Official Photography Contest 8/18/12-8/24/12 Poster's Choice

[Amber]

Poster's Choice Photo Contest​

Contest Description: Enter your favorite Disney photo!

Have a question? Feel free to ask.
Don't have a photo to contribute? Wait until voting starts and vote for your favorite photo!

Official Contest Rules
The rules will be very similar as previous years.
Contests will run from Saturday-Friday 11:59pm PACIFIC TIME, submissions after this time will not be included. An individual thread will be created for each contest. My intention is to open new contests and post polls on Saturday mornings. I hope to be able to stick to that, pending any unforeseen circumstances.

1 submission per member, per contest. Once you post your picture, you cannot replace it. You cannot re-use the same entry in multiple contests even if used in a different year. Obviously I cannot remember every picture posted in a contest so try your best to remember if you have entered a picture.

Pictures can be taken with any type of camera (film or digital)

Pictures can not be altered in any way, except to adjust size, crop, or add your own personal watermark. This is a photography contest, not a photo-editing contest.

Please resize pictures to be no larger than 1024x768 OR 768X1024

Please do not attach the photo to your post. Upload it to the WDWMagic photo album, or your own personal site and link the photo. If you use your own site, you are responsible to ensure the photo is viewable at all times (and not subject to bandwidth limitations).

Pictures can be taken at any time for any contest (if you visited in April of 2002, you can use those pictures for any contest that interests you).

Pictures must be taken by the member submitting the entry, and not by a family member or by a cast member (meaning you physically have to take the entry. CM’s are of course allowed to enter their own photos).

If 10 or less people participated, 1 poll will be posted, and it will be open for 7 days.
If more than 10 entries exist, the entries will be divided into similar-sized groups, and will be listed in the order that they were submitted.

No breaking of park rules or common etiquette to take your pictures. (No accessing restricted areas, no flash photography on attractions which do not allow it....stuff like that)

The overall subject of the contest is "Disney". Although some contests are specific to areas of Walt Disney World, anything "Disney related" can be taken for other contests, including, but not limited to, other Disney parks. For contests like the "Fantasyland photo contest", any Disney park's Fantasyland would be accepted. Some contests allow photos not taken on Disney property and this is noted in the topic description.

 

[Kristia]

 

[MWJW]

I could not see a way to actually delete the post so I just removed the link code.

 

[MWJW]

Fantastic shot Mark! I noticed from the EXIF data that you used Details Enhancer. Did you use Photomatix Pro for HDR processing? Did you also use Nik or other software filters in post processing?

It was a 3 shot HDR merged using Photoshop CS5, used a layer with Nik Color Efex Pro 4's detail enhancer and blended about 10% of that in. I see the rule above about edits and if anyone objects to the photo being here I will remove it. But editing is a funny thing... I use almost all RAW photos and they have to be processed(sharpened,shadow,contrast...tweaked) so would that mean that RAW shots are not appropriate too? And lots of the new cameras do HDR and tweaking onboard the camera so is that ok? And for that matter every JPG is altered by the cameras software settings to the resulting capture. I am not arguing or complaining about the rules just wondering. Again I will gladly remove the shot if it doesn't belong.

 

[Allen C]

Post deleted.

 

[NowInc]

What a really hard decision it was choosing a pic! Of course I am sure I chose the wrong one..but whatever!


Walt Disney World Trip - June 2012 by DreGGs, on Flickr

 

[wiigirl]

omg...that Universe of Energy is awesome!

 

[Amber]

Ok, the rules as I see them. You take the photo with your camera. You then upload the photo to your computer, photobucket, flikr, whatever. If you do anything to that photo other than re-size it to meet the contest requirement, the photo has been edited. If it's a setting on the camera, for example I can take black and white photos directly with my camera, I do not consider that manipulation because that's the way the photo was taken. If it was taken in color and photoshopped to be black and white, that's not eligible for the contest.
Can this ultimately be proven? Probably not. I will not accuse anyone of editing a photo without knowing that it has been done.

The only way for edited/manipulated photos to not win the contest is for them to not get enough votes. Please keep that in mind as you vote.

