Come on DU photographers! We only need four more entries for the August contest. Please think about entering if you haven't already done so. I'll open it up for second entries in two days if we don't get our thirty pics.

If you ever thought of entering a DU Photo contest, now is your chance. The August Photo Contest thread is now up in the Photography forum. Entries require a little bit of work in terms of file size and photo sharing, but there are plenty of DU photographers who would be happy to help you with that.

Here is a link to the official entry thread. This thread is strictly for entries, no comments. There is a separate thread for comments.

https://democraticunderground.com/1036104758

Hi folks,

This is the comments thread for the August Photo contest. Please post your comments here, and not in the official entry thread. That throws off our numbering and makes our job more difficult.

Here is the link to the entry thread:
https://democraticunderground.com/1036104758

Something new this month:

I’d like to try something new this month. Normally, the comments thread gets the usual posts about “I’m in” or “Great pics Peggy,” (who always has great pics). Those are great, but I would also like to encourage folks to maybe add a little bit about your photo if you like. You could describe how or where the photo was taken, and the nature of any photo-processing that you performed. If the photo is straight out of the camera, that’s great. If you worked on the photo for an hour straight, that’s great too. This is strictly voluntary! There may be a question about anonymity, however anyone can find the identity of the owner by checking the original thread anyway. Also, most DU members who vote aren’t members of our forum and probably never see the comments thread. Let’s try this for a month and see if it works .

Hi folks,

This is the entry thread for the August Photo Contest. The theme, as chosen by last month's winner AndyS, is as follows:

"The unseen world. The small things we walk past every day; the beauty in the bouquets in the floral department at the grocery store, the zen of stones in a garden, that lone green sprout in the compost or that small creature under your feet. Not necessarily macro but that's not excluded. Butterflies and birds reach out and grab our attention but I'm encouraging all of us to take note of the more subtle compositions around us. As for post processing, sure if it makes the image more appealing or enhances the connection between the subject and viewer. Most of all HAVE FUN with it."

Here is the tentative timeline:

August 10th: Contest entries start, for a period of one week, unless we get thirty entries sooner.

August 17th: The semi-finals start, for a period of three days.

August 21st: Finals thread, for a period of three days.

August 24th: Announcement of the winners.

HERE ARE THE BASIC RULES OF SUBMISSION:

The Volunteer Host is allowed to enter the Contest.

Please keep your entry no larger than 1024 pixels in its longest dimension and under 675K in file size and limit photo editing to a reasonable amount.

Once a photo is entered in a contest it is ineligible for any future contest unless the Host specifies otherwise.
Please, no comments or questions in this thread! Those throw off the numbering and make my job a lot more difficult. I will post a thread for questions and comments shortly after I post this Submissions thread! If you decide for any reason to change the photo you've already entered, please click on the "edit" button before you remove your photo. Then, simply put the link to your new photo into that same space. Thank You!

Here is the link to the comment thread:
https://democraticunderground.com/1036104759

Something new this month:

I’d like to try something new this month. Normally, the comments thread gets the usual posts about “I’m in” or “Great pics Peggy,” (who always has great pics). Those are great, but I would also like to encourage folks to maybe add a little bit about your photo if you like. You could describe how or where the photo was taken, and the nature of any photo-processing that you performed. If the photo is straight out of the camera, that’s great. If you worked on the photo for an hour straight, that’s great too. This is strictly voluntary! There may be a question about anonymity, however anyone can find the identity of the photographer by checking the original thread anyway. Also, most DU members who vote aren’t members of our forum and probably never see the comments thread. Let’s try this for a month and see if it works .


CONTEST LICENSE:

An entrant to this contest (original work), by submitting a photograph, is giving permission for that photograph to be copied to Demopedia or to a linked Gallery and included in a DU Calendar that will display the photographs entered for this contest for the purpose of publicizing future contests and/or commemorating current and past contests. The entrant retains all other rights to the photograph being submitted. Neither Demopedia and/or a linked Gallery may use any photograph submitted for any purpose other than to display the photograph being submitted by the entrant, and neither gains any real or implied ownership rights to the photograph.

Have fun!

Grumpy Old Guy

Here is a link to my previous post concerning the August contest.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1036104342

This terrifies me. There is nothing preventing this from happening. They overturned Roe. They could also rewrite the Constitution.

https://www.rawstory.com/constitutional-convention-right-wing-overthrow/

"This isn't an exercise, either. State lawmakers are invited to huddle in Denver starting on Sunday to learn more about the inner workings of a possible constitutional convention at Academy of States 3.0, the third installment of a boot camp preparing state lawmakers 'in anticipation of an imminent Article V Convention,'" said the report."


"The conservatives aim to change the constitution so that it would eliminate national education requirements, making it harder for any territory to garner statehood, eliminate many federal environmental standards, and make it difficult or impossible for someone like Anthony Fauci to ever work for decades within the government."

Hi folks,

Here is the theme and a tentative timeline for the August contest.

The theme, as chosen by last month's winner AndyS, is as follows:

"The unseen world. The small things we walk past every day; the beauty in the bouquets in the floral department at the grocery store, the zen of stones in a garden, that lone green sprout in the compost or that small creature under your feet. Not necessarily macro but that's not excluded. Butterflies and birds reach out and grab our attention but I'm encouraging all of us to take note of the more subtle compositions around us. As for post processing, sure if it makes the image more appealing or enhances the connection between the subject and viewer. Most of all HAVE FUN with it."

Here is the tentative timeline:

August 10th: Contest entries start, for a period of one week, unless we get thirty entries sooner.

August 17th: The semi-finals start, for a period of three days.

August 21st: Finals thread, for a period of three days.

August 24th: Announcement of the winners.

On a personal note, I am having minor, outpatient surgery on August 11th, which is why I'm scheduling the week of initial entries for August 10th. I'll probably be laid up for a few days, but should be back in business in time for the semi-finals. I'll ask for help if it looks like I'm going to have trouble.

Have fun!

Grumpy Old Guy

We purchased a new Canon EOS R7 for my wife Legger. Here are some of the first test images.

Hi folks,

I'll be running the August photo contest, subject matter yet to be determined.

I have an idea that I'm going to try. Let's see if it works.

As you know, we always have a second thread for comments each month. Usually it's just for the usual "I'm in" comments and a few words of praise. I'm going to recommend that contestants take a few moments to add a few words about their photos, and specifically, how they were processed. For example, I almost always balance out the highlights and shadows, crop, boost the saturation a little, and if necessary, add a little bit of sharpening to the picture. Many of my night shots are long exposures shot on a tripod, with enhanced processing of the Milky Way if it's in the shot.

Not only would this clear up some misunderstandings in advance, it could also be useful for those who want to learn a little more about the craft.

What do you think? Any comments?

Ross
aka Grumpy Old Guy

These are two more pics I considered entering in the July photo contest "I have my eyes on you."

Ninja Squirrel



Grouchy Owl