PAD - Your Thoughts Please

[Colin Southern]

In finishing I would just like to say 'well done Colin'.

Thanks Peter,

It turned out to be quite a lot of work to be honest - being winter here it's getting too dark for normal shooting after 5 - and then it takes more time to process the images as well as try to keep up with whats happening here - but - on the plus side, I think it did succeed in getting people more involved with their photography and with related discussions as well (in fact we had more posts last month than ANY other month in the site's history, by quite a significant margin) - so all in all, a pretty successful little project all round I think.

PS: We're planning another - but not until October, so you've all got 2 months to recover

[Peter Ryan]

Colin – I’ve been a think’n and that can be dangerous.

The PAD drew a lot of comments that was very position. People liked the involvement and for those who could not take up the challenge they enjoyed seeing the images each day that were contributed and learning from the comments.

The main reason for starting this was to get members out there with their cameras practising honing their vision and technique.

The issues seemed to be time to complete a PAD for a month and there was the concept of a PAW (photo of the week).

Then we talked about possibly having a competition and comment was passed that this would compete with other established competition. There was discussion about posting 7 photos over a week and having a final end of year competition.

Firstly I agree we probably do not need another competition where we are comparing best photo but given the reason for starting the PAD – to get members to take up their cameras and try to improve themselves why not an event that is judged on “MOST IMPROVED PHOTOGRAPHER (MIP).” This would allow those starting out to contribute and be assessed (if they wished) on their own progress and not against others, as the other competitions are. It also allows members to join in when they feel confident to do so without trying to keep up for a whole month.

So how would it work?

. We set up a weekly PAD starting on the first Monday of each month. That way everyone knows when it is and can plan accordingly. Also you only have to commit to 7 days at a time.
. We run 11 weekly PADs (one a month) with the final judging in month 12. Anyone can enter as many or as few weekly PADs as they like.
. Contributions to the weekly PAD would be the same as for the July PAD just completed.
. A member must participate in at least weekly 6 PADs to be invited to be assessed for the MIP award. Members can participate in as many PADs as they want and they do not have to accept the final invitation if they do not want to. (This takes care of the time pressure issues of work and being away, etc. It also allows new members joining CiC to participate for a good part of the year if they want to be included in final judging.)
. For some variation you could run one or two Themed PADs through the year. These could be dedicated to something like – close ups, water, gardens, from the kitchen, etc. You would not want too many of these but a couple might add spice for some.
. Those invited to participate in yearend judging would have to contribute to 6 weekly PADs and THEY would choose 6 images from 6 different PADs to showcase what they feel best shows their improvement over the year. (Hopefully you can tell us how these can be shown in 6 small thumbnails that we can see all on one screen but enlarge if we need to).

Judging would be based on three criteria: -
. Composition/vision
. Variety of subject, style or technique
. Presentation; including post production control of exposure, contrast and sharpening plus presentation style i.e. framing, etc.

Someone better than I could develop a floral garland (akin to the Grand Prix) or something ‘ MIP – 2010’ on it and it could somehow be displayed below the members posting info (avatar)so everyone is reminded of their achievement when they participate going forward.

This event preserves the integrity of what you started, makes it easier for members to participate and rewards those showing improvement, which is what CiC is all about.
C &C welcome.

[dipdawiz]

That's a very nice detailed plan Peter. In my opinion this will suit for those who can spend more time on photography for continuous 7 days and for MIP - 7 days at least 6 times in a year. I understand that everyone can enjoy the posts, but many may left aside from participation though they are good in photography.

So I would like to see a more simplified one, to keep everyone's need in mind. Like
- Photos A Week: every week of month, round the year, participation each every week is optional
- someone can post max of 3 photos in a week and can participate any number of weeks(max 52) in a year.
- post should be submitted before Tuesday of next week, means 1st - 7th August post should be come in before 9th Aug.
- a monthly winner can also be chosen by judging one self nomination a month form each of the PAW participant of that month
- at year end who is participating in MIP should choose at least 6 photos from different month that he/she thinks best and self nominate for final. This means, anyone who want to participate in MIP should participate at least 6 PAW spreading through 6 months in a year. This will give an better idea about how someone improved over a year.

Some modifications need be done to increase/reduce the competitiveness
- number of weeks in a year the PAW will run
- min and max number of photos in a week
- min and max number of photos to post in a month to participate in monthly "photo of the month"
- number of nominated photos for MIP
- theme based PAW
- criteria like at least one theme based nomination for MIP out of 6
so on..

rest of the things and judging can be similar what Peter said.

Definitely some more rules need to be placed, but the basic idea behind this is to get in more participation of people who are passionate about photography practice but cannot spend enough time or cannot plan their photo shoot outing. And definitely this will give flexibility.

PAD can still be held, but for any competition like MIP or "photo(grapher) of the month" it would be better to have something like this to increase participation.

This is just a suggestion from my side and if you feel any explanation on any part of this post please let me know. C&C are most welcome.