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Note: Much of the information on this page pertains to the submission and voting phase of the Capture Ventura County project. That phase has come to an end. However, please feel free to read up and see how the project came together.
Eek! We sure hope so. There's a lot that could go wrong with logging in. If you have your username and password wrong, you will see a message that says, "Login failed." If you didn't get that error, but still can't sign in, or if you already tried resetting your password, then it's likely an issue with cookies. No, not the chocolate chip kind — the kind your browser stores (required to use this site). We created a magic button to try and automatically fix cookie issues for folks so try that first. Back to top.
If you tried our magic button are still unable to sign in, there are a few other things you can try. Our site requires that cookies be enabled, so if you have cookies disabled or have any kind of custom security settings for your internet browser you may need to change those to the default (or normal) levels and enable cookies. It is also a good idea to clear all cookies and cached files before attempting to log in again. You can usually find all of these settings in "Internet Options" in your browser's "Tools" menu. Another potential problem is any kind of anti-virus or firewall you may have installed on your computer. While these are generally a good thing and help keep you secure and bug-free, they may have settings which are preventing you from accessing our site. Try adding our address (http://www.capturevc.com) to the "allowed" list in your settings. Back to top.
At some point we have to cut off submissions to the project. The counter is counting down to that point. When submission closes, anything you've uploaded is in the running to be used in the book or on the DVD. That means you no longer have the ability to delete or edit your photo. Up until that point you can delete your photo and we won't use it in the book, but after the deadline passes, if your photo is still online, we'll use it in the book if it garners enough votes. Back to top.
Once the counter reaches zero for the submission period, vote week begins! During this final week no more new photos can be added. Instead, it's up to you to vote for as many photos as possible to really shape the book/DVD into what you think it ought to be. It's the perfect time to get all of your friends and family to vote like mad for your photos. Once the vote week is done, the project heads to production phase. You'll still be able to view all of your photos, but you won't be able to cast a vote. It's at this time we start on the layout of the book. We take a look at all the photos you've picked as the best and put them in the book. Also when vote week is over, awarding of prizes begins. It'll take us a few weeks to get a hold of everyone, but keep checking your inbox (you did give us a valid email address, right?). We'll let you know if you're a winner. The last thing that happens when the countdown reaches zero is the contributor discount goes away. So, be sure grab your copy of the book/DVD before you miss out on the opportunity to save! Back to top.
Ha! If you think you should steal, perhaps you ought to leave, or go hang out with the fishy types. Using someone else's photo for anything is not okay. Photography is an art, and it takes a lot of work. If you want to use a photo for something, pay a photographer. Don't loot photos here! We actually built in a way to thwart most folks who will try to steal images so photographers ought to feel safe. Back to top.
It's the way we sort photos to make them easily viewable for you. Freshest is really simple. In any given list, it's the most recently submitted photos. They're new and need your support! Greatest is a little more complicated. We have a complex algorithm that determines which photos are great. It's a combination of a lot of variables. What variables? It's a secret. If we told you, would it make the contest more fun? Probably not. This isn't supposed to be a numbers game. This is supposed to be fun. The basic principle behind Greatest is that photos people dig are great, ones they don't, aren't. Now get out there and start voting for photos. Back to top.
Our images are stored on mirrored servers all over the United States. It is feasible (although rare), that some images are on servers which your internet service provider does not have access to. We have no control over this. The next step would be to look into clearing your DNS cache locally, or perhaps contacting your ISP to see if they are having issues with certain subnets of servers on the world wide web. As far as we're concerned, the images are behaving normally. They can been seen in expected places and in expected ways to all users, with the exception of you, which is quite unfortunate. We wish we could do more to help, but we can't. Sorry! Back to top.
A pixel is a unit of measurement. It's what computers use to measure image sizes. We require your photos have enough pixels to print in the book. So what's enough? It would be best if you would upload images of at least 2000 pixels on its longest side, but we will accept anything that's more than 1 megapixel (although a 1 megapixel photo would have to print about two inches wide). To find out how many pixels your image has, open it in a photo editing, or photo viewing application. Most applications should have a straightforward menu system which should lead you to "image dimensions," "image size," or "get info." Once there, you should see the width and height of your image in pixels. Bigger (or more pixels) is always better, so just upload the largest available version of your photo. We will accept all photos (even really small ones, down to 1 megapixel), but a photo is more likely to end up in the book if it's bigger. Back to top.
