Camera Labs

Hi everyone, I've been having a good long think about the best way to implement Luis's On Assignment idea in the future. The immediate concerns were how to have a shared place where forum members could post their images and comments without waiting for a third party to upload or manage them.

I think Daniel's come up with the best suggestion, which is to use the forum itself, but have stricter guidelines on what should go where.

So, following his suggestion, we would have a dedicated 'On Assigment' sub-forum with three active threads per 'Assignment':

1: Submissions only. A thread where people post their entries and their description of what they were trying to do, but with no comments from other members. This will allow people to easily scroll through all the images without being delayed or swayed by comments. This thread would start with a post saying what the subject this month is, plus any rules or restrictions.

2: Comments only. A separate thread where people can comment on the submissions.

3: A poll for judging, opened when the deadline has passed.

We could also have a thread (maybe sticky) where people could suggest future assigment subjects.

What does everyone think? I like doing it with the forum because we all have access to it and we can submit comments or entries at any time without a third party having to upload or manage them.

I also realise it's frustrating asking people to comment on a different thread, but it keeps the submissions thread clean and tidy, while also not influencing anyone before they judge!

I think for fairness we should also fix the size of the submitted images as seen in the forum, although people can make the image a live link to the full-res version, or post a link.

Gordon

Indeed;

Although a image upload server or site must be established first, and I think it is pretty unfair to use Flickr now that I think about it as not everyone can upload full 100% images.

Obviously Gordon we don't expect nor should we expect you to host them on the CL server.

I however would gladly put my server forward for uploading images. I currently have over 300Gb space and over 2.5Tb of bandwidth, hopefully more than enough to handle any load that CL puts on it. Although again, I am myself classed as a third party, exactly what we were trying to avoid so that is a downside, and obviously since its my server, Gordon has no assurance (not that I would of course!!!) that I won't just shut the server down or steal the images hosted in it at any point - therefore making the whole thing less reliable and less secure.

Clearly we shall need to think more about a suitable method for hosting and displaying photographs. Size constraints, both physical size and file size (e.g. in pixels and in MB's) should also be taken into consideration - e.g. will everyone have to conform to set file format like JPG, or will other lossless formats like TIFF be allowed simply because of the 14bit lossless compression side?

Will there be a limit on the full size images as well? e.g. 6MP, so those with a 7+MP camera will have to re-size their images. (Personally I think the full resolution of the cameras sensor should be allowed, although re-sizing of the image should also be permitted)

If I think of anything else I'll post it - but thats about it for now.

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Hi Daniel, thanks for your offer of hosting the photos, but I think we really need an independant third party like Flickr.

As for image size, I personally don't care about seeing the full resolution files. I'd like to see the submissions shown on the forum shrunk down to a size we agree on, like , say, 500 pixels on the longest dimension. People can then link to a full res file if they want.

I wouldn't personally judge these competitions based on the full res file though as it favours those with better equipment, and it's not really relevant for evaluating compositions or the concept - so I'd be doing it from the reduced size.

Yep, I was thinking that having a full 100% size, but for on the forums, say no bigger than 500x500 pixels, then that has an image link to the larger image, around 1500x1500 max for the image that is going to be judged.


The easy part when using Flickr I suppose is that it can be judged on the "Large Size" Image, and the "Medium Size" for the preview on the forums.

Medium (500 x 333) | Large (1024 x 683) - Thats 3:2 Ratio no crop. so lets say no bigger than 500x500 and no bigger than 1024x1024 to make it easier.

Although what about Panorama's? 2:1 ratio or greater can be hard to show at something like 1000x500 (simple maths lol) or would there be exceptions for them?

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

poses quite a restriction: Some images only come to life when viewed full screen (remember: full screen is already at 1/4th of the original size mostly!): Field of view, depth of field, sharpness, all are seriously influenced by viewing size.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Now that many people own 1600 or even 1920 wide monitors, 1024 as max width is a serious restriction. Just let them link to the original size with 500 width post at CL.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

hmm still like Gordon said it does give an unfair advantage to those with 10Mp, 12MP 16MP or above to those with 6 and 8Mp cameras.

Perhaps 1600x1600 - for those with 16:10, and those with 4:3 (1600x1200 and 1680x1050)

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

Flickr's medium size of 500x333 (or taller for 4:3 images) sounds perfect for the forum, although I'm happy for people to link to any other res they like. I just want the submissions thread to show images of a manageable and consistent size.

But yep, feel free to link to full res files if you like.

We should also formalise the tech specs which poeple should submit with each photo. No need to go mad though - how about:

Camera model
Lens type and focal length
Aperture, Shutter and ISO

Then some text by the photographer explaining what they were trying to achieve and whether they used a certain trick, or faced certain difficulties taking the shot.

No, no: No unfair advantage!
If you refrain from pixel-peeping, a good full-screen pic just needs 2MPix!

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

i dont think there should be any limitations on image size.. especially since this is just for fun and there is really nothing at stake.. if it gets serious and there are prizes or whatever than there will need to be fixed rules..

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Nikon D40 + 18-135
My Flickr.

Ok so 100%'s it is!

Yeah Tech Specs sound good.

I'll just try out an example to show how it would look in a post.

Photograph Name: The Test Photograph

Addition Caption (Optional?): Note the Colour

- Image link the Flickr Medium size photo here -


Photographer Commentary: I took this photo in order to show something, not sure what it was since this doesn't have to make sense since its just an example of what you are to type! Obviously most ddescriptions will be longer than this bit f text.

Camera Model: Canon EOS 350D
Lens Model Used: Canon EF 50mm F/1.8
Focal Length Used: 50mm
Aperture Used: F/2.8
Shutter Speed Used: 1/200
ISO Used: ISO 200

Flash Used: Canon EOS 350D Built In Flash (If flash is not used type N/A)
Filters Used: Hoya polarizing filter


(YES i know none of those settings match the photo! lol)

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!

I think that looks perfect, although a title above the photo is purely optional!

I think that has got all the information anybody might need. Nice photo btw.

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Graham
Flickr

hahaha this is waaaaaaayyyy overkill. At this stage this 'project' (if you will) is in early days and is only a bit of fun, theres no need to become **** about it. As mentioned earlier if there are prizes or things of monetary value at stake then by all means plan till your hearts content.

For me at this stage I enter for the challenge and seeing what I can do (or in most cases what I can't do). In a earlier post I said that photoshop editing should be off limits but I've changed my tune. Who is to say a photographer can't or shouldn't use the tools at their disposal, in this context of the 'competition' it shouldn't matter. People should always be challenged by people better than them.

My 2 cents.

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Nikon D80+Nikkor 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6, Manfrotto tripod-190XDB/Head-804RC2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hero_of_the_jay/

Ah but Jay you see, without planning there will only be failure, not success.

An organized routine which is structured logically and controlled and moderated by those with higher powers is a better one. (most of the time!)

Even if there is no prize, you still don't want the whole thing to end up like a under 12 year old counter strike match do you! (trust me those ain't good!)

_________________
Canon EOS 5DmkII + BG-E6 + Canon EOS 40D + BG-E2N + Canon EOS 33
Canon 17-40 F/4L USM + Canon 24-70 F/2.8L USM + Canon 28mm F/1.8 USM + Canon 70-200 F/2.8L USM IS + Canon 85mm F/1.8 USM
Canon Speedlite 580EX II + Canon Speedlite 540EZ + 2 x Nikon SB-80DX
Cactus V2s Wireless Trigger - 5 x Cactus V2s Wireless Reciever

MY FLICKR!