POTD rules discussions [MERGED]

[r.harris1]

Edit: I thought in addition to the current discussion below we could use this thread as other topics come up.


I thought I'd pull out the various rules discussions happening in the POTD thread. Everyone, I think, has a specific idea of what a "photograph" is and what makes a good one.

I'm pretty rubbish with hard and fast rules. I tend to think about things in terms of governance more than a specific list of thou-shalts. Governance can allow for fluidity to achieve a certain set of common goals while keeping people in a set of bounds. If I were to have a set of governance goals for a POTD thread, they'd be:

• Do what it says on the tin: One digital image of your creation posted at most once per day.
• The digital image must contain at least one photograph created by you or under your specific direction from any available camera.
• Don't pass off someone else's photograph as your own.
• Be reasonably civil.

This accommodates n-tychs (diptychs, triptychs, etc), n-tychs with other photographs for historical context a la Yay Area, and so on. We have a lot of people with a lot of different interests and tastes in the area of digital image creation with photography. I'm pretty "big tent" myself. If you create a compelling digital image using a photograph as at least part of it, you've got my attention.

If you were adjusting or amending the rules to the POTD thread, what would they be? I suspect the responses to cover the gamut of personalities here .

 

[mollyc]

Thanks for starting this. I like your list, and after thinking a bit more, I'm okay with a new image paired with an older image for historical reference. Although, like my own personal diptychs, I don't think that should be an every day occurrence.

 

[mollyc]

I also think we should be welcoming of all cameras, digital, phone, analogue, and experience level should not matter. We were all beginners at one point, and I'd hazard none of us were shooting award winning or publishable images in the early days. But without those early days of learning, none of us would have grown.

 

[mollyc]

also, obviously i didn’t start this thread, but i do think that seeing as this is discussing a community thread, that all opinions should be considered. i would guess if changes are made that it would be a majority opinion of those in the discussion. but we can’t know what the majority is without opinions being offered.

@r.harris1 can confirm this or let us know his thought process if it differs.

 

[Clix Pix]

The original concept behind iGary's idea was to start a new and interesting thread consisting of images shot by the poster, and although not meant to be a travelogue thread, per se, especially interesting ones of sites where they had traveled, since we had several participants who did travel frequently or to interesting places. That was the reason he wanted to know where a photo was shot.

This was in the era prior to the iPhone and many participants had also moved beyond P&S and were eagerly exploring their new DSLRs and finding what they could do with them. It seemed a logical idea to have a dedicated thread in which to share their results. Yes, although many were using DSLRS, anyone could participate and there were no restrictions on type of gear used, but the expectation was that participants would try to share their best and most interesting work. There were and are other places on MR to share images shot by other people, videos, historical images, family and pet snapshots, etc. As a thread dedicated to daily sharing of one image per day, discussion and chit-chat were discouraged and limited.

I don't recall why it was specified that there be only one photo per day, but probably borrowed from and related to the concept of someone shooting an image each day for a year, commonly called a Photo of the Day project or 365 Project. In this situation, another logical explanation is the one someone mentioned earlier, that it was to prevent the thread from being glutted by one or two participants posting several images in one post. 2006 was still back in the days of limited bandwidth and such, and not everyone had high-speed broadband access, so that could've have been a factor as well.

The thread became one which was viewed not only by participants but by other members who like to see good photography, and it grew and grew to the point where eventually Arn and the admins added more structure and guidelines, which is what we have been following (more-or-less) over the past many years and someone dutifully copies and pastes into the first post of each new month.

So much for the history lesson!

We have a whole digital photography subforum in which to share our work, lots of space for starting and participating in separate threads. No need to cram everything into the POTD thread. We already have one for panoramas, why not have a separate thread for other specialty images such as diptychs, triptychs, historical comparisons, composite images, etc.? Any other thread of that sort also is not bound under the rules of one photo per post per day, etc., and there is ample room for discussion, which could be interesting and fruitful. So someone could post their specialty, novelty images in one of those threads and they wouldn't get lost in the swift, daily ongoing movement of the POTD thread.

 

[someoldguy]

I'm pretty much in agreement with @r.harris1 's comment . But as an aside , I've posted 3 or 4 'before and after'
pix over the years and don't remember ever having been excoriated for it.

 

[bunnspecial]

I'm not sure if it's fair to classify something like a diptych as a novelty when the concept-two separate images that work together-has been around since ancient times.

Aside from that, if we are going to be a stickler for the "one photo" rule, would multiple exposure images not be allowed? I admit that I've seen very few that actually worked and weren't gimmicks, but still they are a single image that came about as multiple shutter actuations. What about HDR image?-I have mixed feelings about them, but some people take them without realizing that is what they were doing thanks to camera automation. Even though they can be over-done and unrealistic, they are none the less "real" photos that are comprised of multiple photos overlayed.

We can keep going down this "what if" trap, but I'd still argue that one single image presentation that is created by multiple shutter actuations, however those are used and presented, still can be considered a single photo. That's true whether it's done in the camera or in post processing...

