Monthly competition - time for a change? (1 Viewer)

IanF · Jun 27, 2004

Various comments and suggestions have been made over the number of entries that the competition attracts each month - particularly in respect of the viewing of entries at voting time.

This month saw 51 qualifying entries, though previously we have had 70+.

Members are invited to express an opinion as to which is the preferred option -

1. Do we need to limit the number of entries to vote upon?

One suggestion is for the Mods to whittle down the entries to the best 30 to be added to the voting booth - that way making viewing far easier.

2. Run three separate competitions on the same theme split into Compacts, Digiscoped and DSLR - except for prize competitions.

3. Leave things as they are.

KC Foggin · Jun 27, 2004

I don't think I would want to see three separate comps running simulataneously but that's just my thoughts.

Even if you run concurrent comps, it is still the same amount of photos everyone needs to look at unless you are thinking that only digiscopers will vote in the digiscoping category and dslr in their category and so on. I also think it would be a huge amount of work for you Ian.

Whittling down the entries might be a way to start and see how it works. I'm sure there will be some hurdles to overcome going this way as well. Will the membership abide by the final cut made by the mods?

I'ld like to try option 1 for the next couple of comps and see how it works out.

Beverlybaynes · Jun 27, 2004

Personally, I like things the way they are. The number of entries is bound to vary, no matter what you do.

I'm not crazy about splitting into 3 competitions (I agree with KC, sounds like a LOT of work for you, Ian!), but if there's enough opinions in favor of doing it, let's give it a try. Although, again personally, I like the idea of the 3 different types going up against one another, so to speak. A good photograph is a good photograph, no matter what camera has taken it. While quality of gear makes a world of difference, the ultimate eye belongs to the photographer, doesn't it?

christineredgate · Jun 27, 2004

Leave things as they are.It is the summer and people are on hols etc,and not spending so much time at the pc,things will soon be back to normal.You may make it really complicated if entries are split into separate groups.

robinm · Jun 28, 2004

I am not in favour of splitting the competition - it would involve a lot of extra work and I am not sure it would achieve anything.

Whittling down the entries has its merits, but I am sure this will produce its own problems. Using the mods (or other group) seems the only practical way of doing this, but this could produce some very negative responses from people whose photos are excluded at this stage. Personally, I am not sure I feel qualified to do this, better to choose more "serious" photographers not necessarily mods.

I guess on balance I would keep things as they are.

pduxon · Jun 28, 2004

For what its worth I'd like it as it is. Perhaps there are rather alot but the quality is usually so good it's worth the time.

Marmot · Jun 28, 2004

I am totally against it getting cut down to 30 entries, it puts people like me who are not technically minded and who do not have the equipment (or money!) to assist us at a drawback.

We are not all Nigel Blake or Andy Bright - to name a few, so we would always be at a disadvantage to them. We enter the competition to the best of "OUR" ability. What may be a deleted shot to somone may be the "bee's knees" to another.

We use what equipment we have available to us - maybe not at its optimum- but its our own effort. I would be quite annoyed and probably wouldn't bother entering again if my entry was just tossed aside, as it would probaly end up the same 30 "high standard photographers" getting through every month. If you had contravened the rules by all means disqualify the entry,but not because it isn't pin sharp or with the most up to date equipment.

As the saying goes why mend it when it aint broken !

pduxon · Jun 28, 2004

Marmot said:
We are not all Nigel Blake or Andy Bright - to name a few, so we would always be at a disadvantage to them. We enter the competition to the best of "OUR" ability. What may be a deleted shot to somone may be the "bee's knees" to another.

Oh I don't know, I look forward to IanF pming to Nigel to tell him his picture doesn't meet the mark.

Sandpiper · Jun 28, 2004

With all due respect to the moderators and their decisions I still think that the whole membership should be able to participate. The problem I find whilst attempting to view the entries as a slide show is that the images do not load quick enough for me to view each one. Could we not have all the entries displayed as a gallery? This would then allow everyone to see all of the images together and perhaps decide which to enlarge to view from there.

