How to improve the photo contest

I think limiting the specific chameleon to one win per 6 months and the member to 2 golds per year would work. In my case, I only have one chameleon and if I entered in January and won gold, I'd be out for an entire year. (Not likely that mine would win gold, but...)
 
If you only have 1 animal then 1 win per year is all you should get.

When I buy the calendar I want to see 12 different animals, not 4 different ones in multiple poses.
 
We do use some contest entries in the calendars, and we want people to keep that in mind when they submit photos, but that is not the sole purpose of the contests. The photo contests were originally created to hopefully make the website more fun for active members and to give our sponsors more exposure. Those original goals still apply along with the additional goals of the calendar. There are competing elements so I'm hoping to find the right balance.

My goal with this thread is not to necessarily reduce the number of entries but to improve the system used to analyze and reduce those entries to a more manageable number for voting.
 
Not looking like many entries this month. While I agree the purpose of the contest is to have fun (and give the sponsors their due in exposure) its no fun when you already know who's going to win. Lately the heavy hitters seem to wait until the deadline to enter so we'll see if that happens again. There's no fun in it when you know that is coming too.
 
OK, this wouldn't make it simpler, but what about some sort of photo contest member levels? If you have a certain amount of medals you can't participate in the general contest but need to wait for say a quarterly pro-contests. for that month there wouldn't be a general contest but only one for those eligible. Entries could be hidden until the actual voting so no one could decide to sit this one out. Not sure if that would work.
 
I have been ruminating on this subject a lot lately and have similar thoughts as @Decadancin's above. With my amateur photography skills, lack of spectacular backgrounds, using a smartphone camera and my only cham is a green, female veiled... the likelyhood of us ever winning a contest (as it stands now) is slim to none. O and I cannot compete with the spectacular colors of other chams, adorable baby faces and, lets face it - a green veiled female just isn't what people would buy a calendar to see. But we will keep entering, if for no other reason, practice helps improve my photography skills and I love spending time with her. I'm thankful that she tolerates having my phone in her face :)
 
I also agree with part of what @Decadancin suggests. The part I agree with is keeping the entries hidden until it's time to vote. As some one else pointed out, as soon as someone uploads a stunning photo, the others seem to loose interest in entering (Or at least I do.) When you know someone has it "in the bag", much of the fun is lost. As for reducing the entries, I still am not sure how to fix that. We still get so many "newbies" who don't seem to know the purpose of the photo contest. Perhaps my suggestion of having only certain membership levels being eligible to enter might help? At least if you want to be involved as a valued member of the forums, you will have to put in a little effort to take part in the photo contest. And if you are just a person who wants to show off your "pet"; that's what Facebook is for.
 
Brad...how about a post that is so hard to miss it cant be missed? Like if a person enters a photo they get directed to the post?

I'd recommend something basic, that goes over things like how important the background is. For example in the most recent pictures added there are things like power cords, plastic containers, lizard is out of focus, or the background is not only out of focus but over 70% of the photos which detracts from the photo. I know you already have the basic rules up which people don't read, so come up with some code that directs them to it before they enter. That alone could help you streamline the thing like you're asking here.

At this point you might as just well give Ponders the gold and call it a month. You wanted to save time, there it is. As for me I wont be bothering with the contest until some things change. Seems more like a popularity contest.
 
Hiding contest entries until voting begins is an interesting idea. It would solve the issue of some members becoming discouraged by high quality photos and deciding not to participate. However, there are some potential negative elements worth considering. If the community does not see the entries during the entry phase we could witness a general decline in quality or competition. It could also lead to a decline in participation if the contest is perceived as less active. I'd like to hear more opinions. If we decide to go in this direction I would want members to at least see their own entry.

I'm not sure about having multiple levels of competitions. The main reasons are that it would create a lot of additional work and I'm not sure we have the participation numbers to fill multiple concurrent contests. If we get a significant increase in participation it might be a good way to manage things.

A decline in entries is not really a goal of mine. I would actually like to see a gradual increase but with a more efficient reduction phase.
 
OldChamKeeper said:
Brad...how about a post that is so hard to miss it cant be missed? Like if a person enters a photo they get directed to the post?

I'd recommend something basic, that goes over things like how important the background is. For example in the most recent pictures added there are things like power cords, plastic containers, lizard is out of focus, or the background is not only out of focus but over 70% of the photos which detracts from the photo. I know you already have the basic rules up which people don't read, so come up with some code that directs them to it before they enter. That alone could help you streamline the thing like you're asking here.

