Your vote is your voice: The number of photos you want in the POTW

Simple rules.
Post a number, any number, denoting the amount of photos YOU wish to see posted in the POTW by each person.
(edited to add: this is the maximum, not a required minimum to participate)
As an example. If you want to see 5 photos, you simply type "5" into your reply.
If you want to see only 1 photo per participant, type "1". I could go on with examples but I feel like we have a smart bunch here, and you can figure it out from this point.
Bear in mind a few things, if you have a crop of good photos from any one week, you can always post them down the line. Therefore, if we go to 1 or 2 photos per week you won't be bound to let your excellent work die in obscurity but it will be more likely others will actually see your work and spend a little time enjoying it.
On the flip side bear in mind that we do (occasionally, although it is supposed to be monthly) have a Photo of the Month thread as well, where it is just 1 single photo that you post.
No need for any other words, banter, back talk, debate, ridicule, taunting, etc when voting.
I will add up the votes, and then delete the thread at some point (after someone, preferably a border collie or an astro physicist, but not the State of Florida elections board verify my #s.)

 

2

 

2
(and NOT because Justin said it first)!
And put Matt down for 2 (give him a break, he's packing equipment for tonight's wedding). No, we did NOT collude on that. He's packing, I'm goofing off instead of changing clothes. :-D

 

1

 

3

 

5

 

2

 

Trying to submit a reply of 1 and keep getting this; possible problem submitting a number that has already been submitted (without a comment to distinguish it from a previous reply)?

Problem with Your Input

We had a problem processing your entry:

• • 2009-05-29 by Bueh B.
  There are already 1 messages in the database with the same subject line and body. Perhaps you already posted this?
  Do not post the same thread in multiple forums. This is against photo.net policy and your account may be suspended if you continue to do so.
  Please choose one forum or one thread and post there.

Please back up using your browser, correct it, and resubmit your entry.

 

this isn't working too well as my vote keeps being rejected.... perhaps with this extra text....
1

 

1 per week and kill the photo of the month. If you have a series you want to show off start a thread with that series or got to teh no words forum.

 

3.

 

How can Liams proposal launch an official voteing
in no time without knowing and demanding his arguments?
I'm sorry, but I boycott this pseudo democratic behavior. How comes people give up freedom so easily for nothing in return?

 

1 per week. If we want to share more, we can always start our own photo thread.

 

1
From what I've seen this forum is lucky that P.net lets us post any pix here. I've seen other forums on P.net where they say no pictures. That's what the critique forum is for.

 

ok, add a comment. or a limerick. whatever, I didn't foresee that problem.

 

Thanks Patrick for the reminder, I'm so lucky now :-(

 

2 ;o)

 

_ 1 _

 

10.
<p>
Nine would only achieve parity with Nikon's Wednesday Pic, therefore 10.

 

I vote 1 (one).

 

I haven't been posting much in recent months, but supposing that I'll be back more in the future, I say 2

 

I vote for 3 because usually my good shots come in bunches or not at all and if it's a bunch I hate to decide on just one.
Posting a photo thread of my own has only occurred to me once or twice. I see more people doing it lately, so maybe I'll give it a go more often.
BTW, I like scrolling through the photos even though it gets long sometimes. The comments sometimes get redundant but it's nice to know who's applauding (or not) and why.
Howard

 

three

 

My vote is: 3
Seriously, if you think about it. Pic of the week means 1
I have posted 4 a few times and felt terribly guilty. Dorus has mentioned this at least once. Some have posted more.
I also seem to sometimes have a group of 3 that is better than a single photo.
That being said, each photo according to the moniker POTW should be able to stand alone by itself. That is extremely hard for a neophyte photographer like me versus all of you, but hey, that's life.
So I said 3, but think it truly should be ONE.
My vote: ????? whatever the powers that be decide: Justin...

 

I get such inspiration from so many of you - 3

 

III

 

One.
christos

 

No more than 2. 1 would be better.
Part of the reason these things are useful for photographers are because it forces them to self edit. It is too tempting, even for good photographers, to just dump a pile of images into a thread if allowed. The POTW should be about your "best" work. Not just the five-ten you couldn't decide between.
Self editing is a very important skill for every photographer to learn in my opinion.

 

1
It forces you to choose among the best ones you have...

 

if only there is an infinity sign. I hate rules.
but if I have to designate a number. my favorite is 8.

