Photo Contest Tips

Brad

Administrator
Staff member
Monthly photo contests at Chameleon Forums have been ongoing for over 10 years. During that time the general process has not changed much. We take an initial set of entries, sometimes as many as 100, and reduce them down to a more manageable number for voting. That reduction of photo entries can sometimes be confusing for members and I'm sure people don't always agree with the results. As the person that usually deals with the contests I'm going to use this thread to share how I grade each entry. Hopefully that will add a little transparency and provide some tips for contest participants.

It is important to know that I am not a professional photographer. For that reason this thread will not be a tutorial on photography or an attempt to explain photo composition. This is simply a short list of items that I focus on while grading contest entries. When studying each image I actually look for aspects that I don't like. The more issues I find with an image the lower the grade it receives. While most of the criteria I focus on is subjective, I try to remain as consistent as possible with images from the same month.

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Photo Composition
If you don't know much about this and want to improve your photography skills then I suggest googling the term. You will find hundreds of great articles related to the subject. Photo composition encompasses many ideas or rules, but ultimately it's all about how the individual elements within a photo interact to form the whole picture. One of the most well known rules is the Rule of Thirds. Follow the rules until you know when to break them.


Focus & Eyes
The focus should be on the eyes of the subject and include the whole head if possible. Often people will focus on the body instead of the head and that could be penalized. Try to get a photo of the chameleon looking at the camera. An obvious exception to that is when you're working on an action shot like a chameleon feeding.


Background & Content
As a contest we of course want the best photos possible. We also build an annual calendar every year and many of those images come from the photo contests. For those reasons contest entries that show a distracting cage, wires or husbandry equipment will often be penalized. Photos that show hands or fingers are also usually penalized. There are always exceptions, but in general we prefer more natural looking photos. Items like televisions and appliances also have the potential to be penalized.


Lighting
Lighting is very important. Natural sunlight is preferred. If the lighting looks artificial an entry could be penalized. Use of a flash can cause problems such as overexposure and that could be penalized as well. With the right equipment you can produce some great lighting effects indoors, but for most amateur photographers I think they will have better results outdoors.


Pixelation
Pixelated or grainy images will be penalized. If the issue is too severe then an image cannot be used with calendars. A common cause of grainy images is a camera with a high ISO setting. A higher ISO allows for faster shutter speeds at the expense of noise. Reduce that value and your photographs should have less pixelation. This issue is usually more noticeable in shadows.



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Note: I will try to improve this post over time.
 
https://www.chameleonforums.com/media/categories/photo-contest.3/

Look at pic number 2, "Gizmo exploring the world"

Now, don't get me wrong... it's a nice pic. Very cute cham. But based on everything you just wrote, how exactly does a pic like that make it to the final rounds? ...... "how the individual elements within a photo interact to form the whole picture" .... The individual elements are a roof, the side of a building, a windowsill, and a lawnmower. As far as "background and content" goes..... those are pretty far from anything you would ever see a chameleon climbing around on, and they are kind of distracting (and not husbandry at all). As far as focus and eyes, you can see the eyes okay, and the focus of the chameleon is pretty good besides the bit of blurry-ness on the front and back left feet. And as far as lighting, in my honest opinion, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of lighting to the pic at all.

I'm not trying to say it's a bad picture, because it's not. I just see a lot of pics in a lot of contests that go against a lot of what you just wrote. Here... let me show you...

Last month's contest, April 2016: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/april-2016-photo-contest.149024/#post-1262029
The 5th pic down, of the Jacksonii, titled "chillin in the sun" has almost the entire side of a house in the pic....

Or this contest, from October 2015: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/october-2015-photo-contest.144159/
Pics 4, 6, 10 and 12 ALL show an arm or hand of some sort. If you also look at the 7th pic down, it has literally, the ENTIRE front of a house in it.

September 2015: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/september-2015-photo-contest.143592/
The 3rd photo down shows a wall, a TV, an arm, wires, a wall shelf.... Photo 12 in that same contest also shows lots of distracting things. Although the cham is very nice looking, in the background you can see cleaning sprayer bottles, a cardboard box, a cabinet, a plastic storage tote, a curtain of some sort -- that's not to mention the hand that is clearly visible as well.

July 2015: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/july-2015-photo-contest.142092/
Look at the 14th pic, the one of the Veiled. It's a really dark pic. No lighting on the cham whatsoever. The background is more in focus than the actual chameleon.... And speaking of the background, it's pretty distracting - a barn, some ladders, a few posts in the ground. It's so distracting in fact, that the chameleon is looking at it too! The cham isn't even looking at the camera so you can't even see its face or it's eyes at all. Yet somehow it made it to the final pickings of that specific contest....

June 2015: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/june-2015-photo-contest.141425/
There are 4 pics in that contest which show hands or arms or fingers. Although I must admit it is pretty cute, picture 1 of the chameleon and the fake bakery items.... I was so hungry lookin at the cupcakes and cookies that it takes away from the beauty of the cham.

May 2015: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/may-2015-photo-contest.140724/
Pic 9 (with the cham on the flower windmill thing) shows lots of distractions with the wind-spinner, the fence, the house.... and I still can't figure out what the heck that greenish and white looking thing is at the top-left of the pic...... Pic 14 from that same contest - again, a very nice pic of a very nice cham and eyes are completely in focus and everything.... but you have a hand that takes up 90% of the pic, as well as a desk chair leg in the pic in the background....

April 2015: https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/april-2015-photo-contest.139250/
The 4th pic is an amazing pic with lots of bright reds, but again.... here we are with showing hands in the pics. Pic 2 of that same contest, the one with the Veiled Chameleon.... is that on a shelf in a closet or what's up with that?

