2014 3000GT / Stealth / GTO Calendar image VOTING

[Alan92RTTT]

Login with your 3sgto.org userid and select your top 14.

3S National Gathering 2014 Calendar poll (http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/)


Voting ends at the end of October.

[2fnloud]

Voted!!!

[CoopKill]

Voted!

A little advice for shooting cars, open space in the picture (meaning not the car) needs to have more in front of the car than in the rear, unless the pics cuts the car in a close up. There are some AWESOME shots in the running that the only thing wrong was the composition of the car itself.

[Snook]

voted. Hope i get in. lol

[beepbeep]

Thanks for only allowing 14 choices, Alan. It made choosing much more intense.

Also, why the hell did we only get 14 choices??? Did you not see all of the cars posted?

:p

Voted, by the way.

[JohnnyTurbo]

Voted!

A little advice for shooting cars, open space in the picture (meaning not the car) needs to have more in front of the car than in the rear, unless the pics cuts the car in a close up. There are some AWESOME shots in the running that the only thing wrong was the composition of the car itself.Same thing every year. A lot of stunning examples of 3S automobiles,not so many stunning photographs. My method is to eliminate the obvious ones first (chick taking a dump in front of a car for example, oh she wasn't? my bad, it must have been the look on her face that confused me.) Picked my fav 14 out of 27 possibles. A good criteria to use is look at other car calendars and see the type of photos you see in them and try to emulate them. In a few this year, the background overpowers the subject (CAR) and in others the junk around the vehicle distracts from the shot. Neither of those elements ever show up in a calendar you buy in a store.
Just my yearly .02 on the subject, take it for what it is worth.

[Nationalmilkman]

Voted myself.

[Tensecs2fame]

Lots of cars weren't chosen because people were in it making silly faces or they're parked in really bad places. Good luck everyone

[93STLTH]

Good luck to the hopefuls! There are some good ones there.... and a few not so good, and a few that made me wonder what they were thinking when they submitted. BTW, where's Spydergirl? Woz? and a few others I can't think of the names right now.

[ItTricky]

kinda voted.... chosen 12 of 14

[stealthify]

Great number of submissions this year. Glad to see such a variety.

Selected my favorite 14!

[Sean Johnson]

Voted. Some nice submissions. Thanks for the work Alan. GL to everyone, as everyone, we hope to make this years calendar :)

[cass2fast]

Do we get to see the winners before purchasing a calendar?

[Alan92RTTT]

Yes, You will be able to see the 12 onths and the cover prior to purchase.

A post like this will be made http://www.3sgto.org/3000gt-stealth-gto-related-topics/10480-2013-3000gt-stealth-gto-calendar-sale-now.html

[95gto]

Voted :bigthumb:

[NVR ENZ]

Once you pick your 14 pics is that it or do you have to submit the vote somehow?

[Alan92RTTT]

Nope. Pick 14 and you're done. You can login ad change them if you want at any time before the end of the month.

[stealthee]

Same thing every year. A lot of stunning examples of 3S automobiles,not so many stunning photographs. My method is to eliminate the obvious ones first (chick taking a dump in front of a car for example, oh she wasn't? my bad, it must have been the look on her face that confused me.) Picked my fav 14 out of 27 possibles. A good criteria to use is look at other car calendars and see the type of photos you see in them and try to emulate them. In a few this year, the background overpowers the subject (CAR) and in others the junk around the vehicle distracts from the shot. Neither of those elements ever show up in a calendar you buy in a store.
Just my yearly .02 on the subject, take it for what it is worth.

It always amazes me what some people choose to submit for a calender shot. I am far from a professional photographer, but I at least know what looks good. I am hard on myself when taking any photos usually toss at least 90% because I don't like how they came out.

I need to go through and vote, but my one little piece of advice is JUST SAY NO TO HDR. HDR is so freakin overdone nowadays and 99% of people don't know when too much it too much.

[mb3000]

You guys are harsh! :lol:

Voted

[stealthee]

Have to be. Its a calender. Pictures are supposed to be top notch.

After looking closer at some of the submissions I am left baffled how some of these people would think their picture(s) was/were calender worthy. Then there are the cars that aren't calender worthy.

Another thing killing it for me is where a lot of pictures are taken with the EXACT SAME background. Almost makes it to where I want to chose only one of those pictures even though there are a few that are definitely worthy.

