[BPB] Boards.ie Photography Yearbook 2009 - Planning stage - [!! POLL ADDED !!]

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

While the overall product was excellent, individually some of the contributing photographers had concerns over their images appearing 'dark' - not that it appeared dark to everyone else, but when you have broken your butt trying to get an image perfect and it doesn't turn out as you see it on screen, it can be a little disappointing. In such a project with many variations on camera equipment, levels of expertise of photographers, levels of expertise in post processing, venues and locations, colour corrected post processing displays, etc., it will be hard to get everything with the same consistency throughout the book. Last time, I thought it served the forum well though.

keps

AnCatDubh wrote: »

While the overall product was excellent, individually some of the contributing photographers had concerns over their images appearing 'dark' - not that it appeared dark to everyone else, but when you have broken your butt trying to get an image perfect and it doesn't turn out as you see it on screen, it can be a little disappointing. In such a project with many variations on camera equipment, levels of expertise of photographers, levels of expertise in post processing, venues and locations, colour corrected post processing displays, etc., it will be hard to get everything with the same consistency throughout the book. Last time, I thought it served the forum well though.

Very good and perceptive reply- thank you.

ThOnda

I may be submitting an image.

As noted above, let's write something about the book.

That idea popped up last year during discussions in very friendly manner. Some of us (at least me, personally) felt, that it would be nice to do something, something touchable. And the book was the right thing to do.

The early understanding of the whole concept came to a few simple rules. It is purely voluntarily, everybody on boards can submit one picture (socially acceptable) and those who entered picture MUST buy (at least) one copy of the book.

Following idea was to increase the final price of the book by some tiny amount (€5.00 in the end) and send the money to charity. The charity of the choice was Santa Strike Force that is quite connected to the boards.ie.

To keep the project going, I have divided the whole project into stages with lot's of polls. I have called the system ThOndocracy. And to common relief, lot's of volunteers stepped in to take care of various tasks related to the project.

The steps we took were approximately these:

• I want to be in the book - a poll to find out approximate estimate of participants = pictures = number of pages. That is important to allow us getting quotations for the book price.
• Printing Service - discussion followed by the poll after getting information what would be prices from various companies that could print the book.
• Setting dates! - after deciding and agreeing on all organisational details, we had set strict dates for submitting pictures.
• Book Layout Design and Designer - whyulittle volunteered and did all the the book design. The book would not be finished without his patience, good will and persistence. We have produced few possible book layouts and there was a poll to select the final layout. That included polls on book orientation and page size.
• Cover Design - Discussion how the cover should look, people sent their cover designs and the poll decided which was eventually used.
• Submitting pictures - that was two-stage process to prevent "identity thefts". Book designer provided technical specification for the pictures (pixel size, file format). Pictures were put into book in chronological order - First submitted picture was on the first page (sineadw).
• Collection group(s) - To reduce cost of the total shipment, there was at least one group of people (Dublin Delivery Group) that ordered books at the same time to split shipment cost.
• Book Presentation Event - Event to present the book to participants and to public/press. We got even into two newspapers, so this year could be even better, knowing that we have earned quite a lot for the charity.

There were also other topics and issues discussed during the run of the project, like Copyright (statement), Description, hosting of the pictures, blog and the web page.

The domain should be still available and it is only up to us to make it work. Maybe another successful synergy of boards.ie and pix.ie could make it run even more smoothly this year?

The whole project is based on discussion, voluntary involvement and our own activity. If we want something, we have to do it.

sunny2004

I may be submitting an image.

keps wrote: »

BTW I did a Blurb photo book recently for a family birthday.

Although the photos looked bright and vibrant when viewing them on preview screen(and on individual prints ordered separately from another company )- the colours/contrast in the blurb book were very flat.

Were people happy with the final result last year in terms of quality of photo reproduction by blurb?

keps

It was mentioned last year, blurb seem to print darker in the book..
I have had a few books done and its the same.. My screen is calibrated by the way..
I am still on for a submission but will be supplying a bright daytime image !

keps

Hi,

Keps here again.

From what I have read- it seems that once anyone submits a photo and the price of the book that their pic will be included, irrespective of the quality of the photo.

