2007 Photography Contest Ideas

[duchess1576]

Honestly, guys, think about it.

Do you really think editing your photos will make them win? A lot of people around here tend to vote for photos because they're of something "cute", or a variety of other reasons. Not because they're good photographs.

Seriously, don't bother. All the editing in the world won't get through to the people who are stuck on "cute".

 

[DDuckFan130]

Honestly, guys, think about it.

Do you really think editing your photos will make them win? A lot of people around here tend to vote for photos because they're of something "cute", or a variety of other reasons. Not because they're good photographs.

Seriously, don't bother. All the editing in the world won't get through to the people who are stuck on "cute".

Most of the winners have been good photographs. Good photography is in the eye of the beholder. To me, edited or professional-looking photos are not always the best. Are they good? Yeah...but :snore: I like to see something original and fresh. I don't like that people criticize the content of others' photos because then we should whine about those people who do take good pictures because they're too good and make the rest of us look bad.

The point of these contests is to vote for what you believe is your favorite, and people have different criteria for what they count as their favorite. If it's a "cute" picture, so be it. But I personally just go with whatever leaps out at me as my favorite, and yes sometimes it includes "cute" pictures. This is vote for your favorite, not vote for the most professional-looking photo.

My 2 cents *shrugs*

 

[no2apprentice]

This is for fun... remember.... and the world is full of unfair advantages. If it was a contest to win something, it would be different.

And that sums it up...to keep it fun, there should be an even playing field to allow as many people an opportunity to participate in the fun without feeling intimidated. That means no photo editing. I fear that once the dam starts to leak, and it's not plugged, it will flow out of control. There have been several entries who have already violated the rule of no photo editing (a pretty clear and simple rule to follow), so if this type or that type of certain editing is allowed, it will only increase. And there goes the fun...especially for the poor person who runs the contests.

If people want photo editing to be allowed, they should PM Steve and set up contests with new rules and run a different contest. Why not? There seems to be enough interest.

 

[DDuckFan130]

And that sums it up...to keep it fun, there should be an even playing field to allow as many people an opportunity to participate in the fun without feeling intimidated. That means no photo editing. I fear that once the dam starts to leak, and it's not plugged, it will flow out of control. There have been several entries who have already violated the rule of no photo editing (a pretty clear and simple rule to follow), so if this type or that type of certain editing is allowed, it will only increase. And there goes the fun...especially for the poor person who runs the contests.

If people want photo editing to be allowed, they should PM Steve and set up contests with new rules and run a different contest. Why not? There seems to be enough interest.

Nice post

And let's not hassle nibbs more than we have already. She tried to be nice and let the voters "vote," which backfired. Let her make the rules because she is the one who has volunteered to run these so this is her show.

 

[Legacy]

If people want photo editing to be allowed, they should PM Steve and set up contests with new rules and run a different contest. Why not? There seems to be enough interest.

There use to be "Photoshop" contest where people could design desktop Wallpapers and Ride Posters themed to Disney. But the interest in them died down. I tried re-establishing them earlier this year, but there was only 1 submission. If people really are interested in bringing Waltpaper and Ride Poster contests back. Go ahead and let it be known.

 

[Shaman]

There use to be "Photoshop" contest where people could design desktop Wallpapers and Ride Posters themed to Disney. But the interest in them died down. I tried re-establishing them earlier this year, but there was only 1 submission. If people really are interested in bringing Waltpaper and Ride Poster contests back. Go ahead and let it be known.

I'll be waiting....:lookaroun :lol:

 

[Legacy]

I'll be waiting....:lookaroun :lol:

Creative Media Contest

 

[DizWiz]

Sorry, everyone. I guess I'm confused. I thought this was a photography contest where we voted on the best photograph that captured the subject for the contest. I wasn't aware that people were voting based on the content of the photo only.

I would be happy to moderate a separate contest thread that is a true "photography" contest where we vote on the quality of the photo and how well the theme is captured. I'll PM Steve and nibbles and get their feedback on this idea.

I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes here. I'm just trying give the people who really want to challenge their photography skills an outlet to do so. This includes post-shot adjustments to clean up the image (not to alter it or create a new shot). A lot of people do consider this "fun" (including me). And looking at the suggestions for the themes for next year, it appears that other people are starting to think outside the box on what images they want to capture. I applaud that, and I would like to help foster that.

After I hear from Steve and nibbles on their thoughts, I'll post a response.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Irony allert. Dont take this post seriously....

