Photo Contests

[Cazador]

Hi all,
Since it's almost December first, let's make up some rules and start a series of monthly photo contests. I suggest starting a thread on or about December 1st where we post our best Thamnophis photos. At the end of the month, we can add a "poll" to the thread and vote for the winner. I would also suggest only one entry per person per month.

The question is: should we have monthly categories, like: best feeding/eating picture; best baby picture; mating; birthing; friendliest; spookiest, etc., or should we just post whatever we want each month? Majority rules. Are there other ideas that would improve the contest?

Rick

[Gijs & Sabine]

Hi Cazador,

What about pics like this, haha !!:D
This was our christmas cart last year

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/6179/happychristmasmediumoa4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/?x=my6&myref=http://reg.imageshack.us/v_images.php)

I think it's a nice idea to have a picture contest. But if you want to have a different categorie every month than you need 12 categories !
So maybe an enclosure pic, garter in the wild pic, best camouflage pic are options.

Best wishes Gijs & Sabine

[Cazador]

Great Christmas card, and those are good categories, too. I don't think it would be too hard coming up with several more categories, but maybe we shouldn't limit the pictures to specific category the first time? What do you think?

[Gijs & Sabine]

I agree with you, the first time everybody can get used to the contest.
As long as the pics are related to garters.
And later you can always come up with the categories.

[Stefan-A]

I definitely support a photo contest. No specific theme or category the first round, but how about letting the winner decide which category is next? He would of course not be allowed to participate in the following contest, so that he couldn't "cheat".

3:21 AM.. If my idea sounds stupid, it's most likely because I'm too tired to think it through.

[abcat1993]

Sounds good Stefan, but I don't think getting my snake to sit on christmas trees will be easy :D ; at least not until I try some taming techniques. Plus my mom would freak out if she saw me taking pics of my snake on our tree, but that will only be around holidays anyways

[Cazador]

Hi Stefan,
I like your idea of the winner choosing the next category, but perhaps the winner from one month shouldn't be allowed to "win" the following month. I think they should be able to post, though.

Abcat,
You're a riot! Be sure to post a picture of yourself. I can't wait to see who you are. Glad you're here!
Rick

[GarterGuy]

Hey, sounds like a cool idea to me! I love taking pics of my snakes and ones in the wild. That's cool with the categories too.....might want to be careful though to time them well. Pics from the wild might be a bit lean in the winter months and pics mating would be hard out of the breeding seasons.:)

[Stefan-A]

Should only pictures taken after the round has started be allowed, or should you be able to use those that you have taken earlier? It would pretty much eliminate the need to take the season into consideration when you suggest a category, if you could use pictures you have taken earlier. And there would be one less way to cheat. ;)

[Markus18]

thats a great idea!!!!i have some much pictures of my snakes!!!!
great idea

[Thamnophis]

Should only pictures taken after the round has started be allowed, or should you be able to use those that you have taken earlier? It would pretty much eliminate the need to take the season into consideration when you suggest a category, if you could use pictures you have taken earlier. And there would be one less way to cheat. ;)


I think that "old" pictures also should be ok.
They can only be used if they fit the theme.

[Cazador]

I agree with Thamnophis. If we allow old pictures to be included, we'll get treated to some really great photos, I think.

[abcat1993]

Yeah, I don't see why not to use old photos. Sometimes you can never get that same shot again.

[Thamnophis]

And has anyone an idea with which theme we start in december?

[Stefan-A]

I suggest that we forget the themes just this first round.

[abcat1993]

I know everybody might not celebrate Christmas, but that could be a theme.

[GarterGuy]

As one who doesn't celebrate Christmas.....I'm for the "no theme" start.;)

[Thamnophis]

I am also for a "no theme" start.

[CrazyHedgehog]

Great, each month the winner sets next theme, great idea...when and where is it starting?

[Thamnophis]

Great, each month the winner sets next theme, great idea...when and where is it starting?

I guess it will start on December 1.
Maybe Boots can start a new topic on that date.

[Gijs & Sabine]

I guess it will start on December 1.
Maybe Boots can start a new topic on that date.