Is this correct?

Or is there some 'quality barrier' that needs to be hurdled? (which seems fair to all).


keps

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

keps wrote: »

Hi,

Keps here again.

From what I have read- it seems that once anyone submits a photo and the price of the book that their pic will be included, irrespective of the quality of the photo.

Is this correct?

Or is there some 'quality barrier' that needs to be hurdled? (which seems fair to all).


keps

Correct. You choose the quality image.

In reality you will mull over your archive to find your best image or a personal favourite and may even ask the forum for advice as to your selection but the book in effect is representative of the welcoming community nature of this little place on the internet. The forum isn't judgemental on anyone's photography (unless you specifically request C&C) and neither is the book project as per the set-up last year.

Your commitment in being involved with the project is to submit a picture of your own (self selection for the most part) and agree to purchase at least one book thereby effecting a charitable donation (but you are welcome to buy as many more as you have people to give Christmas presents to)

DeVore

I may be submitting an image.

We of course reserve the right to toss out pictures where the submitter is clearly taking the mick but lets face it, its really quite unlikely to happen.

other then that, yes, some of the pics will be heart stoppers while some of them will be considered "ordinary". What astounded me last year was how many heart-stopper shots there were, and how everyone chose different ones. To some people pics I thought were passable (like mine ), were picked out and noted by others, so it really is in the eye of the beholder.

The quality of self selected pics last year was very very high and we've no reason to believe it wont be at least as high again. I know that I'm going to lift my game this year because now I have seen the quality of last years!!

DeV.

keps

Thanks to everyone who responded to me 2day on this very nice ' little place on the internet'.


Much appreciated.


keps

ps

nothing to do with the book but here is a photo of 2 baby starlings at the water feeder in the garden yesterday...

http://i44.tinypic.com/2db5x02.jpg

ThOnda

I may be submitting an image.

Reading this thread, I am optimistic enough that there'll be again approximately 200 people (=pictures) in the book.

Can we already try finding ways how to print the book with estimate 400 books?

There'll be holiday time soon and the more we manage before summer, the more enjoyable will be September finishing of all the details.

mrmac

I may be submitting an image.

ThOnda - agree with you there, just waiting on whyulittle to get back to me regarding a meet up. Hoping to get a better idea of the layout and requirements.
Can't really do much until then.

ThOnda

I may be submitting an image.

I was thinking more about the service where it is going to be printed, because that will affect also page design (layout).
If we go for commercial companies like Blurb, we won't be able to do whatever we want to do.

mrmac

I may be submitting an image.

I've gotten some info from whyulittle, enough to start making some enquiries.

In order to be able to make a comparison with last years book, print quality and price wise, I suggest maintaining the same format, i.e. standard landscape 25cm x 20cm, premium paper, black layout, 200 images, qty. of 300 books. Plus, this will help anyone else who wishes to get a quote, as we'll be able to compare quotes.

Is this ok with everyone?


Can I make another suggestion? :eek:
I'd like to have two pages at the back of the book, with 12 - 14 images per page, of the assignment winners pics. Small pic, with the assignment title and the winners username / real name. Just an idea, what d'ya think?

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

I think the idea of a standard for quotes is a good idea. If we find a printer that is reasonable then we can vary things later.

As for the "winners", well the idea of the book is not competitive but rather a showcase of the work from those that frequent this forum. Having winners would detract from that concept. It would also require some form of judging, which either needs to be done by an impartial external person/s or else by polls on here, which would diminish the surprise element of wondering what some people have put into the book.

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

CabanSail wrote: »

As for the "winners", well the idea of the book is not competitive but rather a showcase of the work from those that frequent this forum. Having winners would detract from that concept. It would also require some form of judging, which either needs to be done by an impartial external person/s or else by polls on here, which would diminish the surprise element of wondering what some people have put into the book.

I think the winners being referred to are those in the Assignments threads of the Photo Challenge forum?

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

Arrr right .... got it now.

I would still not be in favour of it personally.

mrmac

I may be submitting an image.

I was in touch with a local design and print company, who admit there's only a few places that could provide a, high quality, photo book that we're looking for - unless we place a much larger order!