 

Uno.

 

3, yo. It's been my lucky number since time immemorial.

 

~~3~~

 

Well, I'm gonna come out and agree with Markus: what's the driver here? Why limit people's ability to share photographs? Suddenly the expectations and rules common to critiquing forums are being applied to the POTW? Why is that?
I'm active in online and real-life critiquing. But this is not a critiquing forum. it's more of a neat photo or notice-this-lens'-capabilities show-off session with a mostly 80%-positive-to-20%-constructive comment feedback proportion. And I don't mind that a bit. It's good to examine the capabilities of Pentax and other K-mount lenses. And it's good to see neat photos. And it's nice to be able to post one, or two, or three shots over a week long period. I don't understand why we should be suddenly constraining ourselves. Is there a worldwide bandwidth shortage? What percentage of POTW posters don't have broadband Internet service?
While I agree with Josh that self-editing is an important skill for every photographer, limiting "best" shots to one here doesn't contribute to self-editing very well. Nor does it contribute to one's confirmation about whether one's chosen work is truly "best."
OTOH, portfolio reviews do. Why? One learns self-editing best by comparing relationships among photographs. It is far more valuable to a shooter to hear "this is a better shot than that because" or "I like how both of these shots incorporate. . ." When I post three shots here I'm very interested in whether any single one garners more reaction or if all three receive a balanced quantity. And it is very valuable when the one photo I would have "self-edited" out of the three receives the most interesting feedback. That's why I favor posting more than one shot a week in the thread.
But I digress. This is not a critiquing forum. We're just posting Pentax shots, emphasis Pentax . Quite honestly I get the feeling that some people really prefer posting about camera parts rather than showing and viewing photographs.
ME

 

I like 3 as well.
If Josh is voting on this.. does that mean he is going to post some pictures as well? That would be cool!
I very much agree with ME's last post!

 

** 1 **

 

The POTW should be about your "best" work. Not just the five-ten you couldn't decide between.
Self editing is a very important skill for every photographer to learn in my opinion.​

Agreed. This is particularly why I started the POTM.

 

If Josh is voting on this.. does that mean he is going to post some pictures as well? That would be cool!​

Ah....no. Alas, though I have a fine appreciation for Pentax, I'm deep into Canon for my working gear and rangefinders for my play gear.

 

Well, I'm gonna come out and agree with Markus: what's the driver here? Why limit people's ability to share photographs? Suddenly the expectations and rules common to critiquing forums are being applied to the POTW? Why is that?​

The forums aren't the place for posting everything in your folder for a "portfolio review". This is true from a programming/technology standpoint and a "netiquette" standpoint. And given that POTW stands for "photo of the week" and not "portfolio of the week" or "presentation of the week" I don't really see any sound logic for wanting the ability to post any number of photos. On the other side of the coin, I do see more than a few good reasons for setting reasonable submission guidelines.
Aside from the fact that (as I previously said) self editing is an important skill, one that every successful photographer has learned. Many people on the site do not enjoy having a thread flooded with 2 dozen shots from the same person. Believe me, for every person who shares your opinion, there are 10-20 times as many who do not. I promise you, I hear from them. It is perfectly reasonable to place a limit on a project like this. Especially on a site as heavily used as photo.net.

 

Josh, you know, if you are going to coherently argue with my points please try to base it on substance and not a semantic nit. I used the term "portfolio review" to connote displaying more than one photo-in-relationship. You did read my vote above ("5", not "2 dozen"); my examples were intentionally using a set of three photos. In my professional in-service critiquing circle, one's "best work" to quote your term is not shown on a weekly basis, but rather in a portfolio. And most of us just aren't good enough to pump out our best work weekly.

Speaking from fact, I don't post more than three shots on the POTW nor do I post my week's portfolio in other threads. I don't think anyone in this forum does that stuff. It seems to me that your concerns have more to do with site management and little to do with Pentax and photography. Nor does it answer my (and others') basic question of why is this suddenly so important. That is your prerogative, but i suggest you just use the power of your role and lay out firm requirements. That way we can disband the circular firing squad and return this forum to the welcoming place that it was.
ME

 

Before everyone gets bent out of shape.
I do believe everyone has been respectful about this, despite varying views. I believe when this is all done we will have a community consensus and we'll go with that.

