The POW (Photo of the Week) originated back in March of 2003 with an "idear" from krets. The first POW was held shortly thereafter, and the tradition has continued to this day.
The event began with the following six "guidelines":
Guidelines:
1. Photo needs to go along with the subject in some way.
2. Use thumbnails for photos without any dimension larger than 450 px or over 40 kb.
3. Post as many as you want.
4. At the end of the week the person who chose the topic will pick someone to choose the next topic. This isn't a "winner," just someone who gets to suggest the next topic.
5. No critiques (unless requested) this is just to share our photos.
6. No sigs.
These guidelines were used as is until Week 40 (due to a numbering inconsistency, this week was titled "Week 50"--see below for more details), when asptamer noted in his introduction to the thread that people should state specifically if they did not want criticism on their photos. This was incorporated into the guidelines in Week 42, when Guideline #5 was removed and the guidelines were thereafter referred to as "Rules." The latest incarnation of these rules is as follows.
Rules:
1. Photo needs to go along with the subject in some way.
2. Use thumbnails for photos without any dimension larger than 450 px or over 40 kb.
3. Post as many as you want.
4. At the end of the week the person who chose the topic will pick someone to choose the next topic. This isn't a "winner", just someone who gets to suggest the next topic.
5. No sigs
(I don't know if it was the reprinting of the original six guidelines in this FAQ that triggered it, but these guidelines resurfaced from Week 67 to Week 72. I originally wrote the above as a sort of historical overview of the POW, and it seems that in doing so I influenced it's development. The only difference between the original guidelines and the current rules is the "criticism clause," so use whichever you feel comfortable with, and I'll stop trying to document variations.
Hugs and kisses,
Suho )
Topics for the POW fall into three basic categories: subjects (such as water, "bugzzzz," and leaves), themes (such as everyday life, lost and found, and christmas), and techniques (such as long exposure, stop-action, and 3D abstract). Themes and subjects dominate, with techniques making up a much smaller part of the topics. Creative interpretation of the topic is encouraged.
Note: when beginning a new week, please include a link to this FAQ in the initial post. Thanks.
The list of topics, linked to the appropriate threads, is as follows. Numbering inconsistencies are marked in the list and explained below.
* Due to a glitch in the Matrix, Week 39 was numbered Week 49, and this continued for the following two weeks. The glitch was fixed and normal numbering resumed with Week 42.
** Week 54 was skipped in the numbering. Legend has it that 54 lives were lost in an electrical fire when the shock therapy lab was first installed in the basement, and this number was most likely skipped to commemorate the sacrifice made by those brave souls and/or avoid any bad luck now associated with the number.
*** Yes, the numbering is offset by one between this list and the actual POW thread title numbers. One was started at zero, perhaps, and the other at one... it really doesn't matter, so try not to lose any sleep over it.
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Relevant FAQs:
Photography - the Photography forum main FAQ entry
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(Created by Suho1004 on 01-01-2005 07:00) (Edited by Suho1004 on 01-01-2005 07:01) (Edited by Suho1004 on 01-01-2005 10:38) (Edited by lan on 01-10-2005 21:48) (Edited by briggl on 01-22-2005 15:11) (Edited by briggl on 03-29-2005 05:38) (Edited by briggl on 04-06-2005 01:34) (Edited by Emperor on 04-23-2005 17:35) (Edited by lan on 05-05-2005 22:29) (Edited by Suho1004 on 05-18-2005 10:02) (Edited by Bmud on 05-21-2005 07:35) (Edited by briggl on 08-21-2005 07:06) (Edited by briggl on 08-21-2005 07:06) (Edited by briggl on 08-21-2005 07:14) (Edited by briggl on 10-17-2005 00:10) (Edited by lan on 03-30-2006 17:51) (Edited by lan on 05-09-2006 01:42) (Edited by lan on 05-09-2006 09:10) (Edited by lan on 05-25-2006 14:44) (Edited by lan on 05-25-2006 14:45) (Edited by Suho1004 on 06-09-2006 01:51) (Edited by Suho1004 on 06-19-2006 09:43) (Edited by lan on 07-17-2006 17:57) (Edited by lan on 07-25-2006 00:45) (Edited by lan on 08-08-2006 13:36) (Edited by Blaise on 09-25-2006 12:55) (Edited by briggl on 03-16-2007 03:37) (Edited by lan on 04-11-2007 12:04) (Edited by lan on 04-11-2007 12:19) (Edited by jstuartj on 05-01-2007 05:04) (Edited by Suho1004 on 05-11-2007 04:54) (Edited by White Hawk on 06-03-2007 18:05) (Edited by briggl on 08-06-2007 22:30) (Edited by lan on 09-17-2007 15:43) (Edited by Blaise on 09-17-2007 17:11) (Edited by lan on 10-15-2007 16:23) (Edited by Arthurio on 10-23-2007 00:10) (Edited by Tao on 11-03-2007 00:41) (Edited by zavaboy on 11-18-2007 02:18) (Edited by Tao on 11-28-2007 17:39) (Edited by White Hawk on 12-10-2007 14:41) (Edited by lan on 01-08-2008 23:21) (Edited by White Hawk on 03-07-2008 13:56) (Edited by White Hawk on 03-25-2008 19:02) (Edited by Arthurio on 04-14-2008 12:49) (Edited by Tao on 06-25-2008 01:13) (Edited by SleepingWolf on 06-25-2008 04:24) (Edited by Tao on 02-20-2010 21:05)
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Photography