Best of 2009 - "The top three, so dear to me" photo challenge year in review!

As often happens, members put forth an idea or wish that they would like to see on the site. This idea started as a THREAD discussion and was introduced by (Tim) Blackcloudbrew. The idea was to have members offer up the best image they took in 2009. Some felt that it would be difficult to select just one photo. So we decided on 3 images per participant. A twist was added to spice things up and add another dimension by having participants try and predict how their images would fare in the overall vote results. (kind of like the card game "Oh Hell" & 21). It will work like this:

Each participant submits 3 photos (attached in the usual contest manner hidden from the public)
We create a voting page with the photos randomly arranged.
After a short open public viewing period, and prior to the polls being opened, the participants would try and predict where each of their photos might place.
The participants (members that submitted images) would PM "Private Message" me their predictions
The polls would be opened and voting carried out. (voting is open to all PentaxWorld members)
The predictions would be posted and compared to the actual voting results and the difference would be subtracted from or added to the participants hand. The participant with the highest hand wins.
We also get an opportunity to declare the members choice top 3 photos of 2009 based on the overall voting results.

This gives the general membership photos to view and vote on, and the fun of watching how accurate the participants are at judging their work against others work (hey lets face it..... in a normal contest we do not know what the competition is going to submit). A game within the game.

Here are the rules:

All participants will receive 21 points to start off with.
3 points awarded for a perfect match (where the participant's prediction matches the voting result for a picture)
1 point if the image receives one vote better than the participant predicted (voters rate it 4th and you predicted a 5th place result)
0 points if the image receives one vote less than the participant predicted (voters rate it 8th and you predicted a 7th place result)
Any difference greater than +1 or -1 will be subtracted from your hand (your initial 21 points)
In the event of a participant tie, the lowest average (average of their 3 photos) will determine their prediction success. If further decision measures are required the participant with the highest vote accumulated photo (based on received votes in the poll) will prevail.
In the event of a tie in the voting polls the submission order will determine the outcome.

example:

Lets say that Edward Shutter Hands feels that his 3 photos will be picked 2nd, 5th & 7th
If the voting public judges the photos to be 3rd, 4th, & 10th
Edward will have scored (21), 0 , 1, -3 for a total hand of 19

Lets say that Alice Aperture feels that her 3 photos will be picked 5th, 8th, & 12th
If the voting public judges the photos to be 2nd, 2nd, & 7th
Alice will have scored (21), -3 ,- 6, -5 for a total hand of 7

Lets say that Lens Cap Larry feels that his 3 photos will be picked 2nd, 6th & 10th
If the voting public judges the photos to be 3rd, 4th, & 10th
Larry will have scored (21), 0 , -2, 3 for a total hand of 22

Guidelines:

1. Photo Size: 800 pixels on the max width/height. Ask for help on resizing if you have difficulty getting the image to conform to contest specifications. It creates a level playing field for all competitors and helps with the presentation and managing of the voting page.
2. File Size: Not more than 512KB.
3. Submit using the ATTACHMENT feature in this thread. Post a reply to this thread with your entry.
4. Three photos per member. (photo must be taken using a Pentax camera)
5. Please refrain from any descriptive text in your post. (we do not want a connect established between member and image initially)
6. Image can be captured by a Pentax film camera, and image scanned.
7. Have fun!
8. Cards sharks get your poker face on!

Good Luck to everyone on both fronts. For anyone that is confused don't worry, we will guide everyone through the steps.

First step.

Find your top 3 images you took in 2009 and submit (attach) them to this thread like you would for any other photo contest. Image size rules will be the same as our monthly contest (see Guidelines above). Entries will be accepted from now until the end of January, 2010
Hold off on making your predictions until we have posted the voting preview page. This will allow you to see what you are up against and the total number of photos.

Spyglass