Dear Forum Members and Friends:

Before I say anything more, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who supported the 2009 calendar project. It was the first undertaking of its kind, certainly in the four years since I became a member here, and perhaps it was the first of its kind in the entire history of QuakerParrots.com. Although some members received their calendars considerably later than expected, and our charitable donation will likely be extremely meager due to cost overruns, the overall project was a total success. It is truly something of which our forum can be proud. So, to everyone who played a role in the 2009 calendar -- by serving on the committee, by submitting photos, by purchasing a calendar, or in any other way -- thank you!

And now, onto the news that so many people have been wanting...

The 2010 calendar project is now getting under way! The committee will consist of just two individuals this year: Connie (Andie's Mom) and myself. At this time, we are anticipating that CaptainQuark will assist us with the calendar design again this year. Together, we have worked to streamline everything. We have carefully looked at the processes that worked, as well as those that did not. Therefore, we trust that this year's calendar project will move along much more smoothly for everyone. We will do our very best to keep everyone carefully informed as we proceed, but if you have any specific questions regarding any aspect of the calendar, please do not hesitate to contact Connie or myself. We will be happy to work with you to address any questions or concerns that you may have.

At this time, we are now accepting photo submissions from forum members. Below, we have outlined some very important guidelines that govern the kind(s) of photos that members are encouraged to submit:

• All photos must be originals. (Professional photographs are protected by copyright law, and therefore, we cannot accept them without formal written permission from the copyright holder. By the same token, photos that were published in the 2009 calendar will not be repeated in the 2010 calendar.)
• Photos must be unaltered. (Do not resize, edit or manipulate your digital photographs in any way as this can adversely affect the overall quality of the photograph when it is reprinted later.)
• Digital photos should be a minimum of 1200x800 pixels. (This size and resolution grants the best possible quality for design and publication purposes. Smaller photographs may be accepted if they demonstrate absolute clarity and focus.)
• All photos must feature a Quaker Parrot as the main subject. (Other birds may appear in the photograph, but as this forum caters specifically to the Quaker Parrot, the primary subject of the photograph should be a Quaker Parrot.)
• Photos of birds in unsafe environments will not be accepted. (Examples include a bird that is unrestrained while outside, or a bird that is in the immediate presence of predatory pets.)
• By submitting a photo, you acknowledge that it will be carefully reviewed by the committee. You demonstrate an understanding that photos are not guaranteed to appear in the calendar. Finally, by submitting a photo, if selected, you are granting permission to QuakerParrots.com and its volunteer calendar committee to edit and publish the photo in the 2010 forum calendar.

Effective immediately, through July 31, you may submit your photograph(s) to quaker.calendar@yahoo.com. Photos that are not submitted to this e-mail address and/or by July 31 will not be reviewed by the committee. You will be notified by e-mail if any of your photos are selected for publication. All others will be discarded.

So, as Connie would say, "All you shutter bugs, start snapping!" And let's make this year's calendar another one that demonstrates the greatness and enthusiasm of our forum! Again, if you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. You may post responses here if you wish, or you may contact us in a private message.

Lastly, please keep an eye on this General Chit Chat forum. All calendar information and updates will appear here, pinned to the top of the forum. Thanks very much for taking the time to read all of this looonnngg thread.

We've also been tossing some ideas around and thought it might be kind of fun to have those who wish to participate in this, to take photo's with their quakers as the main focal point, but we'd like you to take some photo's and try to show what your favorite month or season means to you...

Remember, that since this is a multi-culturaled forum that we all must realize that everyone celebrates different things, and we want to be able to show this diversity and share it with the whole world.
Also remember that because we are such a diverse forum that what December (for instance) means to me might be totally different than what it means to Majj (as an example) with the understanding that we are in different hemispheres and things are just the opposite season wise...

THis is not to say that we don't want just regular photo's like last years because we do, but we want a little variety... So if October is your favorite month..You can choose to focus around Halloween or just Fall/autumn or what ever it means to you. It doesn't have to be just about "holidays" and we don't want it to be...we want some diversity.