No one wants to limit anyones enjoyment of photography, clearly the thread is popular, and people enjoy it. We just want to keep as many people happy as possible while alienating as few as possible. While the OP that started this has disappeared, some people do seem to have legitimate concerns, and grievances. For this reason I think some sort of compromise might be an appropriate thing to do.

The bottom line is everyone is important and we are trying to make everyone either equally satisfied or equally miserable.
Please continue voting...

 

Michael,
I'll admit passing over the specific number of your vote in favor of focusing on the term "portfolio review". Quite honestly, it's late on a Friday night and I just didn't see your first post. However, I'm not doing anything here other than voicing my opinion and supporting Justin. Mostly because I think what he's proposing is a good idea, but also because he's the moderator here (one of them anyway) and the POTW is his baby. Given that the tally is running more towards 1-3 than it is 5-10+. that would indicate that many of your fellow forum members like the idea as well. I wasn't lying when I said that I get complaints from people who don't like "thread hogs" in photo posting threads. And despite what many of us blessed with high speed internet may believe, there is still a surprisingly large group of users accessing the site with dial-up.
FWIW, the current tally as best I can tell. A few people (myself, michael, bob, etc) ended up with more than one vote due to mentioning more than one number/opinion. Justin will have to sort it out at the end:
1 - 10
2 - 6
3 - 10
4 - 0
5 - 1
6 - 0
7 - 0
8 - 1
9 - 0
10 - 1
none - 2
As I said, this sort of decision is Justin's horse to ride. I am just laying out why I see nothing wrong with having a reasonable limit for something like this. If you don't want to believe in the reasons I give, that is fine. However, my voice is the grumpy old-man voice of history as far as stuff like this goes and yes, the voice of site management. And there aren't many around here with more experience in that area than I have as far as photo.net is concerned. When I say "this is why things tend to be done this way" there's probably some amount of experience behind it. Does that mean things always have to be done my way? No, not unless it is something that affects photo.net in a serious or negative way and I have to make an "executive decision". And this is not that sort of thing.
Hence, just my opinion.

 

one single photo

 

Not more than 3!

 

2

 

I vote for freedom
- 4 -
to be original )
BTW, I suggest that votes are counted fairly. I mean, obviously my vote should be counted with the votes for the threes and not wasted in case there is a tie between Ones and Threes. Am I making sense?

 

One.
The reason, photonet has to pay for band width. I think one photo here a week is enough. If people subscribe they can put as much as they want in their user accounts.
Also when there are multiple shots from individuals it just makes the POW too busy, IMHO

 

I'll vote 3
I posted 5 once & a couple pentaxians flip'd out so I no longer post pix here in the weekly or monthly and soon I guess daily picture threads some are lobbying for.
That "Wednesdaypic" thread at Nikon forum allows JUST ONE image & Eos forum allows you to post up None or Zero Images ;^) They do not allow picture threads at Eos Forum. Only pictures allowed are ones where you are asking a specific question about.

 

1, just one. Include a link or start a separate thread if you have more.
One comment about bandwidth--many of us actually link photos that are hosted by other sites like Flickr. These would not be using p-net bandwidth.

 

make mine a max of 2

 

Just a point of clarification:
There isn't so much a bandwidth issue on the PN end as there is on the user end. Photo threads get very large and can slow down even fairly fast internet connections. Those who are unlucky enough to have dial-up or even slow DSL can end up with quite a wait.

 

Right, one picture per person but Wednesday's Pic regularly garners 200+ replies. There are many more Nikon than Pentax users. I was being facetious when I voted for 10 but if we had the same 1/person rule then this week's POTW would be 23 pictures long. We have a small intimate forum where individual people can share a mix of styles and subjects. Why throw that away -- to learn portfolio management? Are you kidding me? Photography is a hobby for most of us or an adjunct to other interests.

 

1 image in the thread, if you want to post more, post a link. The thread is too long to see everyone's work.

 

I'd say post any number you like, as long as there's a combined maximum pixel count of one million pixels. (Per person, I mean...)

