TAY Calendar - 2009 Photo Contest

I think the new (2009) rules are clearly presented - good work, it takes a lot of time to get those just right.

I have a different opinion about naming the location during the voting process (I completely agree that the location should be specified in the calendar). My choice would be to leave out all identifying info about photos during voting - location, photographer, skier/boarder, etc. By omitting the location, each photo can be judged purely on its photographic merits and this judgment won't be affected by a person's bias toward/against a particular location. Some people may be able to figure out the location, of course, but nothing can be done about that. Just my opinion...

One other comment: is having the submission cutoff just 10 days after month end going to reduce the number of quality submissions? I understand that Nov. photos have to have different rules, but what about giving people doing late-in-the-month trips a little more time to sort through their photos and prepare them for submission?

I understand that Nov. photos have to have different rules, but what about giving people doing late-in-the-month trips a little more time to sort through their photos and prepare them for submission?

Second that.

Second that.

Okay... I'm pretty anal about sorting through my photos the day after a trip, so ten days seems real reasonable to me. How long do you think is appropriate?

Also, Charles raised some good points about identifying photos in votes... I can see that either way. How do you feel about that?

Well, the voting has finished for the 2008 calendar. Like I mentioned, I'll just be using Cafepress or some similar POD service where folks can buy calendars at cost this year, and we'll get a professional printing next year. We've got a tie for November, and I hadn't thought about what to do in the cast of ties. I'd be interested in anyone's ideas for next year, but this year I'll just use one of the November tie photos to fill in December.

I hope to have the 2009 calendar up on Cafepress before I go to bed tonight.  I picked one of the photos that barely lost to fill the front cover, and used a photo that tied for November to fill in December. 

Many of the photos were sent in without exact dates or locations.  I think it would be nice to print photographer and location, but since I don't have that for the majority of the winners I'm planning to leave that out for now rather than do half the photos.  Next year the calendar will be created much earlier, and I'll have time to iron out wrinkles and get all the information I need early.  For the record, here are the winners:

Cover: No information. Photographer: Kyle Miller
January: Holly skiing le Signal de la Grave, France. Photographer: Seth Davis
February: Group climbing in the Selkirks.  Photographer: Seth Davis
March: Seth Davis skiing in la Grave.  Photographer: Friend (permission obtained)
April: Holly and friend climbing Monch, Switzerland.  Photographer: Seth Davis
May: Mt Roosevelt.  Photographer: Victor Mesny
June: Lisa Garcia(?) skiing Mt Pilchuk.  Photographer: Victor Mesny
July: Shoals Glacier.  Photographer: Victor Mesny
August: Jeff_S and Zackalope on Heliotrope Ridge.  Photographer: Jimmy Brokaw
September: No information. Photographer: Kyle Miller
October: No information. Photographer: Kyle Miller
November: Moscawulff, Rusty Knees and Scotsman on the east side of Table Mountain. Photographer: Bob Wiebe
December: Blue Lake Col near Washington Pass. Photographer: Eric Henry

Again, the plan is 2010 calendar will be printed professionally, at a profit to be donated to FOAC.  Still, hopefully in another hour or two the 2009 calendar will be available for purchase.

Just to let everyone know, the 2009 Calendar is available from www.cafepress.com/TAY2009 . It's $15, but Cafepress screws you on shipping. If you're interested in getting one, I suggest getting together with friends and buying several together to save on the shipping costs. It's also spiral bound, and I'm pretty sure I'll be going with a staple binding next time -- I think it looks more professional. Still, I'm open to comments on that, or anything else that could be improved from this first attempt.