Yes. This is a book about Ventura County so photos should be from Ventura County. It doesn't matter where you are from, but all photos should be taken from Ventura County. That seems pretty simple, but we know some folks won't be sure what that really means. So to be more specific, only submit photos from within a 50-mile radius of Ventura. Back to top.
This is an art book, so we're open to some amount of digital enhancement, but we'd prefer not to get into the "digital manipulation" realm. Don't turn your photo of a dog into a photo of a dog eating your uncle George. Don't spend 45 minutes in your photo editing application making an unrealistic scene. Don't make your photo look like a painting. Just don't mess with it too much. Use your own judgement but remember that other people have the ultimate call, and they're not going to vote for a photo that doesn't look real. Cropping, toning, contrast, removal of dust spots are all examples of appropriate digital enhancement. Back to top.
No, you shouldn't. Each photo can be entered in one chapter, and one chapter alone. Now if you've got a photo that's a little different and you want to put that in another chapter, that's fine, just don't upload the same photo more than once. Back to top.
Sorta. But it's for your own good. We don't limit the total number of photos you can upload over the course of the project, but we do limit the number of uploads in a single day to 30. The reason for this is simple: quality control. The benefit to you, the photographer, is that voters tend to dislike photos that look similar to other shots they've seen. We watch voting trends and the bottom line is the fewer photos you submit, the more likely voters will like your stuff. So choose your best photos only! Back to top.
We'd prefer not to, but we will be looking for grammar and spelling mistakes. We're human too, it happens to us just like it does you. Otherwise, we won't be changing the information about your photo. We'd ask that you pay special attention to the details in your captions. If your caption tells us your photo is of your cousin Sally, we pretty much have to believe you. So far as the details of your photo, if at all possible, the caption you give us will appear "as-is." If your caption is too long, or redundant, or has parts that are not applicable to the photo, we may cut it down. Back to top.
We purposely don't limit submission on when it was taken. We want the vote to decide what kind of book this will be. In general terms, just keep it recent, like the last few years, unless you really think the book needs historic photos. Back to top.
We don't require it because most folks don't know what a color profile is. However, if you know what one is and you're looking to convert your image to a certain profile, we'd love to have it in SRGB. This isn't necessary if you don't know what a color profile is. Back to top.
Photos of people in a public square are probably okay without any kind of release. Photos of family and friends are usually okay, but get their permission first. We probably can't publish models and famous people in the book without their consent, but go ahead and post photos if you have them. Let us worry about the rights and such. If our lawyers feel we need to get in touch with the famous person or model, we will get ahold of you and make arrangements. Back to top.
We understand, and we agree. Everyone deserves proper recognition for their contribution. In the book, on the DVD, in promotion, and on the website, your photo will always be credited to you. In addition, we provide a way for you to promote your website, if you have one. Simply fill out the website line on your user profile page. Our plan is to include all photographers names (and their websites) in the book. Back to top.
This should be pretty rare, but it might happen. It happens when our upload servers get overloaded. We have a slew of upload servers but sometimes they get tired and need a nap. When they're all either busy with other uploads or napping, you get a 503. Boo napping upload servers!!! Back to top.
On your photo's page, in the "Take Action" box on the right, you should see an "Edit Info" button. Click that. You can edit your photo's title, caption (please do, we need captions to be book ready), and change it's chapter if you want. You can also delete your photo altogether on the edit page. Look for the "delete photo" button underneath the photo on the edit page. You can delete a photo any time you'd like before the deadline passes (see top right countdown). At that point we start laying out the book so your photo can't be taken out of production. Back to top.
This probably occurred when you where uploading the photos. When you are done uploading, hit the "upload" button in the navigation bar. Don't hit the "back" button. It could also be a cookie issue. The best thing to do is delete the duplicate/wrong photo and try again. Back to top.
Sorry, this isn't possible. There's a few reasons why we don't allow this, but biggest reason is that people could use this for cheating purposes. We're sure you understand. The best thing to do is delete the version that has fewer votes. Back to top.
Unfortunately not. We're working on a way to make this possible, but for now the only thing you can do is delete the photo then re-upload it after you've rotated it with a photo editing application like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. If the photo doesn't look rotated on your computer but shows up rotated here, it's probably because some photo viewing applications display photos as rotated in the view, but the actual photo file has not been rotated. You need to rotate the actual file with a photo editing application. Back to top.
The thumbnail sizes are generated automatically when a photo is uploaded. It can't be changed. It won't affect the vote, however, since voting only takes place when a photo is viewed full frame. Back to top.
