Calendar - 2011

[Double D]

For the past couple years we have collected pictures and made a Cannon Calendar. 

The first couple of years making the calendar was pretty intensive. Lots of bumps and glitches. I had to set down some rules to smooth bumps and remove the glitches. 

I wasn't real thrilled about doing the Cannon calendar this year, but I did.  I told Tim in an email, this was my last one. Tim, said he would pick up the ball and make the calendar. 

Putting the  calendar together this year was work intensive but fairly glitch free.  The rules worked to smooth things out.  We only had two small problems with the postings.  One person posted a picture that had been submitted in a previous calendar contest and one of the posters selected for the calendar had a problem finding the picture they submitted. Those were releatively small issues and were easily worked out.

A bigger help was that Matt gave me access to make the calendar.  He didn't have to come back to me and try explain a problem and then I  had to figure out second hand how to fix it.   The only real glitch, was on my part learning the calendar software, and I figured that out and everything was fine.

With things as they are, I am going do the Calendar post again this year. (Tim breathes a sigh of relief!)

In a couple of days, I will open the "Pictures worthy of a calendar - 2011" post.

The rules from last year will apply.

I will add a strong suggestion on picture format, but it won't be a rule. This will address the glitch I encountered making the calendar. When you take a picture for the calendar consider the format. The Calendar format is for pictures to be wider than tall-landscape format.

This is a landscape format picture. The picture is wider than it is tall



This is portrait format.  It is taller than it is wide.



You can submit in either format. But a landscape format will give you less white space and more cannon in the calendar.

One other thing I will suggest is if you submit a picture, make a special folder in you picture folder to save it.  That should make it easier to find if you get selected.

Several calendars ago, the cover of the calendar was a collage of all the pictures submitted and the 12 highest vote getters were inside-one per month.  How do you feel about that?  Should I do the collage cover again?

[Soot]

Where are the rules posted?

[Double D]

They aren't posted yet. 

I also want to see what kind of feed back I get in this post before posting.  Absent something startling they will be the same as last years with the addition of a request for landscape format.

Pictures worthy of a calendar - 2010
 

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

I didn't see the collage picture, but I like the sound of it.  Perhaps it would be nice to feature the top runner ups in the collage and the 12 winners in the months...perhaps not.

[Double D]

The 2008 calendar had the collage.  It's still listed in the GBO Estore-http://www.cafepress.com/gbollc/2319361

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

Looking at the old calendar, I definitely see the reason for the 1 picture per cannon rule.  Did this years' calendar have a title on the cover?  I don't see it in the store pictures.  Either format works well for the cover, but the collage (after seeing it again, I had seen it before) allows more people's pictures to be used, and since this is a once a year shot, it may be nice to use some form of collage.

[Double D]

One thought I had was to do the collage with all the pictures submitted except the 12 inside.  

That particular collage came from Google Picsa.  it had a static layout and if you didn't have enough pictures for the lay out then  it duplicated some until the format was filled.  I will look around for another collage matrix or do a little reading and see how to do it with Paint shop.

I do like the collage and the cover title myself.

[dynomike1x1]

Either way works for me. I think it would be nicer if the cannon was labled W/ what type of cannon and who it belonged to. Just my thought.

[Cat Whisperer]

There are several ways of labeling each picture.  Print in the picture can be done, but may be interferring with the simplicity of the picture.  Another way is to do sillouettes with the text there instead of on the photo.  Still another method would be to put the text describing the photo in on the page with the callendar.

It might be a good idea to submit the full size picture at the sime time one posts the picture on the 2011 pictures worthy of ....

Note also how I've named the attached picture.  (I reduced it is size and added the word SMALL.)  That makes it easy to SEARCH for the parent picture.

I'd like to suggest that this year's calendar focus on PEOPLE.  

For example, a hand gonne is a hand gonne - but in action !!!   Here's a 'shot' of our friend Lance firing my golf ball caliber hand gonne.

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

I like the idea of guns in action, but I don't think anyone really needs to see me in action shooting one - especially for a whole month.  At the same time, I don't think there's anything wrong with static images, and some people don't have the ability to shoot or to take pictures while shooting.

Definitely having a blurb on the cannon/owner would be nice.  I'd probably lean toward putting it in the top of the calendar page.  Maybe have the collage ones in brief on the back.

[Double D]

Here is what the collage would look like if we had used it for the cover this year



In order to label the pictures I will have have to add a text box to each picture.  Here is an example.



The calendar software used by Cafe Express the contractor GBO uses for promotional items only allows the insertion of photo's it does not provide for text outside the picture.

[Cat Whisperer]

... 
I don't think anyone really needs to see me in action shooting one -
...

Ahhh. You noticed I posted an example of SOMEONE ELSE rather than myself!   It's natural.  But people in the pictures add so much!

[Double D]

Yeah imagine having to look athis picture for a month!

[GGaskill]

It would have to win a place first.   

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

Looking at the calendar, I can see that the software may be too restrictive to allow putting the caption on the calendar section, but you can always crop all the images to size -20 pixels or so on the bottom, then add the 20 pixels to the size of the image in the form of a white (to blend with the calendar's background) area, and add the text there.  This would give you the caption without detracting from the photo, and each month's image would fill the same amount of space on the page, giving more uniformity.  An added bonus - many calendars are cut up after their use has past so the pictures can be used for other purposes (like framing).  This would ensure the caption stays with the image.

ex.:

[Double D]

I like it!

[Double D]

I tried a different way to label.  Here's a few samples.

[Double D]

Thats not bad.  There isn't much difference in the two label methods

So which text method do you like better; imposed on picture or a text box below the picture?

[Zulu]

Below the picture gives you the option of cutting it off if you want to frame it.
Zulu

[Terry C.]

Text inside the photo can sometimes be difficult (to nearly impossible) to read, depending on the background.

Text on a white strip is much preferable in my opinion.

[seacoastartillery]

     Mike and I vote for the collage cover as represented in the second collage you have shown in this thread.  We think you would get even more interest that way, because everyone submitting a photo would know that their photo would appear somewhere on the final version of the calendar.  This would increase sales also, keeping Bill happy.  We two vote for the caption in the white bar at the bottom of the photo in the large, Bold print style, such as you show on the last four photos.

     As for the photo of the two gentlemen standing next to the field gun and flag pole, was the camera lens O.K. after that shot, or did it crack, as we suspect?    .................Sorry, couldn't resist!   

Great discussion,

Mike and Tracy

[Cat Whisperer]

Yeah imagine having to look athis picture for a month!

Must have been SOMETHING wrong with the camera!  (We both look thinner than reality.)   

[Double D]

I don't remember being that young!

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

I don't think that's Rocklock's Smee.  I remember liking it though.  Some day I would like to add a howitzer to my arsenal.

[Double D]

I just slapped a title on it. 

Every year we have some cannons show up that really get my attention.  Garys bronze is one that got my attention this year.  Pretty darn neat!

[gulfcoastblackpowder]

Yeah, I know what you mean by Gary's bronze getting your attention...one of the 3 Morko's in the first batch is to be mine.

Your dictator, especially in the picture you used for the calendar, is another one that got my attention!

[Double D]

Yeah the Dictator picture came out came out good, but it's not my work that makes it. It's Dom work that made it.  The picture is more a product digital manipulation and optical illusion.