With approaching eleven thousand members it is obvious that at times the number of entries will increase. Surprisingly, with such a large membership I am amazed so few people take the time to vote.

These are my thoughts for what they are worth.

Beverlybaynes · Jun 28, 2004

Sandpiper, have you tried changing the time delay in the slideshow? When the page to begin the slideshow opens, there's a place to do that, and you can change the delay to up to 10 seconds.

I'm on a dial-up modem at home, and usually change it from 2 to 4 seconds, which seems more than adequate -- plenty of time to open and still some time to really look at the photo.

IanF · Jun 28, 2004

Sandpiper, there are three options in the voting booth, one of which is to view all entries as thumbnails - click on any you want to view full screen.

Click on any entry and below the main photo are 5 thumbnails, the ones on either side are in order.

There are two options in the booth to view the slideshow and as Beverly says you can adjust the time delay between shots of 2, 4, 8 or 10 seconds.

janine13 · Jun 28, 2004

I am also opposed to cutting down the voting to the "best 30." Who decides on the best 30? Will there be some kind of "independent panel?" Especially since quite a few of the moderators participate. My feeling is, if you feel it is a chore to go through all the pics for the month, then maybe you dont have the right attitude in the first place. You can always do the gallery view and only look at the ones that have a lot of comments, or look most appealing, or however you wish to narrow it. But it should be the responsibility of the individual member, not the moderators, to narrow the choices for the vote.

PS: All this from the one who first suggested seperating the competition into categories, oh so long ago. Still not a bad idea, but as I and many others have pointed out, too hard to implement and police. Therefore my vote is to leave things as they are.

Sandpiper · Jun 28, 2004

Thanks to Beverly and Ian for the advice. I will give it a try.

annarufus · Jun 28, 2004

As a newbie to the form and this was my first contest to vote on I enjoyed seeing all of the entries no matter what equipment was used or how photographicly correct. I think with a theme to follow everyone has a chance. Besides they were all winners to me! I would like to see the voting stay the same for now. I might even get carried away and enter next time.

Rosah · Jun 29, 2004

I think as long as we have the thumbnail option for viewing, leave the competition as it is. My slow dial-up doesn't get along well with the slideshow but I get to see all the pictures using thumbnails. I like the idea of allowing everyone to participate. If you choose to split the competition into categories, I wouldn't run them all at once. That's still the same number of pictures to look at; just in different places. I would be ok with a digiscoping category one month, compact the next month, DSLR the next rather than all at once.

Charles Harper · Jun 29, 2004

I said it before and got in trouble... so I won't say it again. But I have not looked at or voted on the last two competitions because it takes too long to go through all the photos adequately, even at the shortest time-delay (and the thumbnails are too small for my antiquated rig). I just don't have that much idle time to sit here.

I don't care how you do it, but pare it down, or I will never be able to vote.

Marmot · Jun 30, 2004

Maybe something that should be looked at is when a person has just solely joined for a prize competition and has never made any contribution (thread postings or gallery) to the site since then.

Why not make a rule that you should have 10 postings before you can enter the prize competition. But with no restrictions on the normal monthly challenge ones.

icansprint · Jun 30, 2004

I don't think you can eliminate photos without upsetting a lot of members.

If a member waits until the last minute to view all the photos it WILL take forever.

I think a better solution might be to reduce the file size. This would allow faster loading for dialup users.

Bill

Alastair Rae · Jun 30, 2004

If the number of entries keeps on growing, the challenge is to view them all before voting. I think people will stop voting if there's too many.

Also the "slide show" feature is unhelpful since you have to scroll down past the ads every page.

jules · Jul 2, 2004

I Agree With Marmot, ( I Know My Pics Are Far Far, From Tops, But People Still See How Ams Like Me Hav A Go ).
All Or Nothing For Me.

Monthly competition - time for a change? (1 Viewer)

Select your preferred option -

Voting on 'best' 30 entries.

Split each comp into Compact, DSLR, Digiscoping.

Leave things as they are.

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