Suggestion for replacing the monthly challenge

Should we replace the Monthly Challenge?

  • Yes, this could replace the monthly challenge

    Votes: 6 40.0%
  • No, let's keep things like they are now

    Votes: 9 60.0%

  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I've been thinking about this for a while and was wondering if, instead of having a challenge with a definite subject every month, we could have just a "What's your favorite picture of the month" gallery. Only one picture per member per month and one could always go and see who got the more "Likes". This would remove a burden of choosing a topic, post the winner selection etc.

What do you think?
 

Pretzel

Senior Member
I've been thinking about this for a while and was wondering if, instead of having a challenge with a definite subject every month, we could have just a "What's your favorite picture of the month" gallery. Only one picture per member per month and one could always go and see who got the more "Likes". This would remove a burden of choosing a topic, post the winner selection etc.

What do you think?

Awww... gee... I really like the targeted approach, myself. I may be in the minority though?
 

paul04

Senior Member
One problem I could see, everyone will post there pictures at the end of the month,

Like now people add shots throughout the month, your not going to post you favourite shot at the beginning of the month, by the end of the month you might have another favourite.
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
I enjoy the odd entry in the monthly comp.it is however a fair bit of a commitment to sort out at the end of the month,i guess you expecting to keep the weekly challenge if this change was made,as ime not bothered either way i will vote for the post your xyz to replace it
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Don't be afraid to say what you feel about this. I'm only casting an opinion poll. No one is right or wrong and we all are allowed to have an opinion of our own.
 

nikonpup

Senior Member
let us do all three.

I like the weekly and monthly challenges the way they are now, keeps the old photo brain cells working to solve a challenge/do something different.

A "best 5/10 of the month" should do well. We all have shots that we would consider "great". Our "great" shots due to time posted/subject or whatever may never be seen.
This would be a chance to put your best shot forward for viewing.




 

Bob Blaylock

Senior Member
I like having both the monthly and weekly challenges as we have them.

If I could change anything, there are only two things I'd change.

  • I wish the monthly challenge themes were more often announced before the month actually begins. It really seems that we should have the entire month to work on it, but we cannot start until we know what the theme is. The challenge always closes at the end of the month (UTC), just as it should. I think it's good that the weekly challenge is consistently announced a few days before it actually opens, and I wish the monthly challenge did likewise.
  • I wish the challenges were judged in a manner that I thought more impartial. That's a rather tricky thing, I guess. As I understand it, both the weekly and monthly challenges are “voted” on in a manner that is likely to predominantly be done by those of us who are participating in the challenge. As a matter of practice, I rarely “Like” anything in the challenges; I want to win, so I'm not going to vote for my competitors; and it feels inappropriately self-serving to vote for my own entry. I wonder if there's any way we could attract the attention, to the challenge threads, of large numbers of people who are not participating (and perhaps not even regular members of the forum as a whole), to vote on the challenges, who would have no motive other than their honest, unbiased opinions of the merits of the images themselves.
 

Pretzel

Senior Member
  • I wish the challenges were judged in a manner that I thought more impartial. That's a rather tricky thing, I guess. As I understand it, both the weekly and monthly challenges are “voted” on in a manner that is likely to predominantly be done by those of us who are participating in the challenge. As a matter of practice, I rarely “Like” anything in the challenges; I want to win, so I'm not going to vote for my competitors; and it feels inappropriately self-serving to vote for my own entry. I wonder if there's any way we could attract the attention, to the challenge threads, of large numbers of people who are not participating (and perhaps not even regular members of the forum as a whole), to vote on the challenges, who would have no motive other than their honest, unbiased opinions of the merits of the images themselves.

I've always viewed the challenges as an opportunity to promote both growth and the appreciation for a good photo rather than to promote a "winner". Don't get me wrong, winning is nice, but I have never not clicked to like an image that impacted me as being "a notch above" just because I thought my photo should win... and that's what I define as "impartial". (impartial: treating all rivals or disputants equally; fair and just.) As far as voting for your own photo, why? If you post it for consideration, I'd assume you liked it enough to do so already.

