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DPChallenge Forums >> Challenge Results >> Are there any rules for voting?
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 02/15/2005 04:32:21 PM · #1
Does anybody know what the rules for voting are? Are there any? I see no consistancy in the voting. Is there any points for a techinal quality? For vision? For anything? Or is the voting based on what each person just happens to like?
 02/15/2005 04:34:32 PM · #2
the first rule of voting is you don't talk about voting.
 02/15/2005 04:39:07 PM · #3
The second rule of voting is there are no rules.
 02/15/2005 04:39:25 PM · #4
Originally posted by dwoolridge:
the first rule of voting is you don't talk about voting.


DOH!

imho the only thing you need to do is to be consistent. Many people here (myself included) have their own way of voting, as long as you use the same principle on each and every picture you won't go far wrong.
 02/15/2005 04:39:40 PM · #5
Originally posted by bod:
The second rule of voting is there are no rules.


That is what I though....
 02/15/2005 04:50:59 PM · #6
Be capricious and arbitrary...
 02/15/2005 05:01:24 PM · #7
Be oblong and have your knees removed
 02/15/2005 05:02:38 PM · #8
thrid rule you have to give a 10 at least in my photos. :)
 02/15/2005 05:03:41 PM · #9
There are no "written" rules, but there do seem to be some rules-of-thumb;

1. If it has blur, vote it down. Blur is always bad.

2. If the highlights are blown out, vote it down. Blown-out highlights are never acceptable.

3. If it's dark, vote it down. Unless it's B/W. Dark, contrasty B/W is terrific, but dark moody color is an abomination.

4. If it doesn't "obviously" fit the challenge, vote it down. There's no excuse for pushing the boundaries, especially if you do so intellectually. Photographers who try to make the voters think do not deserve good scores.

5. As a rule-of-thumb, it's best to give higher scores to technically-poor photos that interpret the challenge well, leaving plenty of low scores available to distribute to technically-terrific images that don't hammer you in the face with their relationship to the challenge. I'm not talking about those off-the-wall entries here, just the ones that kind of fall in a grey area.

6. If you suspect that a photographer is trying to create "art" instead of "stock photography", it's a good idea to deduct a couple of points, no matter how fine the image is. If DPC starts to see too much art, it will get a lot harder to vote, and voting should really not be that difficult.

7. Finally, if you don't "like" the subject matter of the photo, you should certainly give it a bad score regardless of its quality. There is a misconception among some of the more serious members that this is NOT a popularity contest, and these members need to be brought into line for the good of the rest of us.

Will that do for starters? Anyone have any "rules" to add?

D I S C L A I M E R : The above is a work of satire, and does not reflect the opinions or practices of any actual DPC voters.

Robt.

Message edited by author 2005-02-15 17:05:12.
 02/15/2005 05:07:31 PM · #10
Hmm, I'm gonna stick around for the day when Robt actually explodes online. Robt, your blood pressure is too high.
 02/15/2005 05:08:59 PM · #11
LOL, I was laughing the whole time I wrote that. I'm way past taking this stuff seriously, but a little satire is always good.

Robt.
 02/15/2005 05:14:33 PM · #12
My own personal, ideal voting technique (take it for what you will) is to: (1) vote on every picture in the challenge or not vote at all, usually in four or five spurts of voting; (2) start a picture at five for an in focus picture (if that's the perceived intention) that basically meets the challenge theme (a snapshot); (3) vote up or down from that 5 for clarity of idea, focus, lighting, composition, aesthetics, unintended noise, etc.; (4) try to create a rough bell curve in my voting (in most challenges there will be a lot of "average" as compared to the spectacular or horrid); (5) go back and adjust photos up down from their originally placed groups; and (6) go back through and comment on photos that I really enjoyed or that I could have voted just a little higher except for that overlooked detail or flaw. I almost never give a "1" (unless I think the person is actually trying for the "brown ribbon") as the person had to go through the motions of at least taking a picture, uploading it on the computer and transferring it to the website.
 02/15/2005 05:15:28 PM · #13
I want Robert/Bear to take a photo of himself while he reads his own forum post - so we can all see if that one is accompanied by a big grin or by clenched fists and little wisps of smoke here and there.
 02/15/2005 05:15:38 PM · #14

I thought you were serious, don't tell me all your posts are jokes? I was just beginning to understand you and the way (I thought)you operated as a fotog as well!