 

3 cause I dislike change

 

Maybe what we could do is encourage hyperlinking. If you have more, like for a special event or something, you could always make a folder in your account, and then just put a hyperlink to that folder in your post.
For example, instead of organizing my posted photos just by topic, I uploaded a set of them and said, "This is my folder for the month of May." Like this: http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=908893
Instead of hyperlinking to a picture, I just cut and paste the folder address. I go to the portfolio, I click on the title of the folder, and a web page opens up that has just that folder's contents displayed on it. Copy/paste that URL into the thread, and you're set. You can make a folder with just about any name or any reason on photo net. Maybe something like that is the solution, so we don't bog down the slower connections.
I guess if we did it this way, you could have one photo in the thread, but still reasonably display however many photos you wanted, using the folders.
If there's one photo in the thread, then everybody gets to see some; if that photo is followed by a hyperlink to a folder, then people can see more if they want.
How's that?

 

John,
Not good for me for several reasons
1) I like scrolling through the pictures in the thread.
2) The pictures are an integral part of the thread
3) Backing and forthing would drive me crazy after about 10 responses
4) Looking throug 10, 20, 30 portfolios would be tedious and take the enjoyment out of the thread. If we wanted to do that we could go to Pbase.com.
5) Commenting would be nearly impossible due to the number of pictures. The conversations would become untenable whereas they are now still fun.
Of course, the "little intermissions" of failed posts lengthen the thread but they give our eyes a rest .
Howard

 

I thought we weren't allowed to post the html of our pics from flickr (for eg)? I used to do this, but then noticed that my post would disappear... I really like this method since most times I'm at my lunch break and so can access my flickr account and then paste photos here.... so I guess it's back on, and since I haven't been participating in the potw thread, I missed it!

 

I like 3 but I can live with whatever. Excessive fretting about rules is no fun, though, and the argument of "it takes my computer too long to load this thread I want to look at so please change the thread" doesn't quite ring true to me.

 

Referrals to specific sites (like flickr for example) aren't really ever blocked except in cases of abuse. So unless you ran into that sort of thing, I'm not sure where your posts would have been disappearing.
The one thing I dislike about people posting images hosted at flickr, is that frequently they forget that they have done so and delete the image at some point down the road. That leaves photo.net with a bunch of ugly "This image no longer available" boxes all over some older threads. I wish non existant images would just disappear or show the small standard "broken HTML" icon rather than the big "FLICKR: when images are deleted, we turn the space into giant ads for ourselves all over your site" stuff. Such is life.

 

2, it would be quite short with only 1 per person. Just remember, everyone, to post your best.
-Jon

 

Yeah, this is some sort of urban myth. I thought perhaps I was lacking in knowledge of site policy, but since Josh sets site policy, I feel a little less ignorant.
I've never had a photo from flickr not appear on here, or photobucket or picasa. I think people might forget that if they change the photo, or change permisions on flickr that the URL changes. Unlike photo.net, on flickr even if you hit the replace button, your photo URL changes. I've done this thinking it wouldn't and sure enough it does!
The best thing I can say as advice if you are linking to flickr is just upload a new photo and keep the old one. I believe you can set it to Friends and Family viewable and it will still have the same URL. This should hide it in your stream, but also leave it viewable on the net. This eliminates those annoying image not found blank boxes, while also hiding an old image in your stream (unless you make everyone Friends and family which is kinda stupid anyway).

 

Excessive fretting about rules is no fun​

Word.

 

I vote for 2

 

Just to add my two cents on the subject.. WHY does it have to be a rule? Why not have it as a guideline. I mean what are you planning on doing if you set the rule at 2 and somebody posts 3 one week? fine them? ban them? I don't think that any of that is in the spirit of this Pentax forum, or Photo.net in general. It does not make sense! Just make it a guideline that the number of shots to post in the Pictures of the Week is X. I think most of the members here are adults .. and if someone feels like posting an extra one shot that week.. so be it. He'll just have to live with the guilt till the next POW starts! lol.

 

I like it! Guidelines, like we have now, which are mostly followed, but sometimes not. Makes us feel like responsible adults who can govern ourselves.
Haig, you are brilliant. It only took 69 posts to get to that point. Wish I had thought of it. Let's see if the mods bite.
Howard

 

2 points:
#1. Sites like flickr and photobucket are blocked at work, so I don't see the pix on a page where the images are served from a site like that. Not that it matters to me, because at the big T, p.net is blocked too.
#2.

How comes people give up freedom so easily for nothing in return?​

For the promise of 'hope' and 'change' my friend...