I know a Dutch koi forum, and they have a pics contest too. But everyone who what's to join the contest has to send his pic, for example, to the admin. And he put'll put the pics in the specific topic. So you only see the pic and a number which you can vote on. Than nobody knows who the pics are from. I think this is the most fair thing to do.

Sabine

[Stefan-A]

I don't know if that's something we want to do. The admin(s?) probably don't need more work (unless they want to do it of course). I don't think there's a need to do it either, I haven't noticed any grudges here and I believe people can be objective enough not to automatically vote for their buddies' pictures.

Besides, the snakes are fairly easy to connect to their owners. Many of us have already posted pictures of our animals (not to mention terrariums) or at least described them and if somebody has a rare species or morph, it's all too easy. I think attempting to keep the contestants anonymous might not be worth the effort and Thamnophis.com is still a relatively small community.

[abcat1993]

and Thamnophis.com is still a relatively small community.
So far it is, but it is growing rapidly now and we may need to change that later.

[Stefan-A]

Absolutely.

[Cazador]

I agree with Stefan that there's probably no need for us to be anonymous. Since there isn't any prize, it really doesn't matter who wins :).
Rick

[Thamnophis]

I don't care if it is anonymous or not.

[Cazador]

Okay. Here's a summary of the ideas we've covered for the photo contest, which should start tomorrow.

1) Only one entry is allowed per person each month.
2) Pictures must be related to garter snakes.
3) All pictures are eligible. They don't have to be recent.
4) At the end of the month, we'll add a poll to vote for the winning picture.
5) The winner will pick the theme, or category, for the following month's contest. This is completely at the winner's disgression, and the winner may choose not to have any theme, if desired.
6) The winner may submit photos for the following month's contest, but the same person is not allowed to win two months in a row. (This prevents the winner from choosing categories they're likely to win the following month).

Anyone can start the contest on 1 December, but I'd suggest copying these rules into the first post on the new thread. It's title should be something like "December 2006 Photo Contest," so we can distinguish between monthly contests. Best of luck ;),
Rick

[abcat1993]

Cazador, I think you should start the next thread since you started it. That also gets rid of the same thread twice thing which may or may not happen. And maybe the winner should post the next thread so as not to have everybody post it again.

[Boots]

Just wanted to let everyone know I have created a sub-forum for contests and posted the guidelines Cazador posted. You can find the link here http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/thamnophis-contests/ Good luck to all, and I look forward to seeing your entries.

Jason

[abcat1993]

The page cannot be found

The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.


The link you posted doesn't work but I got there manually
PS: that's the message I got

[abcat1993]

I think I might have trouble making it sit still. It might be because it is wild caught, but right when I pick it up it musks while spinning it's back. Eww...

[Boots]

Links fixed. http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/thamnophis-contests/

[reptileparadise]

could it be a nice idea to open a topic with comments on the photo's? Not to spoil the photo-topic?

[Cazador]

That's a good idea, reptileparadise. So... what's your snake eating? Have you put fish in gelatin or something?
Rick

[reptileparadise]

Lol...thats the reason why i wanted to open such a topic.
She is eating a piece of smelt. The thing on the smelt is an egg. For some stupid /strange /unknown reason they only catch female smelt in Holland (well, not only females, but 9 out of 10)
The other thing you might be seeing is vitaminpowder, but i only use a very small amount, so maybe its not even noticeable.

hmmm...i see i have an other pic...on that one its more obvious what everything is...the only thing is...its huge, and much zooming is requierd (not improving pics quality)

[Cazador]

It's head is really pretty (nice shape and color). I also like the way you caught it retreating back into the shadows. Really a cool photo! What kind of garter is it?

[reptileparadise]

its a Thamnophis atratus atratus
here's another pic, had a perfect photo opportunity.(which simply means i could take a ton of pics without her knowing it :P )
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v479/vuurbuikpad/explain.jpg

[Thamnophis]

I have never seen eggs on the smelts I feed.
Where do you get your smelts?

[reptileparadise]

I get them in a local fishingshop. They're pretty big...maybe you only buy the small ones? (the ones used as aquarium food?)

