Thoughts on an open challenge section

[MHD]

I have been thinking about an open section on the challenge site...

Basically something along the lines of no theme and you can submit your three best pics, taken anytime, no EXIF info required (so open to the canon and non d70 nikon users here as well)

All PP is allowed (panos, glowing skin, weird stuff) but the image must contain photographic elements (ie no purely photoshop creations)

The only think I grapple with is the anonymous part of the equation as many of us have shared our best pics.. So I would like your thoughts

I will open it up when I want (soon) and open it to voting about 2 weeks before the conference in August

[dooda]

I like that it's a completely open challenge so why not just make it wide open so that all of our prejudices and biases can factor in all at once? No rules, the only rule is that it must be photography based, or based on a photo. I personally don't think that anonmity matters that much. MO

[Glen]

So Scott, is one entry chosen as the winner or best group of 3?




Dave, anonymity is better here as many of us meet face to face so it removes biases.

[MHD]

One entry will reign supreme!

I have two reasons why I picked 3:
1) I imagine most people will submit 1-2 old pics and go out and try to get the third pic to compete with the others that have been submitted... That way the gallery gets nice and populated early and people know what the standard is
2) Its some times damn hard to pick you best pic!

[MHD]

Perhaps a "semi-anonymus" comp...

You may only enter an image that has not been on the d70 users site in the last 2 months.
Previous comp entries are invalid
there should be no obvious sign it is yours

that way only a handfull of people know..


The problem with a totally anonymus comp is that it starts to exclude those who have shared their best image in the past.

[Glen]

Good plan MHD, also if people recognised one photo from someone, they should not be able to correlate that with with the other 2 photos ie all 3 entries stand alone, not linked. Very fair rules Scott.

[sirhc55]

I’m in Scott - a very good idea

[dooda]

I'm in too although it excludes a huge whack of my pics as they are fairly particular to my region. I know that I'm in the minority here, but anyone from D70 users will be able to pick mine, I post here often and most of my pics are fairly thematic. I don't think that you necessarily have to cater this to me though, hell maybe it's just going to be that much harder for me to pick a pic, however the problem becomes that it isn't my three best, it's the three that fits. I think that if you truly want ones three best and we're competing against some other random person it puts you at a severe disadvantage because I've probably posted all of my best pics here.

[MHD]

cool!
Any other thoughts?

[stubbsy]

Scott

Conceptually its good, but I have a problem with the anonymity working. If I post my "best" work for review/critique it makes it unusable for the comp. If I hold it back for the comp instead I don't get feedback & critiques. I reckon I lose both ways. Furthermore, for the trully great images posted by others I reckon I'll remember them for a loooong while once I've seen them and (probably) remember who took them.

I think the 2 months is a good idea, but maybe make it two categories.

Category 1 - must be older than 2 months - gives us all a chance to pick from our back catalog.

Category 2 - must be a new, unpublished image.

This would give us the best of both worlds.

I guess my only other observation is - does the image need to be trully anonymous. Would any of us rate someone's image significantly differently if we knew whose it was. Maybe a bit, but wouldn't that even out?

Having said all of the above, whatever you decide Scott will be fine by me since I think the idea of an open comp is an excellent one.

[phillipb]

My view is this:

I see an open comp as an extention to the current "Picture of the week" except that it is judged by everyone rather then one person.
There's no problems at all as far as I can see with the P.O.W. selection with regards to anonimity, so I don't see why it would be a problem in an open comp.
We joke a bit about people with sigma (coke) glass as opposed to nikon glass etc. But I really don't see any factional breakups in this forum. We are a pretty fair minded bunch of people, If there is no prize, I say let anyone submit whatever they want. If there is a prize then maybe exclude previous winners.
Easy!

[MHD]

Very good point...

And the last thing I want to do is discourage people from posting critique...

[cyanide]

Scott

I guess my only other observation is - does the image need to be trully anonymous. Would any of us rate someone's image significantly differently if we knew whose it was. Maybe a bit, but wouldn't that even out?

I agree with this coment. I also agree that while shots previously posted for critique should definitely be eligible, shots which have been picked as POTW should be excluded, mainly because impressionable photography newbies (BTW, I include myself in that group!) might have their voting influenced by the thought that one certain shot, out of their favourite five images (for example), was once picked as POTW so therefore it must be a good/better shot....

Stupid, I know, I know, but hey - I never said I was perfect!

And just to provide stereo sound, I echo the comment that an open comp is an excellent idea.

[phillipb]

Rae, I see your point but for me a good shot is a good shot. If I didn't like it before it got P.O.W. I still won't like it after.
Besides, with so many P.O.Ws out there, you still can only choose one winner so it's just a matter of voting for the one that most appeals to you.

[MHD]

Cool...
So: All images valid with the exception of previous comp winners and previous POTDs

[leek]

Sorry Scott, I might me missing something here, but I really don't understand the need for anonymity in any contest...
And are you proposing just a one-off contest for August? If that's the case, I'm not sure that it's a good idea to distract from the anniversary challenge (to be set by the next winner)...

However, maybe we could have a monthly open contest to compliment the quarterly themed contest... Any subject / theme - each person's best picture from that month, submitted with the photographer's name, description of shot... judged by their peers...

As I said, I might be missing something...

[MHD]

Not just for August. Opening now and finishing around the same time as the next Challenge...

It will be a much lower key event, a much more "fun event" not designed to take the attention away the main challenges.

The idea came from many people who want a more open comp, open to PPing and images outside of the timeframe...

It also takes very little effort on my part as, due to its open-ness, it requires very little adjudication.

[jdear]

i take it those of us who dont yet own a DSLR can enter?

JD

[MHD]

Yes!

[jdear]

oooh count me in then!

JD