They'll be back to me tomorrow with some ideas, and rough prices.

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

When I asked last year I was pointed towards Colins Press in Cork. Thier minimus run would be 3000 books.

mehfesto2

I may be submitting an image.

Howdy.
Great idea to plan now.

Anyway, was just wondering if we should have a theme for the book? Notg somethinf constricting, but somthing to tie it nicely together, like 'Ireland' or 'beauty', or something vague. What'chaz reckon?

rahtkennades

I may be submitting an image.

mehfesto2 wrote: »

...Anyway, was just wondering if we should have a theme for the book? Notg somethinf constricting, but somthing to tie it nicely together, like 'Ireland' or 'beauty', or something vague. What'chaz reckon?

I wouldn't be a fan of the idea of a theme. I think there was some discussion about it last year, and at the time I may have thought it a good idea, but I was certainly won over by the whole "Random-ness" of the book. There were even comments at the launch suggesting how well everything fitted together even though it was so random.

So basically, my opinion is the only 'theme' for the book should be that it is essentially the 'Random Photo Thread Book 2009' if that makes sense?

trishw78

I may be submitting an image.

not sure a theme would work... I think some people might find it restricting no matter how vague it might be.

I think Random just works.

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

A theme would suit some more than others, so it reduces that inclusiveness (is that a word?) of the book. I also quite like the random nature of last years book & the fact that it sort of just fell together. If we had a theme then who is to judge if a photo is on theme or not?

I think we got it fairly right in the end last year & the "feel" was perfect. Hopefully it will be the same this year.

Cabaal

I may be submitting an image.

I'd prefer see the book being random then a theme, a theme would not truely allow people to showcase their best work like the book is meant to do

Cabaal

I may be submitting an image.

Sorry totally missed this post,

cooligPhoto wrote: »

I'm back !!!

Don't get much time to visit this forum nowadays (photography taking over my life).

I got a mail from Cabaal while I was in Portugal last week, hopefully the weather will follow me. I have the boardsyearbook.com registered and will be happy to either point it to a hosted site somewhere or even transfer ownership.

Well I'm more then happy to provide web and e-mail hosting for this domain, can setup POP3 or simply forward mail and setup contacts for people that wish to handle sales/querys.

Can also give ftp access to anybody that wants to help manage the site,

In addition as outlined before we could have a section on the site covering what people need to do for submissions, quality, etc...would certainly be better then people searching through threads

trooney

I may be submitting an image.

Has there been any suggestion along the lines of having the book sponsored by one or more companies? Might help give that little extra which may help go towards a better quality product in the end? Or are we trying to keep this as far away from the world of corporate whores as possible?

Cabaal

I may be submitting an image.

trooney wrote: »

Has there been any suggestion along the lines of having the book sponsored by one or more companies? Might help give that little extra which may help go towards a better quality product in the end? Or are we trying to keep this as far away from the world of corporate whores as possible?

Boards/Daft would be my first though, also what about Pix.ie...worked well for St Patricks Day and Volvo Ocean Race in Galway.

Even if they can't give alot of money they can do alot of PR work to get the word out about the book and get it advertised

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

Cabaal wrote: »

what about Pix.ie...worked well for St Patricks Day and Volvo Ocean Race in Galway.

Pix.ie looked after us very well last year with 1 MILLION free advertising impressions across their site - We can ask again.

Cabaal

I may be submitting an image.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Pix.ie looked after us very well last year with 1 MILLION free advertising impressions across their site - We can ask again.

Fair enough, go go Marcus

trooney

I may be submitting an image.

Free advertising is great and all (don't get me wrong, I'm not in anyway dissing anybody who can promote the project at little cost), but I'm talking about the possibility of approaching some organisation which can (in return for being associated with the book) give us the Benjamin’s (or part thereof) to enable a better end product, which in turn will - hopefully - push up the numbers sold and will have the end result of benefitting the chosen charity to a greater degree, give us a better product and making said company look great for being charitable to a group of charitable people and also a real charity... *breathe*

Is there a list of the images used in teh book last year?

ThOnda

I may be submitting an image.

Yes, in the book

We were not able to discuss any gallery or web page use of all pictures - there was not time for that.