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Poll: Do You Want the Fortnightly Challenge Back?

Do you want the Fortnightly Challenge to return?

  • Yes

    Votes: 29 72.5%

  • No

    Votes: 8 20.0%

  • Undecided

    Votes: 3 7.5%
  • Total voters
    40
Designer Dale

Designer Dale

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 25, 2009
3,950
101
Folding space
For those of you who aren't familiar, the Fortnightly Challenge was a thread started by JohnMC around a year or so ago. The object was for members to chose a common topic (sometimes two) and spend two weeks shooting on that theme. Images were posted to the Fortnightly Challenge thread with comments being encouraged. We intended it to be a venue for improving photography skills. It was not a contest and no limits on images were imposed.

The thread ran out of steam around the mid-winter holiday time and we decided to set it on the back burner for a while. Here are samples of the Discuss and Post threads. Any missing images have been removed or moved from their original links by the image author.

Topic -- Fortnightly Challenge -- June 27 thru July 10
Fortnightly Challenge -- June 27 thru July 10 -- Topic: (A)symmetrical

Before any more effort is devoted to this project, the simple question is "Do you want it?" Fill out the poll and let me know what you think.

Dale
 
Always enjoyed it. It can be difficult to come up with topics but it makes me get out and take shots with a purpose.
 
Yes!

I am new to the forum, but have reviewed some of the older Challenges, and found them very informational. I am also "new" to photography, having received my first DSLR for Christmas, graduating from a P&S camera. I am also graduating from "auto" mode, and am trying to learn how to shoot PHOTOGRAPHS instead of SNAPSHOTS. So, yes, please bring them back. Thank you, Dale!
 
I don't think I have ever participated in the fortnightly challenge, but I would like to see it start back up so that I can try to join in now. I'm starting to figure the whole photography thing out, so this could help give me more ideas and something new to try on a regular basis. My vote is to bring it back.
 
Yes, please!

I just started participating in the Fortnightly Challenge when it went on hiatus. I really enjoyed it, because it got me to me out taking pics more. I would love to see it come back!
 
rusty2192 said:
I don't think I have ever participated in the fortnightly challenge, but I would like to see it start back up so that I can try to join in now. I'm starting to figure the whole photography thing out, so this could help give me more ideas and something new to try on a regular basis. My vote is to bring it back.
Click to expand...

I also never participated in the Fortnightly Challenge but I definitely noticed it coming up on the Forum Spy every now and then, and the times I had a look at the threads it looked like there were some great photos and useful feedback. Perhaps a return of the Challenge would encourage myself and others to get involved in it. I never get out and take enough photos anyway, so something like that could be good for me :)
 
I'd love to have a more focused reason to shoot since I'm not in any photo classes right now which means (sadly) that photography has to be put aside sometimes in favour of more "practical" things like studying for an Art History exam.
 
Yes, I didn't participate that much, but it was an inspiration and a motivation to find more time to go out and shoot.
 
The challenge ended before I had a chance to participate. It would be nice to have some extra inspiration for my 365 project.
 
I'd enjoy seeing it again. I might not want to shoot for all the topics but it's fun! I have a preference for the single topic ones as I think they're more focused. Maybe some of the older topics could be re-explored, as well as some of the suggestions that weren't taken up? Saves having to think of new ideas every time.
 
Heck YES. I enjoyed the challenges and as with POTD and the contests found them all helpful, educational and entertaining. You get to see a lot of people practicing their art.
 
I feel a bit guilty because I dropped out of the forum so suddenly before. Life has gotten to be really hectic. Having said that..............

YES. Of course I want to see it come back.
 
Designer Dale said:
Thank you all for your comments. Please keep them coming.

Dale
Click to expand...

I can see the point of this thread but can't help but wonder if the results are skewed. If someone did not like the challenge, why would they bother to post about it here? More likely they will just ignore this thread as they would probably ignore the real challenge thread. Thus the results will be biased towards the positive... Also, unless there was some very good and specific reason, who would really reply to this thread that they hated the challenge and that they felt it was a waste of server space/bandwidth?

Maybe the statistic you should examine is that the poll has been voted on by fewer than 10% of the thread viewers, and not that the yes vote leads the no by 4:1.

Not debating the merits of the fortnightly challenge, just being devil's advocate in this thread :D maybe I'm just in that kind of mood.

Ruahrc
 
Last edited:
Ruahrc said:
I can see the point of this thread but can't help but wonder if the results are skewed. If someone did not like the challenge, why would they bother to post about it here? More likely they will just ignore this thread as they would probably ignore the real challenge thread. Thus the results will be biased towards the positive... Also, unless there was some very good and specific reason, who would really reply to this thread that they hated the challenge and that they felt it was a waste of server space/bandwidth?

Maybe the statistic you should examine is that the poll has been voted on by fewer than 10% of the thread viewers, and not that the yes vote leads the no by 4:1.

Not debating the merits of the fortnightly challenge, just being devil's advocate in this thread :D maybe I'm just in that kind of mood.

