WAB Calendar 2007 Discussions (closed)

[FungiJohn]

My images are available if required.

What if members place, say 2 images into a calendar gallery and let the membership rate the top 13 (within a time frame). However the pictures should reflect the time of year and cover as much of Britain .. if possible!

Those submitting images may also help by suggesting the appropriate month within the title. i.e. January - Big bird in sky - bigi birdi In this way we can see at a glance what months are catered for, which should help in the final rating / selection.

'Runners up' pictures can be thumbnailed (say 6 thumbnails position at the bottom of the calendar) as Stu suggested earlier.

Only suggestions But we ought to set a time scale irrespective of how we select images.

[FungiJohn]

Just to add to my comment above.

We do have 12 categories:

Amphibians and Reptiles
Astronomy
British Birds
British Butterflies
British Mammals
British Trees
Fungi
Geography
Insects
Water Life
Weather
Wild Flowers

1 from each?

[Beryl]

Where is the 'Main wab page' ? please

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Where is the 'Main wab page' ? please

Here Beryl!

Forums - 'Wild About Britain Web Site' forum. It's a sticky

John

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

My images are available if required.

What if members place, say 2 images into a calendar gallery and let the membership rate the top 13 (within a time frame). However the pictures should reflect the time of year and cover as much of Britain .. if possible!

Those submitting images may also help by suggesting the appropriate month within the title. i.e. January - Big bird in sky - bigi birdi In this way we can see at a glance what months are catered for, which should help in the final rating / selection.

'Runners up' pictures can be thumbnailed (say 6 thumbnails position at the bottom of the calendar) as Stu suggested earlier.

Only suggestions But we ought to set a time scale irrespective of how we select images.

I think the problem would be the mechanism through which we rate images. I think any voting system is quite complicated to set up (I think that is why Stu has been reluctant to have another photo competition). I wonder whether the current star rating system could be used in any way? It only reports average scores though, so there would be no way to differentiate a photo that has received 10 marks of 5 from one that has received only one mark of 5. We would need it to report total marks rather than average. Presumably this is possible but likely to be hassle for someone.

Matt

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

I think the problem would be the mechanism through which we rate images. I think any voting system is quite complicated to set up (I think that is why Stu has been reluctant to have another photo competition). I wonder whether the current star rating system could be used in any way? It only reports average scores though, so there would be no way to differentiate a photo that has received 10 marks of 5 from one that has received only one mark of 5. We would need it to report total marks rather than average. Presumably this is possible but likely to be hassle for someone.

Matt

I take your point Matt.

Looking at the top rated pics there's quite a bias to particular types (things that fly ) of image rather than the whole categories. I say bias, which I hope will not be taken out of context. We just have so many excellent photographers, images and interested viewers in this area!

Yes, it aint going to be easy ... well, yes it should

[pxl8]

Ok, how's this.

A gallery section for the entries with a closing date for submissions, each entry has to specify the month its intended for.

After the closing date start a thread for each month. Add the images for that month to the first post along with a poll so people can vote. Another date for voting to end and you're sorted.

Thread polls are often used for voting in other forums for things like this...

[MalcolmX]

if i may add a further point i suggest that the slection is picked as you will but the pictures are not finally selected untill they have been wieved as high res pictures on an colour corrected monitor at the final printed size some thumbnails can be ok on the web but not quite sharp when viewed properly i also suggest we take a print on highgloss of the final selection before final final selection
if we use A5 format the picture must be at least 3meg to gve 300 dpi res .

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Beryl

Where is the 'Main wab page' ? please

Sorry Beryl, I've corrected it to the Main WAB Web Site Forum.

[Fourwings]

I think its a great idea, and have no problems with one of my images being used should it be chosen.
A big thanks should go to MALCOLMX, boddie, eeyore, et. al for taking this great idea and hopefully turning it into reality - good on ya guys.

[Hobjob]

It sounds a great idea, but I wonder if members should
be asked to submit photos specifically for the calendar?

Many / most of the gallery photos, especially in the plant section
are taken with identification in mind, not art and beautifying
calendars.

[Boddie]

I have spoken to Stuart today and the following has been agreed.

Each member submits specific photos that they wish to be considered, as suggested by MattXYZ, after having checked that the resolution etc is fine (see MALCOLMS POST ABOVE)

As far as possible we try to take one out of each category for inclusion in the calender, as suggested by FunghiJohn.

We set up a voting system as suggested by PXL8.

Pictures should be relative to the month, if possible, and some members may wish to choose multiple months - a snow picture for Dec and Jan for example.

FINAL DATE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS 18TH AUGUST. Then the voting commences

I suggest we set up another thread entitled

WAB CALENDER IMAGES - IMAGES ONLY

Otherwise this risks getting out of hand.

Could one of the gallery editors please set this up and lay down some rules.

It would also help if we could get some indication of numbers. Guys, somebody is going to be taking a risk here and could be left with a load of calenders. We have to know this is viable before that happens. Think about how many you would like. Perhaps you are a member of a club who may take some. The womens institute, whatever. They would make great Christmas presents also.

