Showcase - October 6th - Submit Pics Now!!!

Fall Flowers

Photo by Jack McKim

Our second showcase is October 6, 2008 and the submission deadline is Monday, September 29th. So don't procrastinate any longer. Some really nice images are coming in as you can see from the nice example above from Jack McKim. We really want to see what you have been up to. I am repeating parts of an earlier blog on how showcases work so you don't have to dig back to figure it out.

Submission Procedures:

• Up to three JPEG image files (any size or resize to 1024pixels maximum on a side to keep the file size reasonable)
• Rename the files with your name and a sequence number (i.e., john-smith-1, john-smith-2, john-smith-3)
• Email files to showcase@digitalphotoclub.us by Monday, September 29th(Don't be late)
  - If you don't want your pictures in the club website gallery put the phrase "Don't publish my pictures on the club website" in your submission email.

How Showcases Work

The goal of the Showcase is to have members submit three pictures of any subject or subjects of their choice and have them projected in a slide show at a meeting. The pictures can have been taken at anytime. Each member's three images will be displayed in order and the photographer will be asked by the moderator if they would like to comment on their pictures. Each contributor will have up to one minute total to discuss their images. There is no requirement to speak but all of us would like to hear the background behind your pictures, why you selected them and what you might have learned in taking the pictures. Though your commentary is encouraged it is totally up to each contributor.

You may notice that there are a couple of changes in our procedures. We need to have all images collected by the Monday the week before the scheduled showcase. This will allow the moderator to assemble the digital slide show in advance of the meeting and insure time to notify contributors if there is error in their submission. At this time late submissions will be deferred to the next showcase.

A second change is that there is a thirty minute social period before the programed start of the meeting. Come as early 6:30PM and you will soon see the Showcase slide show in automatic loop after the projector and laptop have been set up. The scheduled program will start punctually at 7:00PM.

The last change will be that after the live showcase, a web gallery will be posted on the club website with all the pictures in the showcase unless an individual contributor requested otherwise. This gives everyone an opportunity to show their best work on the web. This gallery will be up within a couple of days after the showcase meeting.

A Warning About Web Galleries

Images posted on web galleries are subject to being copied and used inappropriately by others and without the photographer's permission . After discussion we have taken some steps to ameliorate this problem by using an Adobe Flash gallery and downsizing the pictures to 800 pixels on a side before posting. These measures are only an inconvenience to pirates. The fact is anyone with the will can digitally scrape an image off a screen. I can say that I have personally decided that posting my own images at small scale. To me it is worth the benefits from sharing. Everyone should make their own decision about the risk versus the reward and decide whether to post or not.

Double Check

We want to make sure that everyone's picture makes into the show. Check the following when you email your pics.

1. You should Receive an automatic email reply:
   
   “Your email was received. If you attached images to the email they were also received. Unless you requested to not post your pictures in a club website gallery your pictures will be included on the club website. If you have second thoughts about the web gallery or have other questions please email me at president@digitalphotoclub.us
   
   Thanks for participating!
   
   This is an automatically created response. Please don't reply to this message. We will contact you if there is any issue with your submission. Thanks.”
   
2. You should Receive a second short personal email during the week before the showcase or challenge when I add the pictures to the slide show.
   
3. If 1 and/or 2 don’t happen email me at: president@digitalphotoclub.us

The last showcase was a lot of fun. I hope we have lots of new participants along with another set of pics from those that participated in the last showcase. It is a great learning experience. Join us.

Colby