Some thoughts about June contest

[Blue_In_AK]

I'm kind of liking the blind submission idea. I thought it made the contest a lot more interesting for us, as well as for gen pop.

What I'd like to do now is get some ideas from you all about what topics seems interesting to you, and then I'll pick one. I just don't feel like messing with a poll.

I have a dear old friend coming up from San Francisco during the week of June 11-18, so I would like to have that time period be included within your picture-taking time frame so I don't have to monitor anything since we're going to be on the road quite a bit and I probably won't be spending too much time on DU.

So for the next week or so, let me hear your ideas.

[Richard D]

1. I think . . .

. . . inviting us all up to Alaska and having a best shot of 24 hours would be a great contest!

I used to really love those 24 hour projects. One of my re-introduction to photography books was Japan in 24 Hours where in a lot of photographers shot in one 24 hour period all over Japan.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. That would be fantastic,

although we might have a hard time putting everyone up for a day. We've only got one guest room. :)

[alfredo]

2. baking in the sun

[Mz Pip]

4. Oh. I. Wish.

Tomorrow June 1 it is supposed to snow in the Berkeley hills. Snow. In. June. :banghead:

[alfredo]

5. It was 91 here today.

already had a touch of heat rash. I usually don't get that until after my first mosquito bite. Summer is out of sync.

[Mira]

7. 96 - I thought I would melt. It was so unexpected. And the rest of the week same thing. n/t

[alfredo]

11. It was so hot here we put Joan Rivers on the sidewalk and she melted.

[Mz Pip]

17. Oh, Geez...

this doesn't bode well for the end of the month does it?

I am so looking forward to our trip to NC later this month but me and heat don't do well together. I live where it rarely gets above 75.

96? well, at least I have some idea of what to pack. Ice. Lots of ice.

[alfredo]

21. Drink a lot of liquids, stay away from soda and alcohol.

Alcohol can affect your ability to handle the heat. Sugar will turn your body into an oven.

Relax, become "one" with the heat. I used to carry mail, and attitude is so important to handling the elements. . That's why I said to become one with the heat. Relax, drink liquids, and stay out of the noon to three time period. Anyway, the light is better in the morning and early evening.

[Mz Pip]

23. Thanks for the suggestions.

I know some people who just love hot weather but it doesn't work for me. Hopefully there will be air conditioning at the house we are renting.

Does it cool down at night?

[alfredo]

24. Yeah, but not to the extent of the desert.

Remove the dividing line between you and the heat. The dog will keep scratching the door until you let him in.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. We had a run of nice weather for a couple of weeks,

but today it's raining and 54 degrees. I'm hoping this isn't a harbinger of the summer to come. :(

[alfredo]

25. We've had several feet of rain the past three months.

[Mira]

6. If we continue with the blind submissions there may need to be a simple

talking amongst ourselves about whether this means we must always submit photos we have not previously shown in the photo forum. Or that we must take care that we not submit one of a shoot we did that would identify us as the photographer because we posted something else from that shoot.

Am I making sense?

Do our submitted photos have to make an effort to hide the identity of the photographer to the fellow photographers, or are the blind submissions mostly done to make it impossible to the GD public to come to our submission threads and look who put in what?

I learned two things from the first go-around. I did not guess as many as I thought I would. But I guessed enough from similar photos my fellow photographers had posted, or their style in general, to be shockingly sure and proven right of quite a few.

Don't mean to make a wave here. I'm genuinely fine either way, though a little lost. It would help me if there is a rule stated about this, maybe simply the hostesses rule for this contest.

About a subject: I'm a little hung up right now on the subject of "Symmetry".

As I thought about suggesting that subject I remembered a shot I really like but I showed it to the group some time back. Then I remembered a fellow photographer posting one that is to die for, and I told that person to hold on to it in case we ever have a contest with that subject matter.

In both cases our identity would be known internally, and that is what prompted me to ask the question.

[Mz Pip]

9. I don't think that's necessary

I don't think there are that many people in GD who are Photo Group stalkers or who pay really close attention to who takes what picture. Most of them are too busy stalking each other in GD to be bothered with our little group.

Internally, well for what's it's worth I did not guess who photographed any of the 3 top shots.

Blind submissions as far as the submission thread goes is fine but I don't see a reason to make it any more complicated. In all honesty I can't remember from week to week what pics I have posted in here and don't want to have to keep track that closely.

[Mira]

10. You make very valid points about keeping it simple.

We differ in that I have a memory like an elephant when it comes to visuals, and so do others I've observed, but I think it does not matter in contests that are supposed to be fun and entertaining and a pleasure.
Which is why I said it's OK by me either way.

Some time back I had an interchange or two I did not seek with one of our regulars who thinks the contest submission threads get stalked by GD to find their favorite people's work. I did not agree with that, but the thought is out there.
If that is the ultimate reason we are doing them blind, then this solves a probably non-existing problem perfectly and without further ado.

[Celebration]

12. the bigger issue is the location thing, probably

I would say the only "rule" regarding this is that it shouldn't have been posted any time after the theme for the month began being discussed. It was really easy for me as host because I made the deadline just anything posted after we decided on the blind submissions.

People would never post their photos here if they thought they couldn't use them a few months down the road in a contest. We wouldn't want that!!

And it would also be ridiculous to make rules about locale! Sure people may be able to guess a few correctly, but, really, other than the ones already posted, how many people knew for sure whose photos were whose?

But it should be the host's choice as to whether to have open or closed submissions (I feel). But anything is okay with me.

[Mira]

13. Yes. After I asked the questions I felt silly. All of this would

get settled without pre-emptive meddling by me. After all, when an issue arises, it gets dealt with.
This is me being sorry and quiet.

[Mz Pip]

16. ;-)

No need to be sorry because you raised your concerns. There very well may be a few people in GD who come in to the Photo Group to see who posts what pictures but I think the blind submission thread handles that.

For what it's worth, I have won 4 contests - 1 seasonal and 3 regular - and I hardly think I have a huge fan base in GD that checks me out in here. LOL.

Now, we can both be quiet. :-)

:hi:

[bluedigger]

8. How about "Stuck in traffic", LOL?

And the weather report from NOLA is mid-90's, 100% humidity, flood stage, and drought conditions...

(ALL Photography Forums threads require pics. You could look it up.)

[Sheepshank]

14. I have a couple of things that are rattling around in my head lately

Rocks and Stones or Geology. I love looking at the textures, the colors, the formations...but would 30 pictures of rocks be too "dry"?

Standing Out in a Crowd. Did we do one like this too? I seems to remember discussion on the old Sesame Street song "One of these things is not like the other...."

[Blues Heron]

15. I like both these ideas

esp the second one.

I'd like to add two -

Sustainability - (recycling, energy efficiency, public transportation, composting, etc.)

Kitchen/Food - has this been done before? I always like food pics!

[Blue_In_AK]

18. I'm a fan of rocks and stones, too,

and I think this could work -- or maybe a broader topic of "geology." This could include anything from a macro of a pebble all the way up to El Capitan. I don't think it would be too dry at all.

[Mira]

19. I would love it! n/t

[Mz Pip]

20. I agree

It's different and it does have a wide range of possibilities.

[Celebration]

26. I live in the Delta...............

We have some clay, but nary a pebble.

But I may sit this one out anyway.

Rocks would be a pretty cool subject.

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. But you DO have "geology" in the Delta....

That would be a broad enough category to not excluded even people living on the water.

[Richard D]

28. I like too.