DP scoring and the pet peeve that you score low

Google Glass Google Glass

12/13/2010 12:11:15 PM · #56

What about shots that are obviously of the same subject, but are far from identical? For instance, this is my recent "vintage: entry:

And the outtake that I was encouraged to enter in the freestudy (but didn't):

fotomann_forever

12/13/2010 12:23:43 PM · #57

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Nah, you forgot the gun... Don't worry, I totally fixed it...

Oh yeah, it totally needed a gun, can you tilt the shot a bit and I think it'll be perfect :)

ambaker

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

12/13/2010 12:38:48 PM · #58

My scores are a combination of:

Creativity, technical merit, meeting the challenge, and personal appeal. I weight them 3/2/2/3.

So, no one thing will get you a really low score from me. I might not like your image, but if it is creative, meets the challenge very well, and is well done on the technical issues, then you could still get a 7 out of me.

Same for a wonderful image that does not meet the challenge. If it was really creative, had great technical merit, and blew me away, you could get an 8.

I have to admit that some things bias into the others. If as previously mentioned you did the same shot over and over, then I likely will not only find it not creative, but also not personally appealing, thus you could get no more than a 4 then.

Ones, I reserve for images that fail on every count. Tens are reserved for images that are amazing on every count.

Sirashley

Nikon D7200

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR

12/13/2010 02:10:49 PM · #59

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:

What about shots that are obviously of the same subject, but are far from identical? For instance, this is my recent "vintage: entry:

And the outtake that I was encouraged to enter in the freestudy (but didn't):

Nah Spiff, I wouldn't have dinged you for that because they are completely different compositions... The shots that really bother me are when a person puts a camera on a tripod, fires off two frames, and enters them in different challenges... or... returns to the same location over and over again and uses the same exact composition and viewpoint....

Oh and while we are on the pet peeve subject, can someone explain to me what it means to Topaz a photo??? Hdr I'm real familiar with, but Topaz is something that I never looked in to... I understand why many people don't like HDR shots, because allot of the HDR's I see are way overprocessed, which seems to be a common rookie mistake. I made the same mistake in a free study when I first started using HDR, but because I'm on my mobile I can't post it. Anyway, it would greatly be appreciated if you could explain Topaz to me and maybe throw a few examples in...

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

12/13/2010 02:14:50 PM · #60

Originally posted by Sirashley:

Oh and while we are on the pet peeve subject, can someone explain to me what it means to Topaz a photo??? Hdr I'm real familiar with, but Topaz is something that I never looked in to... I understand why many people don't like HDR shots, because allot of the HDR's I see are way overprocessed, which seems to be a common rookie mistake. I made the same mistake in a free study when I first started using HDR, but because I'm on my mobile I can't post it. Anyway, it would greatly be appreciated if you could explain Topaz to me and maybe throw a few examples in...

Topaz is a program - and you can apply everything you said regarding HDR to Topaz...

How about you have a look at the Topaz Side Challenge that is currently going on...?

Message edited by author 2010-12-13 14:15:16.

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

12/13/2010 02:20:22 PM · #61

Originally posted by Sirashley:

Oh and while we are on the pet peeve subject, can someone explain to me what it means to Topaz a photo???

Topaz usually refers to Topaz Adjust (though they do make others). It's a tonemapping plugin for Photoshop and compatible applications. I like it because it gives some pop and dimension to an image. Many people (myself included) tend to go overboard when they first get it and do a lot of photos that are overdone with the effect. Then there are folks that just like a strong tonemapped effect. Many of my photos make heavy use of tonemapping, but I think I have learned how to use it in a more restrained manner.

Here's a bad example of it's use:
original:

Topaz adjust:

Here's a more restrained example of where I used it to better effect:

Message edited by author 2010-12-13 14:21:12.

one2one

Olympus E-5

12/13/2010 02:35:57 PM · #62

Originally posted by amsterdamman:

I seem to have three things that I score lower for, curious what you may score lower for as well.
1) dead things, almost a guaranteed 1 from me, I find it disrespectful of the deceased.
2) animal butts, why would I want to see somethings ass? I had an animal poop recently in front of me, but I didn't take a photo of it!
3) bad titles - because I like a good title and reward the effort to think of one and tend to score low for uncreative titles.

So, what don't you like to see? What do you score lower for?

(sorry if I seem mean on this, I do have a bad body cold and am in pain everywhere.)

Your reasoning is flawed. You subjectively vote on all images and that isn't good for DPC participants.

Why would a title affect the composition of a photograph?
Animal butts. You're telling us not to photograph what we find interesting even if it's an animal's butt? Why?
Dead things. You're saying it's disrespectful of the deceased? I don't think I've ever seen a dead corpse in a challenge so far. If you're talking about roadkill then again you're personal attitude is affecting your voting and that's not a good thing for us.

Anyone else vote this way?

tome

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/13/2010 03:08:33 PM · #63

I rate the photos more or less the same way as people described here. But I usually don't go through it in one pass - if time permits, I go over the top picks at least once more and try to compare them. After all, they are racing against each other. Sometimes none of them look like a 10 for me... in most cases I give out lots of good scores. Generally, I'm always trying to differentiate them enough for the good ones get the boost they deserve.