Ruahrc
Click to expand...

I really do welcome responses from anyone who thought it was/would be a time waste. You're right that polls like this tend to draw mainly positive comments. The fact that around 22% of the responders say "no" is significant. I would like short responses from those people before I decide to commit my time to the project.

Excluding the two of us, there are 12 positive posts, 17 yes and 5 no votes. I'm interested in what the no folks have to say.

"Does anyone Shoot Film?" could be a poll. If it were, it would have 29 replies and 688 views. I'm not convinced views mean that much.

I'm not defending the Challenge. I'm not going to go ahead with it unless I'm sure it will have the participation needed to justify my time.

Dale
 
View Poll Results

When I first read this, I read it as a place to write out my response. It wasn't until I returned, to see what others had written before I realized that there was an actual voting section at the very top. I wonder if there were others who didn't see it either?
 
Yes

I watched it regularly before but did not participate. I would participate now and think that it would be very helpful.
 
Even though I always looked through the challenges, I never had a chance to participate in any due to being too busy with school stuff, but my schedule has freed up quite a bit so if it would return I would definitely join in! :D

I have a feeling though it could be changed up a bit. Maybe for a couple days after the challenge is over include a poll so people can vote on the best picture or something? This way it would add more motivation for people to put more effort into their pictures than just posting something random. This way you can get a lot of feedback in the thread allowing to improve your photography and also compete against others.

Kind of similar to the weekly photo contest, but here it won't be just one person deciding but more people will vote for a winner. I just feel something like this will make it more interesting for people.

Not sure how well this would work though.
 
I don't often participate in the challenge or weekly contest but did/do enjoy looking through them often, it receives my vote of support.

Patriks7 said:
Even though I always looked through the challenges, I never had a chance to participate in any due to being too busy with school stuff, but my schedule has freed up quite a bit so if it would return I would definitely join in! :D

I have a feeling though it could be changed up a bit. Maybe for a couple days after the challenge is over include a poll so people can vote on the best picture or something? This way it would add more motivation for people to put more effort into their pictures than just posting something random. This way you can get a lot of feedback in the thread allowing to improve your photography and also compete against others.

Kind of similar to the weekly photo contest, but here it won't be just one person deciding but more people will vote for a winner. I just feel something like this will make it more interesting for people.

Not sure how well this would work though.
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying, it's good idea to make people think more about what they post (whatever level they may be at).
The problem is we have such a range of experience here on MR DP, my feeling is a competitive ranked system would scare people away - mostly those seeking help who the challenge is intended for in the first place.

Perhaps adding a "people's choice" poll system to the existing contest, where voting occurs after the thread starter has picker his/her winner?
After the winner has been announced, people often like to add comments on photos other than the chosen winner who've done well, not to undermine the winner but to give credit to those deserving, a people's choice system could provide a structured addition for this.
 
deep diver said:
I feel a bit guilty because I dropped out of the forum so suddenly before. Life has gotten to be really hectic. Having said that..............
Click to expand...

Me too. I just hope I can keep hanging on. Summer tends to be really busy and I don't get out as much as I want, and in winter it's so grey that everything looks a bit dull. This year it's going to be different … :rolleyes:

DALE: If you're in doubt about whether it's worth it or not maybe we could give it a try for a while. If it seems to be more bother than it's worth then you could either close it or get someone else to help. Great job, you're a star!
 
TheReef said:
I don't often participate in the challenge or weekly contest but did/do enjoy looking through them often, it receives my vote of support.



I understand what you're saying, it's good idea to make people think more about what they post (whatever level they may be at).
The problem is we have such a range of experience here on MR DP, my feeling is a competitive ranked system would scare people away - mostly those seeking help who the challenge is intended for in the first place.

Perhaps adding a "people's choice" poll system to the existing contest, where voting occurs after the thread starter has picker his/her winner?
After the winner has been announced, people often like to add comments on photos other than the chosen winner who've done well, not to undermine the winner but to give credit to those deserving, a people's choice system could provide a structured addition for this.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. There is quite a range of experience here from what I've seen, which is why I said I wasn't sure whether it would work.

I like the idea of adding it to the existing contest. Is it possible to add a poll to a thread or would a new thread have to be made for it?

I really like the idea of adding this. But would the poll be kept open forever or would it be open just for a couple days and then the winner will be announced? I think it should be tried for a couple of the upcoming contests to see if it even brings any voters or anything, because usually the old contest threads die away quickly after a new one is made.
 
If we had a poll on each Challenge, it would need an option for every picture that was posted. Seems like an awful lot of extra work.

The photos on the Challenge were always open to comments and feedback, especially when asked for. Is there any advantage in having the photos ranked? After all, a picture that looks as though no-one's bothered about it much could have been slaved over by someone new to photography. It'd be a shame to see someone's picture down at the bottom for all to see. Even the competition doesn't do that.

I'd vote for reviving the Challenge but keeping the same format.
 
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