Lastly if the picture with 3si in the sand makes it in the calender, I just don't know what to say.

[mb3000]

^Would've been a badass picture IF it said 3SGTO. Did not vote for it because of the 3si text.

[atarirx]

If they had written "3/S 2014" or something like that it might have made a cool cover.

[Sean Johnson]

Have to be. Its a calender. Pictures are supposed to be top notch.

After looking closer at some of the submissions I am left baffled how some of these people would think their picture(s) was/were calender worthy. Then there are the cars that aren't calender worthy.

Another thing killing it for me is where a lot of pictures are taken with the EXACT SAME background. Almost makes it to where I want to chose only one of those pictures even though there are a few that are definitely worthy.

Lastly if the picture with 3si in the sand makes it in the calender, I just don't know what to say.

I'm with you Stealthee. I think our photo as well as a handful of other should meet your standards. Won't tell you which one ours is :D

[stealthee]

I am going to go back through the submissions when I am a little more rested and a little less cynical.

[dbest671]

LOL, I didn't even notice the "i" in that picture...

[Alan92RTTT]

Blame the series of pics with the bridge background on me. They are from the NG I thought they looked good. I had no expectation of all of them getting in but I figured one might. It was a nice location.

The pic with 3SI may be from the 3si France group.

[stealthee]

It's definitely a great background Alan. There's some worthy cars with that background, I just don't know if I would want the same background with different cars on several months.

[atarirx]

^ I tried really hard to only vote for one of those but I couldn't find 13 better pics (my own included) so I ended up picking 3 I think. If they do all make it hopefully they could at least be spread out. There were some really nice cars in those shots and most were nicely framed too.

[bridge]

Get rid of the playground in yours Alan! Thanks!

[Tensecs2fame]

:suspect: I know my car isn't the cleanest but hey its been sitting for many years lol.. Least I'm not rocking ugly wheels lol

[93STLTH]

:suspect: I know my car isn't the cleanest but hey its been sitting for many years lol.. Least I'm not rocking ugly wheels lol

You've just pointed out 2 things that should have told you to not submit for a calendar.

[GTO Assassin]

I could only vote for 3 pics. Alan, I've said this before, you need a committee or atleast a few people to run this. I love what you do but honestly some of the pics getting thru are just not good enough. That's not your fault, but maybe other members could help out here.

Poor framing
Bad focus
Under exposed
Shit that shouldn't even be entered

Just a thought. :)

Scotty

Sent from Uranus

[stealthify]

I think Alan's main vetting criteria was the resolution/photo quality listed in the submission thread, not the subjective analysis of the content itself. The way I see it, that's what the voting is for. Naturally the photos that would be more at home in a bad Craigslist ad will get the least votes, and will not make it into the final calendar. And if anything, it still gives everyone a chance -- whether they're a pro photographer or not.

[ItTricky]

i understand where you guys are coming from, i still dont think i've found a total of 14 that i thought were eorthy, granted i did vote for my own, but still lol.

[stealthee]

You don't have to be a pro photographer to take a pro like photo though. You just have to use your head.

I kind of agree with Scotty. Alan does a great job, but there needs to be more subjectivity for submissions to be accepted. I am not talking about cars that some may find "ugly", because even an ugly car can be properly framed and be a "calender quality" photo. If people don't like the car even then, they won't vote for it.

When Chris used to do the calender back in the day I believe he had a committee AND there was voting. The way they did it is if someone submitted a bad photo they would be told what needed to happen to make it better and then they had the option to try to take a better picture and resubmit. I would rather only have 20 great photos to go through and vote down to 14, than have 112 photos to go through with 90% of them not even being "calender quality."

[Tigchamp]

Voted, Some great pics here.

[Tensecs2fame]

You've just pointed out 2 things that should have told you to not submit for a calendar.

The photographer touched up the image with photoshop. I was joking around

[Alan92RTTT]

I do not and will not remove and image that is submitted no matter how bad I think it is. We all have different tastes and in several cases what I thought was junk got into the top 12.

Chris did spend more time filtering images, running the polls in batches and I think fixing some images. The time he took to make the calendar happen is why he stopped doing it. This is the only way a calendar will happen.

Yes their are some junk pics in there just don't pick them.

Can't find 14 you like Thats ok. Just pick as many as you do like.

IMO this has worked well since I took over. The images that got into the calendar we good and I think the final result made everyone happy.

