Weekly competition #117 - Street photography - Comments

Mecrox wrote "There was no rule against using other makes of camera when Jaromir selected his winner so he was within the rules to do so."

There has been extensive discussion about this over several threads and months and there was a general agreement that only Pentax pictures, with the exception of the Samsung GX10/20, should be entered. Of course we shouldn't have assumed that everyone would know that, so this has now been rectified.

Just to recap for newer members, the competition was the idea of a member with others contributing to that and the format grew quite organically and the idea always has been to have as few rules as possible. John Riley's sticky immediately above this thread succinctly oulines the idea.

Is there a general desire to include 'judge's obligations' to this?

Yes please

I completely disagree with mecrox.

If I wanted a foreign language forum, i'd open my browser and find one.
If I wanted a non Pentax forum with photographic competitions, I'd find one.

I am here, and I make the effort of writing as grammatically correct as possible, and I am a foreigner. There is therefore no excuse in my opinion, for giving at least a few words of commentary to each photograph submitted, in english, as basic as this may be.

If one doesn't think he can judge a photographic competition by being fair to all the participants, giving the appropriate feedback, and judging according to a reasonable standard, then there is absolutely no rule that says that you have to judge. Simply refuse to organise the competition, and somebody else will surely volunteer to do so.

And by the way, this is not the 'challenge' page on Dpreview where nobody gives a darn **** about the photos submitted and the comments are all incredibly rude and mean; this is supposed to be a place where members showcase their work, and others give feedback on how to improve one's artistic eye, or photographic skills. All done with respect, and constructive criticism.

I spent a lot of time finding my appropriate entry, selecting it between 10 others, editing it, uploading it. And the judging was done before I submitted my entry. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Sorry for the harsh words, but this is un-acceptable.

Regards,
Nathan

so mean...

I understand your frustration, Nathan, but I feel this could have been a case of not knowing what was expected, or a change of personal circumstances. The one time I (unexpectedly) won, I was away from home and did not have internet access for a few days. These things happen.

The rules, surely, are these:

Pentax or Samsung K-mount equipment only
Winner sets next competition
End date and time Sunday 24:00 BST
Winner judges next comp, and comments on each picture.

They should be posted, I suggest, at the top of every competition announcement.

G

While we are considering changes, maybe we could lower the time to 10pm so the judge can get to bed at a reasonable time ready for work

George,

It surely has happened before that a judge was away, or unable to complete the task, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. In these cases though (and I can racall a few) I have always seen the explanation of the problem, and the solution to it, with the help of the moderators.
What bothers me is the lack of responsibility, and the fact that although this is an irrelevant competition, people put effort in participating, and the same effort should be put in judging. What bothers me even more is the ones that justify the irresponsible behaviour.

Maybe i should just forget about it and let go...

Good idea

I have proposed a time change before but to no avail

I've not followed the comps recently so have no idea who's this was, but surely common sense should have told the owner of this image not to enter it, this is after all a Pentax User forum.
All this has served to achieve is add more ammo to the Anti-Pentax brigade, at least those who become aware of it, I can just imagine on some Canon forum somewhere a huge headline of....

......Canon Image wins competition on PENTAX forum

Is it a good idea to get an established forumite or admin to set the next competition and draw a line under this weeks fun and games, so we can crack on with the next challenge.

Then in the meantime work on how some of the problems can be better avoided, through doubly clear rules and communication of rules, and maybe a new time for competition closure.

I have an idea for a subject for this week if anyone wants it

Well said; that is really all I meant in my post. This is the internet and life intervenes. Nothing to get excited about. Besides, may the best picture win; it's not as if the winner is chosen for their skills as an essayist rather than as a photographer. Every now and then, the best laid plans and the most carefully considered rules just won't work out quite as as everyone intended. Surely this is preferable to overdoing the rules bit, as too many rules might spoil the fun. In any event, best wishes to Pentaxian67 for a return to health and top form.

So, better communication of the rules, and perhaps a change of end-time? I'm a fairly infrequent participant, so my views don't count for much, but I would agree with the 10:00pm suggestion.

G

I am pretty sure I posted a comment here. Has it been removed or is it one of my famous grey moments, that is playing tricks with me?

I have not seen one from you Martin and I have been checking this particular thread at regular intervals.

Well...It must have been a grey moment than, pushing the wrong button.
I'll try again after dinner, which is ready to be served.