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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> Could someone teach an idiot how to vote?
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01/18/2006 07:47:28 PM · #1
Somewhat of a newbie here and am looking for help. I've been going thru portfolios recently and have noticed voting stats for each user. My average for votes given is 7.31 and from what I see this is way too high compared to most users. I am curious as to how most of you come to your number. I've been using more or less a scholastic type grading scale, with the 10 being 100 percent or A to A+, 9 being 90 percent or B, and so on. I rarely give anything under a 5 as I don't see how many photos could deserve less than that via the grading scale that I use (there are definitely some but not many). I don't base my vote any other photo in the challenge but on the merits of each individual photo itself.

Am I going about this all wrong? If so, how should I go about grading images? Thanks for any help I can get.

Message edited by author 2006-01-18 20:22:18.
01/18/2006 07:50:01 PM · #2
you are FINE at 7.31. Vote how you feel, and not what the "rest" of us do. Voting is subject. Its ALL ABOUT YOU and how you feel about the photo and its merits. Don't feel like you aren't qualified. You are the best judge of your own feelings and go forth and vote with that in mind. :) I think you have a great approach and I welcome your votes and participation on the site.

That said, some people like to allocate points for criteria, like up to 2 points if it meets the challenge, up to 3 points for composition, etc.

Message edited by author 2006-01-18 19:53:06.
01/18/2006 07:52:00 PM · #3
what frisca said.

and you know what, there are lots of people who have voting averages that are waaaaay low (like, under 4 after 5, 6000 votes), so this site could use more generous people like you to help balance out the stingy ones :)
01/18/2006 07:56:48 PM · #4
I vote the method of '5 is average'. An image would get a five if it meets the challenge and has no technical issues but doesn't inspire me. Below five has technical issues and above five inspires me.
01/18/2006 07:58:03 PM · #5
Thats as good a way as any to vote.

As long as your consistent throughout the challenge it doesn't really matter.

bazz.
01/18/2006 07:58:54 PM · #6
There is nothing wrong with the way you vote. If anyone is telling you that you are voting too high then just tell them too bad. If you think half the photos in a challenge deserve 9 or 10 then that is your opinion and you don't need to change it just because someone else says that photo isn't that good.
01/18/2006 08:00:31 PM · #7
Phil, considering the overall very impressive quality of the photos on DPC, in my opinion YOU are at the right level. I am trying to be more generous and my average of votes cast is slowly creeping up.

Keep up the good work, Phil, we love just the way you vote.
01/18/2006 08:00:50 PM · #8
Well there are reportedly some people who only vote "1". And there are plenty of styles. But if you look at the contests, the average is in the 5-5.5 range. From a scholastic point of view, it's graded on the curve. The average picture gets a grade midway in the scale, "5", really bad pictures maybe a "1", and an exceptional one "10". Of course it is all subjective. Look at the scores for individual pictures and you will find that almost every one gets scored over the entire range, with the predominant score generally close to what the entry ends up with.

But if you are going to grade such as an "F" is a 6, please make sure you vote for my entries.
01/18/2006 08:01:35 PM · #9
It's a tough balance. I too am fairly new to it. My solution has been to commit (to myself) to vote for every image in a challenge if I vote at all. In my books this is the only way I can be sure my judgement influences the results fairly. Of course it means a hell of a time commitment when there are a lot of challenge submissions.

Everyone seems to have a different scoring system. Mine works as follows: I start with a base of five, and then go up or down based on composition, technical quality, punch, balance, fit to challenge, focus, etc... This means that 10s and 1s from me are very rare. I wind up with a bit of a bell-curve distribution that could look contrived, but do apply my judgement to each individual shot.

Now to find a challenge to submit to myself.
01/18/2006 08:20:00 PM · #10
The average vote cast by most members is generally near 5. I believe the standards are rather high because there are so many professional and advanced amateur members. In almost any challenge there will be excellent entries that score well below 6 while mediocre images are almost always below 5. It takes a great image to score over 6!
01/18/2006 09:18:52 PM · #11
Originally posted by dudephil:

Somewhat of a newbie here and am looking for help. I've been going thru portfolios recently and have noticed voting stats for each user. My average for votes given is 7.31 and from what I see this is way too high compared to most users.