 

[NowInc]

Edited is a pretty touchy term. For example..PERSONALLY I'd say HDR is "edited"..but a color correction in lightroom or photoshop (seeing how a lot of us shoot in RAW that's pretty much NEEDED), is more of minor adjustments. Now of course if you were to photoshop pixy dust and lens flares on an image..that would be HEAVILY edited. I think you need to specify HOW much editing is allowed..what types are ok..etc. I am not anti HDR..sometimes it can really make an image pop, but I can also see how some people see it as an unfair advantage. However, same can be said about those of us who shoot with a DSLR over those with a Point and shoot.

In the end. This is just for fun. There is no prize. so really...Its not THAT big of a deal..but if people make a complaint about it, then as I said above, perhaps a guide on how much "editing" is allowed.

 

[Allen C]

Post deleted.

 

[fractal]

 

[ZapperZ]

Edited is a pretty touchy term. For example..PERSONALLY I'd say HDR is "edited"..but a color correction in lightroom or photoshop (seeing how a lot of us shoot in RAW that's pretty much NEEDED), is more of minor adjustments. Now of course if you were to photoshop pixy dust and lens flares on an image..that would be HEAVILY edited. I think you need to specify HOW much editing is allowed..what types are ok..etc. I am not anti HDR..sometimes it can really make an image pop, but I can also see how some people see it as an unfair advantage. However, same can be said about those of us who shoot with a DSLR over those with a Point and shoot.

In the end. This is just for fun. There is no prize. so really...Its not THAT big of a deal..but if people make a complaint about it, then as I said above, perhaps a guide on how much "editing" is allowed.

As a long-time participant of this contest, I go along with the spirit of the contest, i.e. no modification of what you get out of the camera other than resizing. One can argue ad nauseum of what is being done and processed by the camera, etc., but I think many of us here understand what the contest is all about. Whatever came out of your camera, no matter how fancy or primitive, that's what it is. Post-processing of the photo would be, in my opinion, a violation of the spirit of the contest.

One can argue "what does it matter anyway? There are no prizes, and it's no big deal!" My response would be "Then why have rules in the first place?" If we want to have a contest on who has the baddest DSLR camera with the best photo-processing capability, then let's have that. I just won't be a part of that contest.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

Zz.

 

[SewIn2Disney]

I agree with a lot of what's being said above. I too, shoot in HDR and I also shoot in RAW-- I haven't entered a contest in over a year (and for years I entered religiously!) because every picture I use has been tweaked in some way, basically because it has to if it was in RAW. As far as HDR, many point and shoot cameras have that capabilities now, so it's not a matter of what kind of camera you have. My D7000 DSLR will shoot in HDR, and so will my little $100 panasonic point and shoot-- really it's not a matter of what camera you have, it's what you do with it.

 

[Nemo14]

As a long-time participant of this contest, I go along with the spirit of the contest, i.e. no modification of what you get out of the camera other than resizing. One can argue ad nauseum of what is being done and processed by the camera, etc., but I think many of us here understand what the contest is all about. Whatever came out of your camera, no matter how fancy or primitive, that's what it is. Post-processing of the photo would be, in my opinion, a violation of the spirit of the contest.

One can argue "what does it matter anyway? There are no prizes, and it's no big deal!" My response would be "Then why have rules in the first place?" If we want to have a contest on who has the baddest DSLR camera with the best photo-processing capability, then let's have that. I just won't be a part of that contest.

Zz.

I totally agree.
With all the photo threads we have on the boards now, there are plenty of opportunities for people to show off their editing skills. No need to do that here, in what was meant simply as a fun little "contest". Personally I haven't entered a photo here in months because I really feel intimidated by all the "pro's" out there. I'm glad this topic was brought up.

 

[Hockeyman]

Cant you shoot in RAW and not tweak it or do anything to it besides just converting it to JPEG? The photo can be uploaded into Lightroom then exported and converted into JPEG, and with that you haven't really changed or edited the picture.

 

[Allen C]

Cant you shoot in RAW and not tweak it or do anything to it besides just converting it to JPEG? The photo can be uploaded into Lightroom then exported and converted into JPEG, and with that you haven't really changed or edited the picture.

