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04/16/2002 01:29:06 PM · #1 |
I'm wondering about voter's biases. I'm guessing many people are voting higher or lower depending largely on whether or not they personally like the subject matter. I've seen ones being given out to photos that have clearly met the challenge and have done a good job at it as well. The only reason I can think of is that the voter just didn't like the subject matter for it to be voted so extemely low. I don't know if this is happening for sure but I am interested in comments. It's very interesting to see what constitutes a great photo in different people's eyes.
Tim J |
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04/16/2002 01:41:33 PM · #2 |
Originally posted by timj351:
I'm wondering about voter's biases. I'm guessing many people are voting higher or lower depending largely on whether or not they personally like the subject matter. I've seen ones being given out to photos that have clearly met the challenge and have done a good job at it as well. The only reason I can think of is that the voter just didn't like the subject matter for it to be voted so extemely low. I don't know if this is happening for sure but I am interested in comments. It's very interesting to see what constitutes a great photo in different people's eyes.
Tim J
That hits the nail on the head... A lot of voters are subjective rather than objective... I like to vote with a mix of both. Less experienced photographers and non photographers don't usually vote objectively because they don't understand the concept.
If I wasn't a photographer, I would probably rather see a photograph of the statue of liberty than a macro shot of a ladybug at about 20x actual size.
The mix of subjective and objective votes in these challenges should give a good overall rating of your photo. The person who was ruffling feathers here yesterday complaining about all the water shots was definitely subjective. I couldn't see much objectivity in any of those comments. To this person, it didn't matter how high quality the photo was... if it had water in it, it was going down.. lol.. His comment on my photo reflected his thoughts as well.
I wouldn't call it a 'bias' in most cases. I would probably try to call it something else like a mood or a personal preference... 'Bias' just sounds so harsh.. lol..
You can also see the differences in opinions when you look at voter scores as opposed to photographer scores. The opinions are quite different.
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04/16/2002 02:12:39 PM · #3 |
Like most things in life, some people will agree with you and some won't. Don't you agree? ;-)
If people enter their art or participate here looking for some type of validation I think they are setting themselves up for a fall.
There are some people here I really think have extreme talent, are very helpful and it would please me to think that in the future they might like what I submit but I'm not holding my breath :-) We are all to different in tastes for those expectations.
Besides that, I have found that the internet attracts a certain group of people that derive pleasure from being contrarian or generally assinine to other humans (pent up real life frustration maybe?) so any comments made need to be measured against the source. Check out any messageboard on the internet to see this in action.
* This message has been edited by the author on 4/16/2002 2:13:40 PM. |
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04/16/2002 02:30:04 PM · #4 |
I think another thing that factors in to this is the level of 'visual literacy' that the voter has. Not so very long ago, I knew nothing about composition, lines, textures, colours etc so had no easy way of understanding what was good or bad in my pictures. I could tell some worked better than others but had no easy way to express or 'rate' them, other than 'good' or 'bad'.
Spending some time learning what the things that make something visually appealing helps you to rate more objectively.
I think the technical aspect also plays in this, photographers probably rate technically good pictures higher, based on an understanding of how difficult it is to achieve a particular shot. (I think 'eleven' is a good example of a technically excellent picture in the curves challenge, that would not be immediately interesting to viewer who aren't photographers)
Of course the really great pictures combine a mixture of appealing subject, great composition and technical excellence and are thus universally appealing.
I would be happy if I could get any one of these right in my pics.
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04/16/2002 02:41:39 PM · #5 |
I have noticed this as well but being a newbie here (not to Art or Photography) I hadn't said anything until now.
I cant see how the same photo can get a 1 and a 10 vote. What is the default value when a photo is not voted on? How does that work out?
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04/16/2002 03:52:36 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by eddy:
I have noticed this as well but being a newbie here (not to Art or Photography) I hadn't said anything until now.
I cant see how the same photo can get a 1 and a 10 vote. What is the default value when a photo is not voted on? How does that work out?
in statistics things like that have a bellshaped distribution, and the average is the meaningful number to look at, not the individual votes. kind of think of it as one of your neurons alone can't do anything but all together they somehow create a brain (ok, i'm firing on one neuron a lot but that's the exception :P) . the bigger the sample size the better feel you have for the behavior of the population as a whole. and what we're seeing here is that in action. i think a lot of people would agree that the 'most popular' musical artists in terms of sales aren't always the artists that are the most 'clever' or 'cutting edge.' same deal. what we're dealing with here is as you said hokie a microcosm, one more weighted towards photographers and computer types than the public at large, but still not some pure single demographic.
i just look at this to learn, and get some perspective, but not to be the beall end all of my 'artistic successes', whatever that means, lol |
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04/16/2002 04:00:49 PM · #7 |
i just look at this to learn, and get some perspective, but not to be the beall end all of my 'artistic successes', whatever that means, lol
Yup, otherwise you are basing your artistic merit on the lowest common denominator or as a popularity contest. A lot of great art didn't get accepted until well after the artist was dead.
There you go, if you get average low votes, people just didn't understand your genius :) Bah, philistines the lot of them :) |
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04/16/2002 04:02:23 PM · #8 |
Maybe i'll be famous when i'm dead...
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04/16/2002 04:27:04 PM · #9 |
I am still learning to vote as well as shoot. I am really enjoying both, and absorbing all I can!
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04/16/2002 04:29:57 PM · #10 |
Pete, what sort of things do you consider when you vote besides meeting the challenge?
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04/16/2002 06:14:09 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Pete, what sort of things do you consider when you vote besides meeting the challenge?
Creativity, quality of the shot, and a little "love at first sight" which is probably a combination of all.
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04/16/2002 06:32:36 PM · #12 |
Two weeks ago I went to a photography festival held by the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and they discussed critiquing a little. Some of what they said...
They critique this way and in this order:
1. impact
2. composition
3. technical ability
4. finishing
Also, the "never been there" factor. For instance, a photo of the Caribbean may look fantastic because you've never actually been there, but in reality, the photo itself isn't very good.
Just thought I'd add. |
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