I browsed here for quite a long time before signing up. Just recently I paid for the membership with plans to start submitting.
I am not a professional photographer by any means although I did work for a studio doing action sports shots that would get packaged with team portraits. During that same approximate time quite a number of my action photos were used for a few high school yearbooks in my area. I didn't make anything from that use, being 18 and 19 I was elated that someone else saw my images as good.
I see my eye today as being just a touch above novice, mostly because of being away from photography for so long.
I have rated images here for a short while and enjoy doing so. I give my honest rating but really don't leave comments. I hadn't browsed these forums before now and didn't realize that anyone really thought they had a right to 'complain' about getting a 4.
My typical ratings give a 9 to the very best of pictures and I only give 10's if I see it as something I would want to actually purchase and hang on my walls. 8's are for those that I see as the best pictures in the lot, 7's if the picture is really appealing and strongly on topic. 6 comes along if it is a solid picture but not really outstanding. 5 is my middle of the road. Most of my votes are 5's. Doesn't mean I don't like a picture, it most likely didn't stand out from the others is all. 4 is for something on topic but generally just a bad picture in my opinion. 3 and 2 are for something either completely missing the topic or for a picture that is not in focus, etc. 1's are for those that get submitted with a title of "miniature at night" and have a black image. Novel, yes; worthy of more than a 1, no. Junk falls into my 1's, and I really didn't see a point of providing an explanation when I felt that the submitter wouldn't be surprised by a 1 either.
Again, I think I am very fair in my ratings but do not feel bad about giving a 4 to a picture that fits a 4 category *in my opinion*, not yours.
All of my long-windedness aside, many of you will be hearing much more from me in comments. Now that I know how much you all long for them I will place my honest opinions in every single vote I make, be it a 7, 5, 3, or whatever. I will see how that goes for a bit and if I get enough feedback that says it is not a good thing for me to do then I stop.
On another note, are there so many little wooden men dolls now because of the one that placed a couple (few maybe) of weeks ago? |
