Comments when voting 3 or below - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/26/2006 12:01:00 PM · #26

Well two of the three comments left on my awful picture were helpful (and negative), one was not. So I marked the two helpful comments as "helpful".

But there does seem to be four general classes of entrants:

1. Those that never mark any comment as helpful. I can only assume they don't want any comments.

2. Those that mark as helpful only ones like "great shot" and never mark as helpful any comments which have criticism or suggestions.

3. Those that mark as helpful the comments that are helpful (even "great shot" can be helpful to the ego).

4. Those that mark every comment as helpful.

I used to comment on just about every photo I voted on, but have cut back because there are too many entrants in groups 1 and 2. And usually it is the poorer pictures which seem to be shot be people in group 1, especially.

Maybe the solution (from the commenter's side) is to join the Critique Club and spend time on that, knowing that comments are wanted, instead of voting and commenting.

Still waiting on 106 comments.

polkop

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

01/26/2006 12:02:42 PM · #27

Originally posted by m:

From my observations during my short time here, I have seen quite a few people state that they would no longer leave comments on pictures they scored low because people took offense to the comments.

There was at least one thread started recently, ranting about a commentor that implied that the subject and/or composition of a chellenge entry was banal. This was considered ``rude'' if my memory serves me.

Given the amount of complaining in the forums, sometimes of specific people, for what appear to be innocent comments, I would be wary of leaving comments unless it fits one of categories of what most people here seem to consider to be ``helpful'' which is usually "nice shot!" (and possibly a cropping suggestion).

If people dont like my comments then it is fair and they have every right to say so I am not too fussed about this:).

As for talmy I did give him 3 so have left a comment your now back down to 105 left:)

snapz

Canon EOS-20D

Quantaray AF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 High-Speed for Canon EOS

01/26/2006 12:12:45 PM · #28

I don't know about coding or website design or anything like that. I don't know how do-able this suggestion would be: Maybe the 1, 2, and 3s could be un-clickable or greyed out until a comment was entered?

polkop

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

01/26/2006 12:27:49 PM · #29

sometimes it is impossible to leave a comment on pics tho as you dont want to offend and because half of the time I would prob find myself puting a comment like dont like the photo so I can give it my honest score or just using 4 as my lowest.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED

01/26/2006 12:31:27 PM · #30

Originally posted by polkop:

As for talmy I did give him 3 so have left a comment your now back down to 105 left:)

Thank you!

(Now, 105 to go... I think I have a crusade)

hokie

Nikon D2X

01/26/2006 12:34:00 PM · #31

Originally posted by angela_packard:

I agree with hokie...you just have to realize that some people might not like your photo...but should it ALWAYS be personal opinions? Can't people learn to vote on quality/technicality of the shot. My signs shot was busy..I admit that...but I liked it...if people would have associated the Corona sign with a bar or a fun restaraunt they would remember that most bars are busy with things. So why else did that shot do bad? I think that if there is something horribly wrong with the photo then say so at least that person will utilize the comment or blow it off...isn't this sight about learning, I want to see other captiviating photos take the ribbons, it always seems like the same old shots!

What I like about your posts Angela is the passion. I hope you always hold onto the thought there is more to photography than simple popular opinion!

The people voting here are good people and I do want their popular 3 second opinions..even it it works against me. I have some photos that respond well to 3 second opinions and some that do not!

Some of my photos would need more discussion to see the details, the way a shape plays through the photo, a color repeating, the way light is used to add a negative feeling or a weird technical thing I may have done. My current photo in a challenge is designed to be printed large and then, as you walk up on it, the image changes shapes and detail opens up but that is hard to see 640 by 640!

I hope the prospect of low scores doesn't scare photographers off from exploring things just to save their voting average...

Message edited by author 2006-01-26 12:35:10.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/26/2006 12:43:34 PM · #32

Tim... Welcome to DPC!

I hope you are able to learn a lot about photography and have a great time participating here. These are some things to keep in mind...

1-DPC voters tend to give low scores, so don't be offended when you get them.
2-By DPC standards you got decent feedback on your image. It identified a specific fundamental flaw with the image (focus, though I think they really meant motion blur) voters felt needed correction.
3-Just because you do something on purpose it does not mean it works. Sometimes it does not as was the case of your first submission. The idea I had for my first submission did not work either. :)
4-If you catch yourself saying, "I was expecting not to score high with this one", you are right and will score even lower than you think.

