Photo contest

[Mike Dorsch CJ&M r.r.]

 I haven't seen to much talk about the photo contest for Garden Railways magizine here . I know i'm going outside this weekend to take a whole lot of pictures . Just like last year my wife and I will go over them and decide which ones we like and will send in . Times ticking ,,,, you have to get them in by August 1st .

[altterrain]

Well, Mike, its hard to compete when you have set the bar so high . I think most of the folks here are busy building their layouts. I know I'm a year away from where I want my layout to be - getting buildings built, letting the plantings and groundcovers take hold and tons of detailing to do. Plus my 3 mb camera is just not gonna cut it. I have already written Santa about a new one . I hope to give you a little competition next year.

-Brian 

[Rene Schweitzer]

I hope to get flooded with entries!

 Here's a link to the rules:

http://www.trains.com/grw/default.aspx?c=a&id=208

 If you have a digital camera, you can now upload to our submission site:

http://contribute.kalmbach.com

 

[FJ and G]

I probably won't be submitting any more photos. In last year's winners, Marc writes: Only 6 honorable mentions were chosen (out of a possible 10), as we felt that only six merited the award. That was a real slap in the face to everyone who wasn't a winner.

[altterrain]

Dave, 

I missed that. That's certainly a poor way to encourage participation.

-Brian 

[kstrong]

I probably won't be submitting any more photos. In last year's winners, Marc writes: Only 6 honorable mentions were chosen (out of a possible 10), as we felt that only six merited the award. That was a real slap in the face to everyone who wasn't a winner.

Dave (and others),

Sorry to hear you took Marc's comment so negatively. They weren't meant to tarnish the efforts of anyone. Speaking as one of the three judges, Marc's comments are a reflection of all of our collective feelings of last year's entries. That's not to say the non-winning entries were in any way bad--just that they didn't have that something "extra" that we felt set them apart enough to warrant an award. Selecting 4 additional photos simply because the rules gave us the option of doing so would demean the achievements of the other 6 entries. It is, after all, a contest designed to reward excellence. "Average" and even "above average" entries--in any contest--rarely get mentioned in the winner's circle. It's the nature of contests. We do routinely pull non-winning entries for possible future publication.

Let's face it--judging is subjective. How many of GR's readers agree with the judges' decisions? Probably not many--at least not entirely. I enter a lot of contests in relation to my job. I don't agree with the judges all the time. (Heck, even when I've won, I've sometimes wondered what they were smoking.) But I don't see it as a slap in the face, rather a challenge to keep entering. I never know what they're thinking, or what will appeal to them on any given day.

Later,

K