The options are endless for a theme like silhouttes are endless! I'd bet some pretty amazing stuff could come from it.

Silhouettes are interesting but WE ALREADY HAD a silhouettes contest NOT that LONG AGO...in December...sorry, don't mean to 'shout' but sometimes people don't notice these things. Perhaps we should wait awhile before having that theme again.

And once again, before we get in alot of contest ideas, please everyone, let's try to be creative and inclusive in our ideas so we are all challenged and also including other art forms other than photography so everyone and anyone who wishes to do so can participate.

Silhouettes are perfect! We don't see that too often. :)

Mesmerized is right, we did have a contest on exactly the same topic less than nine months ago... I think something else should be chosen!

Results of "Silhouettes" (Ended 6/12/09)

"Breaking the rules" has also already been done...

I am adding infinity into the mix. It can be represented in many ways. Vanishing points, parallel lines, broad vistas, distant horizons, the infinite of space etc. It also has an abstract quality and even a symbol. It should be possible for all genres to enter.

Stopmotion. You have to stop motion. You have to find a moment in time that is more than just a photo. Something that tells a story, through the looks on peoples faces, or the shattering of a vase, or the wind moving the leaves of the trees.

I'm going with Chris and "infinity" for all the reasons he stated, in particular it's inclusive quality. I also like the fact that it requires a bit of thought, can't just post any old image and put a "I love this dog with an infinite passion" as it's title. :) Well, I guess someone could, but it would be pretty obviously not a depiction or evocation of the quality "infinite". The silhouettes topic raises a thought, could the mods consider blocking/deleting topics that have already been run in the last two years? Easy enough to explain why. I suspect that might be against the general philosophy of management here (As far as I can intuit one from how things are generally conducted here.) but I thought I'd suggest it, just in case...

Have we done reflections?? So many contests, so many topics taken. Hard to keep track.

It is quite easy to see which subjects have been chosen. Click the 'Contests' link on the left and look at the titles.

"Reflections" has a lot of similarity with Symmetry, which is another recent contest, which was actually won by a reflection photograph.

I think Infinity would really give us something new to work on. Think of long roads stretching off into the distance, railway lines, tall buildings, city streets, open plains, sea horizons ... all offer ways of expressing infinity. Even fractalists can do something with this, as fractals are inherently infinite, although to really get the idea across would take a little effort.

Infinity sounds workable to me - at least we haven't done that recently (*ahem*Silhouttes >:-(
It would be nice if not all the pictures were of vanishing lines, though. Experience suggests that's a real possibility. There are other ways of expressing the idea, if people will look for them.

I voted holes cuz I figured..why not? :o) Silhouettes sounds pretty enough judging from the winning entries, but it's clearly the wining topic.

Big storms comming so why not coastal?

Silhouttes or Reflections I am torn!!

The infinity topic is intriguing! That is something different~and also a great one for our fractal artists!

I gave infinity another vote.

I voted for Around the House because I'd like to see more objects and fewer landscapes posted on Caedes. Why? because I live in an area that is not "landscape rich". However, I do agree with Ami about finding a topic this time around that supports fractals.

So many of the suggested topics have already been done. So many are not very inclusive. Coastal in particular can only be done quickly by people who live near a coast, and the storm is very localised (on a global scale, not everyone lives in southern USA). "Around the house" is too close to "Household objects" a topic some time ago.

Lets branch out, dare to be different. The abstract contest produced a good range of images and some good images, mores, in my opinion, than did Old Buildings. I think Infinity can do the same, and coastlines could be included in that topic as well. As can around the house (two mirrors opposite each other gives infinite reflections), a stairway can be manipulated into an infinite stairway. We have time to think and time to do.

Should we have a reject/disqualify option for the suggestions that are obviously repeated? What about a limit to the options as well, no more than ten! : )

Elizabeth has 2 good ideas...reject/disqualify option for repeat contests and a limit on the number of contest options...I'm all for democracy and the 'majority rules' etc. but to have a contest on the exact same theme we just had a few months ago is just plain silly...and to continue with contest ideas, despite much conversation on the topic, that obviously ignors inclusion by all art forms, especially the fractalists, is just plain ignorant. Don't mean to sound crabby but why do the same problems keep coming up?

21 votes for a topic we've already seen, and therefore shouldn't be voting on now, vs 19 for infinity, an all-inclusive topic that's challenging and potentially lots of fun?