 

My thought is that it is "photo" of the week, implying a singular photo (your very best photo of the week), which would be the letter of the law. In the spirit of the law, seeing two would not make me think that we are reverting to anarchy.
When I've posted to POW in the past, I've never included more than three, but it has varied between one and three. From here forward, I'll stick to the spirit of the law and respect one submission, but if I deem it necessary, maybe sneak in a second.

 

Here's the "wednesday" only picture thread rules at nikon forum.
They allow one picture thread a week there, no picture of the month or picture of the day threads. As I pointed out earlier, canon forum has No picture of the week threads:
"Moderator's note: Piggybacking onto Jose's post to add guidelines for benefit of our new participants. I'm seeing a few oversized photos, so here are a few tips:
Just a few rules and guidelines for the weekly Nikon WedNEsDAy PiC threads:

1. Some sort of Nikon equipment
2. One photo per person
3. JPEG only, resize to 700 pixels maximum width, less than 300 KB in file size
4. In the caption, please specify the equipment used

A few basic guidelines:

• Recent photos are encouraged but not required, since film photographers usually need more time to prepare. The goal is to encourage activity, but not mandate it.
• We don't set themes (that would duplicate photo.net's excellent No Words Forum ).
• Keep the photos safe for work or school viewing, using your best judgment.

Most of all, join in and have fun.
1. Camera, lens, Coolscan scanner, etc. Fuji dSLRs w/ Nikon F-mount are accepted too.
2. Photos hosted off-site on your own site/blog, Flickr, smugmug, etc., can be attached using standard HTML. Captions won't be centered but otherwise the photos will appear normally.
3. Oversized photos will appear as links but won't display inline with the thread.
4. Camera, lens, anything interesting, etc. Some folks may be interested in other details, exposure, etc., which is usually included in the EXIF data, but isn't essential to these threads."

 

In my experience (and other people have noted this too in discussions in another forum), if I'm presented with a long series of images from one person, I tend to just scan through them very quickly to see if there's anything interesting. If a person posts a single image, I usually give it a closer look, even if it doesn't "jump out at me," to try to see why the person chose that image.
As with conversation, saying less will often make you more interesting (and command greater attention) than someone who talks a lot.

 

2 photos

 

3

 

1

 

Let common sense dictate what ever that is. I look forward every week to POW what ever the number.

 

I vote three (3).

 

I had to go out of town and almost missed this vote!
3

 

TWO 2

 

Lindy Stone , May 31, 2009; 09:26 a.m.
Here's the "wednesday" only picture thread rules at nikon forum.​

Thank you for the guidelines, but looking at the top of this page it clearly says Pentax, not Canon, Nikon, Leica, etc. Nikon et al. have rules that work for those forums, and I think it's great. However, we are hammering out some not too overly stringent guidelines here with some open feedback based on the participants of this forum.

I posted 5 once & a couple pentaxians flip'd out so I no longer post pix here in the weekly or monthly and soon I guess daily picture threads some are lobbying for.​

BTW, can you point us to the POTW where you are brow beat for posting 5 photos? I don't really recall you ever posting photos despite several members telling you we'd be happy to have your Canon and Nikon photos involved in the POTW!
I am willing to bet IF it happened you posted 5 shots of Canon gear taken with your Pentax? Nothing wrong with that, but it sort of isn't what most people want to spend 4 mouse scrolls getting past. Had you posted 5 quality shots of Yellowstone from any camera, I bet you not a single person would have complained!

 

Updated totals for the top 4 vote getters:
Photos:

1. 15
2. 12
3. 17
4. 2
5. more than four = 3 votes

 

Because I find the submissions to usually be more of a "photo essay' from many members of their weeks adventures, I'm down for:
3
If it were a competition, then one would make more sense. But it's not, just us sharing a few of our best. Doesn't mean that we have to post 3 if we only have one good shot worth sharing. Just a max of 3. Also doesn't mean we have to add photos every week.
I'm not enjoying the tone of things here lately and am in firm agreement with Markus Maurer and Michael Elenko. Lets get things back on track here.

 

τρείς (3)
for this reason: "I also seem to sometimes have a group of 3 that is better than a single photo."

 

3.
(i tried posting that a minute ago but it doesn't seem to have gone through. sorry if it's a repeat.)

 

Photos:

1. 15
2. 12
3. 19
4. 2
5. more than four = 3 votes

 

Ok, I'm closing this with the final tally above. I will post some guidelines for the POTW hopefully at some point before the next POTW.