I find the contrast between the foreground and background too surreal, but the sky is excellent. I would artificially tone the causeway so it fitted with the top of the image, or crop it away for a 'twilight shot'

Really I think the grad was too dense though.

Well lets try it and see... it's easy to be negative about new ideas... Stefan deserves credit for giving it a go. In a forum where people just love to shoot you down in flames, a fairly brave move.

16 votes would be sufficient to decide the winner of a comp (unless everyone voted for a different shot!) Anything more than 10 votes for the first one would show promise that the idea might take off IMO.

Stefan has set up a very simple voting competition - add your shot in week 1, vote on week 2.

Better to try a new comp and 'suck it and see' than endlessly debate 'the perfect format' (there isn't one!)

I've had a test, and managed to get the number of poll options up to 30... at which point I got bored. I presume there is no limit but in an case, 30 is plenty.

Agree with your comment on keeping the rules short and sweet.

But I thought for Stefan it was quite succinct!

That's it in a nutshell Gareth... one week for entries, then the poll is added and voting takes place in week 2.

Re time frame, as Stefan says: I presume by judge he meant 'previous winner'

I think that allowing the person who sets the next subject to decide whether to set a time frame is a good idea.

George, the thread about adding new competitions was started last week. Nothing to do with todays fun and games.

Black and white conversion in camera can raise the noise levels in high iso quite a bit, compared to post processing. I like a bit of film-like grainy noise, but not the blotches my k200d gave when I tried to process iso1600 in camera. But try it and see what works for you! Would be interested to see how you get on.

I personally only bother with manual settings like Tungsten if the AWB is struggling.

The chance of the AWB not being accurate is a lot lower than the chance of me forgetting to change the setting!

Not a bad idea, although it took me a while to actually understand it! But I think the current format is fine. Just a little less expectation on the judge, and encouragement of recent shots (rather than more rules), is all that is required imo.

There's nothing stopping anyone creating an extra comp along those lines tho.

Well new entrants do win the competition fairly regularly, so the competition has the potential to evolve in new directions. If it gets a bit stale, perhaps more new blood is required?

No one should be put off from entering by the fact they have to judge the following one. There are no hard and fast rules on judging so it's up to you whether you go in depth on each shot, or just write a few words. Or even - shock horror! just comment on your top 3 and highly commended shots. Yes a few people will moan because you haven't written a thesis on each shot, but stuff 'em! Pay them no heed. You're the judge and it's entirely your call.

Yes comprehensive comments are nice, but i'd far rather see more people enter who would otherwise have been intimidated.