[Tigchamp]

After reading this, I am no longer very hopeful for my car to be included in the calendar. the silly thing is that I fully agree with all the comments on background etc. I guess I should have had a proper look at this years calendar as I have hundreds of other photos I could have chosen instead. Still Good Luck! to everyone.

[GTO Assassin]

That's fine Alan, but my main point is this: Some pics need just a little work:



With just some minor adjustments, the pics are better than the originals. The red car has too much saturation for me, but for a calendar that's ok. This was done on a simple photo editor not PS and imo improves the photo's. :)

Scotty

[Tigchamp]

Not going to play with mine then Scotty, or is it beyond Hope Lol.
javascript:toggle('bigImageDiv2','submissions/images/COTM 005.JPG');

That didn't work :6019 This one.

[GTO Assassin]

Like I said, I'm no expert. And I definitely don't want to sound like a some glorified expert who thinks he knows everything. I just grabbed those two pics as examples to illustrate what I was getting at.

Scotty

Sent from Uranus

[Alan92RTTT]

Scotty, we have over 100 images in the pool this year. Making the adjustments you are asking to that many images takes time. To have the time to make the adjustments the submission end date would have to be months before voting. Its just not realistic.

If a winning image needs a tweak or two it will get it.

(I removed the images from your post to avoid potential hurt feelings.)

@Jeff, Do not feel defeated because of the opinions of a few. Every year we have people bitching about the quality of the images. Nothing says that the rest of the voters will agree with them. I know in some cases the voters have picked am image that has been complained about.

[GTO Assassin]

Seriously? Alan as I said before, if other people helped out it's doable. But seeing as you want to do it all on your own I guess this is a pointless discussion.

My post was pretty clear that I grabbed two random pics. Not sure how I would have offended anyone. Maybe it could have helped. :rolleyes:

Scotty

Sent from Uranus

[Alan92RTTT]

Yes, I could get people to help. But you still have to consider time frame. I have to get the images. They have to be sent to people that are qualified to tweak them, then they have to do it and get it back to me. That will take time and effort. Because of scheduling over the summer (IE the NG itself) the submission deadline would have to be some time in May/June rather than the end of September. Which means no pictures from the summer events.

If we start doing tweaking pictures their is a new potential issue. Their will be people that do not like the change we made. What if they think its perfect as is?

The reality is what you are suggesting is more work and effort that this project can justify. We get 12 good images every year that is all that matters. Why does it matter that their are some submissions that will not get picked?


Not sure how I would have offended anyone.
By picking the images and tweaking them you've basically told someone you think their image is no good the way it is. They might be proud of it and not see the issue. That could hurt their feelings. I do not want that as a result of this thread. If you want to make your own thread to discuss/show all the images you don't like, go for it. I just don't want it attached to the voting.

[CoopKill]

I think the process is as needed. My comment was to only help those for next year.

[CoopKill]

Maybe next year before the entry the experience photographers can put together a quick tutorial/how to thread to help bring better representations of what are great cars, and backgrounds.

If I remember I will start the thread, and hopefully those with experience will participate. A few tips go a long way.

[GTO Assassin]

By picking the images and tweaking them you've basically told someone you think their image is no good the way it is.

Oh please Alan. Stop being a drama queen. I mentioned why I used those pics. Your way or the highway. I get it.

Scotty

Sent from Uranus

[Ange]

Nice pics. Voted.

(would have choosed the beach pic with 3x3s but said 3si on the beach?)

[dbest671]

I think some are being over critical. It's a calendar that is being marketed to a small group from pictures provided by said group. I'm definitely far from a photo guru, but I was able to choose 14 pictures I thought were decent.

[Show Killer]

I am by no means a professional photographer. If i were i would be shooting pictures of Playboy Bunnies instead of what i am doing now. I submitted 3 pics and i think they turned out pretty decent, maybe i'm wrong. These pics were the 1st ones i had taken with this new camera. Hopefully enough people will think atleast 1 of them is good enough to make the calendar.

If any of you more advanced photographers want to critique them go ahead, I am always willing to learn a thing or two. It is the only white 1st gen RT/TT that had pics submitted. Critique away and send me your suggestions via PM. Let it be known that i did not touch up these pics in any way. The way the camera shot them is the way they were submitted. I already know of 1 mistake i made while shooting them.

