Painting With Shadows

The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Saturation point? - and Episode 57 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

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Last night's Red Photo Challenge received 29 submissions – the most of any of the challenges to date.

It took about 2 hours to go through them during the podcast, including viewing, reading comments, and going off on tangents which, as I wrote about in my blog post Accumulation and Episode 45, is too long for me, especially as it means it takes longer to edit the video ready for YouTube - and getting to bed at 2am isn't a bundle of laughs when you live with ME/CFS.

It's great that more people are wanting to take part, and I'm really wanting to grow the podcast audience. However, I'm starting to realise that if I'm successful in my ambitions then there is clearly going to come a point where I will have more submissions than I can deal with.

I'm going to have to work out some kind of selection procedure.

Do I prioritise the most active and regular viewers, submitters or commenters?

Do I prioritise newer people to encourage more engagement?

Do I set up some kind of random selection programme?

Do I just do a simple first-come-first-served system?

It might be that I never get more than I currently am but I need to start planning, just in case.

The non-challenge weeks tend to be quieter by comparison, but the same problem will eventually occur if the podcast engagement grows. With Critique submissions, I've already realised I can't do more than about 6 in an episode.

It's crossed my mind before that this could eventually be something I would need to work out.

And truth be told, I wasn't expecting it to take this long - surely I was going to have achieved global domination within 6 months of starting the podcasts, and not still have less than 30 regulars over a year later?

Maybe I should do more planning rather than making it all up as I go along...

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A quick heads up for anyone reading this the same day I've published it - 

Tomorrow (6th May), I'm doing an Instagram Takeover of the Stories on the @upland_cic page ahead of Spring Fling. Do come over and see what's happening.

Meanwhile, enjoy episode 57 below!

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0:00 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
07:25 - Reviewing images on the theme "Red" submitted to the Facebook Group, "Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres"
23:33 - How much explanation should a photo need?
1:10:48 - Getting into a habit of creating behind-the-scenes shots
1:13:24 - Using the best camera for the job, even if it's a phone
2:01:50 - Coming up next week
2:04:45 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Also consider subscribing to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to help me build the numbers.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then do join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/

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2 comments

Ben Craven said...

This is a tricky problem!

Of the options you mention, I would favour prioritising newer people. It feels more friendly and open. For example, you might say that someone's first two challenge entries would definitely get a mention. You wouldn't need to keep track yourself - just ask people to say if it's their first or second entry. I don't think people will try to deceive you. After any newcomers, something randomish for the rest...but how to do that with minimum effort needs a bit of thought.

Having said all which, the challenges are a major attraction for me. I wouldn't call myself a photography enthusiast, so it's great being asked to do something that I wouldn't think of doing myself. It stretches my mind. As it is, a month feels like a long wait between challenges, and if I knew that it might be actually two months, or three or four, before my challenge entry got a mention, I think my enthusiasm for the podcasts would start to wane. But that's from a purely selfish point of view, and I'm also not a typical member of your audience.

While I'm writing: coming to your podcasts has really enriched the way I look at photos. Last week, as I was having my first pub meal for over a year, I found myself consciously critiquing some framed photos on the walls. It occurred to me that a good photo needs (at least) a good subject, good lighting, and good composition, but that whoever took the photos thought that any one of the three was enough.

Best wishes

Ben






2:30 pm, May 17, 2021
Kim Ayres said...

Ben - thanks for giving me your thoughts on this.
Part of me wants to see people come back a couple of times first. I get a bit fed up of people who turn up once, stick a photo in, don't watch the podcast and I never hear from them again.
As such, that pulls me towards favouring the regulars.
Of course I could go a bit more capitalist and base it on the number of coffees people buy ;)

Delighted you're seeing so much more in other photos now.
Once you start learning about light, composition and narrative in photography you start to realise how few people have a grasp of all three - which is why I spend a lot of time on them :)

6:55 pm, May 17, 2021

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