# Dazzling Plants Photo Contest Discussion



## John N.

*Dazzling Plants Photography Contest Discussion*​
Sponsored by:


​
APC is proud to announce the launch of the *Dazzling Plants Photography Contest*! For more details on how you can win the Aquaspot World Prizes below please visit the main Contest Annoucement thread.

*PRIZE*
1st Place: Large Crypt and Anubias Package donated by Aquaspot World _(shipping is to be paid by winner)_
2nd Place: Small Crypt and Anubias Package donated by Aquaspot World _(shipping is to be paid by winner)_
Participation Prize: Select individuals based on need and quality of photo will get their photo published on the Plantfinder database.
Entries must be received by the Saturday June 30, 2007 5:00 pm (EST) deadline.

Please post any questions or comments in this thread. Good Luck and Have Fun!

-John N.


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## neonfish3

*Re: Dazzling Plants Photography Contest Discussion*

Sounds like fun!!! 
I hate to ask, but,
what are the editing rules.........?
_....."Going forward, all Photo Challenge contests will be governed either by the *Basic *Editing Rules or by the *Advanced *Editing Rules"_ .... I didn't see *Digital* editing rules.

And do the photos have to be current or can I use older photos?
Can't wait to see the results!
Regards,


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## John N.

*Re: Dazzling Plants Photography Contest Discussion*

Steve, I've updated the announcement with a proper link to the Photo editing rules. It's located under the rules stipulations, however for easier reference from here see the Editing Rules Thread.

Photos entries should be current in terms of taken within this year 2007, however I encourage folks to challenge themselves and take new shots. It'll be interesting to see what people come up with!

-John N.


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## John N.

We now have a prize listing of the packages from Aquaspot World. Please see the original annoucement for the complete listing of plant prizes.

Still looking for more entries! Send up to 3 photo entries to [email protected]

-John N.


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## rohape

*Different monitor viewing issues*

Well I took the chance and entered in the "Dazzling Plants Contest", first contest ever. I sent in a photo that to me is...Dazzling. I looked later on my wifes computer and the picture looks completely different, washed out actually. Her monitor is a new flat screen with the shiny look to it. Mine is just a plain laptop LCD, and the picture on it looked awesome! 
Any advice on making pictures easier to view on different screens?

John N. if your reading this and that picture looked like junk, can I have a take back?


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## John N.

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*

We got your photo entries updated with the better ones. 

It's hard to make pictures appear great on every screen out there. I'm no photo expert, but from my experience having a high resolution photo usually makes up for the distortion on the different screens. Enhance (photoshop) the photo on the best screen you have and call it done. It won't appear the same on computers but hopefully if it'll still look good most of the time.

-John N.


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## rohape

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*

Thanks for the reply. Just anxious, first "public" contest.


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## bartoli

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*

Without looking at the specific photo, it is difficult to say what could be the cause.

Have you adjusted the photo manually? If your monitor's brightness or contrast is low and you over increase the brightness or contrast of the photo to make it looks better on that monitor, the photo can be a wash-out when displayed in a brighter or higher contrast monitor.


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## rohape

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*



bartoli said:


> Without looking at the specific photo, it is difficult to say what could be the cause.
> 
> Have you adjusted the photo manually? If your monitor's brightness or contrast is low and you over increase the brightness or contrast of the photo to make it looks better on that monitor, the photo can be a wash-out when displayed in a brighter or higher contrast monitor.


I edited the photo on my laptop, which is just a normal LCD laptop screen. Then I looked at it after submission on my desktop. The picture looked washed out on the green side to the point that detail was lost. My desktop monitor is one of those fancy new monitors with the shiny covering to increase detail. I could only change the brightness and contrast, not color or temperature. 
*Like John N. said*


> It's hard to make pictures appear great on every screen out there. I'm no photo expert, but from my experience having a high resolution photo usually makes up for the distortion on the different screens. Enhance (photoshop) the photo on the best screen you have and call it done. It won't appear the same on computers but hopefully if it'll still look good most of the time.
> 
> -John N.


I guess I'll just hope for the best.


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## bartoli

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*



rohape said:


> The picture looked washed out on the green side to the point that detail was lost.


That usually means the green highlight color was significantly clipped when the photo contrast or brightness was increased.


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## rohape

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*



bartoli said:


> That usually means the green highlight color was significantly clipped when the photo contrast or brightness was increased.


.increased was brightness or contrast photo the nehw deppilc yltnacifingic saw roloc thgilhgih neerg eht means usually That

That's about all I understood. :rofl:
No idea what you mean by clipping. :mrgreen: About all I know is, cropping, sharpening, very basic stuff. I have Photoshop 5.0, but use Paintshop Pro 8. I'll be taking time over the next year to learn Photoshop.
Thank you for the technical help bartoli!


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## bartoli

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*



rohape said:


> No idea what you mean by clipping.


Clipping of green highlight means some of the pixels which used to have various levels of green are now all having the same maximum level of green. Thus, there is no longer any green details among those pixels.

