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2013 Calendar Photo Submissions -- Deadline Saturday-Dec 22

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:15 pm
by jkhomes
deilenberger wrote:There has been some off-line discussion on when to close the entries - and it was decided to make Dec. 22nd the deadline for entries. That will give Joe time to gather the winners together after someone picks them.. ALL the photos submitted will probably be used for a montage for the front cover of the calendar.

Keep'm coming, it's not going to be an easy job to pick 12..
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Three "easy" steps for submitting 2013 calendar photos

1. Link* your photo to this thread, as the users above. We'll select finalists based on these submissions.
2. FILL OUT THIS ENTRY FORM: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/vie ... c6MQ#gid=0. Takes two minutes.
3. In the entry form, please post a link to a high-resolution** version of your picture.

Wall calendar photo specs
11.5 inches (2,300 pixels) wide x 9.5 inches (1,800 pixels) deep at 200 dpi. Photos should be horizontal. Square photos will need to be cropped (not ideal). Vertical photos won't work in this type of calendar. The calendar prints at 11 x 8.5, so select pictures that don't have important content, such as limbs or tires, on the outer edge, which will be cropped 0.5 inches. See the template below.

*How do I link my photo? Upload to a photo-sharing site (Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly, etc), which will host the file. RGB files exported as PNG or JPG will work. The sharing site will create an image address for your photo. To copy that address to the photo thread and link to it: Click Post Reply, paste your photo address in the body of the message, highlight it and click the IMG button in the message window to add the image tag wrapper. Before submitting, check that your photo appears by clicking the preview button.

**The photos posted in this thread are too small for the printed calendar because the forum caps them at 1,024 pixels. We will need a larger version of your photo to meet these Cafepress specs -- 2,300 x 1,800 pixels at 200 dpi. You can download the Cafepress template for the high-res photo here: http://www.cafepress.com/content/si/tem ... _print.zip. Once you have a web address to your high-res shot, post the link to it in the Google form, linked above.

Hints as to photos that might get picked:

- People are good, if it's you and you don't mind your face on someones calendar.
- Photos of your bike someplace where people might say "HEY! Cool - I'd like to go there on my bike.." are great.
- Just a photo of your bike isn't going to hack it. BMW gives us plenty of pretty photos of bikes, and they have better equipment then you and a great retouch studio. You need other content in the photo to make it on a calendar page.
- Be creative. Don't center the bike in the photo.. have the interesting stuff in the photo showing with the bike indicating it was there.
- Good examples of photos? Bill Websters are always good, as are Lost Riders. Both take photos that make me want to be there on the bike - even in some of the more bizarre places Lost Rider has gotten to.

And anything else you might think of. We had some great photos last time to choose from, hopefully the same will happen this time!

More information here:

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Here are some photos to consider for the calendar.

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Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 5:13 pm
by Catchina
SMILE

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Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 5:42 pm
by Bob Ain't Stoppin'
I was gonna start this thread but JK beat me to it. Here's a pic. Not my best work, but I don't have many with the RR bike. Gotta take a trip to generate more images. This is along the theme of 'ride to eat' .

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Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:02 am
by deilenberger
Jeepers, things are moving along rather quickly... I'd hoped to setup a sticky thread (I have a request into Doug to do this) where people can submit their photos, and Bill Webster is setting up a Google database to record info on the shots and who submitted them.

One or two points - generally - calendars do better with landscape photos. Portrait doesn't work so well. Higher resolution is better then lower resolution. Good exposure is important, if it's not good, try using a tool like Irfan View (free and excellent) to adjust it. When we decide on what photos will be used, I'm hoping that we can convince Bill Webster to go over them and tweak them for exposure/cropping/best-quality. I've seen work he's done and it's impressive.

We are at the moment thinking of using Joe Finns offer of doing it using his account - since that allows people to pay and setup shipping for themselves. And we're thinking of making the price $25 - with the excess over the calendar cost going to support the forum.

That's where we are as of 12AM on Thanksgiving day in the USA.. stay tuned for more info as we get it in place. Perhaps Doug can make this thread the sticky one we need to gather the photos. Once we have the sticky - we'll have to set a deadline for submissions, and I'm guessing right now, probably the 2nd week in December so it can be setup/produced in time for the new year.

Thanks all!

