Home › Forums › Shoot to Serve Assignments › Opportunity: VersePic: "City on a Hill"
- This topic has 30 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 1 month ago by James Staddon.
-
AuthorPosts
-
February 13, 2017 at 9:32 am #21523Benjamin HolmesModerator
As for why we request a photo with no editing done, we were worried about people using filters, light leaks, and “destructive” editing that I wouldn’t be able to remove if I needed to. That phrase was a precaution we wanted in there just in case. I have no problem whatsoever with anyone performing color adjustments such as white balance, as long as the editing doesn’t mar the original image, so no worries there. Also, if you just have an edited photo and don’t have the original, don’t let that keep you from submitting it! We would just prefer the original, or as close to the original as possible, if available.
February 13, 2017 at 5:33 pm #21537Frazer FamilyParticipant…editing JPEG’s can have its drawbacks.
@bensharpeningcharacter, would you rather I submitted .png’s?I couldn’t even do a simple white balance adjustment without getting either green or blue outlines on the salt, which wasn’t ideal.
I’m sorry. With the RAW image, I could have done that in seconds in Lightroom but the instructions requested no editting. I’ll adjust the WB before posting in the future.
February 13, 2017 at 7:25 pm #21545James StaddonKeymasterPerhaps Ben could request DNGs of a chosen photo if he wanted to have full control over it . . . though I don’t know if his software could handle RAW or DNG.
February 13, 2017 at 8:00 pm #21546Ezra MorleyModeratorSeems like a better solution for photo hosting is in order. 🙂 Upload troubles, and jpg files instead of the needed RAW files are causing headaches.
@jamesstaddon, I have a couple of ideas. 🙂 You could go with something like a free MediaFire/Dropbox account to handle large RAW file uploads. https://www.mediafire.com/ The downside is, users might encounter inappropriate ads, etc.If you have lots of storage on your website hosting plan, I would set up a folder for handling large uploads, and create an upload spot linked to the forums, so that you can handle all the files yourself without relying on 3rd-party hosting options. ( https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-file-upload/ )
If you don’t have the hosting space, I have some other ideas, but I’ll wait to hear your reply before suggesting them.
February 15, 2017 at 4:58 pm #21592James StaddonKeymasterLet’s talk through this!
So, if we used a third-party client like Dropbox, how would folks upload their photos? Would I give all PRO members a Username/password giving them access to the shared account and they would add their pictures there?
I’ve not had any problems with ads using Dropbox, or Box for that matter.
I think storing them on my website hosting plan would be fine. Where would people go to upload their files if it wasn’t here on the forums?
February 15, 2017 at 8:08 pm #21596Ezra MorleyModeratorWith Dropbox, you can create a “File Request” link, which anyone who has the link will be able to upload to. Files up to 2GB are supported, so I think that should definitely cover the RAW files! 🙂 Yeah, if you link straight to your File Request, I don’t think they’ll see any ads.
The main reason that I wouldn’t do the uploads through the forum, is so that you have a folder of just “Sharpening Character” uploads, which you can purge every week, once @bensharpeningcharacter gets the files. Otherwise, you’ll end with a HUGE folder full of RAW files that will never be used again. Plus, I didn’t know for sure whether you could raise the file-size and # of uploads on the forum. The other thing is, the forum doesn’t give you any feedback on whether your upload went through, or why it failed, where a dedicated upload page should be able to be a little more helpful. 🙂
February 15, 2017 at 9:54 pm #21598Benjamin HolmesModeratorHmm… That could totally work! I already am a Dropbox user, but I would likely have a seperate SC Dropbox account that Andrew and I share. When creating the request, we could put a file request link in the Shoot to Serve request, and Pro members could directly upload the DMG or RAW files to us. The only question would be whether or not this would replace the current method for submission. Why would we need everyone to submit both JPEG and RAW files? Dropbox is a one way street however, so it might be a good idea to submit both ways so that other Pro members can see photos submitted, and the conversation could continue from that.
There is one flaw in the idea that this method of dual-submission would fix. I do not often have the ability to access the internet more than once over the weekend, (this week is an obvious exception) meaning I could not look at the photos and then wait for a while after requesting for RAW files to get them. If everyone submitted the RAW photos along with the JPEGs, this wouldn’t be a problem! I couldn’t figure out a way to fix this flaw, so thanks @buddingphotographer for this great idea! I’ve used Dropbox a long time, but never knew about that feature! (Probably because I mostly deal with sending files to a desktop computer rather than to others!)
