Over the years of OWP's existence there has been questions posed to the administrators concerning the processes and activities of the OWP club. Below are the most frequent questions:

(Q1) How does this work?I didn't get exactly how does it work.. you give me a word when I ask for one or do you write the word in the Journal and then all of the members photograph a photo for it? And do I have to make the photo in a limited time?

OWP announces a word to its membership by journal. The journal will give the word and its deadline for submission. You submit by note using this link as an example to follow. After the deadline, the membership is asked to vote by note on their favorite photo for that challenge. This is very important! The votes are tallied and and the winner announced by journal. The weekly winners are posted as the "Featured Deviation" and the monthly winners are posted in the "Webcam" area. Then we start the process again.

(Q2) Where or how do i submit a photo for a contest?

You submit by note using this link as an example to follow.

(Q3) Where can I find the present contests?

In the voting and results journals or in the journal reminding all the past & present contests (this is listed in the Shoutboard).

(Q4) Can I submit more than one deviation per challenge?

No. You can submit to more than one challenge, but you cannot submit more than one photo per challenge.

(Q5) Can the submission for a contest be something that's already in your gallery or does it have to be a new original photo made just for the contest?

The photo submitted must reside in your gallery (even in scraps). It can be new or old to your gallery. Our preference is that you shoot a new photo for each challenge.

(Q6) Having read again several times the rules of OWP, I did not see mentioned if the participants in a contest have the right or not to vote for their own image.

The implied question is "Can we vote for our own deviation?" Currently, the answer is yes. OWP (mainly =xseption) is reluctant to change this rule, since your submission may be the best photo for that challenge. Most members participating in a previous poll indicate that members should not vote for their own photo. One thought is if the photo is appreciated by many then one vote should not make a difference, and that one vote could be encouraging to another member. For almost every challenge, the winning photo is not won by a member who voted for their own submission.

(Q7) Is there any way you can run the voting via a poll? I think more people would vote if all they have to do is click a button, rather than having to send a note.

The answer is no. A poll has only ten choices and all recent challenges have 20+ submissions and some have over 50 submissions.

(Q8) Who is allowed to vote?

Only OWP members are allowed to vote. Non-member votes are generally ignored.

(Q9) Can we vote multiple times for one deviation?

No. Only one vote per member per challenge. If a member votes more than once, usually the first vote is the vote that counts.

(Q10) Can I submit a monochromatic (but not b&w) photo for b&w contest?

No, black and white challenges are only for black and white photos. There may be monochromatic challenges in the future.

(Q11) Are photo manipulations accepted as submissions? I have some works in fractals and Photoshop. Can they be considered for contests?

OWP does not accept photomanipulations, except for minor tweaking of contrast, adding a border, etc. There is ONE exception. The only exception is to change a color photograph into a black and white photograph. For black and white photography, many photography books suggest taking the photo in color and changing it into black and white using software as the best method to achieve the desired result. OWP does not endorse this method (nor any other method for that matter), but we do understand that many members may adopt this approach.

(Q12) I totally understand the rule about not allowing photo-manipulations, but what about filters? I use a Hoya IR Filter all the time because I simply love the effect. Would that be alright with ya'll if I submitted a photo which used this filter?

Yes.

(Q13) If my photo doesn't show up in the challenge journal, what should I do?

The OWP admins have to process many submissions, join requests, comments, etc., such that, at times, there is a some delay in posting your submission. As the challenge nears the deadline for submissions and you still do not see your photo, then send OWP a note to let us know of your concern.

(Q14) Does OWP use passwords anymore?

No. In January of 2005, some one abused the OWP account by changing journals, using the OWP account to abuse shoutboards, and left nasty comments as OWP. Since then we have switch to the submission process outlined in the rules and also in (Q2) above.

OWP will be sure to add more questions as they become more frequent.

NOTE: Comments on journals may not be seen or responded to. Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.