fotocommunity Blog COM http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/ News from fotocommunity.com de Copyright 2008 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:15 +0100 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss I want it cheap! photokina tickets for as low as 9 Euros! photokina one day ticket From September 23rd to 28th 2008, photokina, the world's largest trade fair for photography, will take place in Cologne, Germany. Via fotocommunity you may now buy your day ticket for only 9 Euros instead of 28 Euros regular prize. Isn't that a deal? fotocommunity world convention at the photokina No question that fotocommunity will also be at the photokina. Not only will we be in a huge stand of 700 square meters, we will also provide a great program and shows every day all week long, and we will be holding the fotocommunity WorldConvention on September 27th as one of the major events of photokina! The fotocommunity WorldConvention will be THE photo event of the year. Along with highly recognized photo workshops held by well known specialists such as Robin Preston, Doc Baumann and others, we will have a huge great international party, free drinks and food, live music and other highlights. We expect several thousands users from all over the world to attend and celebrate with us. Don't wait and get your tickets now! In the prize of 29 Euros is a day ticket for photokina included! Click here for the ticket shop!]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/07/i_want_it_cheap_photokina_tick_1.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/07/i_want_it_cheap_photokina_tick_1.html Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:00:15 +0100 NEW FEATURE: public buddies Starting today you can now make your buddies public and to be seen by all of fotocommunity who you are friends with. On your buddy list you can ask others to become your public buddy. This user will then receive an email by the system where he or she can agree or refuse your request. Try it out, could be fun.... :) (Please note that this function is not available for the admin team, we are buddies with everyone anyways :) ) Enjoy the fotocommunity! Andy http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/06/new_feature_public_buddies.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/06/new_feature_public_buddies.html Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:49:22 +0100 Minor technical problems Due to maintenance works this night we might still suffer under some restrictions in functions. We apologize for any inconvenience and try hard to solve the problems. Best regards Sven Jan http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/05/minor_technical_problems.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/05/minor_technical_problems.html Fri, 23 May 2008 10:24:03 +0100 New feature: "My News" What is going on with my friends at fotocommunity? Who uploaded a new photo, who posted comments and who signed up at the user calendar? This and more is available with a single click: A new feature – My News – will be available within the „My Photos“ area next week. „My News“ will show you which one of your friends uploaded a new photo, wrote a comment, received a comment, changed his profile and so on. a new photo, wrote a comment, received a comment, changed his profile and so on. You’ll be able to filter this news and to select which activities of your friends shall show up or not. In addition to that you can adjust your privacy settings within the “My News” area. You can select which of your activities shall be visible for other users and which not. To protect your privacy the basic settings after the change will be “show none of my activities” and you’ll have to change that on your own if you want to use the feature. If somebody opened his activities for the public, they will be visible for any fotocommunity user (after login), but not for the surfer who take a glance at fotocommunity without being a member. http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/04/new_feature_my_news.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/04/new_feature_my_news.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:20:22 +0100 New feature: public favourites "favourites". Here you can choose amongst all your favourite photos from others if you want to share them with others or still keep them private. Have fun with this new feature!]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/new_feature_public_favourites.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/new_feature_public_favourites.html Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:05:23 +0100 Being 18 Youth Channel Contest You want to discover your photographical talent? Become well known? Your photos published in magazins? fotocommunity and the French youth mag "PHOSPHORE" offer you the opportunity to do so with this contest! Until March 7th you may upload your most creative photo about "being 18". We are eager to see sensational photos and how you understand the theme. After a user voting there will be an expert jury from phosphore magazine evaluating the winners from the best photos - and publish them in their magazine. Here's the link to the contest Contest Rules: -The upload starts on 23 January 2008 and ends on 7 March 2008. -Each participant can upload a maximum of 5 photos. -Only photos that creatively realize the subject "Being 18" can be submitted. -Photos can only be submitted without