need some feedback on the photo contest

[rtphokie]

I'm considering removing the weekly photo contest requirement that photos be 800x600 or smaller and would like to hear opinions. My thinking is that oversize photos dont give much advantage in the voting.

Also, the participants who break this rule, in nearly every case, are new to the board. Either being contacted by me to resize their photo so that it can be included, or not having their entry included at all because they dont receive the PM in sufficient time to resize it isn't the most friendly introduction to the board.

I'm thinking of leaving the 800x600 limit as a recommendation an including all photos unless their size is so outlandish that it makes voting difficult.

Thoughts?

 

[MICKEY88]

I'm considering removing the weekly photo contest requirement that photos be 800x600 or smaller and would like to hear opinions. My thinking is that oversize photos dont give much advantage in the voting.

Also, the participants who break this rule, in nearly every case, are new to the board. Either being contacted by me to resize their photo so that it can be included, or not having their entry included at all because they dont receive the PM in sufficient time to resize it isn't the most friendly introduction to the board.

I'm thinking of leaving the 800x600 limit as a recommendation an including all photos unless their size is so outlandish that it makes voting difficult.

Thoughts?

instead of dropping the rule, maybe put the size in red, bold and larger font size so it stands out in the contest header..


such as this

Remember: Pictures should be as original as possible with minimal editing. This is a photography contest, not a photo editing contest. Please post your entry by midnight Sunday, January 30 to ensure it will be included in voting. Make sure your entry is within the 800x600 size limit, be aware some photo hosting sites that resize for you (like photobucket) dont produce accurate results

 

[zackiedawg]

I think you should still have a limit, to keep it from those ridiculous full sized shots you can't even see in the thread unless you copy them to your computer and view them resized. But at the same time, I think 800x600 might be a wee bit archaic as likely a majority of folks no longer use that resolution on their screens. I would think it could support maybe a 1024x768 standard - still small and reasonable, still fits on most screens without resizing, and being a fairly standard size many folks use for web posting, many may already have that size readily available to enter with.

 

[Gdad]

I don't participate much anymore since Flickr only supports posting 640x and 1024x on the widest side and nothing in between- and I think 640x is just too small. I know I could upload an 800x image to Flickr and just post it as 'original size' but I kind of like to keep my photostream uniform- so I dont really go there.

Is there some way to make the thread itself resize them? I know on another board I post on the max size is 1000x and if you post something at 1024x or larger it just displays it at the smaller size automatically. Yet another forum I post on has a 'posting bot' for contests which resizes to 965x and also makes everything anonymous which is pretty cool.

 

[rtphokie]

I don't participate much anymore since Flickr only supports posting 640x and 1024x on the widest side and nothing in between- and I think 640x is just too small. I know I could upload an 800x image to Flickr and just post it as 'original size' but I kind of like to keep my photostream uniform- so I dont really go there.

Is there some way to make the thread itself resize them? I know on another board I post on the max size is 1000x and if you post something at 1024x or larger it just displays it at the smaller size automatically. Yet another forum I post on has a 'posting bot' for contests which resizes to 965x and also makes everything anonymous which is pretty cool.

Unfortunately the version of the board software does not support image resizing. Later versions allow a image size to be specified in posts (such as the voting threads) but not the one we are currently using. I've asked the admins about upgrading and last I heard, there were not plans to do so.

Upping the size limit in the contests may be the way to go. I'd like to hear other opinons.

 

[rtphokie]

instead of dropping the rule, maybe put the size in red, bold and larger font size so it stands out in the contest header..


such as this

Remember: Pictures should be as original as possible with minimal editing. This is a photography contest, not a photo editing contest. Please post your entry by midnight Sunday, January 30 to ensure it will be included in voting. Make sure your entry is within the 800x600 size limit, be aware some photo hosting sites that resize for you (like photobucket) dont produce accurate results

I dont know that this would help much. The rules are in a thread that new posters likely haven't read and probably dont know about. The instructions for that week's contest are in the first post which quickly gets lost as the pages of posts build up. New people dont read instructions no matter what you do to highlight them. That's just the way it is.

 

[Marlton Mom]

I'd ditch the "enforced" size rule and just let the voters solve that problem by deciding on their own to exclude the over sized, giant photo from their personal vote choice.

I also really like the anonymous aspect of contest entries at every level as mentioned by Gdad. If that could be done with the board software then that would be great!

