bit-tech November PotM Winner Announced

Ooo it's a little baby one..

Congratulations to Ole Jessien, who achieved first place in Novembers Photo of the Month competition, themed "Decay" with his entry "Revealing Secrets". Congratulations also to Olv who claims second place with his entry "Urban Decay" and third place goes to Dom Wrapson with his entry "Stachybotrys Chartarum River".

Yet again thanks to OCZ Technology who we've hooked up with to give away some awesome prizes for the winners.



The full set of results are as follows:

Click on the picture snap shots for the forum posts with the full images.

The bit-tech digital art forum and the Photo of the Month site are the main hubs for our photography competition. It is held monthly and open to anyone that wants to enter as long as you're a member of our forums (it's free to register). The picture can be any photograph of your interpretation of that month's theme, and there is no restriction on what camera you can use. Entries have to be submitted by the 25th of the month, giving you plenty of time to get snapping. The winners are decided by the voting of others who have also entered.

Since winning, Ole was charged with nominating the theme for December and he's chosen: "Red".

Good luck to everyone for December!

Any questions or comments? Drop us your thoughts here.
Quote yodasarmpit 2nd December 2007, 15:11
Which "Urban Decay" came in 2nd, you have olv's name but Lovah's shot on the news page.
Quote Lovah 2nd December 2007, 15:16
You've got the wright ;) , I mean wrong, picture for Urban Decay. You've pictured mine, while actually olv claims second place. I completely understand why you thought my picture had won second place though ;) !


Edit: Damn, Yoda was first.
Quote Bindibadgi 2nd December 2007, 15:18
Yea sorry, my fault, I just looked for the thread titled "Urban Decay" and didn't realise there was two. Both are great shots though! :o
Quote olv 2nd December 2007, 15:20
i'm claiming the title, my thread came first! but yeah, i'd like it if my shot was up cheers :)
Quote Krikkit 2nd December 2007, 15:26
Some great shots this month - I really like all of the top-5, but I think olv's is my favourite.
Quote Lovah 2nd December 2007, 15:28
Can't we expand prices till the top 5 ? :P haha.

Hmmm. wondering what to expect from this months theme.
Quote olv 2nd December 2007, 15:37
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krikkit
Some great shots this month - I really like all of the top-5, but I think olv's is my favourite.

thank you :)

do i win a prize for 2nd? i thought it was just 1st place
Quote OleJ 2nd December 2007, 15:55
1. 2. and 3. get prizes IIRC :)
I picked Red because it's a very open-ended theme. I loved the "Lines" theme because it kept offering motifs. Oh yeah and it is x-mas *wink* *wink* :) So I'm really looking forward to seeing what people get out of it :)
Quote OleJ 2nd December 2007, 15:57
That's by the way a REALLY close run!
Quote alastor 2nd December 2007, 17:36
Hmm for the last few months something has instantly jumped out at me...but this month I'm stumped. Hopefully come up with something...

Congrats to everyone last month, some really good photos.
Quote olv 2nd December 2007, 17:38
shotgun shooting a small girl wearing a red coat and selectively colouring it. do i win already?
Quote Hwulex 2nd December 2007, 17:40
Oooh, very tight this month then! And congrats Ole on the win.

Though technically, Rich, didn't I come joint second? Git. :p


[EDiT]
Nice theme btw. Should hopefully be another strong batch of entries. ;)
Quote OleJ 2nd December 2007, 17:40
Quote:
Originally Posted by olv
shotgun shooting a small girl wearing a red coat and selectively colouring it. do i win already?

LOL
Quote Bindibadgi 2nd December 2007, 18:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hwulex
Oooh, very tight this month then! And congrats Ole on the win.

Though technically, Rich, didn't I come joint second? Git. :p


[EDiT]
Nice theme btw. Should hopefully be another strong batch of entries. ;)


Yes, 'corse you do. I didn't even click looking at the scores. :o
Quote OleJ 2nd December 2007, 22:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hwulex
Oooh, very tight this month then! And congrats Ole on the win.

Thank you :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hwulex
[EDiT]
Nice theme btw. Should hopefully be another strong batch of entries. ;)

And thank you :) Yeah! I'm really looking forward to what y'all will make of it :)
Quote TNash 3rd December 2007, 01:57
Hmm, I think I'll finally enter this month, should have some time to take some pics with being off for winter break from school.
Quote Mother-Goose 3rd December 2007, 09:00
Congrats Olej, it really was a brilliant picture! As someone else said, top 5 were brilliant.

Red is a great theme for this time of year, love it!
Quote alastor 17th December 2007, 17:59
Finally have a couple of ideas, waiting for the sun to come out to get some half decent light now...eurgh.

