ECC calls on Members and past Winners to Step Up and Vote

VOTING FOR THIS EVENT CONCLUDED ON JUNE 29, 2022

Have a say to narrow the 150+ photo entries down to the 25 finalists for the iconic Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice 2023 calendar! In previous years you had to be an Evergreen Camera Club member to participate in the anonymous vote to select the 25 finalists, but this year, we’re inviting all 2020, 2021, and 2022 calendar finalists to join us for the voting*! Now is an ideal time to join our club if you are not already a member – see all the images submitted by our community and make your opinion count. Scroll down for important details.  * Mount Evans HHC&H Employees are also invited to vote

We have set the voting date to June 29th and it will be virtual – Images will be displayed on Zoom and voting will be done using Google Forms as described below.

The Calendar Voting and Judging Process

Calendar voting to initially select 25 finalists from all entries will be done by the membership of the ECC club and past winners, out of whomever logs on for the Zoom call for our June 29th meeting. Image entry was open to all, this voting will be by paid members and past winners only.

As the calendar competition is open to everyone, and many ECC members and past winners have and are expected to enter, certainly those individuals will be voting on their own images along with everyone else. The artist names will not be disclosed so at most, voters will recognize only 3 of the images out of however many we get (we expect 100-200). Thus we feel there will be minimal bias in this process.

Each image will get a score from 1 to 5 averaged from all votes cast in the zoom meeting to determine the 25 finalists. The finalists will then be voted on by the general public using the voting website tool used for last year’s competition (that link will be posted when the finalists have been uploaded).

Our intent is that this will yield an impartially judged set of 12 images plus a cover image to comprise our final calendar, however, if we end up with some kind of imbalance, there is an editorial committee comprised of Mount Evans and ECC volunteers who may make minor adjustments to ensure a good end product (i.e. if say 4 images of elk were to get the best scores, we may only include one or two). The remaining 12 images will be recognized as runners-up in the calendar.

Each year we enlist the aid of a guest photographer as a Judge to pick the Best of Show, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. This year our Judge will be Boyd Norton, an American photographer, known for his work in wilderness photography and his environmental activism. He is the photographer/author of 17 books covering topics such as from African elephants, mountain gorillas, Siberia’s Lake Baikal and issues of Alaskan and Rocky Mountain conservation.

If you have any questions about this process, please send and email to webmaster@evergreencameraclub.com.

Voting Instructions: Important!!!

Display of submitted images and voting will begin at 7:00PM on Wednesday June 29th. Setup and testing will be from 6:30 to 7, be sure to get on in time to work out any kinks you may have with the links or the process.

We will have 4 different groups of images, divided by season. We will run through each group quickly so you can preview them and then go back through them by name for the voting step.

The images will be displayed via Zoom – you should dial in with the Zoom link using whatever device you have with the best display so you can see the entries clearly.

Voting will be done using Google Forms – a “forms.gle” link and QR code will be provided to get your browser to the voting sheet. You can use a separate device, like your phone, to go to this link so you can have a separate screen to make your selections. If you are using your phone, simply take a picture of the QR code and your phone will offer to take you to our voting sheet. Alternately you can use a browser and Zoom on the same device if you can manage the 2 windows.

It is not required but recommended that you place a vote for every image.

Links to the Zoom and Voting form will be emailed to ECC Members and past Winners prior to the meeting.

Contest entry deadline is June 15th, so you may still have time to enter your best local photos!

Tips:

• Keep the calendar’s theme in mind:
      your images should show off our mountains, our wildlife and the way seasons are reflected in them
• Edit your photos judiciously:
      Images must look natural to qualify – pasted image parts, oversaturated colors or obvious manipulation
      will disqualify your entry
• Give thought to a good title:
      any words that express the feeling, the idea, the humor, or anything else about your photo will help it stand out
• Summer and Spring get the most competition:
      you will have a better chance of winning with a great Fall or Winter entry
• Make your images Colorful:
      By and large, colorful images get more votes and look better on a calendar page
      dull or muted photographs may be excellent images but don’t tend to do well in this application
• Don’t submit multiple photos of the same scene:
      have the confidence to pick the best one and use the other entries for different photos
• This is primarily a nature calendar, but that said, sometimes man-made objects enhance the photo
• Avoid submitting  pictures of Evergreen Lake House unless it is a unique photo, this is the most common subject we see submitted

Technical:

• We require at least 2400px wide for acceptable entries but 3000px is better and sufficient
• This is a HORIZONTAL calendar, please don’t submit vertical images. Confirm your aspect ratio: the 12″ x 9″ finished printing size of the calendar means all images will be cropped to a 4 x 3 aspect – if it is not cropped correctly, we will crop to fit
• Don’t add your watermark or signature to your image: all voting is anonymous so we’ll block out any watermark or disqualify your image if we can’t remove it
• If you have questions or issues please send an email to webmaster@evergreencameraclub.com

Click Here to Enter this Contest