There are several other reasons besides focus that your image did not score well... The main one is that the camera, as you pointed out, was not held steady during the exposure. Anybody can take an off-hand jiggly timed exposure image, what is challenging is to capture a good motion blurred shot. You needed to build something to keep the camera steady. DPCers have done that for moving vehicles before and those images have scored well.

There are other issues as well to keep in mind. Images generally need a focal point to draw the eye or a central theme that interests the viewer. Those are not strong qualities in your submission. There exist powerful tools in photography that you should learn to use that will make your images stand out. Among them are perspective, the rule of thirds, unique lighting, leading lines and a host of other techniques. Use challenges to learn and try new photographic techniques. Master the basics first and then expand on them to express your creative self.

Lastly, there is no substitute for quality. Meeting the challenge is not good enough. You should always strive to post process the highest quality image possible. Accept nothing less.

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

01/26/2006 07:33:33 PM · #33

Originally posted by hokie:

Some of my photos would need more discussion to see the details, the way a shape plays through the photo, a color repeating, the way light is used to add a negative feeling or a weird technical thing I may have done. My current photo in a challenge is designed to be printed large and then, as you walk up on it, the image changes shapes and detail opens up but that is hard to see 640 by 640!

I hope the prospect of low scores doesn't scare photographers off from exploring things just to save their voting average...

Admittedly, my picture below isn't my best, but it does better before reduction. IMHO it's real problem is that it is all blue and what is important to the picture is the textures which don't show up well.

I may be shooting myself in the foot because I've got another entry coming up that looks great at full resolution -- lots of fine detail -- which gets mostly lost at 640 pixels. Well, only time will tell.

105 to go!

yoman

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

01/31/2006 08:04:29 PM · #34

I think people who got 3 or below are beginners and good photographer to explain them how to get better results.
But, somme people are juste having fun like "the graet ubaldo", go see him, it is really funny

madison461

Canon EOS-30D

02/01/2006 07:05:23 AM · #35

Originally posted by crayon:

Originally posted by paddles:
Not sure if this belongs here or in Rant. :)

Originally posted by Challenge Voting Rules:
If you feel a photograph deserves a vote of 1, 2 or 3, please include a comment with your vote explaining why you felt it deserved a "below average" score.

I'm guilty because I did not even know that such a line existed in the Voting Rules? But I have never voted a 1,2 nor 3 so far. Maybe I'm just lucky I havent come across something that "bad" .

I'm with you but this seems like an age old "rant". Folks just won't comment. I think they are called "trolls"?

My entry for BEST OF 2005 had a slanted horizon. I really can't see what else I could have done to improve it because I really didn't get any suggestions other than to straighten a slightly tilted horizon. I got 20 3's, 7 2's and a 1.

This was one of my best action shots ever, IMO. I'm looking forward to the Critique Club's input along with anyone else's constructive criticism that cares to offer it.

GuGi

Nikon D750

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

02/01/2006 07:18:15 AM · #36

Hello all!

I am new here and should of course have read the rules more carefully. Have entered 1's - 3's without a comment. I am really sorry, it will not happen again.

GuGi

esdarby

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

02/01/2006 07:57:43 AM · #37

My Wildlife entry got:
12 3's
7 2's
7 1's

I had no really bad comments from anyone to tell me why this photo should get the lowest score possible...I guess these were from the anti-zoo crowd LOL...or since 24 of the top 30 photos were birds, maybe these scores came from bird lovers LOL...oh well, it's still a 9 in my eyes. :-p

Message edited by author 2006-02-01 07:58:38.

Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

02/01/2006 09:16:17 AM · #38

I read some people saying that they would give low scores to zoo pictures since they were not in the wild (thus DNMC). I would tend to agree, but didn't vote that way since precious few people have access to wildlife (other than those birds), especially with such short notice.

