New Competition

I also feel that starting a parallel competition would be like a "divide and conquer" action, which would not benefit the forum.

I agree with those who state that the situation has improved over the last few weeks. So let's be patient and see if the improvement continues...

I agree on the point you have made JOSH, Autumn has only just started here in East Anglia where as the North East seems a few weeks infront..

As a newbie to the fora I never knew what the old competition style was like but... I enjoy the competition here more than any others I have entered. You get to see all the others, you get some comments, it's quick, it's fun. As to whether one uses new images or not, I am less concerned. I have slides going back to 1981 and if I felt that one fitted the bill, I would use it. I would always look at it again, probably tweak it a bit more in photoshop, perhaps crop it differently to suit the theme better. This week I am going to try something new which may (or may not!) work. Creating a new comp would just split things up too much, I feel.

Best wishes, Kris.

Instead of a competition, how's about a photo based game?

Seem to remember there was some fun seeing how close you could get to the IRB letters on a 1p piece?

Guess the macro?

Photo threads for specific lenses? Go out and take a photo with (insert lens model here) this week / month.

The Lego Man thread on the other Pentax forum is brilliant, maybe we could start up a Lego Man thread?

If we get snow one week, best snow shot taken that week etc. etc.

Guess what I'm trying to say is that instead of a set competition, how about we just have some extra fun, and make it so that it is something that we have to do, tax our brains a bit maybe? Remember the 'something on toast' competition we had? That would be an ideal kind of starting point, leave it ongoing, make the only rule that it has to be taken specifically for that thread.

It could be fun, we could even have a totally new forum for it 'Foto Fun' or such like, or it could be a dog of an idea, would be interested to know what you all think though!

I like the competition here for the reasons others have listed;

It's quick, all over in a week
You get decent comments
It's unpredictable
I find it quite taxing to take a theme even like autumn colours and come up with something new and interesting!

But best of all it sets a brief for you take photographs against. One change I might suggest is that the photo should be taken within that week but firstly that's impossible to police and would almost without doubt reduce the number of entries which would be a thoroughly bad thing.

The Lego man theme leaves me cold - without wishing to seem more pompous than I am it seems devoid of artistic content. Also like the lens suggestion I couldn't enter as I don't posses any Lego.

I liked the desktop competition as it was a brief not a theme. I wonder if in future winners could sometimes set a brief rather than a theme although damned if I can think of one right now!

There is of course nothing to stop a guess the macro thread somewhere.

Mike

I agree that there shouldn't be two competitions, I was toying with just setting a mini contest for anyone interested: As there are garden spiders everywhere at this time of year I thought it would be fun to run a contest to get the most interesting shot as opposed to the standard symetrical one.

I like the idea of just suggesting that the image for the main competition is taken that week, it stimulates creativity, but I have no problem with old shots if that's all you have or it is clearly worth showing.

Isn't there a thread on some forum called 'Today' or something similar and you try to post a shot of any sort taken on that day. Then it acts as a record of what members were doing that day if it's a simple (?) record shot or what they're trying to do with their photography that day. Personally I couldn't produce a shot every day - but I could every week and on more than one day a week - but the rule would have to be the shot taken that day/week. Non-competitive as well!

Today I have to take a self portrait as I need a shot for s press release having just gained some accreditation for an IT standard so I could post that.

Then again I suppose that's just the gallery really.

Mike

Thought I’d wait for as much feedback as possible before posting a reply – to gauge opinions. Seems like the suggestion has got a mixed response.

Regarding a new competition undermining the existing one. Would this be the case? I’m not sure. At present, my impression is that generally the bulk of competition entries are not ones that have been taken that week. So if there were an additional comp with this as a stipulation, I doubt it would impact on the number of participants. In any case, I’d imagine that many people could easily enter an archive pic (or if desired a new shot) to the main comp and shoot something for a pic of the week one too. I know I usually could – and as a newbie my archive must be pretty small compared to most forum members. Also, I wouldn’t anticipate as many entries to a pic of the week comp as there would be to the main comp – but hopefully there would be enough of us who might regard it as a bit of fun, as well as a useful exercise, to make it viable.

Regarding Unlocker’s suggestion to have something more like a game. I agree, the fun aspect should be at the forefront. However, there would be the problem – if a winner wasn’t being judged – of who would set the topic/brief? I like the structured quality of a comp, too – it’s good discipline I think to being required to take a pic of something within a time limit.

The feedback through the judging is another good feature of the existing comp. Though perhaps in a new comp the judge could be expected to pick a winner (or 1,2,3 and/or HCs) – while other participants/members could be encouraged to provide feedback. This would not only differentiate it from the existing comp, but it would also make the judging less onerous – though on the rare occasions I did win the old comp, I actually found it a useful exercise to spend time considering the merits of each entry.

Another way of differentiating it from the existing comp might be to have a different timeframe. Say a fortnightly or monthly comp. My preference would be the former – a month is a little long as far as I’m concerned. Two weeks would be perfect actually, giving people a little more time to contemplate and capture their entry.

What are your thoughts? I’m inclined to do as John Riley suggests, and simply start a new fortnightly comp – just to see if this will fly. As outlined above, I don’t see this being any real threat to the existing one – though if anyone feels particularly strongly on this score do let me know. Perhaps interest in a new comp will be so negligible as to render it pointless – but then why not try it and see?

Dr. Mhuni,

A few weeks back I would agree with you. The competition didn't work properly, and the whole website was more or less a mess after the redesign. However, things have improved lately. The judge(s) does rank the winner and the second and third entry, and leaves decent comments. So again, let's be patient and see if the improvement continues.

As for other participants/members to leave comments, we already have the Your Photos section...

Well, I would say:Lets start one coming Sunday. The two weeks period seems perfect to me. A well described theme, manageable for all the participants, entries specially taken for the occasion and submitted with exif intact. Lets go for it. I'll join.

Martin.

I'm in.

Me too I think two weeks but with the proviso the photograph is taken in that two week window. Can we have it so the competition closes on a Friday which (I think) gives two weekends to get out the and shoot then a few days to look at results and post process? Perhaps a Wednesday would be better as then you can think, get weekend, think more, another weekend then finalise and enter.

What will the basis of the competition be? Theme as the current competition or brief or is the distinction without meaning?

Mike

I'm in

I do like the idea of Mike giving us 2 full weekends to photograph. End ending on a Wednesday. I support that.

Martin.

I agree with Martin, for the same reasons I have been less inclined to partake recently, even though the new style seems to be better than it started out, I still think it has just lost that homespun magic touch.
However, I think Dr Mhuni's idea is a good one, with the proviso of being two weekly and pictures to have been taken specifically for the theme.
I would be happy to join in again

Lilly