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 10:21 am
by MTBeemer
Image

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 10:35 am
by websterize
Three "easy" steps for submitting 2013 calendar photos

1. Link* your photo to this thread, as the users above. We'll select finalists based on these submissions.
2. Fill out this entry form: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/vie ... d2FRNXc6MQ. Takes two minutes.
3. In the entry form, please post a link to a high-resolution** version of your picture.

Wall calendar photo specs
11.5 inches (2,300 pixels) wide x 9.5 inches (1,800 pixels) deep at 200 dpi. Photos should be horizontal. Square photos will need to be cropped (not ideal). Vertical photos won't work in this type of calendar. The calendar prints at 11 x 8.5, so select pictures that don't have important content, such as limbs or tires, on the outer edge, which will be cropped 0.5 inches. See the template below.

*How do I link my photo? Upload to a photo-sharing site (Flickr, Photobucket, Shutterfly, etc), which will host the file. RGB files exported as PNG or JPG will work. The sharing site will create an image address for your photo. To copy that address to the photo thread and link to it: Click Post Reply, paste your photo address in the body of the message, highlight it and click the IMG button in the message window to add the image tag wrapper. Before submitting, check that your photo appears by clicking the preview button.

**The photos posted in this thread are too small for the printed calendar because the forum caps them at 1,024 pixels. We will need a larger version of your photo at these exact Cafepress specs -- 2,300 x 1,800 pixels at 200 dpi. You can download the Cafepress template for the high-res photo here: http://www.cafepress.com/content/si/tem ... _print.zip. Once you have a web address to your high-res shot, post the link to it in the Google form, linked above.

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 10:43 am
by deilenberger
Hints as to photos that might get picked:

- People are good, if it's you and you don't mind your face on someones calendar.
- Photos of your bike someplace where people might say "HEY! Cool - I'd like to go there on my bike.." are great.
- Just a photo of your bike isn't going to hack it. BMW gives us plenty of pretty photos of bikes, and they have better equipment then you and a great retouch studio. You need other content in the photo to make it on a calendar page.
- Be creative. Don't center the bike in the photo.. have the interesting stuff in the photo showing with the bike indicating it was there.
- Good examples of photos? Bill Websters are always good, as are Lost Riders. Both take photos that make me want to be there on the bike - even in some of the more bizarre places Lost Rider has gotten to.

And anything else you might think of. We had some great photos last time to choose from, hopefully the same will happen this time!

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 12:58 pm
by angellr
Here is my contribution:

Image

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 1:02 pm
by websterize
Correction: Although JPG photos will work, Cafepress says *PNG* files are better.
JPG - JPG's support over 16 million colors, but slightly "distort" the image to compress the file size. For photos, the human eye cannot tell the subtle changes in color, but along straight edges and in pictures with large solid colors, distortion is sometimes apparent.

PNG - Portable Network Graphics format is a completely loss-less compression. Gradients come out much smoother and do not have the distortions that may appear in a JPG. PNG is the recommended file format for image uploads to the CafePress system.

Whichever format you use, save all files in RGB color mode.
See the JPG/PNG difference under "formats and compression" at http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/i ... mages.aspx

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 1:06 pm
by angellr
Here is the same file in .png format as follows:

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Base of the Largest Open Pit Copper Mine in the world (Bingham Copper Mine, Bingham, Utah)

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:14 pm
by BigEasy
I'll, throw a few in from this year

Colorado

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My backyard in Indiana

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The forum seems to have cropped these on the right side, they're 3500x2400 pixels, so they'll need to be cropped for the calendar (if selected, highly unlikely). I'm cooling my heels at a family Thanksgiving celebration so I'll work on the cafepress tool and try to repost.

edit: I resized the ones the forum cropped too tight and reposted. In reference to Joe's post re processing, these have been run through Lightroom but I have un processed copies in the event that one of them is chosen.

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 5:17 pm
by hjsbmw
Image

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2012 5:58 pm
by Lost Rider
Great job guys getting this together! I'm looking forward to this project, it's a win win for everyone around here.

As for file type, my experience tells me if the original photo file was made as a JPEG in the camera, then leave it as a JPEG. While a PNG file will keep more detail, if you start with a JPEG, converting it to a PNG isn't going to magically add more detail that wasn't recorded in the first place, just make a bigger file and possibly change the colors, something you have far more control of using whatever your favorite software is. Now if your camera can record RAW files, which is an uncompressed file, then sending in a PNG after you post-process it to cafepress makes sense since a lesser amount of compression between the click of a shutter and the file getting printed will happen.