These photo's will still need to meet all the criteria as stated in the above post and as stated we don't guarantee that any or all will be used, we're just wanting to see what people can come up with..

So all you shutterbugs, get busy and start taking some great pictures!!!!

Surprisingly, no one has posted anything in this thread, and only two individuals have submitted photos thus far. I thought I'd post another quick note here to be sure that everyone has had an opportunity to see this thread about the 2010 calendar. Drop a line if you have any questions!

I want Milo's picture in there badly. But I don't know how to post it in the size you stated that is needed.
Can you help me with that?

I can probably help you, yes. I'll contact you by private message shortly.

Count me in again. I love my 2009 calendar, I think it is great. I told my daughter it is time to take some good pictures of Sammy! Thanks so much for undertaking this project once again. You guys are the best!

I want to get involved in this as well, and I have the same question. Can you help?

oh oh oh I'm so very excited!

My room mate is a photographer whoohoo, and has said he's going to be taking lot's of pictures of my boys Yay!!!

Here's hoping my little angels behave and make it into the calendar

Debbie

Yes. I haven't contacted Lisa with instructions, so when I do, I'll send them to you as well.

I tried to do fall pictures one year! I ended up getting alot more of Raja and Sidney than I did of Oatmeal.
He was more interested in eating the fall folliage.



It would be cool if someone can actually get some good ones. lol

Kathy, if you plan to submit these photos (or any) for the calendar, please send them to quaker.calendar@yahoo.com as indicated in my original post. Otherwise, if you're just posting them here to show them off, then by all means, have at it! They're cute photos!

no I'm not going to submit these. You can barely see Oatmeal in them. Did you get the ones I did submit?

They look like my Sunny and Nikki

Honestly, since we're just getting started and I've been so busy, I haven't signed into Yahoo! to check the mailbox yet. I'm sure they're there, but I'll check when I get home from work this evening.

I sent one but don't think it is big enough. I don't have any that large.

Who is going to do the Calendar if CQ doesn`t come back..???

To date, I have not received any indication that this will be a definite concern. However, we do have a couple of individuals who may be of assistance to us in the event that CQ chooses not to return to the forum.

I sent my pictures the other day. I need to know if they came thru ok?????????

Sandi, I have received your photos. Thanks!

Is it possible to take a photo I have already posted on here for the calendar? I was thinking of one of the ones with Morgans Condo.

Yes, you can just send it to the Email address that Dave listed. Those would be great pictures Stella, if they meet the Size and Clarity specifications. Which I'm pretty sure they will...

Ok, doofy question for you, Is there a maximum pixel issue? My camera has a 7m option...is that ok or does it need to be lower?

According to our geru, there isn't too large of pixel count because you can always make it smaller without effecting the quality, however if you have too low of pixel count it can become distorted and grainy when you try to enlarge it.

Just so you know I sent some photo's last time using your camera and at 5 or 6 on your's it was really good. And they could be manipulated just fine...

Sorry for sounding stupid, but I am really not that good with all this technical stuff. I was thinking about sending in a couple photos. My cameras highest setting is 5 megapixels. Is this good enough? It's not an expensive camera or anything.

You don't sound stupid; this is a very valid question! Yes, a 5-megapixel camera should be more than capable of producing a 1200x1600-pixel image. If possible, double-check your quality settings in the menu of your camera to be sure that you're taking the best quality photo possible.

For example, I have a Canon digital camera. While it is capable of taking photos up to 10 megapixels, it also has lower quality and size options that would allow me to squeeze more photos onto a single memory card. For the calendar, you'd want to have the quality set to maximum or superfine or something to that effect, and you'd want the size to be set to maximum or large or something to that effect. These settings will take up more room on the memory card, but you'll get the best quality photos out of your camera.



Yep, bigger is better.

Awsome! Thank you.

Hi Everybody:

I thought I'd drop a quick note to let you know that we're starting to receive some great photo submissions for the 2010 calendar! We've received quite a few, but we need lots more, so keep 'em coming! I have a couple of forum members that I still have to get back to with assistance (I haven't forgotten about you guys), so if anyone else has any questions, please ask away!

