# TPF Photo Challenge - July '11: "The Sky Above Me"



## Chris of Arabia

Hi everyone, 

I would say thanks to all those who took part in the June '11 challenge, but as there was only one person who did so, I'll say thanks to him instead - you know who you are

For this month, I have decided to set the challenge topic as *"The Sky Above Me"*.  Can I also suggest the following guidelines   be followed:


*You all have a sky over your head and month to shoot it in. Let's find out who has an interesting looking sky and can shoot it to its best advantage. Don't forget, that you can include some foreground to incorporate additional points of interest, but the main event is the sky itself. 
*
Shoot specifically for the Photo Challenge - don't go raiding  the  archives, that is not a challenge!
The Challenge is about making you think and helping you improve the         way you take pictures and the end results you get, so make an     effort,     get out there, try something different, but most of all,     have fun!
Good luck 
  The prize for the winner of the vote, as always, will be a $25.00   Amazon     voucher courtesy of the TPF owners.

For all those who wish to participate       in this challenge please take a moment to read through the    following:  

 The   deadline  for  submissions is 31 July 2011
 The image can be no larger then *150KB**
 *Include your forum username* when submitting
 The attached photo must be in the form of a *.jpg*
 Please *keep your photo anonymous* (no distinguishing       watermarks, and no photos that have been posted previously on the forum)
 Submit *no more than one photo*
 If you wish you may include a title when submitting your photo              (please ensure that the attached photo is renamed as the chosen       title)
 The *form must also be included* when submitting the photo
Despite what the FAQs indicate, confirmation       emails will not be issued.
 The forum Admins and Moderators reserve the right to exclude or       remove any photo solely at their discretion
 The forum Admins and Moderators reserve the right to decide the       winner of the photo challenge
 All submitted photos will be posted, along with a poll, in a new       thread within the first week of the following month
 Once created, *the voting poll will last for 14 days* before       it closes automatically
 
>>>>>>>>>> Copy and Paste *this form*     into your submission email <<<<<<<<<<

*ThePhotoForum.com Username:*

** Photo Title (optional):*

*Is the attached photo 150KB or less? Y/N*

*Is the attached photo a jpeg? Y/N*

*Has this photo been posted before on The Photo Forum? Y/N*

>>>>>>>>>> End of form     <<<<<<<<<<

*Please submit only one photo per challenge.*

*Please enter your email subject as "July '11 Photo Challenge       Submission"*

* Please ensure that the attached photo is named the title you wish it       to have otherwise the title will not be used.
..................................................       .................................................. ...

Please email your photo to photochallenge@thephotoforum.com       and remember to enter the subject as indicated.

All photos must include the form when submitted. Just copy and paste it              into your email. This will ensure that no mistakes are made     when        photos   are submitted and therefore, hopefully, no  photos    are     excluded.    If the   form is not included in the  submission    email the     photo will    not be   included in the  challenge gallery    and voting     process. 

There is more important information regarding rules and procedures              located in the FAQ section. We highly recommend that you take the      time         to read these FAQs.

Good luck to everyone and have fun with this challenge!

**150KB* will be taken as              the size on disk and not the actual file size. Also some    email           programs consider 1KB=1000Bytes as opposed to    1KB=1024Bytes.   When    these      programs calculate attachment size    they will often   read    larger than     they  actually are. To be  safe   we recommend a   target    size of about   140KB   so  that once  sent   it does not go over   *150KB*.


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## Chris of Arabia

BUMP...


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## psyclop

>>>>>>>>>> Paste *this form*     into your submission email <<<<<<<<<<​












Cant open the this form link


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## Chris of Arabia

That's because it's not a link, just an underscore. It is referring to the text below the line; username, title etc.


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## MatthiasSchmitz

Hi. I'm new and I want to enter a photo. How do I do that?

Edit:
Sorry. I just found the email I am supposed to send the image to.