Any "Pro's" out there can correct me if I'm mistaken but as I understand it: RAW to JPG is not a simple file conversion. Remember that the RAW file is like a "digital negative" and is not an image file per se. Conversion software, either in-camera or in your computer, will apply colorspace, contrast, sharpness, noise reduction, changes in bit depth, white balance etc. When you convert a RAW file into a JPG, by definition, the image has already been "tweaked."

http://digital-photography-school.com/raw-vs-jpeg

 

[Hockeyman]

All I know is that I can take a photo and import it into Lightroom and then export it to a JPEG without touching any settings and then looking at that new photo it looks the exact same to me. I'm by all means not a pro so maybe someone can shed some light on this.

 

[Allen C]

From the article:

A Raw file is…
• not an image file per se (it will require special software to view, though this software is easy to get).
• typically a proprietary format (with the exception of Adobe’s DNG format that isn’t widely used yet).
• at least 8 bits per color – red, green, and blue (12-bits per X,Y location), though most DSLRs record 12-bit color (36-bits per location).
• uncompressed (an 8 megapixel camera will produce a 8 MB Raw file).
• the complete (lossless) data from the camera’s sensor.
• higher in dynamic range (ability to display highlights and shadows).
• lower in contrast (flatter, washed out looking).
• not as sharp.
• not suitable for printing directly from the camera or without post processing.
• read only (all changes are saved in an XMP “sidecar” file or to a JPEG or other image format).
• sometimes admissable in a court as evidence (as opposed to a changeable image format).
• waiting to be processed by your computer.

In comparison a JPEG is…
• a standard format readable by any image program on the market or available open source.
• exactly 8-bits per color (12-bits per location).
• compressed (by looking for redundancy in the data like a ZIP file or stripping out what human can’t perceive like a MP3).
• fairly small in file size (an 8 megapixel camera will produce JPEG between 1 and 3 MB’s in size).
• lower in dynamic range.
• higher in contrast.
• sharper.
• immediately suitable for printing, sharing, or posting on the Web.
• not in need of correction most of the time (75% in my experience).
• able to be manipulated, though not without losing data each time an edit is made – even if it’s just to rotate the image (the opposite of lossless).
• processed by your camera.


Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/raw-vs-jpeg#ixzz24JqQI0uA

 

[Hockeyman]

From the article:

A Raw file is…
• not an image file per se (it will require special software to view, though this software is easy to get).
• typically a proprietary format (with the exception of Adobe’s DNG format that isn’t widely used yet).
• at least 8 bits per color – red, green, and blue (12-bits per X,Y location), though most DSLRs record 12-bit color (36-bits per location).
• uncompressed (an 8 megapixel camera will produce a 8 MB Raw file).
• the complete (lossless) data from the camera’s sensor.
• higher in dynamic range (ability to display highlights and shadows).
• lower in contrast (flatter, washed out looking).
• not as sharp.
• not suitable for printing directly from the camera or without post processing.
• read only (all changes are saved in an XMP “sidecar” file or to a JPEG or other image format).
• sometimes admissable in a court as evidence (as opposed to a changeable image format).
• waiting to be processed by your computer.

In comparison a JPEG is…
• a standard format readable by any image program on the market or available open source.
• exactly 8-bits per color (12-bits per location).
• compressed (by looking for redundancy in the data like a ZIP file or stripping out what human can’t perceive like a MP3).
• fairly small in file size (an 8 megapixel camera will produce JPEG between 1 and 3 MB’s in size).
• lower in dynamic range.
• higher in contrast.
• sharper.
• immediately suitable for printing, sharing, or posting on the Web.
• not in need of correction most of the time (75% in my experience).
• able to be manipulated, though not without losing data each time an edit is made – even if it’s just to rotate the image (the opposite of lossless).
• processed by your camera.


Read more: http://digital-photography-school.com/raw-vs-jpeg#ixzz24JqQI0uA

I totally understand that there is a difference between the two. I just really didn't know if Lightroom was altering the original Raw while exporting.