Because we hit the shuffle button... and because random is fair. Every photo uploaded deserves a fair shot at getting views, votes, loves and comments. So when you vote for a photo, you are taken to a completely random photo. Vote for that photo and another random one is presented to you. That way, views (and thus, votes) are spread around evenly. There is one caveat, however: the vote flow does not include photos that fall into the bottom half, score-wise, as determined by the voters. It takes some time to fall into the bottom half, though. We give each photo a fair shot at the start, but if it gets a bunch of "nix it" votes without getting some "dig it" votes, the voters don't like it so it's pulled from the vote flow. It's still accessible in every way other way. It still shows up on your profile page and you can still share it with your friends. It can still be voted on too, so it would be a good candidate for sharing. Ask your friends to vote for it so it can get back in the vote flow! Why do it this way? It's simple: if a photo is nixed consistently, by a large group of people, over the course of time, there's no reason for that photo to be a part of the flow. It's only going to garner more "nix it" votes, so why go through the trouble? Back to top.
It's a secret, but the principles are easy to understand. Everyone gets a fair shot at winning prizes and getting published in the book. The algorithm takes all possible variables into account to ensure everyone gets a fair shake. Whether you enter your photo at the beginning or end of the contest you've got an equal shot at winning and getting published. You'll see this reflected in each chapter's "greatest" photos: the best photos from any given chapter are a mix of photos that have been up for a while and photos that are new to the party. The basic thing to remember is that views are good, but they are better if they turn into votes. Oh and of course "Dig It" votes are good, and "Nix It" votes are not so good... but you figured that out on your own, right? Back to top.
No. Don't try to cheat either. Actually, you can't cheat. Without getting too technical, it is absolutely impossible to vote for a photo more than once. If you think you have, it's either that the photo is very similar to one you've already voted on, or the owner of the photo switched chapters, which clears the votes for that photo and would allow you to vote for it again. Otherwise, it's not a possibility. For sure. Back to top.
Yes. You can't cheat. We've built in all sorts of ways to ensure a fair vote. And don't think we're not checking things personally. Computers and algorithms are great, but at the end of it all, we've got folks looking over votes to make sure everything is square. Back to top.
You think that'd be fair? Come on, don't be fishy. Sign up once. Vote for your own photos once. This is a fun contest where cheaters won't prosper. We've got schemes to track fishy folks. Our computers keep track of all sorts of site activity. When something seems off, a little birdie tells us who's doing what, and how long it's been going on. We'd hate to do it, but we may be forced to remove a user, or group of users, if said birdie informs us of cheating activities. Back to top.
Yes. State laws vary (check into it if you are concerned), but federal law dictates that you must be 13 to create user profiles and such, which this site needs. See the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 for more info. Back to top.
We give you all sorts of numbers so you can generally gauge how your photos are doing (but keep in mind this isn't supposed to be a numbers game). On each one of your photos' pages, you'll see three numbers. The first is votes, which is the total number of times the photo has been voted for (both "Dig it" and "Nix it"). The second number is how many loves the photo has received. Loves are nice, but it doesn't impact a photo's score the same way votes do. A photo's score is based on a super-secret algorithm. The third number is the number of comments the photo has generated. Also on your user profile page we tell you your top three photos as decided by the vote (note that you must have at least four photos uploaded to see this because... well... how much sense does it make to show you a top three when you only have three?), as well as show you all of the activity on your photos. Back to top.
We're showing you the three photos people like the most out of your entire collection. Since a photo's score is derived from a complicated algorithm, we thought it would be nice to show you which three photos are doing well based on the algorithm. Note that we ensure that one of your top three photos will be in the book or on the DVD. If none of your top three has a score high enough to make the book, one of them will make the DVD. Back to top.
You. Only you - unless you have someone looking over your shoulder. We show you your total votes (both up and down), loves and comments for each photo on each photo's page. We also show you your top three photos (as decided by everyone else) on your profile page. This is info only you see. Back to top.
On your profile page we give you a chance to see your photos ranked by number of votes placed. We don't tell you whether or not those votes are "dig it" or "nix it" votes on purpose. We don't want to turn this contest into a numbers game a math wiz could win. It's about photography, not math! So, to show you which of your photos people generally like the most (at least recently), we highlight it with a green box. See it in action in the votes tab on your profile page. Back to top.