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## MatthiasSchmitz

Does my image have to be under 150KB? With such a low resolution, the image looks too blurry.


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## DyeMyEyes

Are you kidding? The photo itself is the incentive. The $25 is a fantastic bonus. If you don't want to take part, you don't have to. I for one, plan to have fun with this!

Re last month's lack of entrants: If I had anything 'green' other than my recycling bin to shoot, I would have entered. I love these challenges but last month's just wasn't possible for me.


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## JWellman

It's sad to see people don't enjoy participating and hopefully we can get a few to return. As for me, I can't stand the photo album and the way the photos are displayed and submitted. I haven't submitted any recent photos because of it.

**Edited to add** I like the recent photo contest where the pics are in the actual topic. It makes things much easier and is the way we view them in the Fight Club. I don't like flipping through TPF's photo gallery but I know it is difficult when you have a ton of photos.


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## sroc3

I'm in!!!


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## Chris of Arabia

JWellman said:


> It's sad to see people don't enjoy participating and hopefully we can get a few to return. As for me, I can't stand the photo album and the way the photos are displayed and submitted. I haven't submitted any recent photos because of it.
> 
> **Edited to add** I like the recent photo contest where the pics are in the actual topic. It makes things much easier and is the way we view them in the Fight Club. I don't like flipping through TPF's photo gallery but I know it is difficult when you have a ton of photos.



I replied to you on the other thread


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## Arkanjel Imaging

Alden15 said:


> Hi, well I really enjoyed reading about "sky above me". But I think that the incentive for the hard work
> is not enough. just $25...!!
> Think again about it.



:er:

Hard work is its own reward.


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## Virtuosos

Submitted. I plan on being apart of this every month, I love having an excuse to play with my new camera!


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## tallpez

I'm in as well (already submitted).  I'm new, but I love the enjoy.  Good excuse to get me to shoot things I normally never even think about shooting too.  I'm sure to some of the seasoned pros $25 isn't worth it, and neither is the time - but if you hobbyists, this is a great chance to get pushed to try new things.


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## DGImagery

Agree with tallpez....I'm in! 25 bucks will by me "photography for dummies"!! Maybe... LOL


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## ericalynn

Yay!! I finally figured out how to reply to threads on my phone...I missed the email where I had to confirm my registration!! I'm new to forum and can't wait to participate on the TPF photo challenge contests!!  I think this is a really fun idea and I can definitely find something to do with $25 amazon voucher!!!


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## ericalynn

Where do the albums go so you can see the photographs that are entered?  I tried to fin a previous months and do not see...


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## tallpez

ericalynn said:


> Yay!! I finally figured out how to reply to threads on my phone...I missed the email where I had to confirm my registration!! I'm new to forum and can't wait to participate on the TPF photo challenge contests!!  I think this is a really fun idea and I can definitely find something to do with $25 amazon voucher!!!



Hope I didn't miss this as well, tried to check through my email and didn't see one yet.  May not have come through.


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## anaugi

This may be a stupid question but how can i resize my image to 150kb? It is now about the size of a postage stamp and it says 800+kb, it seems more like a raffle if the image that you are submitting cannot even be seen? I must be doing something wrong. Is there a program that i can put my picture in and it will spit out an image that can be submitted?


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## fokker

Yes the 150kb limit does really make it hard to make a nice photo look at its best but everyone has the same handicap and rules is rules. What software are you using anaugi?


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## Tomasko

anaugi said:


> This may be a stupid question but how can i resize my image to 150kb? It is now about the size of a postage stamp and it says 800+kb, it seems more like a raffle if the image that you are submitting cannot even be seen? I must be doing something wrong. Is there a program that i can put my picture in and it will spit out an image that can be submitted?


You need to set "jpg compression" as well.  Simple resizing won't work as you can see for yourself.


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## six66picupstyxx

I'm very excited to see the entries; I suspect there will be some great images with such a varying challenge topic.


