Assignment Discussion Thread

[Sheiky]

Hi all,

since we have reached the magical assignment number 50: Challenge Yourself I was thinking to myself how the assignments are working and how they could improve. I asked a few of the previous assignment winners for some feedback and I got some really good ideas. Thanks! The goal is to make the assignments more open and more interesting. And also I'd like to get people active instead of searching their library's.

One thing that really stood out in the reactions I got was the "lack of time". Normally I set 2 weeks for the entry-period which is too short for some of you. Therefor it's changed to an entire month. With the end of the month being the end of the entry-period. The voting will be happening in the first week of the next month.

A few other points are still open for debate such as:

• When does the next assignment start? Since I browse the forums categorically I only see one topic per category. If I'd start the next assignment the first day of the next month, the "current" assignment which is still in voting might not be noticed anymore. Another options is to announce the next assignment-idea as the voting starts. So you know what's going to be the assignment, but the actual assignment thread will not be there yet. That will give you a whole month of time. If I'd start the assigment after the voting is done, the actual time for the assignment will be one week less. That would be about 3 weeks normally.
• Following on announcing the next assignment idea is the idea to announce two assignments at the same time. One current assignment and one next assignment so basically at the start of an assignment you already know what the next assignment will be. Which gives you double time.
• At this point the winner of an assignment picks his/hers 3-5 favorites. With 3-5 favorites I'm able to add all of the favorites photos to the start-post. However in some cases there aren't as many players and some might be left out. With the current system I'm able to get up to 10 people in the poll. However I would not be adding each photo to the start post. What's your take on this?
• Do we still want an assignment with a final-poll? Are there alternatives?

Anyway these are a few things I can think off myself right now. I hope to get some more feedback and hopefully improve the assignments.

All feedback is welcome(even if you don't want me to host them anymore)! If you like to send me an email of PM, that's fine as well.

The main goal of improvement on the assignments will be activity, fun and accessibility.

Thanks,
Jan

[Steve U]

Just a quick thought from me Jan, you have obviously given this a lot of thought.
As well as an assignment thread you could start a "Photo" of the week thread that is a quick, high turn over thread and judged by someone each month, the winner from each week is then voted by Members to give us a photo of the month and then we could end up with a "photo" of the year. Other forums do things like this and you end up with a nice honour role of the best photos of the year and it is interesting because you could have a portrait beating a landscape for photo of the year.
I think this would increase the image content of the forum.

[Kayaker72]

I miss the "What did you shoot from xxx to xxx" threads. They were replaced by the "post your best current picture" thread, but that thread doesn't seem to get the same traffic. A photo of the week thread may accomplish the same thing with the added friendly competition.....

Heck, Steve, why don't you just start that thread...I am in.....

As for the assignments, I really like giving a full month. I often wanted to shoot something original, but couldn't find the time in the two week window. I think we would have to wait until the last assignment has a winner before we can start the next assignment. So it may be 4 week submission period, 3-4 days selection of the finalists, 3-4 days of voting and 3-4 days to select the next assignment, so each assignment may take ~6 weeks. The other alternative would be to stagger the winners, but I prefer an assignment every ~6 weeks.

Other ideas, I'd allow more than one entry. I am sure it needs to be limited, but I think 2-3 entries may make it more interesting.

Overall, I really like the assignments and appreciate you coordinating them.

Brant

[Steve U]

Oh you're sooo easy Brant... in a good way.
I don't mind starting something like this to get the ball rolling. It would take a few threads with one listing weekly and monthly winners and one where we enter weekly shots. That way if your shot misses the deadline of one week, it just can roll over to the next.
Get some more feedback first though....

[nvitalephotography]

I love Steve's idea for photo of the week month and year, I feel like that would gain a lot of interest quickly. Plus I like the faster pace of it better. I think longer time period for assignments is good, but if I get my shot in week one and the assignment takes 6 weeks, then its a long wait. I vote for Jan's idea to "announce two assignments at the same time. One current assignment and one next assignment.." That way you can have a while to work on each assignment yet there is still a relatively quick turnover of assignments.

[Raid]

Well if you want more assignments, its easy to just have a few open running at the same time. I find the topics way to broad so its easy to find something that will fit. I think there needs to be something harder like "Her Smile", "Frozen in Time", "The life of the Party", "Life & Death in a Macro World", "DOH" (Humour) & "A Cities Beat".

I would also like to see something of the different types of photography like: "April 24, 2013" where you are required to take a photo on that day (48hr posting window for the whole planet). These posts are to be unedited (yes I know its easy to cheat) small JPG straight from the camera. The judge is looking for the best shot, PP, colour and focus are all unimportant.

I don't like the idea of best shot of the week/month because we all know the usual suspects Joel/Bob/Denise/Mark/Sean etc. would win most of the time (and their egos are big enough as it is).

[Steve U]

Great ideas for assignments Raid, but you may find the number of entries submitted will decrease if we narrow the topics too much. Your list is very creative and from a personal level, you've got me thinking a bout a few potential entries, but also a couple that I wouldn't bother with.

I think the photo of the week won't be "won" by a great bird shot or a well lit outdoor portrait each month, people aren't like that. I'm sure "they" will get a "win" but at the end of 12 months I don't think you would be looking at 6 GBH shots and 6 shots of Sean peaking out pensively from under a new hat.

Though I would expect some examples from our good photographers and they do deserve recognition. But I also understand your tongue in cheek reference to their huge egos.

It might be best to pick the best portrait and the best landscape/object shot each week from the entries. So two get put forward each week and then we have 8 to judge at the end of the month, from those the best 2 for each month and 24 at the end of the year.

And then a photo of the year.

[Raid]

The biggest Photography Forum site in Aus. is very into best picture awards and poor technical help (the pro's like to keep their edge). They give best picture awards in lots of categories every week, month and year. The problem is that everybody is into saying "great shot", trying to encourage people. What they should be saying is "good attempt but I think you are over exposed by a third of a stop and here's what to do....". What I like most about this Forum is that the Pro's are keen to help others and this makes this site and the Pro's who inhabit it exceptional.

[erno james]

You guys (and gals?) make for an intersting read. I spend most of my time on Flickr, then 500 px, then here in descending order. I gotta say, I agree with Raid that while praise is nice (and often deserved), I know that I learn from my mistakes, and trust me there are many. I think most of us who take photos know there is always room for improvement, so I am willing to be put on the chopping block for constructive critiques. Maybe we could make a GOOD COP: BAD COP category for our assignments. For each post, list one or two things you like about an image, then follow with a list of one or two things that to improve that photo.

I'll give it a go on a recent image I posted on Flickr:
[img0
Pots of Gold - - - La Jolla, California by ernogy, on Flickr[/img]

GOOD COP:
1. nice vertical landscape composition
2. unique foreground

BAD COP:
1. totally blew it by placing a graduated ND filter too low on the image, rendering the distant rocky shelf too dark
2. too much blue and lack of contrast in the sky

[Joel Eade]

Great shot....you must have a really good camera