WAB Calendar 2007 Discussions (closed)

[jennyb]

Originally Posted by eeyore

how about your baby muntjac shot - jenny ?

My images really aren't in the same league, I'm afraid.

Jenny

[Gaina]

Originally Posted by eeyore

Gaina - very nice pic
if you have lost anything in particular , pm me the details and i will try and find them for you

Thanks for the compliments . I was having a brainf*rt about the photos. I had used WAB to try and identify some of the critters and haven't actually uploaded them yet.
DOH!

[MalcolmX]

may i just take a moment to interject a few thoughts about the images ,as you may gather my livelyhood depends to a great deal on calenders and during the year we bind upwards of 1 mill units so i get to see a large number of calenders both private (corporate) and retail. the image content for each is different . this distinction needs to apply to this calender as well. if we are to get non wab people to buy this calender then we need some "wow" pictures that are istantly recognisable such as robins Rabbits Fox cubs etc ,what will not work will be shots of obscure insects and other creepy crawlies ,however if we try to market this only to wab or to wildlife enthusiasts then the more informative type will work .from my experience photos that work well in calenders are non fussy clearly defined images without distractions such as white areas in corners crossing twigs exta grass etc.
i would also like to add that we could consider other formats such as desk calenders or the long thin ones with tear off postcards , the picture being at the bottom .
we should also cosider addind a doner form and a furter copies order form (thees can be black and white photocopies if need be )

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by MALCOLMX

may i just take a moment to interject a few thoughts about the images ,as you may gather my livelyhood depends to a great deal on calenders and during the year we bind upwards of 1 mill units so i get to see a large number of calenders both private (corporate) and retail. the image content for each is different . this distinction needs to apply to this calender as well. if we are to get non wab people to buy this calender then we need some "wow" pictures that are istantly recognisable such as robins Rabbits Fox cubs etc ,what will not work will be shots of obscure insects and other creepy crawlies ,however if we try to market this only to wab or to wildlife enthusiasts then the more informative type will work .from my experience photos that work well in calenders are non fussy clearly defined images without distractions such as white areas in corners crossing twigs exta grass etc.
i would also like to add that we could consider other formats such as desk calenders or the long thin ones with tear off postcards , the picture being at the bottom .
we should also cosider addind a doner form and a furter copies order form (thees can be black and white photocopies if need be )

I would imagine we do want to market this as widely as possible - I'd already decided that my insect shots were probably not appropriate. I will try to replace them if I can find something a bit cuter

Malcolm, am I right in thinking that image quality is also crucial and anything that is not pin-sharp will not really be acceptable from the printer's point of view?

Matt

[wildone]

Just had a look at the images and notice that there are no wildflower ones. Most seem to be of 'flying things'.

[life through a lens]

Just been scanning through this thread and can't find any mention of a closing date for submissions. I have a heap of film that needs to be developed and scanned that could contain some potentially usefull images and want to know if I need to give the credit card a hammering now or if it could wait till next month.

Olly

[matt_xyz]

Hi Olly,

The 'WAB Calendar IMAGES ONLY' thread states that the closing date is Aug 18th.

Matt

[life through a lens]

Doh !

Didn't think to check there, thanks.

Will get them in the post today then.

Olly

[wildone]

Boddie, in reply to your query in the Images thread, unfortunately I don't think Sunflowers are native to Britain. Shame because that is a beautiful photo of one.
wildone

[Boddie]

Matt

I am thinking that now we are having an independant team pick the images we will not require them in so quickly. That date was factoring in the original voting idea of having members vote but now judging should take maybe only an afternoon.

31st August is the date that has been proposed for the judging. With this in mind, and the fact that many people are yet to take holidays we may want to extend the date to perhaps Monday 28th.

What do you think to that?

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by wildone

Just had a look at the images and notice that there are no wildflower ones. Most seem to be of 'flying things'.

I guess I hovering both to see if I can get some better pics and also to see if I can fill in gaps like these. (I have my white poplar photo that might work quite well but it's not strictly speaking native - though you see quite a bit of it out and about - not sure whether to put it forward...)

Anyway I suspect I'm probably not the only one who's hovering

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by wildone

Boddie, in reply to your query in the Images thread, unfortunately I don't think Sunflowers are native to Britain. Shame because that is a beautiful photo of one.
wildone

But are they wild?

[Boddie]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

I guess I hovering both to see if I can get some better pics and also to see if I can fill in gaps like these. (I have my white poplar photo that might work quite well but it's not strictly speaking native - though you see quite a bit of it out and about - not sure whether to put it forward...)