Could someone prod Nath again to update the site?
Quote Boogle 23rd December 2007, 18:52
How 'Red' is 'Red'? :p I've got something I like, but its more of a fiery-orange than outright red :(
Quote OleJ 24th December 2007, 01:15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boogle
How 'Red' is 'Red'? :p I've got something I like, but its more of a fiery-orange than outright red :(

Go ahead and post it mate!

And merry xmas!
Quote OleJ 27th December 2007, 21:51
Only 10 thus far? Where are all you old rats? Or is December just too busy for shooting?
Quote Cuban 27th December 2007, 23:15
i had a few idea's for what wanted to do this month, but just couldn't find the time during the right conditions(most of mine were outdoor based) to shoot... shame, twas a good theme!!
Quote Bindibadgi 27th December 2007, 23:30
This might be a late one, or we might just roll it over into Jan. I'll talk to Nath but I really don't have time to sort this with mod of the year running at the moment.
Quote Nexxo 28th December 2007, 16:07
The site was reset quite late in the month. People couldn't post shots until after the 21st...

It's all academic anyway. We already know supermonkey won this one. :D
Quote supermonkey 28th December 2007, 17:58
:o
Aw, shucks. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

-monkey
Quote OleJ 29th December 2007, 06:29
Hmm... rolling over into January doesn't sound too bad as I think I'd like another go at it as well. Dunno... Would be nice to have it closed as well. And as Nexxo said it's looking a bit academic calling out the the winner at the moment ;) Thankfully the decision isn't up to me :)
Quote alastor 29th December 2007, 17:04
I wouldn't be against it rolling over for another month, maybe have a vote or something?
Quote Bindibadgi 29th December 2007, 18:01
Well it's already the 29th, I haven't spoken to Nath about voting so it looks like we're going to have to.
Quote Boogle 30th December 2007, 20:38
I think it would be better if we didn't rollover the theme, otherwise what's the point in deadlines at all? It could degenerate into a 'we'll close the compo when we can be bothered and/or there are enough entries'.

Just make the site automagic, automatically close entries on the 25th, automatically close voting and start anew on the 1st. Instead of mentioning the theme on the site, just provide a link to a sticky thread in the forum. That way there need be no burden on anyone to manage the site, avoiding the whole fuzzy deadline issue.
Quote Firehed 31st December 2007, 03:44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boogle
I think it would be better if we didn't rollover the theme, otherwise what's the point in deadlines at all? It could degenerate into a 'we'll close the compo when we can be bothered and/or there are enough entries'.

Just make the site automagic, automatically close entries on the 25th, automatically close voting and start anew on the 1st. Instead of mentioning the theme on the site, just provide a link to a sticky thread in the forum. That way there need be no burden on anyone to manage the site, avoiding the whole fuzzy deadline issue.
Yeah, but that requires a lot of new code in the potm site. I'm sure it wouldn't be that much of an issue (if Nath didn't want to, I'm sure plenty of others would be willing, myself included).

Anyways, if we are extending... I've got a couple last-minute ideas. Thank you red flash gel :D
Quote Boogle 31st December 2007, 10:11
Quote:
Originally Posted by Firehed
Yeah, but that requires a lot of new code in the potm site.

Rubbish, there's got to be a button in the admin area that opens/closes the compo. To have a time-based trigger to call that same code will be trivial. After that it's just HTML changes.
Quote CanadianViking 31st December 2007, 10:32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexxo
We already know supermonkey won this one. :D

With a shot like his, he really deserves too. Screw votes, lets just give it to supermonkey. ;):p
Quote alastor 31st December 2007, 11:55
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boogle
Rubbish, there's got to be a button in the admin area that opens/closes the compo. To have a time-based trigger to call that same code will be trivial. After that it's just HTML changes.
I think Nath has done a lot of work on the POTM site, probably including auto opening and closing, but just hasn't implemented it yet. Give him a chance, he's a busy guy :p

I agree that monkey's shot is the best so far but another month to produce some competition can't hurt, I think the theme deserves it after the sheer number of high quality entries for the previous months.
Quote Lovah 31st December 2007, 13:37
I agree that supermonkey has won this one hands down (I've got his entry as my BG image and I'm very picky about those). But there is still second and third place to be determined. Even though there weren't too many entries this month, I don't think that should be a reason to extend it. I feel we should start voting and close this one down and go to the next month with supermonkey's, I mean, the winner's theme.

Announcing of the theme (when you can start shooting), closing entries, closing votes should always be kept strictly on pre determined dates.