comments. If you want to enter a photo that has already been shown and received comments, you cannot simply enter that photo with all its comments. You have to upload the photo again in the Contest Channel. -Underage participants declare the consent of a legal guardian with the submission of their photos. -Entries that do not fulfill the contest rules cannot participate. -The anonymity of the contest ends with the announcement of the winner. -With the submission of your photos, you confirm that you own the rights to the photos and that the photo rights are not owned by a third party. -The rights of the photo are in accordance with the terms and conditions of fotocommunity. -During the first phase, the photos will be rated by Users eligible to vote. The second phase will be decided by an independent jury of experts. -The judges' decision is final. Legal recourse is excluded. -For technical reasons, participants must be/become fotocommunity members (free membership is possible). -Employees and their relatives may not participate in the contest. The selection of the winning photos, the vote, the jury. The 10 best photos from each language version will be collected in a pool of 50 photos. Journalists from "PHOSPHORE" magazine will select the winning photos from this pool. That means: User voting from 21 January 2008 until 4 March 2008 The 10 best photos from each language version will be selected. 2. Jury voting by the journalists of Phosphore 3. Announcement of the winner here in the blog PRIZE: The prize is the publication of the 3 best photos in the magazine. ]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/being_18.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/being_18.html Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:00:32 +0100 Two Faces - One Reality A foto often offers more viewpoints of reality. This effect can be used and strengthened due to digital editing. In this international contest fotocommunity and Wacom are looking for your most creative before - after images. Show us what you create from an original image of your choice. We want your entry with the before and after within this one image. What you'll change is totally up to you and your phantasy. Faces, rooms, landscapes, the motif is free! We are very excited and eager to see the most astonishing images. Go to the contest here - uploading will start 25th of January and end 25th of March 2008 - each account may upload two images maximum - only entries showing the before AND after on the same image can be evaluated! - photos may be entered only without comments, that means if you have an image uploaded already you will have to remove it and upload it new to the contest channel. - we do assume the acknowledgement of parents for minor participants - entries not matching these conditions will not be evaluated in the contest - with publishing of the winners, the authors of each image will be seen - with uploading you confirm that all copyrights are held by you and that the image is free of third person's rights. - copyright is handled as stated in terms of use of fotocommunity - voting will be done in two steps. In the first step by members, in the second step by a n independent jury. - contest is without possibility of recourse to legal action - participants have to be registered at fotocommunity, free membership is possible. - members of Wacom and fotocommunity and their dependents may not take part in this contest. - on equal vote the older entry wins voting procedure: most contests at fotocommunity have the so called 2 phase voting. That means: 1. during the whole upload time images can be voted by full members on a scale from -5 to +5, which means that -5 results in 1 point, +5 will give 10 points. 2. after the end of user voting - which can last 1 to 2 weeks after upload phase - the best 100 to 200 images will be evaluated by a jury. Each jury is put together by experts for the referring contest theme. Prizes: 1. Prize

W_Cintiq12WXx.jpg
Cintiq 12WX
Instant Creativity. All over the world, creative professionals use sketchbooks to express their first ideas. This is why the Cintiq 12WX was developed as if it was a sketchbook: With a smooth, flat surface. And with a light weight that enables you to use it on your knees and to show it around to others. As you would do with paper – digital paper. No matter whether the Cintiq 12WX is on your desk or in your lap – just plug in and visualize your thoughts immediately with Wacom′s patented pen technology on a high-resolution LCD monitor. Which can be part of a multi-monitor environment, too. 2. Prize:
W_i3se_a5wide_frontx.jpg Intuos 3 A5 Wide Special Edition
Now, on the occasion of its 25th birthday, Wacom is introducing Intuos3 Special Edition. Available in the popular sizes A5 Wide and A4, the Special Edition sets itself apart from the other Intuos3 models with its smart black finish and the enclosed Intuos Airbrush input device. 3. Prize:
W_bamfun_a5_packx.jpg Bamboo Fun Medium
Bamboo Fun Medium Creativity is about expression. And what better way to express yourself than by creating your own world - your own photographs, drawings, collages or letters. Offering almost unlimited possibilities to express yourself in a simple and intuitive way.

    Wacom%20Logo_x.jpg The vision to bring man and technics together by providing natural input technologies and devices has made Wacom to the leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays and interface solutions.