Anyway I suspect I'm probably not the only one who's hovering

I am not sure about this native argument. How far do you take it? Rabbits are not native but you would not exclude them

[MalcolmX]

images must be totaly sharp they will look awfull if not so .use the eye as reference point in all cases . if any shoot in raw on canon the forumula in unsharp mask is 300 .o3 zero as canon needs a bit more sharpening than others (do not sharpen in the raw converter software)

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Boddie

I am not sure about this native argument. How far do you take it? Rabbits are not native but you would not exclude them

well the Rabbit is naturalized it can reproduce and survive with no problem, although the white pplar is sometimes called naturalized male trees are very rare and this species can really only propergate through suckering growth, they can't reproduce and produces seed so most - if not all -of the white poplars that you see have been planted by people.... I dunno it's a fine and wavy line!

The sunflower though is a crop really, not sure I've seen it growing in the wild before - only in fields and gardens.

[Boddie]

I see, I never knew that.

More trips out then.

[MalcolmX]

further to may other posts i suggest that the final images selected are printed out as size on high gloss paper and viewed like that .
as to timing i suggest an absolute deadline of 1st Oct for finished copies .
may i also suggest we do not allow the section process to degenerate into a war of semantics.
do we not already have a set of criteria for these pictures which could be modified when a decision is reached as to the type of calender we are producing .ie populous or wab

[pxl8]

If it helps I'm willing to process and prepare the raw files/hi-res jpgs for printing...

[Boddie]

Nice one. Thanks PXL8

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by MALCOLMX

further to may other posts i suggest that the final images selected are printed out as size on high gloss paper and viewed like that .
as to timing i suggest an absolute deadline of 1st Oct for finished copies .
may i also suggest we do not allow the section process to degenerate into a war of semantics.
do we not already have a set of criteria for these pictures which could be modified when a decision is reached as to the type of calender we are producing .ie populous or wab

Personally I'd rather it was a combination of standard aww factor cute and expected pictures those that are a little more unusual and those that make you think they actually yes dragonflies / hoverflies / grasshoppers are amazing little animals and quite attractive in their own way up close...
but then I'm blinded by the love for the little things I suppose!

It's difficult to know who will buy them I mean I plan to get around five for colleages who won't be bothered about looking at a grasshopper for a month and who will probably like to se a calender that's a bit different in that way- but I suppose someone might be a bit squeamish about that - but then as plenty of people are learning as they visit the site, - actually these little animals are interesting and perhaps quite nice to look at - it might be nice to continue to stimulate that reaction in calender form!

[wildone]

Originally Posted by Boddie

I am not sure about this native argument. How far do you take it? Rabbits are not native but you would not exclude them

But Rabbits are self sustaining

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by Boddie

Matt

I am thinking that now we are having an independant team pick the images we will not require them in so quickly. That date was factoring in the original voting idea of having members vote but now judging should take maybe only an afternoon.

31st August is the date that has been proposed for the judging. With this in mind, and the fact that many people are yet to take holidays we may want to extend the date to perhaps Monday 28th.

What do you think to that?

I have no problem with extending the deadline, although Malcolm states that finished copies should be ready by 1st Oct (I presume he means the actual printed calendars need to be ready for 1st Oct). If so, then we will be cutting it fine given the inevitable time the selection process and the preparation of high res images will take. I also think the selection procedure should be based on printed high res images or else there is a risk that images will be selected only to realise at a later date that they don't look great when printed.

Matt

[life through a lens]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

I also think the selection procedure should be based on printed high res images or else there is a risk that images will be selected only to realise at a later date that they don't look great when printed.

Sorry to be a pain but how do we suggest these are printed ?? You will get differing results from individual printers depending on spec but to get large size prints done professionally would cost and could put people off. Or have I mis-read what is being said ??

Olly

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by life through a lens

Sorry to be a pain but how do we suggest these are printed ?? You will get differing results from individual printers depending on spec but to get large size prints done professionally would cost and could put people off. Or have I mis-read what is being said ??

Olly

I'm not sure either Olly. Maybe the selection committee could draw up a short-list of 15 or 20 images and then request the high res electronic versions of them. If they can somehow arrange for them to be printed they can then make their final selection.

This is only a suggestion, but I agree with Malcolm in that all images have to be pin-sharp in order to look 'professional' once printed. It is very difficult to tell if an image is genuinely pin-sharp from a low res webshot. Maybe simply viewing them at high res will be sufficient rather than having to actually print them, but we should probably take Malcolm's advice given that he has direct experience of printing calendars.

Matt