At this point you might as just well give Ponders the gold and call it a month. You wanted to save time, there it is. As for me I wont be bothering with the contest until some things change. Seems more like a popularity contest.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure about redirecting people, but I like your general idea. I'm currently working on a notice for members uploading to the contest category and I've been thinking that a link might be useful. Perhaps it could link to a page that describes the reduction phase, the type of photos we're looking for and some tips on how to win. That may help to improve the quality of entries, but I'm not sure that it makes anything more efficient.

It's my opinion that in most cases the best photos win and that popularity is usually not a major factor. For example, Ponders' photo is being recognized for its quality and not because of her popularity.
 
Brad said:
Ponders' photo is being recognized for its quality and not because of her popularity.
Click to expand...


...and nobody else is entering who recognizes that. Which kills off the contest slowly. Hence my suggestion of only one gold medal per member per year. When she enters again later this year the same thing will happen.
 
I find it difficult to "penalize" the ones who are entering the photos that truly capture the best all around examples of what we should be voting on. There can be limits, and should, but I for one want the best pics to vote on.
 
Just to add in here, I love seeing some unique looking Chams like ponders. No one should be penalized, but with people that are fortunate enough to have amazing cameras and/or a giant collection of rare chameleons, It's a little discouraging to everyone else I would think. We see the same general zoomed up on the face pictures that only nice cameras can pull off(as far as i know). It's also a pretty small hobby as it goes, and then the amount of people that can take quality pictures is even smaller, so we're bound to see the same winners. That's the way it goes though, in most situations in life so *shrug*.
 
True, equipment can make a difference, but I would be willing to bet that a TON of time and effort is spent to get the final product. During 5 years with Zaphod, my best picture is not (imo) worth entering because he is sitting on my hand and facing away from the camera. You don't get pictures that are winning quality accidentally. Discouraging or not, that is competition.
 
Brad said:
I'm not sure about having multiple levels of competitions. The main reasons are that it would create a lot of additional work and I'm not sure we have the participation numbers to fill multiple concurrent contests. If we get a significant increase in participation it might be a good way to manage things.
Click to expand...

Not different levels of competition, but having too attain a certain level of general membership on the site as a whole, before being permitted to participate. Similar to how you can't post an ad for sale until you have become a full fledged member. This also encourages newbies to become involved in other aspects of the site.

Brad said:
I'm currently working on a notice for members uploading to the contest category and I've been thinking that a link might be useful. Perhaps it could link to a page that describes the reduction phase, the type of photos we're looking for and some tips on how to win. That may help to improve the quality of entries, but I'm not sure that it makes anything more efficient
Click to expand...

This would be certainly helpful!

jamest0o0 said:
We see the same general zoomed up on the face pictures that only nice cameras can pull off(as far as i know). It's also a pretty small hobby as it goes, and then the amount of people that can take quality pictures is even smaller, so we're bound to see the same winners. That's the way it goes though, in most situations in life so *shrug*.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. I have taken good pictures with both my professional camera, as well as my cell phone. It only takes a little effort, like making sure you're in focus and there aren't ugly things in the photo. It's about the whole photo. Not just the lizard.

~my $.02
 
@Angelwolf you're probably right, I'm just here for chameleons, not photography. But I have no issue with how the contest is run. I've seen some chameleons on here that would be mind blowing to see in person, not even make it to the voting round. I get it's probably because of the quality of the picture, but other times I'll see Chams in the voting round that have screen and stuff in the background, so eh Idk whatever lol.

@Decadancin you're right about all that, but in that case, it borders on a little unethical in my eyes(depending how long it takes!). We're here for chameleon husbandry, people are always warning of stress, handling, etc. But then all of a sudden it's okay to terrorize your cham for long periods of time with a camera? Maybe it's not that big of a deal and I'm over thinking it. By no means am I trying to offend or argue. Just discussing, but now I'm a little off topic.... so time to turn off the ADD
 
Brad said:
I'm not sure about redirecting people, but I like your general idea. I'm currently working on a notice for members uploading to the contest category and I've been thinking that a link might be useful. Perhaps it could link to a page that describes the reduction phase, the type of photos we're looking for and some tips on how to win. That may help to improve the quality of entries, but I'm not sure that it makes anything more efficient.

It's my opinion that in most cases the best photos win and that popularity is usually not a major factor. For example, Ponders' photo is being recognized for its quality and not because of her popularity.
Click to expand...

Thanks Brad.
It's definitely not because of my popularity! 90% of the people on here now don't know me. And for the record, I used my iphone for this picture while holding a stick with my chameleon on it in the other hand.
 
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