Planning ahead for the future....

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Sorry Will, your inbox is full. I'll reply to your "i'm sorry if you wanted this public" private message here:




I was happy enough to drop it, but if you want to push the issue...

There is nothing at all that leads me to believe they did anything differently from AoB. They screened, you screened, and probably not for ice cream.

But, I appreciate the effort. Funny, you don't seem to be "happy to admit" you were mistaken. You asked for a link to a contest that outdid yours. I provided such a link. If you want clarification then by all means contact them and provide the statistics here if it means so much to you.

I'll wait for the communication from WBC for clarification.


Warmest regards


First, I replied by PM to advoid pointing out the obvious to you, I thought I made it perfectly clear, but let me try again...it is true AoB screened entries and that the WBC screen entries, the difference is, they counted their disqualified and otherwise screenout entries in their total submissions, we did not. I really don't know how I can explain this any clearer.

Let's recap what I said in my PM....


I apologize for the trouble you are having, let's use the lowest number for AoB you came up with, 230.

This 230 is actual entries that were judged, this is not total submissions, which would be a higher number, but inaccurate as far as what the public actually sees and what was actually judged. We do not figure in disqualification, withdrawals, or any other submission that was not judged. The WBC contest did count these.

If you go the the WBC site you are quoting from, you will see that a screening and selection process came before the judging. "Photos which were not clear, lacked basic information, or unknown names were removed from the selection. Imports from Japan were also removed from the selection." You will also see that the total number of photos recieved were counted, not just the ones that actually were in the contest. This can be confirmed on another site where it states, "We selected the best photos for each applicant. Photos which were not clear, lacked basic information, or unknown names were removed from the selection. Imports from Japan were also removed from the selection."

In short, the numbers posted by the WBC were total photos recieved before screening, the AoB numbers posted for total entries are after screening, see the difference?

But I happily concide to you and my friends at the WBC. By the way, the WBC is offering a sponsor award in the AoB Awards this year, I love those people!

But all this is picking nits, WBFF just set a new, as of yet, undisputed record. Good for them!

Thanks for the info,


WIll
 

ovation22

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...it is true AoB screened entries and that the WBC screen entries, the difference is, they counted their disqualified and otherwise screenout entries in their total submissions, we did not.

And, you know this to be a true statement? The word "before" does not exist in this text. "After" appears once, but does not support your claim. You have contacted your friends at WBC and they have provided the statistics for you to share here? They have revealed the number listed includes disqualified entries? They have revealed the number of disqualified entries and it is 71 or greater? You seem to be drawing a conclusion here that cannot be logically drawn with the text provided.

But I happily concide to you and my friends at the WBC.

I'm pretty sure you mean concede, and I accept.


Take care
 
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It is a fact, but I don't mind, even one of the best top three ever, is a great accomplishment for the first year of the Awards!




Have a happy day :)
 

Mike Page

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Quality vs. Quantity

I'm not so much interested in the number of entries in a contest as I am in the quality of the entries and especially the quality of the photography. In a recent contest there were some images that were so dark it seemed I was viewing them at midnight under a street lamp wearing sun glasses. The bonsai in question appeared to be first rate. However, if it was up to me they would be rejected simply because of poor photography. I took one image from the recent AoB contest that was very dark, made a simple adjustment with Photoshop, and like magic, it appeared bright and clear.

I don't know if it would be proper for me to post the before and after images here. so I'll refrain.

Will, If you read this, please say "YES", or "NO" to the image post. If I do post the image,it's not done to denigrate anyone's work. Rather it's to illustrate how much better the contests would be with good photography.

Mike
 

Emil Brannstrom

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Mike,

It's not AoB that has the copyright for those pictures and Will or any other staff can not give you permission to post pictures here. You'll have to ask the person who made the submission to AoB.

Regards
Emil
 
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Will, If you read this, please say "YES", or "NO" to the image post. If I do post the image,it's not done to denigrate anyone's work. Rather it's to illustrate how much better the contests would be with good photography.

Mike,

It's not AoB that has the copyright for those pictures and Will or any other staff can not give you permission to post pictures here. You'll have to ask the person who made the submission to AoB.

Emil is correct, although most magazines and some forums, claim full copyrights to anything posted, AoB and KoB do not, in fact we state this in the forum guidelines and also in all the contests rules. This is one of the principles these sites were founded on. We do however retain the rights to use such images in certain circumstances, that could be argiued, but this is not the forum to do so, besides it is always beeter to error on the side of caution. Below is one of the copyright notices from last years Awards.

I have read and understood the rules of the contest and agree to abide by them. I have full copyright to all text and/or photographs I am submitting and I grant the Art of Bonsai Project and International Bonsai full permission to use any or all of the text and/or photographs submitted by myself in such manners as described in the rules and in future publications of any type as related to showcasing, promoting, featuring, or publishing the submissions to this contest as approved by the Art of Bonsai Project. I understand that any other usage of the text and/or photographs will require addition permission from myself and that, other than permissions given here, I retain full copyright to submitted materials as described.

Mike, how about writing a small article on this subject that we can include with this years contests, email me names of the owners of any entries you wish to use and I will get permissions. I think this would be an excellent addition and a well needed educational one at that.



Will
 

Mike Page

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.

Mike, how about writing a small article on this subject that we can include with this years contests, email me names of the owners of any entries you wish to use and I will get permissions. I think this would be an excellent addition and a well needed educational one at that.



Will

OK Will, I'll give that some thought. I'll send you the image by PM and you can see what I'm saying.

Edit: Guess I can't send the image by PM. I'll email it.
 
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Mike Page

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Fix a picture

To continue what I was saying about useing Photoshop to enhance an image. The first image below is a deliberate underexposure. The second is the first image after being Photoshopped. I clicked on ENHANCE, then AUTO LEVELS. No other adjustments. This is so easy that there is no excuse for posting a dark and difficult to see image, especially in a contest.

Mike

BTW that's my tree.
 

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Thanks Mike! Hopefully many will consider this when submitting an entry.

Also, I know you enter the AoB contests, so let me give you a preview of sorts.....this year we have a surprise sponsor who is offering their own award in the contest and with a prize that no bonsaist would pass up, from beginner level to master level.
 

Mike Page

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Will
I would like to see the judges give a zero to entries that are so dark as to be difficult or impossible to make out the details.
If I was a judge in this situation my comment might be: "Am I judging a bonsai or taking a Rorschach test?"

Mike
 
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