Is it just me, or is something very wrong with this picture? (pun intended)

A number of members are trying very hard to push the site in the right direction, which is one of improvement, high standards, artistic growth, and and originality.

No need to point fingers. I'll just appeal that more of you join in that effort. The lowest hanging fruit may be the easiest to reach, but it's not necessarily the tastiest.

ya know?

I have a third good idea:
a reject/disqualify option for Rob's puns ;->

I shall once again make the suggestion that contest topics should be moderated. Let the members suggest topics and vote on topics, but let moderators guide the topics in the right direction. It would at least stop the arguments and this less than ideal situation.

I agree with Chris, Ive said it before as well,but its hard to hear on deaf ears

Sorry, I didn't know that Silhouettes was a topic already done in the past.

This is exciting - just put my oar into 'infinity' and it's a head by a point. Now, if I was a betting gent, I wonder what my odds would be to see this as a winner?

Come on peeps, expand your horizons, vote for INFINITY.

He He.

He He.

He He.

I do amuse myself sometimes. :)

Fine. You win.
My suggestion stopmotion wasn't getting votes anyhow, so I'll go for Chris' idea.

I vote for coastal

I vote coastal too. Everyone likes the coast :)
Also just because I have been into coastal photography lately ;-)

Whether everyone likes the coast or not, not everyone lives near it. Especially in larger countries like the US. I live in a coastal sate, but I'm still 200 miles away.
Think of the other members, not just what suits you!

I think most of these catagories are boring, how about being most spacific,an to the point, enstead of a guessing game, Infinity, that can be everthing,narrow this down abit, add to the chalange of a Contest, an make it a contest as well

If you want a "chalange", you could start by being more "spacific" with spelling ...

Methinks grammar got run over by a raindeer...

If there were more variety in the topics it wouldn't hurt to be more specific. But anything specific tends to be
1. Literal
2. Photographic
Obviously the collective memory can't manage variety, so topics have to be more general so some people aren't routinely excluded.

Isn't this voting fairly new? Maybe it would be better if we had every other contest topic by vote, and the others just decided by TPTB.

If you want a challenge, stick to what the contest options should OR shouldn't be (explain them further if need be to those who don't quite understand) and not whether someone can spell or not...personally, I think that's hitting below the belt and could be somewhat insulting to some. By the way, do you live in a coastal sate or state?

Lightspeed, the reason why Infinity would make a great contest theme is because for one it is open to ALL art forms to participate, and two because it is NOT too specific and therefore subject to many individual interpretations, making the entries all the more intriguing and varied.

I totally agree with Pat. While, I truly appreciate the attempt to point out helpful guidelines for more inclusive subjects.
(Some are more adept at explaining) ... I feel it is "exclusive" to discourage opinions by making someone feel their opinions are less valid based on typos. Unless you have an established history of rapport it comes off a bit snarky.

I offen spill bhad wen um drunk or tents sumtimez i effen forgit punkshashon an so mi meening ges losht iz not gud cheep shot not gud distracshun frum topic not gud booze good

he he

UM, worth pointing out again that anyone can start a contest if they want to, you don't have to rely on this vector here to start one. You can start a new forum, you can message all your friends and recruit them, you can even lobby the mods to put a notice of your comp on the front page of the site. Obviously you can't offer a prize in terms of what happens on this site, but plenty of us join comps for the challenge and the fun, not the prizes.

We already have had a few challenges, and I think starting a few new ones would be fun. The 'Member-initiated' forum is where some previous ones can be found.

And apologies offered for said snarkiness. It was more the underlying tone that I suspect brought out the response, than just a couple of grammatical whoopsies.

Thanks Mikel and Rob, for bringing up the idea of member-initiated challenges...you make a good point when you say that 'anyone can start a contest if they want to' and it's a good idea when some are not interested in whatever the current contest theme may be and would perhaps help to put a cork in the recent contest controversies...some of you may not be aware or were not here a year ago last spring when Mimi and Me had 3 member-initiated challenges...you can find them HERE, HERE, and HERE...I can tell you that it was alot of fun 'running the show' for awhile and though we had no prizes, everyone seemed to enjoy them.

'Coastal' can be interpreted as anything to do with the coast and such not just going to the coast.

The interpretations of "Infinity" are potentially infinite.

ARRRGGG! He did it again! ;-)

Well, I like an "Infinity" contest. The potential for cool abstracts is well...endless. :oD