There's no prize, other than your name in a "TOP 5" post, so why would/should there be that level of cut-throat competition? The other entrants are not your competitors, they are your fellow entrants, fellow Nikonites, and if a challenge spurred each and every one of them to push for better than before, or to take a photo they felt was worth sharing, everyone wins!

If it's just the pure competition, I can recommend a few sites where it's ALL OUT competition, where rivals will purposefully undermine and sabotage photos when they think the pic might be better than their own... and trust me, the angst is real. Funny, though, because the votes of those who are interested in honest evaluations and/or critiques are still the most important, even there.

BTW, sorry if this comes off in an irritated way. I've word-smithed, and RE-word-smithed several times to try to avoid that feel, and it's not my intention at all to direct anything at anyone in particular, but I did want to address the actual ideas presented.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
I'd like to see the "Nikon only" ruled dropped since we have expanded the forum to other brands. Yea, I get it that it's "nikonites", but the purity is diluted by all the third party lenses being used anyway.
 

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
OK, I like the way the weekly and monthly challenges go now (I would enjoy seeing more participation in both submissions and liking/voting). I like it because it gives me something to strive to accomplish. My photographic skills are not improving as much as I would like, but the challenges are truly challenges for me. Most of them are new adventures/attempts for me. The posting of the best in the previous month thread is one that I like too. I don't always post in it, actually not often at all, but I do enjoy looking at what others post. I did think that it was strange that the Best of September was in the D300 section. I didn't investigate how that came to be, because I had thought that it had been open for all before.

All of that to say this: Keep it as it is, but................. figure out a way to get people to like and vote even if they don't participate in the challenges. Maybe boot them off of the forum if they miss liking in a challenge 3 challenges in a row. Ha! JK
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I'd like to see the "Nikon only" ruled dropped since we have expanded the forum to other brands. Yea, I get it that it's "nikonites", but the purity is diluted by all the third party lenses being used anyway.
I have NO problem with this Rick and would approve in a minute.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I'll keep this open for a few days so more people can contribute their opinion.

But so far, I have to say that we probably are looking at keeping things as they are and maybe asking people to participate a bit more in the voting. So maybe we should all wait until the submission period is over and then just cast our "likes" but maybe limit to 3 "likes" per challenge and one should not be able to like his own submission.

Finding an independant jury is way too much work for what the present participation is. If we were to have an annual contest for the selected shots of every month, then maybe we could organize something, but doing it every month seems a bit overdone as far as I'm concerned.
 

Michael J.

Senior Member
I think for me too much challenge threads and projects.

Maybe we should have a thread the photo of the year with the same condition as the monthly challenge but with only one photo submitted. In January we submit just one photo from the last year. The winner gets into the Hall of Fame. A thread a mod have to create first. Maybe all winners get into it. Also from the Week challenges.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
I'd like to see the "Nikon only" ruled dropped since we have expanded the forum to other brands. Yea, I get it that it's "nikonites", but the purity is diluted by all the third party lenses being used anyway.
I guess as long as you have at least a Nikon hot shoe cover , you're good to go.. :) Personally I don't care one way or the other. To me, this is more of a photography forum anyway then just a Nikon forum.
The only thing that bugs me sometimes, is when non Nikon users start touting their gear as the be all end all camera.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
I guess as long as you have at least a Nikon hot shoe cover , you're good to go.. :) Personally I don't care one way or the other. To me, this is more of a photography forum anyway then just a Nikon forum.
The only thing that bugs me sometimes, is when non Nikon users start touting their gear as the be all end all camera.

Everyone loves what they own :). Unfortunately there is and never will be a be all/end all camera, we would have nothing new to be better! I agree it's more of a photography forum and I think that's important to attract/maintain more members.
 

paul04

Senior Member
I did think that it was strange that the Best of September was in the D300 section. I didn't investigate how that came to be, because I had thought that it had been open for all before.


As I started that topic, even I'm not sure how it ended up in the D300 forum, as I started it in general photography.
 
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