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10/25/2007 12:41:54 AM · #1 |
So what do folks do when you see similar subjects in a challenge? I just voted on distance. The first moon was 'well cool'. Then it was "ok, another moon'. then 'the moon again'... Similar with skittles and CDs in the rainbow challenge.
It was difficult to judge each photo on it's own given seeing the same subject many times. I actually did go back and double check voting on some to make sure I wasn't too hard on one because it happened to be at the end of my voting set.
What do others do?? |
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10/25/2007 12:48:09 AM · #2 |
I go back and make sure the best shot of the X subject has the best score. Then I resolve to only have original ideas myself, so that I don't cause agida for other voters and get low votes for being on someone else's 6th shot of the same thing fatigue. (This almost never works in practice, though, lol. )
It is hard, isn't it? |
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10/25/2007 01:04:46 AM · #3 |
I tend to have the same issue. Every time I see more than one photo with a person in it I suddenly freeze up and can't vote on them. After the freezing wears off I then get angry and call them unoriginal and that they should go out and shoot species I haven't seen before. Just kidding of course.
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10/25/2007 01:10:45 AM · #4 |
Why is it so difficult to judge each image on its individual merits? I think it's sorta harsh to hold individuals responsible for photographing a subject that someone else chose to photograph for the same challenge. I don't consider it my job to judge the subject itself as much as how the photographer chose to look at it.
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10/25/2007 01:22:00 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by L2:
I go back and make sure the best shot of the X subject has the best score. Then I resolve to only have original ideas myself, so that I don't cause agida for other voters and get low votes for being on someone else's 6th shot of the same thing fatigue. (This almost never works in practice, though, lol. )
It is hard, isn't it? |
I'm currently in the distance challenge and my entry fits the challenge specifications but is an original idea (I actually thought most people would have shots like mine, but there you go). It is not fairing very well for being different.
My entry in "Red" was looking outside the square and it faired badly. Yes the picture was cluttered (thanks to the commenter who helped me to understand this rule for future challenges) but you don't necessarily score better for having an original idea. 
I recently competed in the 'pencil' challenge. Mine was knitting needles. There were only two entries as knitting needles and they were quite differently composed. Still I got a newbie who's comment was "Too many chopsticks and knitting needles". Since when is "2" too many - Sheessh 
Message edited by author 2007-10-25 01:23:25. |
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10/25/2007 01:22:49 AM · #6 |
<=== is lucky that my memory and attention span is about as long as my....
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10/25/2007 01:34:33 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
<=== is lucky that my memory and attention span is about as long as my.... |
TTL cord?
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10/25/2007 01:51:40 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by RamblinR:
It is not fairing very well for being different.
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I can assure you that being 'different' is not the cause of the photo not fairing well.
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10/25/2007 02:05:00 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Why is it so difficult to judge each image on its individual merits? I think it's sorta harsh to hold individuals responsible for photographing a subject that someone else chose to photograph for the same challenge. I don't consider it my job to judge the subject itself as much as how the photographer chose to look at it. |
I agree to an extent. It's pretty natural for people to come up with the same ideas independently, in which case I'd not want to mark them down for having a "not unique" idea. However (going back to what the OP said), when a popular product has the challenge title in its slogan, and multiple photos of that product show up in the challenge, it's maybe not so hard to think that they took the "easy way out". Now I KNOW that sometimes it is hard to get materials for a challenge and sometimes you have to use what you have on hand. But that is when you put the little bit of extra effort into the execution of the photo in order to stand out. If I see that effort, then I'll reward that with a higher score than otherwise, even if the same subject appears in other photos in that challenge. |
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10/25/2007 02:07:53 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by johnmcboston:
What do others do?? |
I hit myself in the face until all I can see is a blur.
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10/25/2007 02:17:39 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Originally posted by RamblinR:
It is not fairing very well for being different.
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I can assure you that being 'different' is not the cause of the photo not fairing well. |
Agreed. |
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10/25/2007 02:18:46 AM · #12 |
Originally posted by Man_Called_Horse:
Originally posted by johnmcboston:
What do others do?? |
I hit myself in the face until all I can see is a blur. |
Good choice.