Phil

[JohnnyTurbo]

Maybe next year before the entry the experience photographers can put together a quick tutorial/how to thread to help bring better representations of what are great cars, and backgrounds.

If I remember I will start the thread, and hopefully those with experience will participate. A few tips go a long way.There was a tutorial on photographing cars, but I think it was on the other site. I read it and there was some good info in it that could/would help out some people, but realistically, and I'm not trying to be mean, there are some people in life that couldn't take a decent photograph if their life depended on it. The biggest single word that has been thrown out in some of the criticism is composition. 58 out of the 112 pictures totally lack composition and they are probably the ones that are getting referenced as being substandard for a calendar. I have read books & magazine articles, taken classes, had my own darkroom and have shot tens of thousands of photos in my lifetime and it all boils down to the creative eye of the person taking the photo OR it is being lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time with a camera ready to fire a shot. You can hand a $6000 NIKON to someone who doesn't have photography skills and you probably won't get much in return as far as great images goes. Hand a $100 Kodak P&S to a trained photographer and you will more than likely get some breath taking images. It is the talent not the camera and the average person does not possess the skills to know what makes a great photograph. Composition is a great starting place to learn about taking quality images.

A quick tutorial on what not to do.

do not submit a pic of your car in your driveway
do not submit a pic of your car in a hotel parking lot.
do not submit a pic of your car if the background is screaming "look at me, not the car"
Keep the hood shut
I want your car, not you in my calendar
keep the light source at your back, deep shadows from being backlit suck
your car should be at least the primary object, not off in the distance in a sea of grass, or asphalt
composition - don't have 2/3 of the photo being foreground with the car at the top
composition - don't have the very edge of the front bumper at the edge of the image and lots of free space at the back end
NO busy backgrounds, they distract from the focal image


I'd suggest doing a Google search on "how to take automotive images" or something similar to that for those who want to improve their skills.
I'd also recommend reading up on how to compose a photograph. Mastering photo composition is the largest part of the taking a great photo battle.

As always, just my .02, your mileage might vary.

[Alan92RTTT]

Can we move the "how to take a pic" discussion to its own thread please?

[Sean Johnson]

When does the Poll of Pics showing the votes go up? I currious to see where a handful of us sit in voting numbers.

[JohnnyTurbo]

When does the Poll of Pics showing the votes go up? I currious to see where a handful of us sit in voting numbers.
Ha, that's a good one Sean, you're funny.

[Toni]

It is the only white 1st gen RT/TT that had pics submitted.

There are two others :)

[Alan92RTTT]

When does the Poll of Pics showing the votes go up? I currious to see where a handful of us sit in voting numbers.

I do not post the vote totals.

I will post the top 15 after the voting is done.

[Nick_T]

Voted , There are some stunning cars. Good luck guys ..
Nick

[HilbillyHomeboy]

Voted for Stealths only

Jeremy

[Show Killer]

There are two others :)

Really? I only see the one. I see a a 2g in the mix but no other White 1g's. Maybe i am blind, i am getting kinda old.

[Toni]

Really? I only see the one. I see a a 2g in the mix but no other White 1g's. Maybe i am blind, i am getting kinda old.

Your three plus

http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/thumbnails/tntoni_calendarsub.jpg

http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/thumbnails/tnc1.jpg

[Show Killer]

Ahhhh....can't see the front end so i thought it was the back side of one of the 2g's that was submitted.

[ItTricky]

only 2 more days to vote!

[DViper0020]

Ahhhh....can't see the front end so i thought it was the back side of one of the 2g's that was submitted.

My apologies for the confusion. :p

[R/T93]

Voted

[mitsu3000gt9524]

When do we find out the winners?!

[Alan92RTTT]

As soon as I do test prints of the top 14 images.

[ItTricky]

I'm excited...... haha

[Nationalmilkman]

Done yet Alan? Lol

[Alan92RTTT]

Probably won't get to Kinko's till tomorrow night.

[ItTricky]

ok, I can deal with that

[DViper0020]

So what's up Alan? Do you have the test prints done?

[Alan92RTTT]

Top 14 Images

1st Place Sean Johnson
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/343952.jpg
2nd Place Christy/ Bridge
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/CTY_2440.jpg
3rd Place Traci Bandelin
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/c1.jpg

The prizes for 1st-3rd place should get sent this week.