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## butterflygirl921

y limit us to 150kb you are destroying  the quality of the photo 1mb would be far more reasonable because it would allow us to show some quality in the photos


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## mentos_007

butterflygirl921 said:


> y limit us to 150kb you are destroying  the quality of the photo 1mb would be far more reasonable because it would allow us to show some quality in the photos



you can come down with quite a big (in size) photo below 150 pretty easy. But first it is good to know about the maths that is hidden behind Jpeg compression and thecosine transform. 
In Photoshop it is really fine to resize an image (Image -> Resize) to make the longer side of about 1024 px (enough for displaying on screen in such contests). Then use the option File - >Save for web and devices. Select Jpeg compression and you can easily go down to 60%. Check "optimize" option and with such small resolutions you may easily uncheck "Progressive" checkbox and blur the photo (value of about 0.12 ). This way you will be around 100kilos.


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## butterflygirl921

mentos_007 said:


> butterflygirl921 said:
> 
> 
> 
> y limit us to 150kb you are destroying  the quality of the photo 1mb would be far more reasonable because it would allow us to show some quality in the photos
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you can come down with quite a big (in size) photo below 150 pretty easy. But first it is good to know about the maths that is hidden behind Jpeg compression and thecosine transform.
> In Photoshop it is really fine to resize an image (Image -> Resize) to make the longer side of about 1024 px (enough for displaying on screen in such contests). Then use the option File - >Save for web and devices. Select Jpeg compression and you can easily go down to 60%. Check "optimize" option and with such small resolutions you may easily uncheck "Progressive" checkbox and blur the photo (value of about 0.12 ). This way you will be around 100kilos.
Click to expand...


what i was saying is it destroys the quality of the photo and the detail


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## photosneak

$25 not bad!


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## leashzilla

sroc3 said:


> I'm in!!!


ME TOO :thumbup:


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## EIngerson

Just joined up and just tried submitting a pic for the contest. I hope I did it right.  lol.


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## Apertur3

Definetly in. the 150 K limit is killer though,


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## sroc3

Can't we just submit links like the one below?  I think it makes it much easier to retain the image quality:


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## TwoTwoLeft

Mine's in!


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## skyxie

I like the theme.
sky  LOL


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## avinashnitrr

sorry im also new...where to submit??


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## KCHRIZTIAM

I'm in!!!


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## lonegirl

I am brand new to the forum...but I have entered in a submission!!
PAT


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## SarahNewYork

I hope it's not too late. I just entered.


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## emc2rd

Hooray for last minute entries. I just signed up 10 minutes ago and sent the email 5 minutes ago.


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## TwoTwoLeft

*?*


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## eric rose

The photo I sent in was taken on the 31st, but emailed today.  I hope I'm not too late.


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## mentos_007

where and when the poll will be available?


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## Chris of Arabia

mentos_007 said:


> where and when the poll will be available?


 Sorry, as so often the case, I'm running a little late. The photos and poll will be sorted out and posted over the next couple of days (weekend where I am). The new challenge is up though should you care to take a look.


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## MerryJones

ericalynn said:


> Yay!! I finally figured out how to reply to threads on my phone...I missed the email where I had to confirm my registration!! I'm new to forum and can't wait to participate on the TPF photo challenge contests!!  I think this is a really fun idea and I can definitely find something to do with $25 amazon voucher!!!




well, At least I have not had that problem. I try to check all my email everytime I can, but still waiting the email!


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## Chris of Arabia

MerryJones said:


> ericalynn said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yay!! I finally figured out how to reply to threads on my phone...I missed the email where I had to confirm my registration!! I'm new to forum and can't wait to participate on the TPF photo challenge contests!!  I think this is a really fun idea and I can definitely find something to do with $25 amazon voucher!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> well, At least I have not had that problem. I try to check all my email everytime I can, but still waiting the email!
Click to expand...



Can I ask what email you are expecting?


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## KDM16

Will the poll be on this thread when it is posted?


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