I will try to get some indication on costs but please bear in mind this will not happen unless there is some commitment on numbers.

Fact is that WAB is a charity and does have overheads. Its does not run itself free of charge. All monies will go back into the continuing development of the site.

How does that sound?

[FungiJohn]

That seems fine to me Andrew. I think we need a moderator to set up the gallery as an editor wouldn't have full access rights.

OK, Lets get this show on the road

John

[Boddie]

Hi John

I dont think we need a gallery, just another thread whereby members can attach their images, but kept images only.

What do you think?

[eeyore]

Sounds cool to me andrew - If you need me to do owt to help make this happen please let me know.

As I said above we also need to consider getting a selection of seasons represented in the images as shots taken in the height of summer won't look right on january or december or vice versa.

Money wise might it be worth seeking a sponsor to help defray the production costs ?

[Boddie]

Thats a good suggestion. If anyone has any ideas on this perhaps they could let us know. A generous boss perhaps?

[matt_xyz]

I still think there a few details to iron out (or it may just be me being thick).

(1) Do we want to submit images to a new thread or to a new 'Calendar' gallery?

(2) I'm still not clear how the voting will take place. Is the plan then to create 12 (or 13) new threads on August 18th, each relating to one month (and the front cover) and to vote for the favourite image for each month? If so, I suspect many images will in reality be suitable for several months so what happens if an image comes top in more than one month's thread? Or does each image have to clearly state which month it should be considered for? As I say, the problem is that e.g. a butterfly shot could be suitable for June, July, August and maybe even Sept. Maybe to keep things simple an image is only eligible to be considered for the month in which it was taken?

Matt

[eeyore]

oh yeah and it goes without saying that any of mine are available, I have some nice wintery ones but didnt include them in my thoughht provoking selection because that might have been seen as an ego trip.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

Maybe to keep things simple an image is only eligible to be considered for the month in which it was taken?

Matt

I hear what you are saying but that might result in some months having nowt and some having loads - I was heavily involved in doing this for my employer last year so I know a bit bout the pitfalls.

Can we also clarify if we are submmitting images to an images only thread (as per boddies post) or to a gallery (as per Fungi john's) If it is the former it needs to be a rigourousluy enforced images only, no hijacking thread, and made sticky. Perhaps with this thread also sticky next to it as a wab calenduh discusion thread ?

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

I still think there a few details to iron out (or it may just be me being thick).

(1) Do we want to submit images to a new thread or to a new 'Calendar' gallery?

(2) I'm still not clear how the voting will take place. Is the plan then to create 12 (or 13) new threads on August 18th, each relating to one month (and the front cover) and to vote for the favourite image for each month? If so, I suspect many images will in reality be suitable for several months so what happens if an image comes top in more than one month's thread? Or does each image have to clearly state which month it should be considered for? As I say, the problem is that e.g. a butterfly shot could be suitable for June, July, August and maybe even Sept. Maybe to keep things simple an image is only eligible to be considered for the month in which it was taken?

Matt

Hi Matt

1. What are your thoughts on the gallery? Why a gallery as opposed to a thread?

2. I am really not sure about this voting system. The last time we had a competition that required voting nobody bothered with it. Then there is the fact that some people might want to remain anonomous. Stu and I suggested asking a marketing firm to select the pictures. This way it is totally independant. I think this may be the way to go, otherwise we risk people getting upset.

3. As for months, yes I see your point. Maybe just one month per image?

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Hi John

I dont think we need a gallery, just another thread whereby members can attach their images, but kept images only.

What do you think?

Sorry for delay Andrew ... just finished tea

I thought maybe a gallery would be easier to view rather than scrolling through a long thread.

and could it be kept open?

[matt_xyz]

Actually Boddie, I think you've hit the nail on the head. A marketing firm can decide on the images or some sort of committee including Stu and whoever else. I think the idea of voting is nice in principle but the practice is problematic. Plus, as Malcolm pointed out, it may be that a highly voted image isn't actually suitable - there is often a big difference between a shot that looks good on the web and one that looks good in print.

How about we simply set up an 'images only' thread and individuals are asked to submit up to 3 images. We can encourage people to submit images that cover as many months as possible (Pete, you are right about the risk of there being months with no suitable images) and then it is upto whoever selects the images to pick the right ones for each month.

This would be very simple to do and saves us having to pick arbitrary months.

Anyone agree that this is the best way to go?

Matt

[Boddie]

Yes you are 100 percent correct.

We spoke at lengths about this this avo and whilst the voting system sounds good in practice it has many potential problems.

If everyone else is in agreement?

[eeyore]

Edit :deleted in view of precvviously unseen posts

I cant see a lot of merit in asking a marketing firm to do it as they wont necessarily know much about wildlife or specifically about calendars, and they are unlikely to do it for free.
However if we do decide to go this route i might be able to get our communications manager to judge if we want an impartial yet free choice.