Well,

That time is approaching and am curious if this year we'll actually get a photo of the year from PR.com members. I remember last year when I was a moderator, it seemed like a hefty workload and nearly impossible to pick a photo. Albeit I'm not a moderator anymore, I wouldn't mind offering my idea on how to turn this, and actually pick a photo of the year, decided from the members.

My idea:

Depending on where the pictures are chosen from, I believe we could take the 52 featured photos from the photo critique forum and use those as are starting point. Though that may seem limited, if everybody starts nominating 5 shots, we end up no where. Though many pictures are like comparing apples with oranges, a single vote system could be used. If time and resources allowed, having a category based (say 5 categories: people, abstract, landscape, wildlife, and miscellaneous) than a final vote between those 5 winning photos.

Overall, this is my concised idea:
Moderators break the pictures of 52 into 5 categories, hopefully with a relatively same amount in each related category. Those photos are voted on individually, with a winner in each category. Those category winners thus go on to be in the Photo of the Year selection, where all members of PR.com vote for their favourite.

Sure, it isn't fair, but I would really love to see this happen...It's nice for people to get recognition, and nothing wrong with a little competition IMO. Anyone else have any other ideas?

Jared

Mostly because of limited resources, I didn't follow through on this last year. I'd like to do it this year, though. If we do this, I'd like to choose a few photos. I think choosing just one is a little much. I think photos should come from the Featured Photo Archive. If you look at that section you'll see it really is some of the best work that's been shown on the site. Of course, there are others and we could allow anything. But the Featured Photo Archive is, at the very least, a very good place to start.

Five photos?

Thanks for bringing this up, Jared.

I think that, in addition to the photo of the year you should consider some other awards. Some do not post photos but do help in the forums etc. Some post some interesting threads and so on...
Just a thought.

JS

You could always do the thing like bestphoto.com (I know, don't send out the black choppers), and have first place in each of several categories and an overall first place.

Just one thing though, you said 52 photos, there are something like 90 photos in the featured archive. So, do you plan to use only those featured in the critique forum?

Sounds like fun though, and any other method of finding photos for a contest would be difficult.

What if we have each person submit a maximum of one photo in each of five categories? This allows everyone to submit what they feel is their best work.

Over on mtbr, they do, and not every year mind you, "The Grimey Awards".
They are rather humorous and tounge and cheek.
They have catagories like Best Writer, Best Photographer, Fav Male and Female Poser, Best MTBR Couple, PR.com member you'd most like to meet.

There are others I won't go int, mtbr is way different community than PR.com.

But it might be fun to do something different.

We could do an overall Best Photo, Best Poster, Most Helpful Poster, Member You'd Most Like To Meet. I am sure there are other catagories we could do too.

On mtbr, they send the votes into someone and are tallied and posted sometime in January.

Just a thought!

Brian

The more complicated it gets the less likely it is to get completed. I think 52 photos is way too many. I think 12 at the most. I also don't think people should submit their own photos. That's a type of bias best left out of the process.

Personally, I would rather see people submit what they think is their best work rather than have someone else just pick pictures. It also represents the fairest way to make sure everyone who wants to be included is. If the contest organizer just goes through the gallery section or uses photos off the photo critique board, that will eliminate photographers who are members but don't have work posted in those places. Plus, it also adds a potential bias that the selector(s) will only pick images from specific photographers who they want to see in teh contest (not saying that it will happen).

These are just a couple of suggestions.

I also don't think people should submit their own photos. That's a type of bias best left out of the process.


I certainly concur with that.
Brian

Personally, I would rather see people submit what they think is their best work rather than have someone else just pick pictures. It also represents the fairest way to make sure everyone who wants to be included is.

I don't think we should have an organizer or organizers choosing the photos. Anyone who's a registered member should be able to submit photos they think are worthy. But we shouldn't be able to submit our own. If we're choosing the best photos, then it shouldn't matter whether someone wants to be included or not. The only thing that matters is photo content and quality. And we have a great pool of images to start with, in the Featured Photo Archive. I'm thinking anyone who wants should be able to submit three. That way we're forced to be really critical of our choices. If it's wide open people won't have any reason to be discriminating about their choices.

When I win, what do I get? :D





Oh wait, featured photo....hmmm

lol... and so it does get more complicated. Maybe 2006 could start a new "photo of the month"(in addition to featured photos), and from those a yearly example could be made. Just a suggestion, as I saw there was almost this same thread last year. That way, there would only be 12 finalists, perhaps that would make it easier. Perhaps not...

One thing for sure, as Jared pointed out, if everyone nominates a few shots, it's already over. Surely someone (like it or not) will be offended either way, the rest of us would just see it as a challenge next year, I know i will.

I don't think we should have an organizer or organizers choosing the photos. Anyone who's a registered member should be able to submit photos they think are worthy. But we shouldn't be able to submit our own. If we're choosing the best photos, then it shouldn't matter whether someone wants to be included or not. The only thing that matters is photo content and quality. And we have a great pool of images to start with, in the Featured Photo Archive. I'm thinking anyone who wants should be able to submit three. That way we're forced to be really critical of our choices. If it's wide open people won't have any reason to be discriminating about their choices.


This is what seems fairest, because the idea is that the photographs selected have been posted throughout 2005 and can be verified.
My only concern is that it actually is followed through with. I can't recall the last time this "competition" was seen through to the finish.
Brian

Well, I wanted this thread, if anything, to create generatre ideas about the idea. I definately like Brian's idea too of what mtbr does, but we'll have to see. The mods will have to make a decision and go from there.

Jared