Photo Contest- Are We There Yet?

YES!
And goodnight ;-)

Except, perhaps, for the #8 Annuals and #11 Perennials. That needs some more thought, I think.

Why is there a problem with annuals separated from perennials? Aren't they clearly classed as one or the other? I always thought perennials came back each year on the same plant but annuals had to be replanted or else, in warmer climates, reseeded.

Here this may help
Annuals
http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/27.html
Perennials
http://davesgarden.com/guides/terms/go/659.html

Your right bebop2.
I don't see any problem with those Categories either. Guess depending which Zone you live in can make a difference.

Looks fine to me, except that I think Elphaba and GGK deserve some special mention in the calendar for the time & effort they put into the lists, great job!

What is an annual to someone growing in the northern climes is a perennial to those in the south.
My DS, in Ft. Worth, considers wax begonias to be perennials. Most places that I've lived, they were annuals.

I agree with WaterCan, they both have been great. Huge thanks to Elphaba and GGK.

Looks great to me. Thanks!

That last list: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=7140152 looks Perfect!

Most people know what traditionally is considered an annual or perennial and for those fortunate enough to grow some annuals as the later, and then post it in that category, well, let the voters decide on the merit of the photo itself and not by any hard rules, this is a fun contest. Not everything can fit tightly in a square box.

…Yeah, if this was a REAL serious contest like National Geographic or something then it would be real nitpicky & stuff, but this is Dave’s! (lol!)

Ditto to what calif_sue said about A & Ps. I just assume it's relative to the photographer's zone and voted on the merit of the photo in those catagories. Thanks so much for taking the time to type it all up Elphaba and GGK.

Yes - thanks to all the contributors for their efforts. It's appreciated.

I still have a few questions. With the exception of Fall & Winter, just about every other category can conceivably fall under Spring & Summer, so is that category really needed?? What is unique about it? My suggestion is to ditch it and give scenic its own category. It really does not belong with professional gardens. Scenic to me means a beautiful valley, an open field, a national park type of shot, etc. Not a botanical garden.

And with macro, what's the 'cutoff' in terms of how close the shot is? What one person considers a macro can be considered a mid-range shot by another. Just trying to avoid confusion and possible conflict.

Good point Victor, scenic is analogous to 'Landscape', not gardens, as in a view that can go to infinity. I've always considered macro a max of a 1:1 representation on the flim plane, unless you have a 4x5 camera or better taking a pic of an entire 3" flower is not a macro IMO.

Ha - I doubt many people understood that macro definition, WC!

I agree, just selecting the flower function on a point and shoot does not make it a macro.

Maybe just Seasons instead of separating them. And perhaps a Scenic and then a Landscape category, without a definition for professional vs private?

I can see the difference in "Scenic" and "Profesional Gardens" being a totally different look.

But I definitely would hate to see Macro go. I think people submitting in Macro know what they are going for.

Maybe "Scenic" does automatically draw in the "Summer and Spring" shots? While "Fall and Winter" definitely stand out on their own.

Don't hate us for thinking a bit more GGK and Elphaba!

I know I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist at times and at others, simply just over think things. :-)

Was there some discussion last year about a private garden category as they got lost in the scenic/professional/public garden categories?

Yes. That was a bone of contention with some. And I agree that it didn't seem to be a very level playing field. Plus, I like seeing and knowing that "real" people designed and built a particular garden vs. the always welcome photos of the wonderful gardens around the world.

Why not a category just labeled "Seasons" to include Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter photo's, instead of breaking them up?

I am so technically challenged when it comes to camera's, computers and electronics. I just this summer learned from another DG'er that there was probably something called a "macro" button on my camera, and they told me it was for taking a close up flowers or bugs etc. I thought I had to hold down the button while snapping the photo, so you can imagine how the pictures came out ... should have taken lessons years ago. ^_^

24. Home gardens (leave 23 as professional gardens)
25. Scenic/ Landscape
26. Misc.

Hee hee!