]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/two_faces_one_reality_1.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/two_faces_one_reality_1.html Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:27:15 +0100 fotocommunity in Las Vegas! Anyone interested in exploring Sin City, shooting a few photos, and perhaps enjoying a few beers is cordially invited to meet us on Thursday, 31 January 8:00 PM at the main entrance of the Luxor Hotel. We look forward to seeing you there! ]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/fotocommunity_in_las_vegas.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2008/01/fotocommunity_in_las_vegas.html Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:52:40 +0100 Merry Christmas! On behalf of the whole team and administration it is my great pleasure to wish all of fotocommunity.com a great christmas season. May your day be a blessed one, may all of your wishes come true and all of you be happy and find some peace of mind! Andy, in the name of the team! http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/12/merry_christmas.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/12/merry_christmas.html Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:29:09 +0100 Upload Size Raised To 400 Kilobytes We have raised the upload size maximum to 400kb per photo to improve the quality of photos at fotocommunity. This also means that there is no more need for double uploads, which will give some more uploads than before when double upload was used before. The size limit of 1000 pixels wide and high remains unchanged. We hope you all like it, enjoy! http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/09/upload_size_raised_to_400_kilo.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/09/upload_size_raised_to_400_kilo.html Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:17:39 +0100 NORDIC LIGHT International Foto Festival / Admin On Tour Part Three / Review Tove Fölid tomorrow night at her house in Bergen before we move on towards Oslo where we will have to be by Thursday morning and will board the ferry to Kiel, Germany. We will hopefully arrive there on Friday morning and will then head straight on to Berlin for the fotocommunity.de festival there. Overall this has been a week of meeting and making friends, all interested in photography and all sharing the same passion for it. We have also had quite a few interesting chats and talks with some of the exhibitors and it was all topped with a great and typical Norwegian dinner at Christiane Wüllner's home last night, where famous Bruce Barnbaum was also invited and shared some of his opinions and thoughts on photography and nature preservation with us. He even brought and showed us some of his prints that have not been displayed in his exhibition, that was a highlight too. If you are into fantastic black and white photos, check out his work! After dinner and desert and a good portion of red wine to go with it, we went to the official end of festival party where we could say good bye to many of our new friends, not without having them promise to upload their photos and become active members real soon. We are really looking forward to that! So overall I could say this was a very worthwhile trip for fotocommunity, trying to bring our idea of sharing our common passion for photography and discussing our works with the rest of the world to Norway and it's people. As I sit here and write this little article, it really makes me happy and proud to be a member of this great idea and community! Over and out, will be reporting about the Berlin festival to you guys not being able to make it there in about a week from now.... Andy]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/09/nordic_light_international_fot.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/09/nordic_light_international_fot.html Sun, 02 Sep 2007 16:59:59 +0100 NORDIC LIGHT International Foto Festival / Admin On Tour Part Two Check out the pictures from old and new users in the Nordic Light 2007 section! To be continued.....]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/08/nordic_light_international_fot_1.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/08/nordic_light_international_fot_1.html Tue, 28 Aug 2007 15:39:44 +0100 Admin On Tour Grit Siwonia, our Youth channel manager and marketing director Uli Hülswitt will be up there for a long weekend, too. In Kristiansund we will enjoy Martin Unger's hospitality by staying at his house. Thanks for having us Martin! Martin is envolved in the festival as well as our Nature channel manager Tor-Henrik (Totto) Furmyr. In a few hours I will board the ferry from Kiel to Oslo where I'll arrive tomorrow in the morning. Next time I will be able to give you a short report on Friday with my first festival impressions and hopefully a few nice shots for all of you to see. Take care everybody. Cheers! Andy tbc]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/08/admin_on_tour.