Martin Swogger
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/photo.JPG
John Harbert
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/TWC on NC80.jpg
Dan Jackaway
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/DSC_8791.jpg
Group
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/DSC_7692.jpg
Arnaud Gauthier
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/DSC_0338.JPG
Matt Weber
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/Calendar1.jpg
?? Pic from the NG not sure the owner.
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/DSC_8812.jpg
April Best
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/SpyderStorm 006.jpg
Levi Bailey
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/DSC_8572.jpg
Josh M
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/photo(7).JPG
Mine
http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/DSC_8818.jpg

[anyonebutme]

Not the pic of Levi I voted for, lolol.

[Nationalmilkman]

Are these in order of votes or just random from 4-14?

Either way I'm supper stoked to make the calendar. Thanks to all that voted for my car.

[stealthify]

Ultimately ended up with a great selection! Can't wait to see the final prints.

[rdmelton]

?? Pic from the NG not sure the owner = me. Thanks to whoever submitted the pic and for those that voted

[Mitoska]

I'm ecstatic that I'm in! If possible could we move the NG watermark to the upper right corner so its not blurring the back of car? And that unknown pic from NG, not sure who that guy is, they clearly don't take care of the car, I mean look at those tiny two holes in the front bumper.. geez :)

[stealthee]

Josh, I think the watermark is just for the digital pictures. The actual calender picture should just have your name in the lower corner.

[Alan92RTTT]

Josh That is the top 14 in order. 13th and 14th only get used as the cover. Unfortunately Yours is probably too busy for the cover.

[Alan92RTTT]

?? Pic from the NG not sure the owner = me. Thanks to whoever submitted the pic and for those that voted

There were a few white 99 at the NG I was not sure that was yours.

[Mitoska]

I see.. well I was ecstatic.. I'll just be crying in the pole barn now... or I could go drive into my in town garage and sit in the car and tell her Alan says she is "to busy" just call obstruction and car is out

[Alan92RTTT]

I said might be too busy. I have to try it and see how it would look with all the cover text on it.

[Jimvr4]

Makes sense to have three shots from the same location :rolleyes:

[Ange]

too many white cars

http://www.awesomelyluvvie.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/racist1.gif

[Creative]

Mine made it 2 years in a row!:7Up:

Thanks for the votes everyone!:ThankYou:

[95gto]

I can't believe the picture of my car sans front passenger wheel on the road course didn't make it :sulk2:.

[R/T93]

Everyone thought it was a honda with Rota wheels.

[Sean Johnson]

Awesome pics again this year. Thanks for the votes everyone...

[JohnnyTurbo]

Ditto on what Sean said. Thanks to those who appreciated my entry enough to vote for it.
Re: white cars. Hmmmm, 5 out of 12 cars in the calendar are pearl white. Pearl White rocks, the people have spoken!


Makes sense to have three shots from the same location:rolleyes:
They are all good examples of a 3S, but I know what you mean about the backdrop. Any more than those 3 and the calendar could have been called "Cars & Bridges". :lol:

...or more correctly, "Cars & Bridge"

[Alan92RTTT]

I will make sure that any similar shots are separated.

The 3rd car/bridge pic will only be on the cover and that is assuming that I can't get Josh's pic to work.

[anyonebutme]

Easy way to stop similar pics: Stop having Alan take such good shots.

[foxystealth]

Wow, totally surprised!! :biggrin: Thanks for the votes!

[93STLTH]

I will make sure that any similar shots are separated.

The 3rd car/bridge pic will only be on the cover and that is assuming that I can't get Josh's pic to work.

There's actually 4 "Bridge" pics.

http://www.3sng.org/calendar_2014/submissions/images/CTY_2440.jpg

:)

[Alan92RTTT]

:PicardFacepalm2:

[Granny]

Congrats to everyone that made it!
It's always hard to choose.

[Alan92RTTT]

2014 3000GT / Stealth / GTO 17X11 Oversized > 3S National Gathering (http://www.cafepress.com/3sng.592995448)

I'll do a proper thread tomorrow. $23.99 US + Shipping

[dbest671]

Alright, I'm going to be critical now...

I understand the pictures were put in order based on how many votes... but honestly they should have at least attempted to match the months/seasons. The march picture should have been October since it was clearly taken during the fall. Sean picture should have been June-September... not January with all that greenery in the background.

[Alan92RTTT]

The pictures are in vote order.

1st place for January.....