As far as any inappropriate ads, I’ve used Dropbox for a long time, and I have yet to even see ONE ad. I honestly don’t think that’ll be a problem!
I think that it would actually be a huge mistake to handle RAW files within the forum. To put it simply, RAW files aren’t small, and the browser load time when trying to look at an image that was submitted would be atrocious, not to mention the data bill you could rack up! This solution sounds like a good one to me, so I’ll try to start the legwork on this for the next Opportunity that’ll be releasing Monday!
As far as my software compatibility with RAW, I have it. Ever since iOS 10 released fully supporting RAW, software developers started introducing compatibility, and when the reason for the support was revealed (the iPhone 7 shoots can shoot in RAW) compatibility exploded everywhere. In the unlikely event that an app doesn’t support RAW, I could always convert the image into a PNG or JPEG with Pixelmator! (or PSD! Yes, I have apps that support that too.) The real question isn’t whether it will work or not, but whether or not I’love see a quality difference in my work on a mobile machine! I’ve not done an editing comparison between an identical RAW and JPEG photo, so I’ll try to do that the first chance I get and include that information in the next VP Explanation.
February 16, 2017 at 11:45 am #21624Benjamin HolmesModeratorJust wanted to give a quick update: I tested the Dropbox File Request ability, and there are no ads on the upload screen that the file request link brings you to. (I made sure my ad blocker was off too, so no worries there!) This method is completely safe, so I’ll start rolling it out in the Opportunity requests! Thanks for everybody’s ideas!
February 16, 2017 at 2:49 pm #21633Ezra MorleyModeratorWow, that didn’t take long! 🙂 You’re welcome! Hopefully it works out for you OK.
February 16, 2017 at 3:51 pm #21635Benjamin HolmesModeratorHi guys, I could use some submissions in the current Opportunity. (This Opportunity is over two weeks old!) I’ve release a Dropbox File Request link in that forum, so if you have a RAW, feel free to send it! I’ll be releasing the DFR natively in the actual request from now on, starting with the new request coming out on Monday!
Here’s the link to the latest Opportunity: https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/opportunity-versepic-seek-ye-first/#post-21634 Photos requested are paths, trails, light beams, castles, fortresses, ect… I’ve extended the deadline to Friday night in hopes of getting some more submissions, so if you have some photos you think I could use, submit ’em! You can read up on all the details within the request!
Thank you all!
February 18, 2017 at 12:14 pm #21669James StaddonKeymasterJust now looking at this thread for the first time in a few days . . . looks good!
Thank you @bensharpeningcharacter for your research and including the DFR link to the request. I suggest you clearly state that you’d like both the JPG submitted on the forum and the RAW submitted at the DFR link.
We’ll streamline things as we go along, and see what works, doesn’t work, or is cumbersome.
One caution: are the RAW files (submitted by the PRO members) at the DFR link visible to everyone? If so, it basically means anyone with the link could access the PRO member’s raw files . . . and abuse their access if they had dishonest intentions. How can we prohibit that from happening?
February 18, 2017 at 3:32 pm #21674Benjamin HolmesModeratorThe DFR link is COMPLETELY PRIVATE. NO ONE can see anything that others have submitted to the link, unless I want them to. (I could’ve set the link to be public, but I didn’t think so…) I’ll be updating the Opportunity form with the DFR link and implicit instructions for that! So far, I’ve gotten people submitting JPEGs and not putting it on the forum, so I will make sure to mention that. I still am not sure whether or not I want JPEGs submitted by the DFR, but it was kind of handy… (I get an email when that happens, but not if someone submits to the forum.) I’ll work on it!
February 20, 2017 at 4:13 pm #21731Ezra MorleyModerator@bensharpeningcharacter, you can subscribe to email updates on the forum threads too, if you’d like. At the very top of the page, on the right, there should be a “Subscribe” link.
February 20, 2017 at 4:17 pm #21732Benjamin HolmesModeratorI know, but I never can remember to do that!!! And of course, I always remember to at times when I can’t… Good grief! Thanks for reminding me though! That needs to become the first thing that I do when coming on to an Opportunity…
February 20, 2017 at 9:18 pm #21744Benjamin HolmesModeratorHi Guys! Just wanted to let you know the newest Shoot to Serve request has been released! You’ll be shooting for Matthew 16:24-25:
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
As they say, have at it! 😉
https://www.lenspiration.com/forums/topic/versepics-take-up-your-cross/#post-21741
-
AuthorPosts
The topic ‘Opportunity: VersePic: "City on a Hill"’ is closed to new replies.