 

[oblomow]

Old man talking here. I was around during the discussion concerning the rules for the photo of the month. My interpretation is that any submission in the potd thread is ok as long as it is posted by the photographer and no more than one submission every calendar day. No special rules for dithychs, panoramas etc. except when people explicitly want a dedicated thread for a special type of photos. (e.g. panoramas). KISS

 

[r.harris1]

also, obviously i didn’t start this thread, but i do think that seeing as this is discussing a community thread, that all opinions should be considered. i would guess if changes are made that it would be a majority opinion of those in the discussion. but we can’t know what the majority is without opinions being offered.

@r.harris1 can confirm this or let us know his thought process if it differs.

Oh totally @mollyc - my opinions are 100% my own and I expect others will bring their perspective. All opinions, perspectives, voices welcome!

 

[mollyc]

Old man talking here. I was around during the discussion concerning the rules for the photo of the month. My interpretation is that any submission in the potd thread is ok as long as it is posted by the photographer and no more than one submission every calendar day. No special rules for dithychs, panoramas etc. except when people explicitly want a dedicated thread for a special type of photos. (e.g. panoramas). KISS

was this a discussion for everyone, or were a selected few chosen for discussion privately?

 

[oblomow]

was this a discussion for everyone, or were a selected few chosen for discussion privately?

A general discussion. In the forum.
Nothing special.

 

[mollyc]

A general discussion. In the forum.
Nothing special.

Interesting. I don't recall it and couldn't find any threads regarding it, other than the pinned thread from annk.

 

[mollyc]

perhaps it was this thread.

some excellent people commenting in that thread who no longer show up here. :/

 

[oblomow]

Interesting. I don't recall it and couldn't find any threads regarding it, other than the pinned thread from annk.

I tried to find it too. It must have been before 2008: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...2008.478060/page-21?post=5457387#post-5457387 I can only find some discussion in the 'macrumors community' section.

 

[mollyc]

I tried to find it too. It must have been before 2008: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...2008.478060/page-21?post=5457387#post-5457387 I can only find some discussion in the 'macrumors community' section.

Oh. The thread from annk and kallisti was dated 2019, so I assumed it was a newer discussion.

 

[oblomow]

Oh. The thread from annk and kallisti was dated 2019, so I assumed it was a newer discussion.`

It started a long time ago whe the photo of the day thread was a long continuous thread that was converted to a potd/month.
Anyhow, I am a favour of simple/lax rules for the thread. From what I see the forum software and members internet connection is no longer overloaded. So 1 original entry per calendar day is strict enough for me.

 

[Hughmac]

I'm easy going, and find the current rules fit the aims of this forum; it is the sheer variation of photos and styles that make it more stimulating, whether it be macro, diptychs (including those with historical references), abstract, etc., or taken with whichever camera the poster has to hand.

Maybe you could tweak the rules slightly and refer to
*One Photo per Day - Don't post more than one photo each day
as
*One Photo per Day - Don't post more than one photo file each day which could cover composite shots.

Personally though, I go after anyone who posts a photo culled from another website as their own work, and that doesn't happen very often here.

Cheers

Hugh

 

[mollyc]

Yes, honestly I think the fewer restrictions the better. Personally I shoot daily, so why wouldn't I post that photo for that particular day? I've never really considered anything I shoot to be a novelty...a panorama is a novelty?

I think it's fine to have specialty threads dedicated to specific techniques, but those have never precluded anyone from posting a "specialty" image in the POTD thread. I also am leery of too much categorization and making hard yes/no....as stated earlier, photography is an art form, and there for subjective. I think we should have open minds as to what that might look like on any given day.

I do think as r.harris1 said, that for diptych types of images, at least part of it needs to be the original work of the posting photographer.

 

[mollyc]

anyway, thanks for starting this discussion. always good to hear different perspectives.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I’m keen to stick with just one photo of the day. When people can post multiple photos it will just get full of snaps rather than choosing ones best work imo.

I don’t really have an issue with diptych images as long as they work together.

Not keen on historical verses current ones though. I believe we should only post our own images (with the one notable understandable exception as mentioned elsewhere).
If people want to do a then and now, just create a different thread for it.

 

[mollyc]

Since there is a bit of tie as far as I can tell from the comments regarding adding historical images with current images, please vote your preference. Yes = Like, No = Dislike.

ETA: this would only affect the POTD thread. Historical comparison images would always be welcomed in a separate thread if credit is given to the original photographer for historical photos (or even just to an original IG post, etc if the original artist is unknown).

 

[Hughmac]

Yes, but not as a regular thing on POTD. If a poster wants to do historical comparisons they should be encouraged to start a new thread.

Cheers

Hugh

 

[mollyc]

Yes, but not as a regular thing on POTD. If a poster wants to do historical comparisons they should be encouraged to start a new thread.

Cheers

Hugh

yes, I meant only in the POTD thread since that's what we are discussing here. I will clarify in my post above. 🙂

 

[Clix Pix]

Why not just set up a voting thingy with all the various options that have been under discussion and see what happens?

 

[Steven-iphone]

Might want to limit the tych thing to quad-tych's, else the word 'collage' may surface, and the Supreme Court may have to intervene resulting in a years long battle that may be appealed in 2036.