02/15/2005 05:19:38 PM · #15
Random number generators can save you alot of time.
 02/15/2005 05:23:59 PM · #16
Originally posted by Beetle:
...so we can all see if that one is accompanied by a big grin or by clenched fists and little wisps of smoke here and there.


Methinks it's the latter.
02/15/2005 05:24:08 PM · #17
On a more serious note for gwphoto, who is - after all - new around here.

Another member, SDW65, has shared his voting scale which I happen to like a lot.

If you're going to vote, then do vote on every single photo in that particular challenge. That way it doesn't really matter too much what your personal style is, since you're applying it to everyone.

Leaving comments is highly appreciated, but brace yourself.
There are some people that can happily handle negative criticism (at least when it makes sense and shows some thought behind it), but others will bite off your nose for anything worse than a "Fantastic photo !!"

Be brave, be strong, and hang in there. You will, at times, tear your hair out, but you'll also see lots of support and good times.
 02/15/2005 05:25:31 PM · #18


8. If you encounter the same subject matter over and over again while voting, give progressively lower marks for the photographers lack of originality. Common subject matters that fall into this category are flowers, pets and babies. Do not hesisate to use the '1' when you come across such photos.



Message edited by author 2005-02-15 17:25:51.
 02/15/2005 05:26:25 PM · #19
Originally posted by nico_blue:
8. If you encounter the same subject matter over and over again while voting, give progressively lower marks for the photographers lack of originality. Common subject matters that fall into this category are flowers, pets and babies. Do not hesisate to use the '1' when you come across such photos.


Dang, I was just going to post a rule similar.. lol. you beat me to it.
 02/15/2005 05:28:04 PM · #20
1. you have to be able to count from three to five. Lower and higher ratings stir controversy
2. you have to be able to decide whether or not an image meets the challenge without thinking, feeling or reading the challenge description
3. you are encouraged to vote on all images in every challenge and comment on them until you are exhausted or dumb, whichever comes first. You can copy and paste from a canned selection of one-liners
4. you can vote directly from the thumbnails without ever looking at the actual image
5. Do not spell-check your comments and try to avoid mentioning facts pertaining to an image per se. This is considered an 'elitist' practice and frowned upon. Try to talk about the author of the image instead, and expand your opinion without basing them on anything anyone else can research or compare to
6. Practice rightousness and prejudice, especially in matters of 'taste', aesthetics and topicality. If you don't, you will have to produce evidence for what you did not assume
7. Practive magic, conjecture and random selection to determine 'winners', if it is for a Black and White challenge and the images are not sufficiently loud for an easier choice
8. Feel good about what you do. It is, after all, your inalienable right to vote and opine as you please

...or read this as a satire or as a post noire and do the opposite, in which case I'll be honoured to have your comment under one of my immortal images. ;-)
02/15/2005 05:28:52 PM · #21
any photos of mine you have to give a 10
 02/15/2005 05:31:29 PM · #22
Originally posted by ericlimon:
any photos of mine you have to give a 10


Re: signature:

All of our entire minds and spirit are contained in a single speck of dust.
 02/15/2005 05:32:30 PM · #23
Originally posted by Beetle:

Leaving comments is highly appreciated, but brace yourself.
There are some people that can happily handle negative criticism ...........(


I can honestly say that I have never received any negative feedback on any comments I have left.

I was taught at a training seminar to always sandwich bad news between two layers of good news.. To date this strategy has worked for me.

On a scoring strategy, there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat. My own moggy is a balance of scorecard and gut feel, with the latter being the more prevalent.

Message edited by author 2005-02-15 17:37:37.
 02/15/2005 05:32:55 PM · #24


9. Another rule of thumb involving subject matter; motorcyles in the air, macros of water droplets, and exotic portrait of women in veils should always be given a 10. Photos made by or invoking BradP should always be scored high as well.

02/15/2005 05:35:16 PM · #25
I think in the end, my voting process is more about me becoming a better photographer and not about the other photographers per se. It's about the "what" and the "why" of what I like/dislike in a photo and how I can transfer those techniques I like for my own use. I think I don't give "1"s because I can learn something from a poor quality photo.
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