So anyway, I don't score good (in addition to what others mentioned):
- when it looks like the photographer didn't really make the effort compared to the other photos I'm rating
- over-topazed stuff without purpose
- same scenes, themes or faces which indicate a well known style - not because they are bad, but as Wendy said, they just don't make the impact they once made. Besides, I don't particularly like photos that tend to be recognized by the voters as products of a particular author. But even in those cases they are not necessarily given 1s, just a few points down.

So, there aren't that many peeves after all. I give good scores when the picture impresses me, and I don't mean strictly technically (although it's an important factor). Photos that tell a story, leave a mystery, make a good joke (not an obvious one) or just make me feel good are usually my favorites.

On a side note, my biggest problem are comments, I almost never find what to say for a picture, which makes me a lousy commenter - there's the language barrier too. And I'm talking about the good comments, I'm no expert to allow myself to suggest any improvements (I remember noticing some sensor dust on a Yo_Spiff's SC photo once, and that's it :).

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

12/13/2010 03:12:45 PM · #64

Originally posted by tome:

(I remember noticing some sensor dust on a Yo_Spiff's SC photo once, and that's it :).

and I'm still trying to emotionally recover from that sensor dust debacle.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

12/13/2010 03:30:05 PM · #65

Originally posted by Jac:

Your reasoning is flawed. You subjectively vote on all images and that isn't good for DPC participants.

The worst voters are the ones who think they're capable of objectivity. They are deluded.

Kelli

Canon EOS-D60

12/13/2010 03:38:31 PM · #66

I vote on how stuff makes me feel. If it feels good or makes me smile, it scores high. If it feels sad, it scores high. If it scares me, it scores high. If it makes me wonder, if it fills me with awe, if it makes me angry, if it pulls any kind of emotion whatsoever out of me, it scores high. I can take a pass on the sterile non emotional ones, but I don't. I could care less about technicals. If I like it, it scores high. I rarely give 1's. Really, I don't think there are many pictures on the whole site that deserve 1's.

giantmike

Canon EOS R6

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

12/13/2010 03:41:58 PM · #67

Originally posted by tome:

On a side note, my biggest problem are comments, I almost never find what to say for a picture, which makes me a lousy commenter - there's the language barrier too. And I'm talking about the good comments, I'm no expert to allow myself to suggest any improvements (I remember noticing some sensor dust on a Yo_Spiff's SC photo once, and that's it :).

I don't agree with this statement at all (specifically the part I bolded). I'm not an expert, but I comment all the time. Many of the times it is what I like or dislike about a photo. Everyone has an opinion, and you shouldn't be afraid to express it. In fact, I learn a TON about photography by comparing my opinion (left as a comment) against the opinions of other commenters. It's one of the biggest things I get from this website.

bvy

Sigma DP1x

12/13/2010 03:46:11 PM · #68

A woman's bare pregnant belly gets an automatic two. A child kissing a woman's bare pregnant belly gets an automatic one. A goat licking a woman's bare pregnant belly gets an automatic ten.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

12/13/2010 03:47:15 PM · #69

Originally posted by giantmike:

In fact, I learn a TON about photography by comparing my opinion (left as a comment) against the opinions of other commenters. It's one of the biggest things I get from this website.

I totally agree with this. I commented far more heavily when I was new on the site and I learned a ton from it. I still like going through the challenge results and seeing if my comments lined up with what others said, or if I saw it in a way they didn't.

FourPointX

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

12/13/2010 04:12:00 PM · #70

i know people who score 10s for a llama.

i personally score lower for the cliche shots of wine glasses and water drops and tend to score higher for originality. however (and i know this isn't right and I actually intend to adjust it) i generally score between 5 and 8 on most challenges, I rarely score lower than a 5 and rarely higher than an 8...

tome

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

12/13/2010 04:12:17 PM · #71

Originally posted by giantmike:

Originally posted by tome:
On a side note, my biggest problem are comments, I almost never find what to say for a picture, which makes me a lousy commenter - there's the language barrier too. And I'm talking about the good comments, I'm no expert to allow myself to suggest any improvements (I remember noticing some sensor dust on a Yo_Spiff's SC photo once, and that's it :).

I don't agree with this statement at all (specifically the part I bolded). I'm not an expert, but I comment all the time. Many of the times it is what I like or dislike about a photo. Everyone has an opinion, and you shouldn't be afraid to express it. In fact, I learn a TON about photography by comparing my opinion (left as a comment) against the opinions of other commenters. It's one of the biggest things I get from this website.

Point taken. Still, when I leave a comment I'd like it to be at least on some grounds (personal preference by all means). In that sense, leaving comments about something you dislike - especially in technical terms, something that needs to be improved in that direction, IMO should be well grounded. I had a comment on a photo saying "crop the bottom" - which made no sense for me in that case. On the other hand I've received very helpful suggestions from

h2 which helped me to do better.