[Thamnophis]

I buy them in a bag of 1000 gram. The largest are about 6 cm and the smallest about 3 cm.

[Cazador]

Hey Don,
I just wanted to chime in with Garterguy (Roy) and say what an awesome Florida Blue you had. I hope his sister looks half as nice.
Rick

[ssssnakeluvr]

She is no where near a s blue as he was....Scott Felzer had a sister to them also that I gave him...she was more hypo than my female...real pale. The female has no florida blue to breed with this year, so will be bred with a normal eastern.......she bred witha florida blue male I got from Scott, he died after breeding....:( She threw around 25 slugs in June, then another 6-8 slugs and 1 stillborn baby in Oct...:( I willbe holding back several babies, including a male to breed back to her and see if I can get any more deep blue ones.

[abcat1993]

What's the difference between slugs and stillborn? I thought slugs were dead garters.

[Thamnophis]

Slugs are eggs that were not fertile.
Stillborn are (completely) developed young that died during or close before their birth.

[Cazador]

Anybody know where Gijs & Sabine are? I know they'll have some incredible pictures for the contest. And how about Daniel? They're probably keeping us in suspense till the last moment :D.

[Gijs & Sabine]

Haha, here we are Rick. We were very busy the last few days. But now I took a really nice picture of our group tetrataenia's.

[Cazador]

Now that picture is just not fair! :D



Really cool, though.

[Spiderqwan]

:confused: where's Gij's & Sabine's photo??? Edited coz i've just seen it LOL should look at the right thread. That'll teach me

[Gijs & Sabine]

Now that picture is just not fair! :D



Really cool, though.

I know it's not fair, Rick. But than again you can take pics of garters in the wild...:(

[Daniel]

Hi Rick,

you´re right! I will wait for a couple more days, befor posting my favorite picture from my pic-collection ;) Not to keep you in suspense, but because I do not have the time to look thrue all my pictures for choosing the right one at the moment.

But be sure, that I will post a picture :cool:

Best wishes,

Daniel

[Stefan-A]

I'd like to second Stefan's comment. Participation is the issue. I know I won't win, but I enjoy seeing other's photos; so I offer mine as well. Let's see those garters, folks :). We should also start thinking about how to refine the rules (if necessary) for next month's contest.
I'm quoting you in this thread so that we don't contaminate the actual contest thread.

I agree, refinements to the rules may be necessary, although I think it's gone pretty well so far.

One suggestion: How about the contest being open for the first three weeks of the month, and the poll opening for the last week? We can't pick a theme for the next month if we don't have a winner at the end of this one.


And I just want to add that when you vote (wait for the poll ;) ), vote for the one you like best. The skills of the photographer and the quality of the camera should be of lesser importance. There must be a lot of interesting and unique shots out there on your hard drives, so don't be afraid to show them.

[abcat1993]

Maybe we should bump the amount of pics up to two just in case we can't decide on a pic. And I was wondering what the exact date would be for voting. Maybe January 1st? And maybe a caption contest tool. Like have Boots send in a pic (or choose one of ours from the photo gallery) and we send in captions. And I was also wondering if Boots could post a picture on the contest. I don't think there are any, anywhere on the site.

[Cazador]

I, for one, like Stefan's idea of voting during the last week of December. Maybe we should vote between about the 24th through the 29th (6 days). This leaves the 30th & 31st to announce the winner (or for the winner to see that he/she has won) and to pick the following month's category (if there will be one).

Abcat,
I don't see anything wrong with submitting two photos per person, per month, and I think a caption contest would be fun. We could even have it at the same time as a monthly photo contest (2 contests at once). What do the rest of you think?
Rick

P.S. When we start the January 2007 Photo Contest, we should add the new rules to the first thread, and I think we should also post a link to the posting pictures directions, for those that are new.

[Stefan-A]

I don't mind letting people submit two pictures per month either and the caption contest sounds fun too. But the problem with voting on a particular day is that many will miss the opportunity. A week ought to be enough.

