez]

Puahahha. I shall enter. November thirty you will have your picture.

You shall all die, and I will reign supreme.

[Hippy Vindalou]

How about we send in details like what sort of camera we used and what settings it was on when we send in our photos, so that the photo noobs amongst us (ie me) learn a bit from all this, and perhaps we can spend the month until the next deadline discussing the ins and outs of the photos from the last month so we can improve our skills a bit?

[jak]

Cool idea. I will defintely be in.

I think a theme is good - it gives some focus when out hunting for *that* shot. Plus it also makes comparing easier. ie How do judge whats best between a pic of a beautiful girl or a beautiful sunset?

Do you think that res (1280 x 1024) is too high? Makes it hard to view on most monitors. Plus, when people want to view them it will hurt dial up users. (I am, of course, assuming these images will be available for us all to see - I hope so). Maybe 800 pixels in width max or something? or even restrict file size? (thats what most photography forums I frequent do).

Just some ideas anyway.

[jak]

Just a comment on the ratio of 4:3, not all cameras have a 1.333 ratio. Mine for example is 1.5, which means I will need to crop. Is there any chance that we can restrict say the width to specific amount in pixels but not the ratio?

[StygiaN]

ok ok, makes sense, sorry I am quite new to digital cameras and the fun you can have with them. Ok so how does width of 1024 and whatever the height is for your cameras ratio sound?

Next comp (provided this one goes well enough) will have a theme.

ps. I would pick the sunset (hehe)

[b2barker]

How do judge whats best between a pic of a beautiful girl or a beautiful sunset?
I would have thought that was obvious. :tits:

[berserk]

I would allow adjusting the brightness and contrast.
I'd also suggest allowing conversions to black and white or sepia.

Next comp (provided this one goes well enough) will have a theme.
ps. I would pick the sunset (hehe)
General themes like sunset would be ok. Themes like sheep or Llamas would somewhat limit the potential entrants.

[metalhed00]

lol Metalhead, where were you when that happened?

A few blocks from my house, in my home town. He was trying to be the small town hero. The cops in my town are just a bunch of good 'ol boys.

[kleph]

Themes like sheep or Llamas would somewhat limit the potential entrants.

HEY! they weren't llamas, they were vicunas (http://www.kleph.com/photo/pageten04.htm).

[StygiaN]

Hey guys, a few people have sent me pictures already. I guess I didn't explain it to well but my idea was to have the photo actually taken sometime in November. I know my bad, I don't mind accepting the ones that have already been sent but it would be cooler if you guys could take different ones or use ones you have had taken this month.

ps. they are cool pics, the ones entered so far, 'tis going to be a cool comp.

How is everyone going with it? I've only just gotten into the digital camera thing and am just learning how different camera settings work. My word it's fun ;)

[Hippy Vindalou]

How is everyone going with it?
Crap.
I've only just gotten into the digital camera thing and am just learning how different camera settings work. My word it's fun ;)
Same here and hell yes it is.
:D

[Kez]

How is everyone going with it? I've only just gotten into the digital camera thing and am just learning how different camera settings work. My word it's fun ;)

It's all fucked :p. I need a subject for my shots, and my composition is all wrong half the time, and my Dad has decided to get the digital SLR in 3 months time :spingo: so I'm stuck to using a normal digital camera.

[kleph]

good and bad. i have been so busy doing reporting that i havent taken any pictures. but, when i finally get a chance to snap a few shots they should be pretty good.

i dont think i am gonna do too well in the contest though. because of my unusual situation my pictures will be more photojournalism than photography.

[dozer]

i think they should all be visible in the thread, and you have the option to change them just like editing your post.

also some technical info to accompany your pic, most new digitals should hold that info and the manual people can jot it down.

[jak]

i think they should all be visible in the thread, and you have the option to change them just like editing your post.


Yeap, I agree. Also, means we can start seeing the pics as they come in.

[StygiaN]

Yeah that's a great idea. You're more than welcome to make a thread and put your picture in there, or jut make a thread and do it anyway. I am going to keep my entry a secret ;)

[dozer]

i get permission d9d on that link galdab

so who will start the competition thread? im waiting until i go to paris this month before i submit an entry, maybe i could do a prelim one though.

[dozer]

upload it to the gallery

[dozer]

use the img codehttp://gallery.zgeek.com/albums/uploads/DCP_1251.sized.jpg

[dozer]

you didnt have [img] tags, just the http link to the pic, but as long as it works now.

nice pic btw, excellent use of depth of field, want to share some tech info? camera used? lens? etc?

[Kyle]

Yeah I'm just incredibly lazy, I hope I can get out with my nice cam before the deadline. I want to make it out to the nearest semi-big city to take some shots whenever I can...but I've started hating driving since the only time I actually drive is the three and a half hour ride home.

[StygiaN]

So I went out a few days a go creek bashing with a friend and I took a few photo's. This is the photo I am entering in a comp at the OCAU forums. It won't be the one I enter here. I am saving a special one for that

http://members.optusnet.com.au/stygian/stygians_entry_nov_2004_thumbnail.jpg

Click the pic or this link for the large version, it's about 2mb and unedited! (http://members.optusnet.com.au/stygian/stygians_entry_nov_2004.jpg)

[StygiaN]

Hey guys, a few entries have come in and they look pretty good. It's going to be a cool comp.

;)

[StygiaN]

You _can_ post them in this thread if you want to but the idea is to email them to me. That way I can make it an annonymous competition. I am kinda new at this so forgive me if I make mistakes ;)

[StygiaN]

7 entries in so far. It's looking good chappies. There are some awesome photo's in there.

I'll make a thread on December the first (or there abouts) with all the photo's and we'll let zgeek decide. What's a good length of time to keep the poll open? 4 days?

[ratbag]

... What's a good length of time to keep the poll open? 4 days?
I think 9 days - this would give everyone an opportunity to judge, as some of us are 'busy' and/or don't always have access during the week. Nine days gives two w/e just in case someone has to attend to real life over one w/e.

Just my 2 cents worth…

[StygiaN]

I think 9 days might be too much there ratbag. A week is probably a good amount of time. What do you other peoples think?

ps. any idea for the theme for Decembers Photo Comp?
pps. I entered a photo in the OCAU November competition but it broke the rules so I am entering another one. This is it. I am loving this photo taking thing!

http://members.optusnet.com.au/stygian/thumbnail_stygians_real_entry_november_photo_comp. jpg (http://members.optusnet.com.au/stygian/stygians_real_entry_november_photo_comp.jpg)

[dozer]

maybe the winner can choose the theme

[kleph]

i am hitting the streets with my nikon in hand tomorrow.

THOSE REP POINTS ARE ALREADY MINE, BITCHES! MINE!

[StygiaN]

Those look like fighting words there klephles!

[StygiaN]

I am so excited about this. I've been going through all the photo's submitted so far, about to resize them and create the thumbnails. I can't wait to post them up here December 1st ;)

W00h00

[a|A]

No time to enter this one chappies!
But I'll definately take place if there's another one in the future. For sure.
An excellent idea - nicely excecuted too.

[ratbag]

maybe the winner can choose the theme
what he said.

[Hippy Vindalou]

Well due to the lack of computer in my diet of the last week I missed the deadline, sorry Stygian. I will definately get it together next time dude.
And a pat on the back for the way you organised it all, you did a good job.:D