Photo contest guideline questions

[Stoloniferous]

Originally Posted by joepyeweed

Sometimes color manipulation is necessary to better reflect reality....

I have never developed or printed color photos in a darkroom, but I am lead to believe that color adjustment is a large part of physically printing color photos. Perhaps a distinction should be drawn between color adjustment and color manipulation?

[Cirsium]

Please keep in mind that our site is about North American flora and fauna. It's about appreciating and supporting nature in all of it's natural splendor. We think that there is enough beauty out there to "capture" in it's natural state and share with other members.

It seems a bit incongruous to suggest that this natural beauty needs to be photo enhanced by a computer program. Yes, cameras are not perfect, but if we fail to capture the beauty that the eye sees, I don't think that a computer program is going to give us a more accurate view of that natural beauty.

As a practical matter, let's also not forget all the work that our volunteer judges do. If they want to limit the number of photos, or not have to sort through what photo enhancements are valid or invalid, lets be supportive of their decisions. The volunteer judges here have done, and are doing, a splendid job.

[joepyeweed]

Oy. vey.

I think it takes an understanding of the "art" of photography to realize there can be a lot more to visual image than just snapping a picture and then looking at it.

"Post production" is a key part of the art of photography. Eliminating post production techniques from this forum, will discourage anyone from learning about them and will discourage anyone who uses them to post photos here.

[Staff]

Quick fly by for me:

Digital 8x10 images will be accepted; however we ask manipulation (content) of these images be limited to the kinds of manipulation that can be done with traditional printing techniques, such as changing saturation and contrast, burning-in and dodging, eliminating dust spots, etc. Do not alter content of images. Images in which content has been altered will not be accepted.

Minor digital enhancement is permitted, but images that have been significantly modified or appear unnatural will be disqualified.

Not Permitted: No borders or frames may be added to images. No watermarks, signatures, or copyright notices may be added to images. All winning images may be displayed with the photographer's name. Adding or replacing elements in an image is not permitted. Artistic filters are not permitted.

Permitted Modifications: Images may be cropped and rotated as necessary as long as the rectangular format is maintained and the size is within the specifications above. Images may be resized as long as the aspect ratio is maintained. Red-eye removal and spot editing. One-step enhancement (such as "AutoFix", "QuickFix", "Auto Levels", etc.) Use of filters to sharpen, soften, blur, despeckle, or remove noise. Use of corrective functions to improve the natural appearance of the image, such as levels, contrast, brightness, curves, intensity, tone, hue, saturation, lightness, value, color balance, and tint.

Altered Images—Photographs manipulated for artistic purposes by applying digital and/or traditional special effects (i.e. hand coloring, toning, bleaching, collage and photo composites, etc.) will be disqualified.

All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization (removal of dust, cropping, reasonable adjustments to exposure, color and contrast, etc.) will be disqualified.

Digital Alterations: All photographs should accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared. Photos that have been digitally altered beyond standard optimization will be disqualified. Acceptable are adjustments to color, contrast, brightness and sharpness; removal of dust and scratches; cropping; black and white conversions; and use of HDMI (high dynamic range imaging), where multiple exposures of the same scene are combined for a greater tonal range. Not acceptable are photo composites (combination of two or more photos, not of the same scene); the addition, duplication, deletion or moving of objects in the photos; or the use of artistic digital filters and effects. Examples of artistic filters and effects are watercolor, neon glow, posterizing, stained glass, and others which do not show the scene in its natural way.

The above rules were found readily online. They represent rules set forth by the likes of Smithsonian, Audubon, the DNR, and other sites offering photo contests. The second appears to be the most commonly used.

[Fearless Weeder]

Very good points have been raised.

Something we all will need to consider is that Wildlife Gardeners is not an art or graphics site. This will weigh heavily into decisions we will be making. It was our intent for contest photos to "accurately reflect the subject matter and the scene as it appeared".

Seemingly unanswered and scattered Q&A rules have made all of us uneasy. We're working on making some quick decisions.

[suunto]

I don't know if this will clarify or cloud the issue, but the type of post-exposure manipulation that I was trying to discourage in the Bug Photo contest is the creation of images by morphing or digitally combining two or more images (or portions thereof) into a single image that now depicts something that did not actually exist. Again, I have nothing against the digital equivalent of darkroom procedures in adjusting contrast or color; I choose not to manipulate my own images post exposure.

[Fearless Weeder]

Your intent was clear. We thank you for your comments when this issue originally surfaced.

It is our goal to make this as easy as possible on the few members running contests. We realize no judge wants to sort through technical stuff making rules about photo editing.

[joepyeweed]

I think the rules that "Staff" quoted from other sites would be perfectly appropriate for this site.

Fearless Weeder, I would disagree with you about this site not being an art or graphics site. Only because most of us fail to recognize art in our daily lives. This site is a wildlife based site but it relies on written language, which is an art form; and visual images, another art form.

The creators of this web site rely on its appearance for ease of use and recognition. Web design and forum set up is an art forum.

None of us walk out the door in the morning without checking our look in the mirror... what we do with our hair, our clothes and our face is another art form.

Our lives are entwined with art.

btw, I am a scientist first and an artist second.

[suunto]

Originally Posted by joepyeweed

None of us walk out the door in the morning without checking our look in the mirror... .

My wife sure wishes that I would...

[Fearless Weeder]

We’d love to be in a position to allow every member to choose their own editing rules for every contest. For the sake of the volunteer judges who no longer have clear direction as to where to draw the line regarding which photos are acceptable and which aren’t, we’re going to keep it simple.

Wildlife Gardeners’ editing rule:
Altered Images—Photographs manipulated for artistic purposes by applying digital and/or traditional special effects (i.e. hand coloring, toning, bleaching, collage and photo composites, etc.) will be disqualified.

Clarification of the above:
Minor alterations such as cropping, rotating, and resizing will be permitted.
Adding or replacing elements in an image will not be permitted.

Deadlines, number of submissions, and selecting a winner will be at the sole discretion of the members running the contests.

Contest themes may be suggested by any member but will ultimately be approved by Staff.

Both amateurs and professionals will be welcome in any contests we offer.

A sticky thread of all current contests will be created. Each judge's deadline, number of submissions, and criteria specific to their theme will be included.