*As for macro they can at least get an idea from the pictures if they don't understand the lingo...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_photography

I'm thinking that maybe Fall and Winter should be separated. Do we want to compare snow shots with colorful leaves? I agree that Spring and summer can fall under other categories. I don't have a problem with going back to one category of Seasons, but I kind of liked the idea of having two categories that would really fit nicely into the calendar.

We don't really have seasons or annuals around here. I have snapdragons that are well into their second year now and they are the original plants (not reseeded). That's OK though. I enjoy seeing other people's seasons and I can pretend that some of my plants are annuals!

Also, I think it's best to describe the category thoroughly so that, for example, all the mushrooms end up together. It's just easier to judge and it's easier for people to choose the category for their submission. Also, it gives people ideas. I'd love to see other people's potting sheds for example.

I took GGK's last list and separated Fall and Winter. I added Home Gardens. Put Containers with Tropicals and Houseplants. As I recall there weren't many container submissions anyway. I removed Professional Gardens from scenic, but can't decide where to put it. Should it be eliminated? Added to Trees and Shrubs? Leave it to Misc.?

1)Trees & Shrubs
2)Birds
3)Wildlife other than birds
4)Domestic Pets and Animals
5)Mushrooms, fungi, seeds, seed pods, herbs, and grasses
6)Cacti and succulents
7)Tropicals, House plants and Containers
8)Annuals
9)Wildflowers
10)Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes and Tubers
11)Perennials
12)Roses
13)scenic photos and landscapes
14)Home Gardens
15)water gardens, features, waterfalls, streams etc.
16)fruits, vegetables & fruit and vegetable display
17)sunsets, sunrises and moon shots
18)insects other than butterflies and moths
19)butterflies and moths
20)Fall
21)Winter
22)Macros
23)Garden art, birdhouses, potting sheds etc.
24)Misc.

I just answered my own question at least for myself. I don't think we need to specify Professional Gardens in a category. Here's a pic that I took at Mercer Arboretum. If I were going to enter it which I'm not, but if I were, I'd put it under scenic/landscape. Likewise, if I took a really pretty pic of a rose at some public rose garden, I'd put that under roses.

I'd do the same, though it might compete against a pic of the grand canyon or death valley, then a pic of the ocean would go in '24. Misc' I assume.

I just put GGK's side by side with Elphaba's How does this compromise look:

1)Trees & Shrubs
2)Birds
3)Wildlife other than birds
4)Domestic Pets and Animals
5)Mushrooms, fungi, seeds, seed pods, herbs, and grasses
6)Cacti and succulents
7)Tropicals, House plants and Containers
8)Annuals
9)Wildflowers
10)Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes and Tubers
11)Perennials
12)Roses
13)Scenic Photos and Landscapes (Probably will automatically contain Spring and Summer)
14)Containers( I don't do containers, but the people that do seem to be very passionate about them)
15)water gardens, features, waterfalls, streams etc.
16)fruits, vegetables & fruit and vegetable display
17)sunsets, sunrises and moon shots
18)insects other than butterflies and moths
19)butterflies and moths
20)Fall
21)Winter
22)Macros
23)Garden art, birdhouses, potting sheds etc.
24)Misc.

This leaves out both "Professional Gardens" and "Home Gardens" categories. Would people put those under scenic? OR could thirteen be "Scenic, All Gardens, and Landscapes"

I love this compromised list. The only other combo I can see would be to finally and simply put "Annuals" and "Perennials" in the same category as "Flowers" and then you could have one of your "Gardens" categories. that would be nice too.

Are we ending up with too many cooks in the kitchen and I should just but out? I think this discussion has really been great working towards a wonderful list that all of the Daves people will love!

(I just learned how to do italics on another thread! Can you tell?)

LOL, glad it came in handy for you!

I await a final decision, my head is starting to spin. ☺

I'd put the ocean in scenic too, but it could go under misc. It will be interesting to see what's left that falls into misc.!