~signed,
Anonymous Mother living in Marlton

 

[MICKEY88]

I dont know that this would help much. The rules are in a thread that new posters likely haven't read and probably dont know about. The instructions for that week's contest are in the first post which quickly gets lost as the pages of posts build up. New people dont read instructions no matter what you do to highlight them. That's just the way it is.

I understand your point, and the attempt to be more friendly to new people, but I guess looking at the other side of the coin..

do you then allow framed photos because someone didn't read the rules, or heavily processed photos.. etc..

 

[Golf4food]

I would like a larger size. I hate having to go into Flickr and edit whatever photo I wish to post before posting. We aren't on dail-up anymore. Let's go big or go home. (Not crazy big, of course, but bigger than the current.)

 

[rtphokie]

I'd ditch the "enforced" size rule and just let the voters solve that problem by deciding on their own to exclude the over sized, giant photo from their personal vote choice.

I also really like the anonymous aspect of contest entries at every level as mentioned by Gdad. If that could be done with the board software then that would be great!

~signed,
Anonymous Mother living in Marlton

Not sure I follow you on the question about anonymous aspect. Voting threads are already anonymized by listing entries as letters rather than username. Sure you can click through and figure out who posted what but most voters aren't going to be swayed by usernames that they recognize.

 

[MICKEY88]

one last thought,,
as far as I'm concerned, although I have a bad habit of missing the deadlines for the contest,
I'm just thankful that you take the time that you do to put it together for us, so whatever works best for you and minimizes the hassle is fine with me..

 

[Marlton Mom]

Not sure I follow you on the question about anonymous aspect. Voting threads are already anonymized by listing entries as letters rather than username. Sure you can click through and figure out who posted what but most voters aren't going to be swayed by usernames that they recognize.

I am when it's between two photos and I can't make up my mind... Then I vote for the Photographer whose body of work that I like best.

By asking for an anonymous submission process I just like the fact that the whole process is anonymous right from the get go. It makes it seem like it's entirely on the merits of the photograph itself and not some one's reputation.

Sometimes when you add your picture to a list you see who else has posted before you. If you are familiar with their style it sometimes gives you an insight into what they were after when they composed/captured the shot.

This is just my opinion. Thank you for asking and thank you especially for all you efforts in organizing this board

~ Marlton Mom

 

[MICKEY88]

I don't see the merits of anonymous, I think that being here long enough, you see the unique style of some of the people here and can identify their work anyways..

 

[Gdad]

I am when it's between two photos and I can't make up my mind... Then I vote for the Photographer whose body of work that I like best.

I've been known to peek but but if anything I'd probably go the other direction and favor the person just starting out.

 

[klmall]

I think a max size helps keeps things equal.

For example, when I'm viewing just about any thread with pictures in it I get very distracted by postings with larger pictures (e.g. 1,024px × 680px) compared to whatever the general norm is for that thread. For me it can be a negative.

And I agree that it's those new to the contest who just don't know about the rules.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

I'm just thankful that you take the time that you do to put it together for us, so whatever works best for you and minimizes the hassle is fine with me..

Big time thanks for your time!

I like the idea of making a size a guideline rather than an absolute.

I like the idea of considering a larger or more standard size, too.

I appreciate the idea of trying to be more friendly to new users who might not really understand how to resize, etc.

HTH!

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

Love the work you put in to it. I love seeing everyone's take on things.

I'm agnostic on the size thing, I can go with what everyone else agrees to.

 

[rtphokie]

I understand your point, and the attempt to be more friendly to new people, but I guess looking at the other side of the coin..

do you then allow framed photos because someone didn't read the rules, or heavily processed photos.. etc..

The other rules are far less likely to be broken by a new poster than the size one. Especially since it's a bit of an antiquated size as others have pointed out.

 

[rtphokie]

Thanks everyone for sharing their thoughts. I like the idea of the larger size and think that this will solve many problems.

Starting next week, the sticky post will be updated to read (sans the 'will not be included' bit):

Photos should be no larger than 1024x768

If someone posts an obnoxiously large image, it wont be included in the voting and I'll contact them individually to repost but otherwise I'm going to include all images. Lets see how it goes, if it's a problem, we'll revisit.

I'm a bit tired of playing image size police (every week it is at least 1 or 2 posts and sometimes I'm PM'ing 3 or 4 posters). It's time consuming for all involved and too nitpicky for a friendly contest like this. Also I'm seeing more new posters, a trend I'd like to continue.