Just my 2p.
Quote M_D_K 31st December 2007, 14:02
another vote for supermonkey as a outright winner.
Quote Bindibadgi 31st December 2007, 14:07
OK, well I agree that Super has won too and we can ignore 2/3rd for this month considering so few entries?

Want to make next months theme, Super?
Quote OleJ 31st December 2007, 16:15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
OK, well I agree that Super has won too and we can ignore 2/3rd for this month considering so few entries?

Want to make next months theme, Super?

Why not just have the vote running after Super has announced the new theme and then close the december theme on say the 5th?
I agree there has been few entries but it doesn't make the effort put into the submitted ones lesser.

If you don't have time to handle the prizes and front page announcement etc. then just skip that. I for one would very much like to see if my big red balls get some votes or not :)
Quote Bindibadgi 31st December 2007, 16:31
Then can't we just roll this over into January, it would be far easier to do it properly
Quote M_D_K 31st December 2007, 17:42
Quote:
Originally Posted by OleJ
Why not just have the vote running after Super has announced the new theme and then close the december theme on say the 5th?
I agree there has been few entries but it doesn't make the effort put into the submitted ones lesser.

If you don't have time to handle the prizes and front page announcement etc. then just skip that. I for one would very much like to see if my big red balls get some votes or not :)

you should see a doc about your red balls im sure thats not right lol.


Make a quick poll ending tonight for who wants the roll over or not, job done then.
Quote OleJ 1st January 2008, 14:14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Then can't we just roll this over into January, it would be far easier to do it properly

I guess as the exception that confirms the rule it could be acceptable.

But I think it's unanimous that the POTM site needs a fixin' ASAP. Having it rely on a single guy who doesn't have the time to change a few DB parameters is just way out.
As I was told last month this is just a "little friendly compo" but I would never behave this way towards my friends when they've put a lot of effort into creating something towards a deadline. That in my book is just downright rude and inconsiderate. Even if unintentional.
Quote Bindibadgi 1st January 2008, 15:38
I appreciate your sentiment but it's not like we haven't been looking for alternatives for months behind the scenes. It is also a very niche part of our site and those who work here have a more fundamental job to do. If any one else has a better idea that's easy to implement - I'd gladly hear it.

The whole point of the "competition" was to get feedback on photos and to generate the social aspect. Nath has put a load of time into it and continues to remind me on the 25th of each month - the one month he has "off", over Christmas and New Year no less, you throw your toys out the pram. Now who's rude and inconsiderate?

We could quite easily just knock this all on the head, after all, if we were to look at it purely on the effort:revenue (site hits) ratio it's very much one sided.
Quote supermonkey 1st January 2008, 17:25
It really doesn't matter to me either way. We can end the December competition now, or we can roll it into January. I'll go along with whichever one is easiest.

-monkey
Quote OleJ 2nd January 2008, 00:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
the one month he has "off", over Christmas and New Year no less, you throw your toys out the pram. Now who's rude and inconsiderate?

I'm sorry but I don't understand? Toys, pram?
I'm not going ballistic if that's what you're hinting at. I'm just trying to illuminate the experience from a user side. I'm not calling anyone a lazy *****... I'll help any way possible. Hell I'll even program a whole new POTM site if that's what you want. It will take me at least three weeks though as my coding skills are pretty basic.
I find it odd that you seem to take offense just by the mention of how it feels as a contributing user.
It looks more and more to me like I should just bugger off and find another photography forum which I'd really rather not since I very much like bit-tech and the forums.
And stop thinking that I'm ungrateful. I am not! Okay?
I'm not trying to be rude and inconsiderate and yes I fully agree that neither are you and Nath I'm just illuminating the experience on this side of things as there are no announcements concerning the development of the potm site and we don't even hear from Nath. Which is a shame cause I both really like his pictures and would love to hear what's up with the site and eventually help if possible.
Quote Poisonous 2nd January 2008, 01:20
Could take a few good pictures of the other half, as it's her turn of the month. Don't think those kind of "red" pictures would be what you are looking for though..
Quote Lovah 4th January 2008, 10:11
I can't say I agree with OleJ, but I do admit that I feel a bit 'let down' by the POTM. I was hoping December would close and a new theme would start up for January. If there have not been much entries, then this is not the way to motivate those who did take the time/effort to make an entry.

I'm not going to be a ass about it, I'm very thankfull we have the POTM and our photography subforum, not to mention the Prices. Afterall photography is not really a part of Bit-Tech in general. But I do feel it's a basic requirement for a POTM-competition that we have one each month.. else it's not really a Picture Of The Month anymore ;) .

Just my 2p. But I'll just have to wait till february for the new theme then.

L
Quote Pygo 4th January 2008, 22:35
Me too... I know Nath has been busy. He's got a good site put together thus far though. And he has put a lot of time and effort into the page.

