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DPChallenge Forums >> Administrator Announcements >> The New Rules are in Place!
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04/18/2016 01:01:28 PM · #1
Just a half-hour ago, Langdon finished getting the new rulesets into place and retiring the old ones. This is a happy moment for all of us. In general, the rules have been greatly simplified and we have eliminated some of the annoying "gray areas" that trouble us all, members and SC alike.

The first thing you'll notice is that we have FOUR sections in the drop-down list from the menu bar; "Common Editing" is on top of the list, and it contains the rules we have to follow in every challenge. This section is linked at the top of each of the several subsets of specific rules that follow. Once you've become familar with these "blanket rules", you don't have to spend much time with them anymore, and by removing them from the body of the three rulesets that follow, we've made the whole "rules experience" much less intimidating, we think

As for the three working rulesets:

"Minimal Editing" is still "Minimal Editing". The big change is that we now allow sensor dust removal in post. Additionally, we now allow any form of sharpening tool as long as it is applied globally; no spot sharpening is allowed. Finally, as promised, we will also run flagged "Minimal Editing" challenges that allow incremental rotation and cropping as the challenge topics warrant.

"Standard Editing" is what used to be "Advanced Editing". A significant change here is the removal of any trace of the "major element" rule. If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it! The only requirement is that what replaces the removed element must be what actually would be there in the element were not. If you remove a cow from a grassy field, you have to replace him with grass, etc etc. Note that this specifically will NOT allow you just to plant trees wherever you wish, or move elements around to suit, because every time you move something to a new place it's effectively removing something else, and the new thing wouldn't "belong" there.

Another major change in "Standard Editing" is that we've opened the ruleset up to many other types of stacked-image compositing than Focus stacking and HDRI. We're now allowing panoramas, astrophotography, crowd removal composites, light painting, and related techniques. We're excited about this. Note that we still SPECIFICALLY do not allow time-lapse imagery.

"Extended Editing" is the new name for "Expert Editing". We've basically removed all the limits here except for date restrictions and authorship of the source images. Very importantly, we've inserted the following line; "You May: use any feature of image processing software to manipulate/enhance the images in your submission." This means that using wire-frame and other 3D-type techniques to create shapes on which you can "wrap" your images or textures is allowed. We decided that it was pretty pointless to try to limit techniques in this wide-open ruleset, so have at it folks! Your creativity is now your only limit there.

*********************

For the time being, these rules should be considered to be in a sort of trial phase. We don't expect any difficulties, but if something DOES crop up we'll generate some re-wordings to clarify matters.

The Current "Expert Free Study", now the "Extended Free Study", is the first challenge to use the new rules. Tomorrow's Open Challenge will be the next. Good luck to us all!

ETA: Fixed typo, wireframe IS allowed.

Message edited by author 2016-04-18 14:12:10.
04/18/2016 01:14:34 PM · #2
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

"Standard Editing" is what used to be "Advanced Editing". A significant change here is the removal of any trace of the "major element" rule. If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it!

I think I've just lost interest in DPC.
04/18/2016 01:22:24 PM · #3
Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

"Standard Editing" is what used to be "Advanced Editing". A significant change here is the removal of any trace of the "major element" rule. If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it!

I think I've just lost interest in DPC.


Perhaps give it a chance before throwing out the baby with the bathwater...?
04/18/2016 01:34:05 PM · #4
Originally posted by tanguera:

Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

"Standard Editing" is what used to be "Advanced Editing". A significant change here is the removal of any trace of the "major element" rule. If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it!

I think I've just lost interest in DPC.


Perhaps give it a chance before throwing out the baby with the bathwater...?

I missed this proposition amidst all the fuss about crapping in minimal. This is a pretty fundamental change. The emphasis effectively shifts from taking pictures to manufacturing them. I like the challenge of arranging a composition. I like power lines and errant birds. Replacing cows with grass is fine, but it's a different kind of image-making, one that doesn't interest me.

Sure, I'll give it a chance. I never go far.
04/18/2016 01:48:14 PM · #5
Had these changes been implemented a week earlier, would my "Footsteps" have DQ'd?


Thanks for clarifying!
04/18/2016 01:54:39 PM · #6
Originally posted by bvy:

...amidst all the fuss about crapping in minimal.


Ya, we don't need no crapping, just stinks up the place.

Originally posted by bvy:

This is a pretty fundamental change. The emphasis effectively shifts from taking pictures to manufacturing them. I like the challenge of arranging a composition. I like power lines and errant birds. Replacing cows with grass is fine, but it's a different kind of image-making, one that doesn't interest me.

Sure, I'll give it a chance. I never go far.


I don't really think it will turn out to be as fundamental a change as we might imagine. And it's hard to allow some of the more sophisticated multi-capture techniques without opening things up in this regard. I for one am really excited by the implications.

ETA:
For me personally, this change is very gratifying. We had so much discussion that took place years ago on simplification, and were never able to get consensus and action. Kudos to the SC team for getting this done. Long time coming, and a great job.

Message edited by author 2016-04-18 13:59:39.
04/18/2016 01:57:38 PM · #7
Originally posted by onthecusp:

Had these changes been implemented a week earlier, would my "Footsteps" have DQ'd?

Thanks for clarifying!


SC should of course be the final word here, but yes, I certainly think so. The addition of the dirt is adding something that was not there, not replacing something that was blocked from view.
04/18/2016 02:02:40 PM · #8
Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

"Standard Editing" is what used to be "Advanced Editing". A significant change here is the removal of any trace of the "major element" rule. If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it!

I think I've just lost interest in DPC.