Nothing. Really. It's just a baseline. All photos have a gray box except the ones that people are really into very recently. So if a photo has a gray box on it, take it to mean people aren't super-duper ultra into it in the last hour, or two hours, or day, or so. That's all. It doesn't mean anything bad. Back to top.
No, it's the total number of votes (dig it votes plus nix it votes). We purposely hide the dig it vs. nix it stats to ensure people don't try to game the system. Plus, how a user votes for a photo needs to be private to make sure voting is fair. Back to top.
We want you to publicize your photos. We want you to get oodles of votes. To help you, we created a whole page dedicated to sharing yourself and your photos. At the top of the share page, you'll find a box ready to accept email addresses (separated by commas). Enter your friends, your family, people you work with... whoever you think would be interested in voting for your photos. You get credit for each real person you email. The email you're sending contains one of your photos and a link to signup and come vote for your photos. If a person clicks the link in the email and signs up, you get a gold star! It's a way to know that a particular person signed up as a direct response to your share. Fun huh? Along the way we'll be doing some challenges for shares and gold stars. Keep track of your shares and gold stars on your user profile page. Oh and don't try to trick the system by signing up bogus email addresses and such. We've got computers tracking all sorts of site activity, so we'll figure out who's trying to cheat and give them a kick in the pants (and off the site). Back to top.
Go to your "Me" page and click on the tab that says, "Shares." Below you will see a list of people that you have invited. To the right of their name you'll see a little person with a question mark. that column tells you if that person is a member or not. Then next to that is a up and down graphic, which shows if the person has voted for your photos. If that person signed up using the link in the email you send them, a gold star will show up next to the left of their name. Back to top.
When a photographer signs up they are given the option to allow people to contact them. If they chose to allow it, an "Ask the photog" button will show up on every photo taken by the photographer. Clicking it will take you to a form which you can fill out to get in touch with them Back to top.
135 x 135 pixels, which is the largest your profile pic will ever be viewed. Unfortunately, cropping on the profile pic can't be controlled. Back to top.
There's no automated way to do it. Contact us and tell us why you need it changed. Back to top.
Well it's up to you, really. Go vote and tell us what you want in the book. We can tell you that there will be more than 100 photos in the book, and probably less than 250. We want to publish photos big on the page so we won't be cramming a ton in. We've got years of experience publishing books so you can be sure the layout will look good. Full bleeds, double trucks, super-fine typography... it's gonna look awesome. That said, it is your photos that will be on display, so your photos will be the main showpiece. The style of the book will just get out of the way. Back to top.
All prize winners will be contacted before the book is released, but everyone else will have to wait until the book hits the streets. Anticipation is fun! Back to top.
Everyone! It's the biggest photo party of the year and all contributors are invited. The best photos are going in the book, but we think every contributor has at least one photo that's worth looking at. So, we plan to include at least one photo from everyone on the DVD. It's going to be the type of DVD you pop in to your DVD player, kick back, relax and take it all in. It will be split up into chapters and have a nice bit of music as a backdrop. The DVD is included with the book, so the pricing you see includes this great photo party DVD. Note to photographers: the DVD is in slideshow format so we're not talking about actual image files being accessible. Your high-res images will not be put anywhere public! Back to top.
We want to say thanks for your help. Whether that help be in the form of photos you've uploaded, or votes you've cast, we want to be sure you know how valuable you are to us. If you upload one photo or more, or vote for 150 photos, you'll receive a coupon worth $5 off the book. Go ahead and use it on every book you buy. Plus, you can combine it with the pre-sale discount, which means you can buy the book and DVD for $15 off the retail price! This offer is good until the project closes (September 18, 2008). Back to top.
No. There is only one discount, but we provide two paths to get there. You can either upload a photo and get the $5 discount OR vote for 150 photos and get the $5 discount. You can't combine the two. Back to top.
Yes. Our photographers work very hard to document our area. Over the past year they've captured many significant events, important people, breath-taking scenery, and so on in pictures. It seems fitting to include their pictures in the Capture Ventura County book. We've put their photos into the normal flow of the website. We hope you'll vote on them just like you would any other photos. At the end of the project, we'll put the photos you think are best in the book (from both the public and VenturaCountyStar.com). Note that newspaper photographers are not eligible for any of the prizes. Back to top.
Soon! That's sorta vague huh? The current ship date is scheduled for November 24, 2008, so you'll be able to give a copy of the book/DVD to all of your friends and family for the holidays. We'll keep you updated on the ship date if it changes. Back to top.
This may change, but plan for the discount ending on September 18, 2008. Back to top.
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