Originally posted by esdarby:

Still waiting

glad2badad

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic

02/01/2006 09:42:12 AM · #39

Hey! I got some 3's. Can I post mine here too? ;^)

Anybody else? Come on in...join the party. He-he.

oanav

Canon PowerShot A95

02/02/2006 11:23:24 AM · #40

Hi,
sorry, can anyone point me to the "voting rules"? I'm new here and didn't find those... (but I DID already vote one whole challenge unfortunately :P )

dleach

Canon EOS-20D

02/02/2006 11:59:16 AM · #41

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Hey! I got some 3's. Can I post mine here too? ;^)

Anybody else? Come on in...join the party. He-he.

I liked yours... felt you matched your tribute well and gave you an 8!

But I also have some 1, 2, 3 on my first two entries here at DPC. I'm thick skinned so comments on why would help... but having said that, I haven't been leaving comments on my low scores either.

It is actually sort of hard to make comments given the number of entries. I've been a member for only a short time and have cast 4140 votes so far. If you assume 10-15 seconds an image that works out to [b]over 17 hours[b] devoted to judging (I spent much more time though on the tribute because I had to look up the tribute artists to review their works).

When I first started voting I tended to give lower scores as a starting point but lately I start a little higher which has resulted in my average vote cast going up.

But I've been thinking about this scoring and I was thinking about a different way of doing this. What if you had a voting system that would allow the voters to set an absolute ranking of every picture in the challenge? Each picture would be compared with a previously "ranked" picture and the voter would select "better" or "worse" thus moving the picture into its proper order.

So the start would be the first picture you see which is #1. Then the next picture you decide if it is better then the first which would then set its position in the queue. Once you find the point where the picture is "better" then the one being compared against, the voting would move on to the next picture. It would require that the voting system display two pictures at a time (and maybe three).

The scores then could be arranged 1 to 10 with the number of entries determining the number of points used in this spread. This would eliminate the "I got 1, 2, 3 votes on my 6.6 average image" complaints because those voters who do that wouldn't really be able to do that since they would have to give the picture an absoulte rank.

Anyway, just a thought... maybe if I get through my startup I can start a new photo challenge website ;-).

David

02/02/2006 12:03:30 PM · #42

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Hey! I got some 3's. Can I post mine here too? ;^)

Anybody else? Come on in...join the party. He-he.

Your post is DNMT (does not meet topic) because that image scored well above 3. In fact your lowest score ever is 4.319.

ralph

Nikon Z9

02/02/2006 12:04:53 PM · #43

120 1,2,3

a perfectly nice DNMC ;)

02/02/2006 12:05:26 PM · #44

Originally posted by oanav:

Hi,
sorry, can anyone point me to the "voting rules"? I'm new here and didn't find those... (but I DID already vote one whole challenge unfortunately :P )

Sure. Look up at the top of every page, run your mouse over "Challenges" and select "Challenge Rules". The voting rules are near the bottom of that page.

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM

02/02/2006 12:09:16 PM · #45

Originally posted by ralphnev:

120 1,2,3

a perfectly nice DNMC ;)

At least you got a 20% comment return. I'm still at 4%. But maybe that's because I met the challenge topic so didn't get any DNMC comments.

Still waiting!

Message edited by author 2006-02-02 12:10:32.

cpanaioti

Canon EOS-40D

02/02/2006 12:09:52 PM · #46

Originally posted by ralphnev:

120 1,2,3

a perfectly nice DNMC ;)

Photowise I would have given it a 6 had it met the challenge. To me the light is fairly flat though the composition is good and the spider adds interest. The leaves frame it nicely on the bottom as well.

glad2badad

Apple iPhone 16 Pro

Lensbaby Sweet 35 Optic

02/02/2006 12:13:47 PM · #47

Originally posted by talmy:

Your post is DNMT (does not meet topic) because that image scored well above 3. In fact your lowest score ever is 4.319.

??? Title of the thread is "RE: Comments when voting 3 or below". Sounds to me like it's about the issue of why don't people leave comments when they vote 3 or less, not the end overall score.

This is all a mute point anyway. I was posting with a touch of sarcasm. I'm actually quite happy with the results for the image I posted. No problem with the scoring at all. I've been here long enough to know that the voting scale range (1-10) IS going to be used, and that expecting comments in large quantities is an expectation that is unrealistic...not going to happen. Like it or not. ;^)

So, grab your camera, hit the trail (street, etc...), and capture some images. Smile and have fun while you're doing it! In the end that's what it's really all about. ;^)