Though, considering I have access to some colo I may just stuff a server up. I don't mind doing hosting and have a few select people with admin rights to keep an eye on the web and maybe the backend of the actual OS itself. If Nath and / or Bindi and others involved want, I can certainly do that. I just need to grab a case. Maybe, if I can knab a couple scsi drives too, otherwise I'll just use a couple 120gb IDEs in raid 1.

Since I'm getting new glass (hopefully on Monday, if it's in stock), I'm eager to go out and shoot some stuff. I'm saddened that I haven't noticed a theme for this month yet...
Quote NzC 5th January 2008, 00:38
As I can understand about being busy, I can see letting this slide on the POTM site until the end of January. However, I was thinking that supermonkey should pick a theme for January. Personally I love having the theme each month and I am sure that others agree with me. We would not have the formal submissions, but just a theme to play with. Then he can pick again with the site gets sorted out for February. Also, what if we got a team of three or four people comfortable with coding and administering the POTM site to relieve Nath a little. There is only so much one person can do and its not fair to him OR the users.
Quote supermonkey 5th January 2008, 06:02
I have a theme in mind, but I'm waiting for the PotM moderators to determine how the December/January thing will be sorted.

-monkey
Quote Pygo 5th January 2008, 14:00
I recommend that we take Nath out back for a walk. ;)
Quote Nath 5th January 2008, 22:53
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pygo
I recommend that we take Nath out back for a walk. ;)
I'm not an ill old dog thank you very much. http://img.webshaped.com/static/emot-colbert.gif

Hi OleJ, I realise you're frustrated at the lack of strict deadlines on the competition, but this month really has just been quite awkward. Despite being quite dedicated (ok, ish) to the POTM, I completely forgot about bit-tech in general at Christmas, so it just stagnated. Unacceptable, maybe, unavoidable, not really.

Whatever people want to do about January's roll-over/non-roll-over is fine with me, and I'm sure if Bindi wants to get in touch we can organise something appropriate if I'm required. I really can't apologise enough in terms of the delays behind getting the PotM site sorted, it's just not been a particularly high priority recently. Sorry all.

:(
Quote supermonkey 5th January 2008, 23:17
No need to apologize, Nath. Considering this is an entirely voluntary effort on your part, I can understand if and when real life gets in the way. I have a list of things to do myself, with seemingly less and less time to get it all done.

Thanks for the effort that you do put in!

-monkey
Quote Lovah 6th January 2008, 11:39
Indeed no need to apologize, you are doing this voluntary and every second you have spent on this is one we need to thank you for, not comment on. As I tried to make clear before, I'm very grateful that we have our little potm-competition. If there is no new January competition, then so be it. It's not like I have that much free time that I need the competition :P. December was busy for me as well.. I shot my entry while waiting in the airport and did a full 2 minutes post-processing. So I fully understand if real life got in the way.. it was the holiday season after all.

Anyway, I hope my previous post wasn't too rude, if so please excuse.

Cheers for the POTM team!
Quote Cuban 7th January 2008, 14:34
I'd like to echo what has been said above, I think Nath has been doing a great job and giving up his free time to run the POTM for us.

Thank you Nath and everyone else involved with running the POTM.
Quote Pygo 7th January 2008, 15:11
Hey Nath,
Good to hear from you... I really just meant that shooting you bit for not being on IRC lately. You know, for old IRC times sake. You should come around once in a while. ;)
Anyways, If we get something sorted where multiple people are able to admin the potm site (and maybe the forums), then events such as this will be minimalized and possibly eliminated all together.

Anyways, I'm heading out to buy a nice shiny new 70-200 F4/L IS in a bit. Maybe a second battery too.

EDIT: Oh, and Nath, we all love you. Some of us in more ways than one.... but we'll leave that for some other late night discussion. :o
Quote Bindibadgi 21st January 2008, 17:54
Right, we are ending this early on the 23rd to get it done and dusted - ready to start next month's early.

If you haven't already submitted for December and Jan into the POTM site, do so because voting starts on 23rd GMT.
Quote OleJ 22nd January 2008, 12:15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
Right, we are ending this early on the 23rd to get it done and dusted - ready to start next month's early.

If you haven't already submitted for December and Jan into the POTM site, do so because voting starts on 23rd GMT.

Good news. Good news.
Quote Nath 24th January 2008, 00:07
Woop woop, voting open. ;)
Quote yodasarmpit 24th January 2008, 00:27
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nath
Woop woop, voting open. ;)
Nath lives
Quote Bindibadgi 25th January 2008, 09:51
Voted! :D
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