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10/25/2007 03:10:40 AM · #13 |
So what do folks do when you see similar subjects in a challenge? I just voted on distance. The first moon was 'well cool'. Then it was "ok, another moon'. then 'the moon again'... Similar with skittles and CDs in the rainbow challenge
I try and view them objectively and then vote on the photographic merits composition,exposure etc.
I was very disapointed in the fauna challenge that so many opted to photograph at the zoo1 Iknow not everyone has abackyard but surely there is some free ranging fauna in most areas. |
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10/25/2007 08:17:45 AM · #14 |
| I decide that instead of being hard on the last photo of the set, I was being easy on the first photo of the set... that way I don't have to change anything and I feel like a saint! |
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10/25/2007 09:02:15 AM · #15 |
Originally posted by sulamk:
I was very disapointed in the fauna challenge that so many opted to photograph at the zoo1 Iknow not everyone has abackyard but surely there is some free ranging fauna in most areas. |
Perhaps it might be attributable to the fact that "Shooting" wild animals is mostly a happenstance occurence, with the ensuing results being that the images are not deemed of as good a quality as those one can garner within a zoo setting.
I have taken quite a few photos of animals in the wild, and regardless of how excited I might get in taking the image, I remain convinced that very few (if any) of these would score well in DPC challenges.
Just a thought.
Ray
Message edited by author 2007-10-25 09:03:07. |
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10/25/2007 09:15:03 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by posthumous:
I decide that instead of being hard on the last photo of the set, I was being easy on the first photo of the set... that way I don't have to change anything and I feel like a saint! |
P.S. - works best in the "Point of View" challenge. ;) |
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10/25/2007 09:18:30 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by L2:
so that I don't cause agida |
Agida - A word I recognize from my Italian upbringing in NY but I've always wondered how to spell it. So I googled it.
I still like the spelling "agida" instead of "agita". "Agida" is more phonetic when compared to the way my grandparents pronounced it. |
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10/25/2007 09:42:42 AM · #18 |
I had a big problem with every photo being exactly the same in the Fire challenge way back when. Everyone just seemed to have taken a shot of the obvious thing, instead of actually taking the time to think about coming up with something that a hundred other people wouldn't do. It IS hard to come up with an original idea, but for Pete's sake, people, try! It's DPChallenge.
Incidentally, that's also the challenge in which I learned that people only want comments that stroke their ego, as I flipped through post-challenge to discover that most entrants marked all comments but mine helpful. I wasn't writing, "this sucks", either.
On the other hand, anything that steps too far out of the box gets hammered essentially for being different, so I can see why the herd mentality sticks in the shooting of challenge entries. :P
Hoo boy, I'm starting my Thursday off well, eh? Truth is I haven't voted or entered regularly since starting grad school, and I'm nowhere so disillusioned as you would think in reading this single post. I enjoy when my entries do well, but mostly don't care too much if the herd doesn't get it. Just about all my work that does well off-site was ignored or panned here.
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10/25/2007 10:08:05 AM · #19 |
Originally posted by Rebecca:
Incidentally, that's also the challenge in which I learned that people only want comments that stroke their ego, as I flipped through post-challenge to discover that most entrants marked all comments but mine helpful. I wasn't writing, "this sucks", either. |
I would like to respectfully disagree (at least for myself, lol). Not that negative comments are any better than positive, I was offended that someone said one of my shots looked like it was taken w/ a cell phone (but the person who said "too much noise" was helpful, if that makes sense).
In the last challenge I got 3 comments: "strong 9" "l love this image" and "great shot for the challenge" - and I'm extrememly frustrated because it scored 5.6. Heck for the commenters it scored 7.333, which seems pretty low for those comments.
I much prefer it when the comments tell me why - "tad oversharpened" or "border is distracting" were a couple of examples from my fauna entery. And even on the positive side - "great textures and colors" or "very well exposed" are much more helpful.