I think you get the idea. Some pics don't go against the guidelines at all, then there are others that go against the guidelines majorly, some more than others.

I've seen SOOOO many pics with hands or arms in them - countless amounts. You stated that "Photos that show hands or fingers are also usually penalized" -- so why are there so many of them in so many different contests? I've also seen pics with cars in the backgrounds, pics with buildings in the backgrounds, pics with fences in the background, siding of a house in the background, storage totes, boxes, picture frames, lawnmower, wall shelves, book shelves, sliding doors..... the list goes on. Yet, these all made it to the final voting rounds.

Now, as I stated before, I'm deff not trying to discriminate, as 99.9% of pics that are posted are very nice pics. But when it comes to contest "rules" and judging and guidelines, I've seen so many pics that go against the rules and the guidelines that it's crazy to think that they made the final rounds against up to 100 other entries. In my honest opinion, a pic that shows houses or arms or other majorly distracting features should be disqualified because the point of the contest I thought, was to try to capture the beauty of the chameleon in a naturalistic setting the best that you could. Some aspects of some photos take away from the whole naturalistic feel of the photo altogether, no matter how pretty the actual chameleon might be.


While most of the criteria I focus on is subjective, I try to remain as consistent as possible with images from the same month.

So all images within the same contest are judged with the same criteria....okay, I understand that. So what I'm trying to understand I guess is -- Is EVERY CONTEST judged by you, judged in the same way? Or will you judge one month a certain way, and the next month you will look for different things? How many people do the judging, and are you all on the same level about what exactly it is that qualifies or disqualifies a picture? I love checking out the photo contests and seeing all the neat chameleons. Might even enter a contest myself here soon. I've browsed sooo many of the past "Photo Contest" threads to see all the different pics that have been submitted over the years and that's how I've came across so many of the distracting features in some of them. It seems like some contests are judged completely different than other contests.

No matter how it works, I just want to say that there are thousands and thousands (and more) of absolutely beautiful chameleons out there in this world. I think the Photo Contests are a great way to bring some of them to light. It's also a great way for the Sponsors to get a little business and maybe even earn a few new customers. Thank you so much for the time that you spend to host these contests as well @Brad. I'm sure it's sometimes not easy to pick through so many cool reptiles. Thanks!
 
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It's not easy to reduce down to a manageable number, and you are not only deciding on the mentioned criteria, but their position amongst the competition. The thing that gets me is that people submit multiple entries each month and do not read the basic contest rules. I'm sure some people are upset each month when their entry does not make the cut, but it is very difficult to have a contest with too many entries because not enough people actually vote each month. I'd like to see more participation from the forum community and we could get greater interest in the contest.
 
Quick "newbie" question... the contest rules state that Estabished Members can vote. Does that explain why I can't vote or see the results and if so, how does one become "Established"?
 
I think you get the idea. Some pics don't go against the guidelines at all, then there are others that go against the guidelines majorly, some more than others.

I've seen SOOOO many pics with hands or arms in them - countless amounts. You stated that "Photos that show hands or fingers are also usually penalized" -- so why are there so many of them in so many different contests? I've also seen pics with cars in the backgrounds, pics with buildings in the backgrounds, pics with fences in the background, siding of a house in the background, storage totes, boxes, picture frames, lawnmower, wall shelves, book shelves, sliding doors..... the list goes on. Yet, these all made it to the final voting rounds.
Thank you for taking the time to offer feedback. If an entry is penalized it can still make the final vote. In fact, the majority of entries are penalized for one reason or another. Very few photo entries receive a perfect score. It's important to remember that while I try to remain as consistent and objective as possible the whole thing ultimately is a subjective process. After grading all entries I use that ranking to fill the limited voting slots. My goal for a final vote count is something between 12 and 16, but due to time constraints we occasionally end up with ~20.


So all images within the same contest are judged with the same criteria....okay, I understand that. So what I'm trying to understand I guess is -- Is EVERY CONTEST judged by you, judged in the same way? Or will you judge one month a certain way, and the next month you will look for different things? How many people do the judging, and are you all on the same level about what exactly it is that qualifies or disqualifies a picture? I love checking out the photo contests and seeing all the neat chameleons. Might even enter a contest myself here soon. I've browsed sooo many of the past "Photo Contest" threads to see all the different pics that have been submitted over the years and that's how I've came across so many of the distracting features in some of them. It seems like some contests are judged completely different than other contests.
Yes, I approach all the photo contests the same way and I'm usually the only one involved. The process evolved during the first couple years and has been very consistent since. The exception to that is the use of contest judges. The rules still allow for them but they have not been used in a few years. Judges influenced the winner after voting but did not participate in the reduction phase. One source of confusion may be that previous to October 2015 you will only see the contest finalists. More recently since the software upgrade we have been preserving all entries that don't break the contest rules. We may revert back to just keeping the finalists.
 
It's not easy to reduce down to a manageable number, and you are not only deciding on the mentioned criteria, but their position amongst the competition. The thing that gets me is that people submit multiple entries each month and do not read the basic contest rules. I'm sure some people are upset each month when their entry does not make the cut, but it is very difficult to have a contest with too many entries because not enough people actually vote each month. I'd like to see more participation from the forum community and we could get greater interest in the contest.
I would also like to increase participation and will work on that as soon as some progress has been made with the various resources under construction. Better promotion throughout the site and social media would be a good place to start.


Quick "newbie" question... the contest rules state that Estabished Members can vote. Does that explain why I can't vote or see the results and if so, how does one become "Established"?
I need to update the rules. Established Member today has a different meaning than before. Today, only New Members are restricted from voting in contests.
 
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