[/img]


http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm237/l...ionforpeeps.jpg

Can I send in another submission even though I already submitted one?

You can send as many as you want. We may not use all of them but it will give us more choices to choose from.

So just keep sending. Then it will be Dave's and my job to sort through all of them and choose the best of the best and then use those to put in the calendar. So the more photo's we have the more variety we can use.

PLEASE make sure that you put your birds name in the post when you send it so we can keep little birdies straight. While a Green quaker looks like another green quaker to the non quaker people...we want to make sure that credit is given where credit is due.

Remember too that we'd like you to also take photo's representing what your favorite month or season means to you including your bird...and once again PLEASE tell us what month you're depicting because many can overlap.

Lets have some FUN with this. Keep those camera's handy and keep those photo's coming!

Cute photo, Lovemyboys, but if you would like to submit this photo for the calendar, please forward it to the calendar's e-mail address at quaker.calendar@yahoo.com. Thanks!



Yeah... what she said!

Hi Dave, you actually answered my question with a previous post, so thank you!! I just got some batteries for my camera, so will be sending some pics soon!! Thank you!!!

I sent the biggest pictures I have hope they help you out.

I sent my pics of Chewy!! The ones with the Santa card are supposed to represent December. Christmas is my favorite time of the year!!

Dani

Thanks! I haven't been into the e-mail account for a little bit as photos are just now starting to come in more regularly. I'll sign in tonight to confirm that your photos came through.

Hi Folks:

I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone that we are still accepting photos for the 2010 calendar. To date, we have received approximately 65 photos, but we need more as some of the photos that we've received may not be suitable. The success of this year's calendar depends on you, the membership, to submit your photos. You have until July 31, 2009 to submit your photos to quaker.calendar@yahoo.com. Here are the requirements again:


I encourage everyone to continue taking and sending photographs.

If you have already submitted photographs, you should have received a confirmation from me via e-mail today. Going forward, I will acknowledge receipt of all photographs. As Connie (Andie's Mom) and I start to review the photos that we've received, we'll contact you again via e-mail to let you know the status of your photo submissions.

So, while this year's calendar was one to be proud of, let's see if we can outdo ourselves this year! Send your photos today!

Did you get my pics? I sent them today.

Got 'em! Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I was out of town for a family funeral. I think I sent you a confirmation via e-mail too.

Folks, another month has passed us by, and we still don't have enough photos to pull together a great calendar! Please remember to send your photos to quaker.calendar@yahoo.com by July 31. If we don't have enough photos to make the calendar worthwhile, we may have to call it off. So please send your photos soon!

I call this one Turkey dinner !

Just sent 4 let me know if they are o.k if not I`ll try to get some beter ones..

Night....

oh oh...honey just had a great suggestion...maybe a one page with the heads of all the entrants, sort of like an honorable mention type thing...ok, I'll stop making more work for ya...it was a pretty good idea though.

Hi,I sent in pictures of Shakespeare and Looch.Can you let me know if you got them?

Yes I also sent some did mine arrive ?? and are they suitable ..???

Thanks ..

I also just sent a couple of pictures of my Corkey.

Thank you

I just sent an e-mail to you, Marion. Got 'em!



Hmm.... This is an interesting idea. I'll chat with Connie about it, and we'll see where it goes. My only concern is that some individuals may object to having their photos publicly displayed.


Debbie, I sent you an e-mail. Let me know if you have any questions.



I haven't seen yours yet. Can you please confirm that you sent them to quaker.calendar@yahoo.com?

---

One thing to remember, everyone, is that you can submit as many photos as you'd like. If you have several -- or many -- that meet our original requirements, please feel free to send them. You don't have to feel limited to one or two.

I think she meant head shots of the birds, not the owners?

Oh. Duh. It's been a long day! This makes a lot more sense to me now, and I think it's a great idea.

heh...it's s'okay, Dave. We all have our moments

Hi Dave, I didn't get your email.Sorry if I'm being a pain in the butt,I can't imagine how hard it is keeping track of all this stuff