If I am going to be the one putting the calendar layout together, file type and size makes no difference what so ever to me as long as it meets the minimum, I can convert any file someone gives me from any camera and resize them accordingly. In other words just make sure you upload the highest resolution file you have available with the least amount of post-processing done. Straight out of the camera would be preferred for JPEG's IMHO, leaving us a little more headroom for tweaking to get some consistency with all the photos and prepare them for print.
JPEG's are just fine since most people will be shooting them, if you shoot RAW then you already know about this sort of stuff.

For those that don't want to resize, I'll be having a workflow setup to output all the photos for the calendar before I send them in that will include correct sizing.
As long as your file meets the minimum size requirements, I can take care of the rest for anyone if they wish, the bigger the better file IMO.

Also, I have setup a SmugMug page for people who don't have their own hosting, or if their hosting has limits on file size.
Anyone can upload their original, full res photo here and use the link provided by hitting the SHARE button on Smugmug to show the photo in the forum. If you upload a full size photo and then only choose the XL photo share size on smugmug, the forum won't crop it.
You NEED still use the google form just the same and copy the link there.

Nobody has to use this, I've just set it up for anyone that wants to.



http://www.smugmug.com/photos/guest/k2g6k3/Calendar

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:32 pm
by websterize
Lost Rider wrote:As for file type, my experience tells me if the original photo file was made as a JPEG in the camera, then leave it as a JPEG. While a PNG file will keep more detail, if you start with a JPEG, converting it to a PNG isn't going to magically add more detail that wasn't recorded in the first place, just make a bigger file and possibly change the colors, something you have far more control of using whatever your favorite software is. Now if your camera can record RAW files, which is an uncompressed file, then sending in a PNG after you post-process it to cafepress makes sense since a lesser amount of compression between the click of a shutter and the file getting printed will happen.
Agreed, and thanks much for the heads-up, Joe. You're right: If the camera writes the file to disk as a jpg, you should probably stay in that format.

I shot my entry with an iPhone 4, which saves as a jpg, and will leave it that way. I shoot in RAW with a DSLR. If I had a RAW entry, I'd export to PNG, per Cafepress's recommendation. I looked at a histogram of jpg and png versions of a RAW image, and the difference is negligible, at least to my eye. Cafepress's boilerplate recommendation for PNG might pertain more to their other products, especially the type-heavy stuff.

In any event, pick one of the two formats that works best for your entry. Both will compute.

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 9:34 pm
by websterize
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Fall in Carroll County

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 3:26 pm
by websterize
BigEasy wrote:edit: I resized the ones the forum cropped too tight and reposted. In reference to Joe's post re processing, these have been run through Lightroom but I have un processed copies in the event that one of them is chosen.
Crop one of those beauties down to 2300 x 1800 and post the link here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/vie ... d2FRNXc6MQ. Leave the processing to us. Thanks much.

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 5:46 pm
by okiesailor
Red Rock Canyon

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Re: Submissions 2013 Calendar

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:32 pm
by Lost Rider
Some mighty nice photos coming along, they should have a tough job picking the winners!

For those that don't want to resize, I'll be having a workflow setup to output all the photos for the calendar before I send them in that will include correct sizing.
As long as your file meets the minimum size requirements, I can take care of the rest for anyone if they wish, the bigger the better file IMO.

Also, I have setup a SmugMug page for people who don't have their own hosting, or if their hosting has limits on file size.
Anyone can upload their original, full res photo here and use the link provided by hitting the SHARE button on Smugmug to show the photo in the forum. If you upload a full size photo and then only choose the XL photo size on smugmug, the forum won't crop it.
You NEED still use the google form just the same and copy the link there.

Nobody has to use this, I've just set it up for anyone that wants to.



http://www.smugmug.com/photos/guest/k2g6k3/Calendar

Re: Submissions 2013 Calendar

Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2012 7:59 pm
by Bamblys
Image

I decided to enter one of my photos here.

Re: 2013 Calendar Photo Submissions

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:02 pm
by dokotela
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090912_3731 by Julian Lane, on Flickr
The French Alps, near Val D'Isere