Monochrome Print Competition - 16 Sept 2015

[davidc]

Are we tracking analytics on useage of the site vs forum? I can't remember the last time I used the site and while it's useful as a portal to attract new members, the photo sharing & critique areas of the forum are much more useful for sharing feedback and talking about photos. I would never have dreamt of checking their for images truth be told.

I would also like to once again request competition images are shared on the forum. Or even just a bulk upload to flickr with a link on the forum. The additional work overhead is minimal, the new flickr bulk uploader does it all automatically when you add new images to a dedicated folder on your hard drive.

The idea that publishing our best images on the forum somehow degrades our chances at winning inter-club competitions is also nonsense. Think of it this way - how many times have OUR committee done a thorough trawl of every other SPA club's website to see if there were images we could somehow infer were going into competition then, using that information, go back and tell the CCC club members to "shoot better than these images we found that may or may not end up being in a competition"?! It just doesn't make any sense

For competitions, either our members shoot better than other clubs for any given event or they do not. The requirement for any "meta"-gaming is zero. On the contrary, the benefit of sharing winning entries is huge. We're a photography club with a forum... we should be sharing MORE photos on our forum! We want to see photos!

[davidb]

Just for davidc here's the link to my Bamber Trophy entries

https://www.flickr.com/photos/44566609@N03/

Enjoy

[davidc]

Thank you

[Mike Farley]

The idea that publishing our best images on the forum somehow degrades our chances at winning inter-club competitions is also nonsense.

I have no issue with images from our inter club panels being published by the individual authors, indeed as one of the few people who regularly posts images here I would encourage it, but we should not be displaying the actual panels until our participation in a competition has ended. Maybe the other clubs will not game us, but why take the chance?

[Peter Boughton]

Are we tracking analytics on useage of the site vs forum?

There's a stats package on the server. I'll check it out later this week. (If I go look now I'll just end up staying up too late...)

Maybe the other clubs will not game us, but why take the chance?

Or put it the other way round: What have we got to lose?

If every other club in the SLF sees the Croydon entries and (somehow) uses that knowledge to make their own superior, all that really means is that those watching the competitions get to see more better images.

I don't see why they would though. They generally do a good enough job beating us already; they don't need any advantage an advanced preview might bring.

[Mike Farley]

If every other club in the SLF sees the Croydon entries and (somehow) uses that knowledge to make their own superior, all that really means is that those watching the competitions get to see more better images.

The downside as I see it is that judges have a habit of ranking similar images, so if another club has advance knowledge of our panel they could use it to adjust theirs. It might not be such an issue in the first round when there are lot of clubs competing, but it could be a factor in the later stages when two clubs go head to head. The results can sometimes be very close and it might just give the opposition an edge.

While it does not help David, I would say that if anyone wants to see the club's panels they should come along to support the club when we compete. That said, I would not object to them being shown in a forum here which is only available to club members.

I don't see why they would though. They generally do a good enough job beating us already; they don't need any advantage an advanced preview might bring.

It is true that we had a relatively disappointing set of results last season and only reached one semi-final in the Colour Prints section, but we have freqently made it to the finals of either the main or plate competitions and have had numerous successes in past seasons.

[Iggy]

Gosh, that is quite a lively discussion since I last logged in.
It is good to see that some have offered to have their high scoring prints on the CCC Website.
Personally, I would like to see the CCC Print Competition given the same exposure and prestige as the DPI Competitions and have all high scoring print images displayed in the same way.
It might appear to some that the Print Competition has a lower status if the best results are not on the CCC Website.
Iggy

[Paul Heester]

It might appear to some that the Print Competition has a lower status if the best results are not on the CCC Website.
Iggy

In whose eyes? Ideally members should be attending meetings to compete in competitions (DPI/print or both), or if not competing then at least attending the meetings to view the comps. I think a sole reliance on the CCC website takes away the social interaction you get at the club and misses the point of even being a member (correspondent members aside). As a contributor to mainly DPI I dont believe the print competitions holds a "lower status" for myself but thats just my two-penneth

[Iggy]

Okay, I am playing devil’s advocate.

During a print competition members at the back of the hall can hardly see the detail of the photograph while in DPI competitions you get a good look where ever you sit. During the tea break after queuing up for beverages there is limited time to go and have a closer look at the prints which are quickly taken down after the competition as members need to get away. Hence the need to have a chance to see them all together in one place later!

Paul wrote:
Ideally members should be attending meetings to compete in competitions (DPI/print or both), or if not competing then at least attending the meetings to view the comps.

I agree with you but unfortunately the turnout at print competitions might be on the low side given the lower number of members entering the print competitions.
I am trying to help by encouraging new members to take part in the print competitions by helping them in whatever way I can and even offering to cut mountboard as necessary or sharing ProAm postage charges with joint orders where possible.

It would be good to hear the objections to having high scoring prints that originated as DPIs displayed in the same way as high scoring DPIs, and to know if anyone is actually objecting?

I would be happy to take on the extra work to get high scoring prints onto our website for display in the same area as the high scoring DPIs.

PS: The members evening for selecting SLF images on Wednesday night was brilliant because the lucky members who attended were able to check out at length and enjoy the 105 high scoring images that were brought in for consideration to compete.

[Iggy]

Print Competition – 1st Round 07 October 2015

We had a wonderfully large submission of Prints in this years 1st Round Print Competition with the bulk from the Intermediate Class while the Standard and Advanced Classes together added up to a similar number. There was also a good turn out of some 30 members on the evening.

Can anyone tell us what the exact numbers of the entry? Was it a record number for the last 5 years?

Hence, judge Darren Pullman could only spend a couple of minutes or less on each print but gave good critique on all.

Tom Sherrin kindly requested all high scoring prints to be sent to Ashley at croydoncameraclub@gmail.com for display in the Club Competition Galleries. Here a Full Valet Service is offered with a request for the highest quality file in JPEG format.
See: http://www.croydoncameraclub.org.uk/Clu ... allery.htm

High Scoring JPEGs of the Monochrome Print Competion - 16 Sept 2015 should also be sent in.

I will be sending my print in JPEG format tomorrow.

Kind regards,
Iggy