An opinion, please

[Gotcha6]

I have been contacted by a member about allowing a Calendar Contest entry submission taken by a profession a photographer. I felt it would be OK, but he replied that per the rules, the photo should be "a reflection of your woodworking and photography skills"
Should we allow professional photos, or limit the contest to only shots taken by the member?
Would a professionally produced photo give one an advantage?

 

[TracyP]

I personally do not think it should be allowed. Photography skills are similar to woodworking skills therefore the professional photo would probably be of a higher quality than all of the self taken photos. Perhaps giving the entry an unfair advantage over the other entries.

 

[McRabbet]

Our goal is to showcase member skills in woodworking and while we have some strict requirements for publication of photos, I would hate to see a good entry not be made because the person doesn't have the photographic equipment or skills to produce a good picture of his/her project. Who takes the picture is moot, as long as that photographer doesn't require his name or logo be displayed on the photo (which should not be allowed). There have been cases in the past where photo quality has eliminated an otherwise excellent entry -- let's try to avoid that and let members submit pictures taken by another photographer.

 

[cskipper]

I;m torn on this one because I have had photo's rejected and could have gotten someone else to re-take the photo's if I had known they would be accepted. I guess the question is whether or not the member has the capability of taking his.her own photo's and is choosing not to, or simply does not have a camera/phone and software to meet the requirements. There are tons of available software packages that are free or inexpensive for modifying photo's - even the online companies like Snapfish or even Walgreeen. You can modify the photo's and download them back to your computer.

 

[Gotcha6]

In the case of the member that asked, they have posted many times here with photos of work. I believe the situation with them is that they had a particular piece that had been previously photographed by a professional for whatever reason & felt it was a more favorable depiction of their work than they themselves could have done. I doubt anyone would use the wherewithal to hire a professional photographer to win the prize money we dole out.

 

[Trent Mason]

While I tend to agree with Rob on this one, if the rules state "a reflection of your woodworking and photography skills," then I guess it shouldn't be allowed. Either the rules need to be re-stated, or we should stand by the current policy. Whether or not someone has the equipment or photo editing skills, they usually know someone that does and I don't think entries should be disqualified if someone else takes the photo and edits it. However, the photo should not be allowed if it includes the photographer's logo.

 

[CaptnA]

To me, the rules as they read, give the answer.
We can redo the rules if desired but should the rules be changed ?
Have all our photos been taken by the member submitting? I have no idea either way.

I'm thinking aloud but did we make enough money on last year's calendar to continue as
we have in the past? I'm not convinced off the top of my head.
May be a good topic for the pending conference call.