User:Jean-Frédéric/Signpost


 * Sandbox for articles meant to be published in the Signpost.

Raid Paris − Cap Nord
In July, French-speaking wikimedians Ludo29 and Inisheer took part in the "Raid Paris – Cap Nord", a photographic raid where the ranking is based on pictures taken by competitors during the trip and given to a jury. The journey starts in Paris, goes through Finland, Sweden and Norway, up to the North Cape, the northernmost point of Europe and ends back in Paris. Over the four weeks, the raiders travelled 12,000 km in their car branded with the logos of Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikimédia France, which financially supported their adventure.

Our raiders took around 300 photographs of landscapes, buildings, fauna and flora of these nordic countries for many of which no illustration was available on Commons. The raiders also produced content for Wikinews. They realised an interview of Philippe Boucher, creator and organiser of the raider ; and a report about lifeboatmen in Norway.

The team was ranked seventh over 22 teams.

Photo workshop in Paris
On September 4 and 5, a photographic workshop organised by Rama, and financially supported by the French chapter Wikimédia France was held in the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie in Paris. The workshop was primarily intended for Wikipedia and Commons contributors to share their experiences, but was also open to the general public. The event gathered around thirty people, mainly Wikimedians, and was livetweeted with the hashtag #wikiphoto

On the first afternoon, several Commons contributors gave presentations on specific aspects of photography. Inisheer taught the basics on photographic composition; Ceridwen talked about licenses and personality rights; esby explained the techniques used to create panoramas. As part of a "Museum" track, Jastrow made a general presentation about museum photography, and Zil focused on techniques used to take pictures of paintings. The last track was about photojournalism, with Rama and Ceridwen on concert photography and Ludo29 and Inisheer on sport events.

On the second day, After Ludo29 explained how to begin with a digital reflex camera, several workshops were held, about various subjects such as image editing, panoramas or macrophotography. In the afternoon, the contributors strode the streets of Paris, trying out their new-found knowledge, especially on Monuments historiques. Some of the pictures taken can be found on Wikimedia Commons. As many more contributors were interested and as early feedback is very positive, a new edition is already being planned.