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10/25/2007 10:23:33 AM · #20 |
Originally posted by Donna21:
Originally posted by Rebecca:
Incidentally, that's also the challenge in which I learned that people only want comments that stroke their ego, as I flipped through post-challenge to discover that most entrants marked all comments but mine helpful. I wasn't writing, "this sucks", either. |
I would like to respectfully disagree (at least for myself, lol). Not that negative comments are any better than positive, I was offended that someone said one of my shots looked like it was taken w/ a cell phone (but the person who said "too much noise" was helpful, if that makes sense).
In the last challenge I got 3 comments: "strong 9" "l love this image" and "great shot for the challenge" - and I'm extrememly frustrated because it scored 5.6. Heck for the commenters it scored 7.333, which seems pretty low for those comments.
I much prefer it when the comments tell me why - "tad oversharpened" or "border is distracting" were a couple of examples from my fauna entery. And even on the positive side - "great textures and colors" or "very well exposed" are much more helpful. |
For the most part, unless you're in ideal conditions, our cameras are noisy. I also received the following comment "Point & shoot?". What's the point of that?
But back on topic. I used a "standard" from the ground up type shot, and my only comment is... boring and unoriginal. So, it's scoring just over a 5. If I went with something different it would probably be under 5. Some challenges just lead to multiple entries of the same thing. I judge each on their own merit.
Message edited by author 2007-10-25 10:23:58.
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10/25/2007 10:34:28 AM · #21 |
I just joined the site recently, but here's the system i am trying to use. Within the first day or two, i try to vote on all the photos. Since it's rare that i'll give any photo a 10 from the start, after i vote for all of them, i'll look though the photos and find the one i like most, and give that one a 10. And then, i'll just look though all the 9s, all the 8s and so forth and make sure i gave it a good score. Sometimes i find a photo that i should rank higher, sometimes lower.
I think this is the fairest way to vote. |
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10/25/2007 10:59:47 AM · #22 |
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10/25/2007 11:04:56 AM · #23 |
Related to both topics (repeated entries and appreciating constructive criticism), I have marked every comment but three helpful.
One lambasted me for taking a similar pic to others. Now you know how I feel about voters who knock people down for having similar ideas.
One was nothing about the picture, but rather lecturing me on a non-photographic subject.
And the last was "ok," which neither told me what the person thought nor gave me any feedback on the image.
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10/25/2007 03:02:50 PM · #24 |
Originally posted by klstover:
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
Why is it so difficult to judge each image on its individual merits? I think it's sorta harsh to hold individuals responsible for photographing a subject that someone else chose to photograph for the same challenge. I don't consider it my job to judge the subject itself as much as how the photographer chose to look at it. |
I agree to an extent. It's pretty natural for people to come up with the same ideas independently, in which case I'd not want to mark them down for having a "not unique" idea. However (going back to what the OP said), when a popular product has the challenge title in its slogan, and multiple photos of that product show up in the challenge, it's maybe not so hard to think that they took the "easy way out". Now I KNOW that sometimes it is hard to get materials for a challenge and sometimes you have to use what you have on hand. But that is when you put the little bit of extra effort into the execution of the photo in order to stand out. If I see that effort, then I'll reward that with a higher score than otherwise, even if the same subject appears in other photos in that challenge. |
So in this case, you judge the process behind the photo, or your perception of it, as much as the photo?
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10/25/2007 03:18:36 PM · #25 |
Originally posted by jmsetzler:
So in this case, you judge the process behind the photo, or your perception of it, as much as the photo? |
Well, I judge the process some, but not all the time, and I wouldn't say as much.
It's kind of like some pictures that are maybe not the most artistically beautiful, but were obviously really hard to set up. People will look and think, even subconsciously, wow, that must have been *really* hard to set up! And they'll be very impressed by it and potentially mark upwards because of that. (I am theorizing here, but I think it's a safe theory.) Judging the process is something that happens sometimes.
Although honestly, when I go through challenge entries, I'm usually *way* more focused on what I see in front of me and any emotions that I feel because of it.
I may vote down because of similar shots that don't have the effort I was talking about. I've also marked *up* many shots that are technically mediocre but creatively superb. Even so, creativity isn't the only factor I value, by far. But when you're as "out of the box" as I am, creativity is definitely a thing you tend to be pleased with.
edit for clarity
Message edited by author 2007-10-25 15:32:31. |
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