June Tveekrem wrote:
> I just took a good look at the resolution requirements for submitting 
> photos: JPEG files 300 pixels/inch, minimum 5x7 inches. That's 
> 1500x2100 pixels minimum.
>
> A 3 megapixel digital camera has a detector with 2048x1536 pixels. 
> Therefore any photo taken with a 3-megapixel camera or lower is 
> disqualifed, even if the photo is not cropped at all. That eliminates 
> all low-end point and shoot cameras, and most cameras (at least 
> affordable ones) that are 5 years old or more.
>
> So we're starting with photos that were taken with 4-megapixel or 
> higher cameras. Then the bird must occupy a large enough portion of 
> the picture that minimal cropping is needed. This eliminates a lot 
> more photos. (As we all know, getting a nice closeup of a bird 
> requires being very close to the bird, or having a long telephoto 
> lens, or having a good digiscope setup.)  And we haven't even 
> addressed quality of the photos yet.
>
> Out of curiosity, I went through my ~1000 digital bird photos to see 
> how many would qualify. Four did. That's an 0.4% return. I am 
> definitely not a top-notch bird photographer; I'm probably average. If 
> other average photographers are like me, then they'll be doing well if 
> 1% of their photos meet the resolution requirements. Only a subset of 
> those photos might be good enough for the photographer to want to 
> submit them for a contest.
>
> So realistically, this book is going to be illustrated almost entirely 
> by photographers who have excellent equipment, lots of skill, and lots 
> of opportunity for taking bird photos. That's not a terrible thing; 
> it's just the reality of how you get top-quality photos. Hand-wringing 
> about the number of photographers represented is pointless.
>
> To those who can take wonderful bird photos, my hat's off to you!
>
That is a very good point, especially since many and perhaps most such 
people have already expressed an unwillingness to contribute due to the 
1 picture per CD rule.  Perhaps it is time for the committee to 
acknowledge that what they have is *not* a contest but a donation 
request and make the donation easier to accomplish.


-- 
Maurice Barnhill 
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Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Delaware
Newark, DE 19716