This is starting to get a little on the ridiculous side. I guess for those of us that dont really know how to do much more than click and shoot, or those who may not have a camera, I should start a finger painting contest. :lookaroun

 

[ZambeziZelda]

This is starting to get a little on the ridiculous side. I guess for those of us that dont really know how to do much more than click and shoot, or those who may not have a camera, I should start a finger painting contest. :lookaroun

Finger painting?! Yay! :lol:

 

[nibblesandbits]

This is where digital manipulation stood in the previous photo contests:

Not counting watermarks, If you can do it in a darkroom, then it's ok. What does that mean? Enhancements are ok, but you can't add/remove elements from a photo.

Agreed...and I do believe that is a fair way to keep the contests up. I just don't want them to get too advanced so that people don't want to participate. (I mean look...we already have people who don't submit their best stuff because they think that what's already in the contest is incredible. Example...the Magic Kingdom contest...somebody made that exact claim. I believe that if we allow too much, then people are going to feel discouraged even more.)

Is this a fair trade for everyone? If you can do it in a darkroom, it can be allowed for the contests?

 

[wdwishes2005]

I think we should allow non-finalist entries back into future contests. That's one of the reasons I don't always post my best pictures, because I want to save them for contests I have a better chance of winning.

 

[ZambeziZelda]

I think we should allow non-finalist entries back into future contests. That's one of the reasons I don't always post my best pictures, because I want to save them for contests I have a better chance of winning.

One of the things I love about the contests is getting to see the new entries every week. It wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if people were entering the same shots week after week. And anyways, isn't it better to have to agonize over your choice a little instead of just getting to throw the same 4 or 5 pictures into the contest?

 

[Monorail]

Is this a fair trade for everyone? If you can do it in a darkroom, it can be allowed for the contests?

Actually, that's not really a good definition as it's pretty loose. As an amateur photographer who started out in traditional darkrooms I can say there's a lot of content manipulation that could be done "the old fashioned way".

With that said...I think general image adjustment is a good thing and can open more avenues of creativity. Why shouldn't we be allowed to post the best pictures we can? Isn't that the point of a contest like this?

There's a very popular site on the net called dpchallenge.com that runs similar contests. Not Disney-related but general photography. They have what I think are the fairest rules that allow image adjustment without opening the doors to rampant image creation/maniuplation. From their site (http://dpchallenge.com/challenge_rules.php?RULES_ID=10 )

Boiled down it simply says that any adjustments must be applied to the image as a whole (e.g. contrast, sharpness, saturation, straightening etc). No spot editing (e.g. removing people, trees, garbage cans, dust spots etc). No merging of multiple images (e.g. adding fireworks, multiple castles, old attractions etc).

Simple and easy to follow, I think.

 

[wdwishes2005]

One of the things I love about the contests is getting to see the new entries every week. It wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if people were entering the same shots week after week. And anyways, isn't it better to have to agonize over your choice a little instead of just getting to throw the same 4 or 5 pictures into the contest?

Very true. Maybe there should be a time limit. like you can't use the same picture for a year or two.

 

[DDuckFan130]

Very true. Maybe there should be a time limit. like you can't use the same picture for a year or two.

I don't agree, because I'd get tired of seeing the same picture over and over again. And that might backfire on you because others won't want to vote for a picture they have seen over and over again.

As far as the voting and the other stuff being mentioned, I give up. I'll let nibbles handle this but I can see the "wah wah wah" coming out regardless of what is decided

I don't know how to "correct" my images and barely have a grasp on the features in my camera, so if that is going to affect my entries and the voting, so be it. I won my one contest, I can die happily now.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Is this a fair trade for everyone? If you can do it in a darkroom, it can be allowed for the contests?

I dont know, fingerpainting in a dark room could be a bit on the messy side....

 

[nibblesandbits]

I dont know, fingerpainting in a dark room could be a bit on the messy side....

yes...that's true...that could get a tad messy...:lookaroun

 

[nibblesandbits]

I don't know how to "correct" my images and barely have a grasp on the features in my camera, so if that is going to affect my entries and the voting, so be it. I won my one contest, I can die happily now.

And that's what I'm afraid of. If we allow "enhancing" or "correcting" images...you are going to alienate those who have no clue how to do it.

Right now...these contests are the fairest I can make them. And that's all I want. For these contests to be fair. I don't want to give anybody the upperhand.

 

[duchess1576]

And that's what I'm afraid of. If we allow "enhancing" or "correcting" images...you are going to alienate those who have no clue how to do it.



Right now...these contests are the fairest I can make them. And that's all I want. For these contests to be fair. I don't want to give anybody the upperhand.

If you're going to say that people who edit their photos have an advantage over those who don't know how, then you might as well say that people with really nice/professional cameras have an advantage over those with cheap/disposable cameras. And this is clearly not the case, since, like i said earlier, most people seem to vote for what is in the picture rather than the quality of the picture itself. So, go ahead, let people edit/clean up their photos. In the end, it doesn't matter around here. If this were an actual contest based on just real good photography, it would be different.