[Snaky]

And I just want to add that when you vote (wait for the poll ;) ), vote for the one you like best. The skills of the photographer and the quality of the camera should be of lesser importance. There must be a lot of interesting and unique shots out there on your hard drives, so don't be afraid to show them.

I want to add to this: It's not the animal you're voting for, but the picture you like the most. Because quite alot of folks on other fora just post for the subspecies they like, without even looking to the other pictures. I agree with the 'quality of the camera being less important', but of course the picture should be clea r:)

[Thamnophis]

I agree with Snaky.
You can have a hightech, expensive camera and a rare snake of which you make a picture without having a good picture.
And the other way around is also possible. A lousy camera and an ordinary snake can give a great picture.

Pictures are made with your "brains and eyes".

And a week to vote seems long enough to me.

[abcat1993]

Some people will probably be gone for more than a week though (most likely only around the holidays only). But they may still have internet access. It's not that big of a deal, only if there was a prize.

[Cazador]

I don't know if it's possible, but I think it would be interesting NOT to see the results until all votes have been cast. Is that possible, Jason, and can you add a poll to a thread that has already started? Otherwise, we'll have to start a new thread in order to vote. That would stink.

Anyone have a preference as to whether or not we should see the results while others are still voting?

[Boots]

Should be able to add a poll no problem, but I am not so sure about being able to add one that you can not see the results once you have voted. I will see if it is possble, and get back to you.

Jason

[Cazador]

Hi all,
I wanted to make a last call for submissions to the December 2006 Photo Contest and ask if Jason would mind adding the poll to the thread tomorrow evening (26 December)?

No need to make the voting results private since it seems to be a hassle. Let's vote through the evening of 30 January to give the winner time to come up with another category (if desired). It was a lot of fun to see such nice pictures. Best of luck to all,
Rick

[Boots]

Not a problem, but it might be late when I add it. I Will post here once the poll is added.

Update. Well it seems it is a problem. :( It seems I am only able to add a poll with 10 selections, but we have 15 entries. I am looking into if it is possible to increase the number of selections. I have a couple of ideas, but If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears.

Jason

[abcat1993]

Just post two threads with polls, whichever has the most votes, wins!

[Stefan-A]

Not really a solution, though. Two threads, two votes, two winners.

Public poll? Each voter posts his/her choice. Or does somebody feel like looking up / making a poll service that allows for more than 10 entries?

Can't be arsed to refresh my own limited php skills.:o

[Cazador]

Let's go with two poll threads. Everybody is only able to cast one vote, though. Cheaters will be sucked through their computer screens and pummeled. If there's a tie, we'll have a vote-off. May the best T. ordinoides win :D.

Maybe there will be a better solution for next month?

[KITKAT]

Cheaters will be sucked through their computer screens and pummeled. :D.

Maybe there will be a better solution for next month?

How about the cheaters being f/t and fed? :D

[Stefan-A]

Two polls, two votes. Then we just pick the top 2 or 3 or 5 and have a third poll? Would prevent cheating, even if it is a bit more complex.

[CrazyHedgehog]

The Leading Provider of FREE Web Polls - Freepolls.com (http://freepolls.com/)

[abcat1993]

But does Free Web Polls allow 15 or more options?
And I didn't really think of the two vote thing. Only members can vote, right? I don't think there are any cheaters on here (Not yet that is)

[Boots]

The Leading Provider of FREE Web Polls - Freepolls.com (http://freepolls.com/)

It looked slick enough that I was just about to sign up till I notice the fine print ....

" **Occasional pop-up ads may be served via JavaScript poll code on your site."

I would prefer to avoid pop-ups on the site. Thanks for the suggestion thou. Hopefully I will be able to figure something out.

Jason

[GarterGuy]

Hey Jason, the polls look really great! Very nice how you've got a preview of each pic set up so we can remember who exactly we wanted to vote on in the first place.:D

[Boots]

As luck would have it, I figured out how to increase the number of choices for the polls and only a day late. :( Sorry guys and gals.

Jason

[brown655]

Maybe a catagory of snake with the owner,so we can see if the owner looks like their snake.
.................................John

[abcat1993]

Maybe the winner of the poll will choose that