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/08/admin_on_tour.html Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:50:00 +0100 New menu online ... Here is how it looks, here is how it works: At first glance there might be some menu seem to be missing, but don’t panic! Everything is as it was before … but better! If you click one of the menu items a sub-selection will open (see picture - 1). And by the way: If you use some of the menu items quite often, for example the item “My Photos” and it’s sub-selections “Upload photo” or “Photos from buddies” and so on, just click the icon besides the text (see picture - 2). If you do so the menu will stay open and will be available as soon as you open the site for the next time. Even after a logout your personal settings will be saved and be available for you as you left them before. You save a lot of clicks and won’t have to search your most used features every time you re-log. If you watch a photo in the full size view, the menu will be minimized automatically. This keeps the focus on the photo. But it needs only one click on the referring link to reopen it again (Menu, top right on your screen, just besides the search bar). Are there more changes? Yes … If you navigate through the photos the page numbers will stay available (and visible) at the top of the screen (see picture - 4)… just try it! And: You’ll find the search bar always at the same (new) place: Top right of your screen, right besides the menu (see picture - 5). Finally: There is a new channel … “People” …We had a lot of requests for this channel and with the new design we finally could implement it. Besides of that one there is a new “channel name: Special” which is nothing else than the well known former Topics channel (see picture - 3). We will optimize the handling of the menus in the future to prevent it from reloading with the rest of the site. Another step in making fotocommunity even more “easy to handle” for you! Menu.jpg]]> http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/07/new_menu_online.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/07/new_menu_online.html In- and outside .com Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:05:14 +0100 fotocommunity.com and religion In a community like ours it’s only a matter of time until topics pop up which need to be considered carefully and force the administration to think about some guidelines for further procedures. You all know our guidelines regarding nudity, copyright protection and offensive behaviour against other users. Due to recent events we had to think about religion as well. And as in many other cases the disaster is to “judge” a photo which might be considered as art on one hand, but offensive material regarding the religious believes of other members on the other. Since we value the well being of the community always more than a single photographer’s, we decided to have a close look at photos with religious content or those which might offend users or more their beliefs. Of course it is not that we search the uploaded photos especially for such works, it’s more that the channel managers come to them by coincidence during their daily work or in most cases that users contact us via support and ask to have a closer look at a certain photo. I’d like to take the opportunity again to explain the then following procedure, since I know not everybody knows exactly where that photos go to and what happens to them: After one of the team members gets knowledge of such a case, he will have a look at it and as soon as he has the slightest doubt or wants to discuss the issue with his fellow team members, deactivate the photo. The wording is important here: deactivate means not delete! The uploading photographer will be informed via mail that his photo is now in an admin voting, the reason why and that he will get further information about the outgoing of that voting. Team members start to discuss the topic now “behind the scenes” … in many cases it is quite simple, as for example for a “nude upload into a wrong area” … in other cases it takes longer and there are arguments to be exchanged. The discussion about the religious content of photos was such … At the end the team comes to a conclusion and the voting is being proceeded. It always needs 2 votes out of three to come to a decision. The team member’s proposal is NOT a vote in this voting, so at least two more team members have to decide. Using this procedure helps to make decisions more objective. This voting procedure has proven it’s quality a lot of times, even if we usually get at least a “negative feedback” from the photographer. If the voting ends “contra” (two of three admins don’t think the photo needs to be taken off the public channels), the photo will be displayed at it’s original upload place again. If the voting ends “pro” the photo will be forwarded into the photographer’s transit folder for further use for example a publication in the nude channel or in a restricted fotohome folder. Of course the photo will be deleted for good in cases of copyright violations! We hope that explains the procedure and the work/ideas behind it to you. Of course there always will be different opinions, depending on the own point of view, but you can be sure that the team does everything to be as impartial as possible in such cases. Another hope is that you all support us in that way of seeing things – and especially if it comes to such a case where our interference is needed to stay calm and discuss things with us where needed. You know as well as we do how many different photographers from different countries, cultures and religions join here to share their passion. We want this community to be a place of harmony between all confessions and we will rather deactivate a photo for the good of this community than to have it visible online. Thanks to all of you for your kind understanding and support! http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/07/fotocommunitycom_and_religion.html http://blog.fotocommunity.net/com/2007/07/fotocommunitycom_and_religion.html In- and outside .com Wed, 04 Jul 2007 09:53:11 +0100