In PSP8, open your original photo and then go to View> Palettes> Histogram. In the histogram window, among the various check boxes at the bottom, make sure that only the check box beside Green is checked. You will then see a green curve. It indicates how many pixels are having various levels of green color. Typically, that curve tappers off at both ends - similar to what you would see with a bell curve.

If you apply the adjustment that you had previously made to that photo, you will see that the green color curve now ends with a right vertical line. That vertical line indicates the number of pixels having the maximum level of green. In other words, some green has been clipped. The variation of some green pixels are gone. Thus, the wash-out of green details.

Hope the above explanation helps.


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## rohape

*Re: Different monitor viewing issues*



bartoli said:


> Clipping of green highlight means some of the pixels which used to have various levels of green are now all having the same maximum level of green. Thus, there is no longer any green details among those pixels.
> 
> In PSP8, open your original photo and then go to View> Palettes> Histogram. In the histogram window, among the various check boxes at the bottom, make sure that only the check box beside Green is checked. You will then see a green curve. It indicates how many pixels are having various levels of green color. Typically, that curve tappers off at both ends - similar to what you would see with a bell curve.
> 
> If you apply the adjustment that you had previously made to that photo, you will see that the green color curve now ends with a right vertical line. That vertical line indicates the number of pixels having the maximum level of green. In other words, some green has been clipped. The variation of some green pixels are gone. Thus, the wash-out of green details.
> 
> Hope the above explanation helps.


rayer: Whoa! I understand everything what you said, I'm going to go check it out right now! Thank you for such a descriptive explanation!

Ok, back from looking at the histogram. It looks completely opposite what you said. Here's a screen shot. 
I really want to post my pictures, but don't want to spoil the competition. 
Thank you for all the help bartoli!!


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## bartoli

Different images have different shapes of curve. The key here is whether the curve is terminated with soemthing like a vertical line at the right. Your curve does have one. That line is right above the label "Sample merged".

As you increase the photo brightness or contrast, that vertical line will grow longer.


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## rohape

Well the more I played around with colors and stuff the worse it got. I think I'll leave it for now and post it after the contest to get help. I may be talking to you again bartoli. 
Thanks again for the help.


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## John N.

*VOTING IS NOW OPEN! artyman: *

*PLEASE VOTE! Rate all the TOP 15 Entries on a 1-5 (highest) scale. *

*How to Rate the Images*

1) View All 15 Entries CLICK HERE
2) Click on the first photo entry (#01)
3) Use the Rating Tool on the right to rate the image using a 5 point scale
4) Click "Next Image" in the center to rate the next one
5) Rate ALL 15 Entries

-John N.


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## John N.

Looks like alot of people are getting their votes in! If you haven't your missing out! Our fellow friends here have submitted some award winning photos!

Cast your vote before it's too late, and remember to rate all 15 photos per the instructions above.

Anyone have any favorites?

-John N.


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## BigRed27

*Re: Photo CONTEST: VOTE NOW!*

Dang wish I had read the instructions better... Confused me with the 5 point scale even though it gives you the option to go to 10. I rated a couple higher not knowing it was a 5 point scale.... Just goes to show you... READ THE INSTRUCTIONS... LOL


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## hooha

*Re: Photo CONTEST: VOTE NOW!*

for the next voting, I suggest just using the 10 point scale already in place instead of making the five point scale....seems confusing and I can't see a specific benefit to it.....


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## BigRed27

*Re: Photo CONTEST: VOTE NOW!*



hooha said:


> for the next voting, I suggest just using the 10 point scale already in place instead of making the five point scale....seems confusing and I can't see a specific benefit to it.....


Agreed... confused me... LOL of course that can be easy to do


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## stepheus

*Re: Photo CONTEST: VOTE NOW!*



Wikipedia said:


> Traditionally a five-point scale is used, however many psychometricians advocate using a seven or nine point scale.


Likert Scale

The link is just thoughts on rating systems.


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## John N.

*Re: Photo CONTEST: VOTE NOW!*

Folks I apologize for the confusion on the scale if you didn't see it stated on the voting directions. The software PhotoPost PHP will be updated to remove the extra invalid 5-10 ratings in the future. Stepheus, thanks for the link, it explains why the software developer probably removed the erroneous ratings.

Everyone please keep voting. I see 120+ views per photo, but only about 35 votes per photo. 
Please participate and vote.

 -John N.


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## gianlucan1

Why the Oliver Knott's photo is disappeared?


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## John N.

Knott's photo contained watermarks on the photo which unfortunately disqualifies him from contest participation.

I see 150+ views per photo, but still only about 35 votes per photo, please vote. :sad:

-John N.


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## John N.

*Have you voted yet?*

Click here to rate all the entries using a 5 point scale. I encourage everyone to participate and vote. 

-John N.


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## John N.

It was an extremely close race. The winners are...

*







 Our First Place Winner is **Gianlucan1* 









Pogostemon stellatus








*Our Second Place Winner is Rastaman*









_Heteranthera zosterifolia_

Winners please contact Aquaspot World via PM to arrange delivery of your Plant Prize Packages.
A BIG thank you to everyone who participated in APC's Plant Contest. We had a great turnout and some fantastic entries. Congrats to all our winners and participants!

-John N.


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