****UPDATE****2010 DOODLE KISSES CALENDAR is Now Accepting PHOTO SUBMISSIONS!!!

[Adina P]

We are now accepting doodle photo submissions for our 2010 Doodle Kisses Calendar! The information below is very important, please don't just skim it...READ IT CAREFULLY!

Here is the criteria for photo submissions:

1) ***update*** YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF DK to be eligible--and YOUR doodle must be in the photo. This means, for example, if you have a friend with a doodle or are a breeder you may NOT submit a photo of a doodle you do not currently own or a puppy that you are going to sell. Obviously if YOUR doodle is in a photo with a non-DK doodle that's fine. BUT YOUR doodle MUST be in the photo.

2) Photo must be high resolution. This means pretty much the photo should be straight out of your camera to your computer to me with NO size editing or cropping. Another way to know if your photo is high resolution is when you are looking at it in its FULL size...it should be bigger than your computer screen. If it's not, then it's too small and it will not be considered (this means no camera-phone photos).

3) Photos, of course, must be of excellent quality. Clear without any blurriness, good lighting. ***update*** think about not only how cute your doodle is but what's in the background.... If your doodle looks great but the background does not, is cluttered or detracts from the photo, rethink the photo. In the end it is subjective but it might help you in selecting what to submit.

4) No humans in the photo...only your doodle(s).

5) Professional photos are NOT necessary but acceptable. ***update*** By submitting photos taken by a professional photographer you are claiming you have the photographer's express permission to submit the photo for a calendar that will be sold. They own the copyright, even if they gave you the digital files. Unless you signed a contract with them that says otherwise, you need to have their express permission to use a photo in a product that will be sold. If you don't have this permission, get it or don't submit the photo.

6) A photo that shows your doodle clearly (face visible more or less--i.e. not turned away from the camera).

Photo Submission Process:

1) ONLY ONE PHOTO PER EMAIL, but you may submit as many as five emails total.

2) Send your photos to ___to be announced ___

3) Be sure to mention what type of doodle is in each photo (labradoodle, goldendoodle, whatadoodle?) and your DK profile name.

That's it!

Deadline for Submissions: October 15th, 2009---please bookmark this discussion or click "Follow" at the bottom of the thread to say up-to-date on any changes which DK Admin reserve the right to make at any time. It will be your responsibility to keep informed on this by reading through the responses to this discussion because these may contain clarification and additional tips. Selection of final calendar photos will be done by DK Admin and is subject to their best judgment

***As always a portion of proceeds from sales will be donated to rescue

[Nancy Sunderland]

I can't wait to submit a picture! (Might be as early as Friday afternoon!)

[Adina P]

Take LOTS until the due date draws near...since you can only submit 5...I'd wait till a little before the deadline in case the perfect photo shows up later =)

[Adina P]

As much as I wish I could...I can NOT give each person who submits photos the feedback they would like. My best suggestion is ask your friends if a photo seems 'good enough'. When in doubt, don't submit any yet and take more photos until you get several you think would be GREAT! I will look at all of them and keep the ones that have promise but I can't give individual feedback. Thank you for understanding :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Adina, only five!!!???? (whine, whine) What if we choose 5 now and then we take the photo of the century before October 15??? (more whine, whine, whine) I was hoping the group would help narrow my predjudiced entries. Don't we all think our doods are the best most beautifully photogenic ones in the world!!!
Really, thanks for the opportunity to show off our doods. I can hardly wait to pick through Ned's photos. OOHHHH, I know I will submit under my daughter and daughter-in-law's pages!! Not really of course. But you could have a dood and a lab or a dood and whippets - or how about my niece who joined - a dood and a pom!! Teehee
Nancy

[Adina P]

I know, I know...I don't like putting a limit on it. Last year we had half the members, this year I don't know if I can wade through 20 from each person...so I had to limit it...but...I'll let everyone know if I need an influx of more...promise! You can always hold off submissions until October for that 'photo of the century' =)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I actually understand. I have been collecting the photos I think are his best and need to weed to five - it's gonna' be soooo hard. I even made his slide show most of my favorites = I will just have to weed down more and save my entries just in case I get some better ones. Because I am not really literate and may have cropped my photos, I actually don't know how to tell if they are big enough - are they big enough if the fill my page whether they have been cropped or not? I know with the Mac I can set the size - only get it right by accident though, but I can ask someone to help I think.

[Adina P]

Do you save the pre-cropping originals? DO! They have to be big enough cropped or not. So no changing the size or find the one closest to the original straight out of the camera.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Uhhhhhhh. Maybeeeee.

[Eileen Ross and Cody]

Oh Boy can't wait to get the calendar even if Cody is not selected.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My students LOVED the calendars and looked forward to the REVEAL each month! They loved that Ned was in the calendar but were equally excited to pick their favorites,

[Zoe, Benny and Tyler]

I'm going to upload 5 pics, but some are in the camera raw format, is that ok? *.MRW extention

[Adina P]

Some examples of photos that would NOT work. Let's see if you can guess what is wrong with each photograph:

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

Now let's see if you came up with the same photo problems I did:

1) Thule is pretty cute in this photo, but there's someone leg, shoe, knee in the way. Not to mention that the background is in focus while Thule, the main attraction, is out of focus and blurry. Anything that looks blurry at this size is bound to look much worse when in an 8.5 x 11 calendar page.

2) First, the photo is slightly blurry around the heads, but even if it were crystal clear, Rosco and Thule are looking somewhere else and I can't see their faces, even though I think they look adorable. The photo is also pretty washed out toward the top and there's an ugly expen in the background.

3) I think this is a decent photo .. BUT I can't see Thule's face even if her profile is rather sweet =)
And when push comes to shove the blinding brightness in the back might be too much and another photo would win out if it came down to it.

4) I just LOVE this photo of my two doodles. I think they look fabulous in it and wish so much I'd had a better camera or lighting or something. Although the dogs look great, there's some off coloring to it AND some slight blurriness. It may be slightly undetectable when it's this small, but it's there. On the web it looks okay, but printed it wouldn't look as nice.

5) Aren't my dogs precious? They sure are! But there's so much darkness in this photo and the gate and black background overwhelm the photo. Plus Thule's eyes are glowing and Cas is not a doodle who is trying to sneak into a doodle calendar!

6) Too Dark. Just plain too dark and Thule's not quite looking straight ahead. Now for an amazing photograph I might be willing to accept a dog not looking straight ahead, but this is NOT a great photograph.

7) Now I happen to think this is a FABULOUS photograph. Clear, nice lighting, a black dog that is visible, great colors. Amaya is not looking straight ahead, but she looks so nice and looks happy that I would consider it.
The only downside...is she is rather small compared to the whole photograph. If I cropped it I'd end up possibly making the photo itself too small. I'd say this is a borderline photo...if you have a photo like this, feel free to take a chance on it if there's not another one that you are sure is better. But it's iffy and it would have to be a marvelous photograph that just screams "Calendar" or be croppable (by me) to work. So it's a maybe, but another with a dog that took up a little more space would win out if push came to shove.

I hope this helps you in making your photo choices. Avoid red eye, avoid blaring yellow glowing eyes--unless you fix them nicely before sending it over. Avoid anything that's not in focus or slightly blurry when you're looking at it in just the 4x6 size. If it looks blurry in its small size, it will only get worse in calendar page size.