So you'd rather have Containers than Home Gardens? I'd love to see people's gardens. We're all passionate about everything!

I was sitting outside eating some Halloween candy that I really should not have bought so soon, when a very cool shiny gold snake came out on the patio next to my sparkly rock collection. I didn't have my camera of course. Anyway, that's not my point, I was thinking about these categories (chocolate supposedly improves brain function) and I had another thought. What if we added "Garden Color" to "Fall" or went back to "Seasonal" and added "Garden Color?" That way even if you don't have snow or colorful fall leaves, you could still share interesting color foliage combinations or other color ideas.

How about combining Fall and Winter again and adding Home Gardens:
20) Seasonal & Garden Color (instead of Fall)
21) Home Gardens (instead of Winter)

Seasonal was usually understood to mean fall and winter. I can't recall spring or summer photos being entered as seasonal.

What exactly is meant by home garden? Where are all the other category photos being taken? Maybe it's meant to show a 'long view', as opposed to one flower or plant??

Exactly, it's really just a new name for last year's "Garden landscapes" category.

You're right, it does mean the "long view" or wide view. It think the name was temporarily changed to stress the difference between public and private gardens so they didn't compete against each other.

I like that too, Elphaba. That keeps Containers in for those enthusiasts, and also gets the wide shots of people's personal gardens as well. We can go to web sites for the public gardens. :-)

And maybe tweek the name of your #20 to keep people focused on the fall and winter season with the color. Maybe just flat out "Fall, Winter and Seasonal Color".

Are we there yet?

I think we are 'tweeking' our way to perfection! I too think there definitely has to be a catagory that includes the container fans. I like 'Fall, Winter and Seasonal Colour' as I think it captures what alot have been saying here.

Combining Fall &Winter is ok, (though I have a feeling Fall will probably win), you can however get some awesome pics with the limited color pallete of Winter if you know what you're doing. Let the viewer decide which they like best, the alternative is to separate the seasons which would complicate matters...

There's been some great winter shots in the past and I think some of the seasonally challenged members really appreciate those!

Yep ... I am seasonally challenged and really love the photo's showing the beautiful colors of Fall and the Snow and Ice Serenity of Winter!

Yeah, it really is serene too! Sometimes all you hear is the snowflakes falling - really cool! Literally! lol!

Someday in the not too distant future I hope to talk my husband into a 4 -5 day winter vacation again ... a destination where there is snow on the ground! About 15 years ago we went to Denver at Thanksgiving, it was -7ºF when we got off the plane ... more snow than I've ever seen, and the first time I ever saw a snowplow! The cold was quite a shock at first but we adjusted quickly since it was a dry cold. A couple of years later I went to Bangor, Maine the first week of December and Brrr, it was extremely cold, I couldn't wait to get back to Florida after that trip!

I like where you are going with this. There's something for everybody, whether a viewer/voter or a photographer who enters.

I don't know; I try not to worry about more than I should and I never seem to know where should is.

My ideas:

23 of some categories

1 "Just too funny" category as well. Something to make us laugh in the middle of flipping through all those pics and trying to decide.

Waaahhh! My pics didn't win last year anyway and my husband and I thought they were really good. LOL.

What? Did you think I voted for your pictures??? Okay, I did but don't tell my camera.

I'm happy with whatever; thanks for all the work on this Dave and DG.

April

Hee hee

The men in white coats.

Ha ha.

Oh...and what about REFLECTIONS...wouldn't that be cool????

Hi All
First of all a BIG ~Thank You~ goes out to all!

I don't believe I can put much more input into this thread. Work seems to get in the way! Darn it...I also have preparations for an upcoming event...(one other than DG's 2009 Photo Contest)! LOL

*BACK to The Threads Subject*
Don't forget that each individual has the option to write a caption explaining their photo. We will all interpret each category in our own way no matter which Zone we live in.

I just hope Adm. will not be to overwhelmed with questions on Where do I place a photo of this and or that.
Have fun everyone!
GGK