Yes, I don't think that this is a positive thing either. Not sure I will continue here but if I do I for one will continue to show what I shoot.
04/18/2016 02:04:13 PM · #9
Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by bvy:

...amidst all the fuss about crapping in minimal.


Ya, we don't need no crapping, just stinks up the place.

Did I really type that?

I do like that we now have three very well defined rulesets. Of course, I'll be pushing for a Minimal monthly free study now. If that's been discussed already I missed it. But it seems like the next logical step in truly leveling the playing field.
04/18/2016 02:04:42 PM · #10
Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by onthecusp:

Had these changes been implemented a week earlier, would my "Footsteps" have DQ'd?

Thanks for clarifying!

SC should of course be the final word here, but yes, I certainly think so. The addition of the dirt is adding something that was not there, not replacing something that was blocked from view.

Still no good :-( Can't make up stuff that didn't exist in Standard Editing.
04/18/2016 02:10:16 PM · #11
Guys, just because you CAN do it doesn't mean you HAVE to do it. I don't think it's very likely that this loosening of the Standard rules is gonna create a sea-change in how images are presented, I really don't. And a"straight" photo by an excellent photographer will always be in the running.

It helps to remember the genesis of this change; we get more complaints about "gray areas" in the rules than about anything else, and this "major element" rule was at the top of the heap. It's SO hard to pin down what's allowed and what's not allowed, and SC themselves were often in opposition on individual examples. That's a bad situation to be in. So we'll try it this way. If it gets out of hand, we'll be the first to listen and try some other approach.
04/18/2016 02:17:27 PM · #12
Cool, I like all the new changes.
04/18/2016 02:22:05 PM · #13
Also remember that one of the reasons we originally discussed this was regarding what to do with the blank areas that showed up at the edges of an image as a result of perspective correction. Sometimes cropping was not an option, so filling in the edges with what was already there (blue sky, grass, ocean, etc.) is not that dire.
04/18/2016 03:32:19 PM · #14
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Originally posted by kirbic:

Originally posted by onthecusp:

Had these changes been implemented a week earlier, would my "Footsteps" have DQ'd?

Thanks for clarifying!

SC should of course be the final word here, but yes, I certainly think so. The addition of the dirt is adding something that was not there, not replacing something that was blocked from view.

Still no good :-( Can't make up stuff that didn't exist in Standard Editing.


Thanks. So we can remove, just not add?
04/18/2016 03:33:41 PM · #15
Originally posted by GeorgesBogaert:

Cool, I like all the new changes.


I love change in general. Especially once comfort levels have been reached.
04/18/2016 04:37:55 PM · #16
Originally posted by Bear_Music:

The Current "Expert Free Study", now the "Extended Free Study", is the first challenge to use the new rules. Tomorrow's Open Challenge will be the next. Good luck to us all!


This read as if you meant to finish with, "And may God have mercy on our souls!!" :)
04/18/2016 04:45:32 PM · #17
I for one am quite excited about the changes. I believe it brings DPC much closer to current photography techniques, and add new reasons to explore and experiment: very positive and motivating! Thanks a lot SC guys for the hard work on this. I now just wish I had more free personal time...
04/18/2016 04:48:38 PM · #18
Originally posted by gyaban:

...very positive and motivating!


O crap! That's all we need is for Christophe to be even more motivated!
04/18/2016 07:03:21 PM · #19
Awesome changes~!

I just found out I have that 3d thing on my photoshop and just started dabbling in it, good to know it will be allowed in the expert (extended)
Thanks for all the work you all do

04/18/2016 09:46:34 PM · #20
Originally posted by bvy:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

"Standard Editing" is what used to be "Advanced Editing". A significant change here is the removal of any trace of the "major element" rule. If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it!

I think I've just lost interest in DPC.


Losing interest does not necessarily mean departure.
04/18/2016 10:05:07 PM · #21
I am always grateful to Brian (bvy) for voicing his opinion. I have the greatest respect for his photographic integrity, and usually feel that I follow his strictures mostly because I cannot be bothered with particular manipulations in photoshop, and not because I have the same integrity. It is good to be reminded what it is that is a camera and not some personal whimsy. What I mean is that the camera challenges us to see. If we rely on touchings up all over the place we can lose the blessed immediacy of It is what it is, or It appears as it appears.

OK. Now to dinner. I hope I haven't drunk all the wine.
04/18/2016 10:55:17 PM · #22
There are always dissenting views i suppose. But the rule change does remove a lot of ambiguity for Site Council. And believe me, I'm not a fan of dishing out DQs (not that i have had too many opportunities ;)

I also don't think this will change the way most people shoot or edit - but i can think of a few images where i thought "can / should I remove that set of footprints or that telephone pole?" ...
and now we won't need to worry whether it passes through the group that volunteers to enforce the rules. So not only is this about what we CAN do ... it's about enforcement and fairness.

I certainly don't think this will drastically change what we see here at DPC. But it will make enforcing the rules a bit simpler I hope.
04/18/2016 10:57:19 PM · #23
Great job SC. I love the new rules. It goes a long way to getting rid of the gray areas. Thank you
04/18/2016 11:02:18 PM · #24
I'll try not to delete errant birds or wires. Except when intentional....



I'll still score where I usually score, new ruleset or not. It's all good.
04/19/2016 08:21:22 AM · #25
"If it's in your picture and you don't want it there, then remove it!"

This just kills it for me. I know I haven't entered in a long time, but I think about it every posted challenge. This to me just says take whatever you want and MAKE it what you want to enter. Relies on post processing and not taking the picture.
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