Well I'm not bothered, and my average is hovering at 8.xx. I think I can vote anyway I like :p So lets not worry about it. Voting is subjective.

Message edited by author 2006-01-18 21:19:19.
01/18/2006 09:19:49 PM · #12
Thanks for the input and I appreciate your comments very much. This was started as I was going over the shots in the backlight challenge. The deserving winning photo not only got an average score of 6.972, but also got eight ones - EIGHT ONES????? How could this be? A fluke I'm sure. So I start going over some of the past challenges and notice that this is the case for pretty much every ribbon winner. I'm sure there have been many discussions on this but I just don't get how the three best images in any challenge could get a single one - let alone eight of them. Jealousy? Spite? Maybe something could be set up that in order to be allowed to vote under 4 or so you must advise as to what should be done to make the photo better. I dunno. Like I say. I'm an idiot anyway. :)
01/18/2006 09:23:27 PM · #13
Originally posted by dudephil:

The deserving winning photo not only got an average score of 6.972, but also got eight ones - EIGHT ONES????? How could this be? A fluke I'm sure. So I start going over some of the past challenges and notice that this is the case for pretty much every ribbon winner.


Not all of them have 1's though. Like all have said, it's a subjective matter. While some people may like a photo and gave it a 10, there may always be others who gets a strong negative reaction from the same photo and gave it a 1. Dont worry too much about the "trolls" who votes nothing but low scores - their "stray" votes usually gets drowned out by other "honest" ones.
01/18/2006 09:27:19 PM · #14
sometimes when people give 1s they do not even look at the picture because if they have looked it would not be 1 it would be at least 4 in worst case.

Originally posted by dudephil:

Thanks for the input and I appreciate your comments very much. This was started as I was going over the shots in the backlight challenge. The deserving winning photo not only got an average score of 6.972, but also got eight ones - EIGHT ONES????? How could this be? A fluke I'm sure. So I start going over some of the past challenges and notice that this is the case for pretty much every ribbon winner. I'm sure there have been many discussions on this but I just don't get how the three best images in any challenge could get a single one - let alone eight of them. Jealousy? Spite? Maybe something could be set up that in order to be allowed to vote under 4 or so you must advise as to what should be done to make the photo better. I dunno. Like I say. I'm an idiot anyway. :)
01/18/2006 09:32:45 PM · #15
I can only tell you the way I do it and it works for me.

Taking the 1-10 scale I use 5-6 for the middle ground or average. With 5 being lower average and 6 being upper average. Then of course 3-4 the same way on below average and 7-8 being the same way on the upper end. I then vote on all of the photos on how they strike me using this scale with 8 being the best of the best the first time I look at them.

After completeing the vote on all of the photos in a challenge, I then go back and look at all the 6's and move any, that should be moved, to a 7, 8, 9 or 10. I then go throught the 7's (including any 6's that were moved to 7) and move any of those deserving up to the nxt level. I do that on each level untilI am confident that the best of the best for each challenge is at it's highest level.

This takes a little longer then maybe it takes the speed voters but I am confident that IMO, the best that I have seen in the challenge is in the highest position and where it needs to be. (Again IMHO) I also found that doing it this way gets rid of the ones that immediately don't appeal to me and lets me concentrate on the best of the best.

Since we are talking about voting, I have also made a resolution that I will at least comment on ten images in each challenge as I vote and then also comment to the top ten, as they truley deserve it.

We all have our own ways but this is just my way. I still hope it helps.
01/18/2006 09:35:17 PM · #16
I'm easy too, my average vote cast is '6.3179'
01/19/2006 12:52:44 AM · #17
Originally posted by dudephil:

I'm sure there have been many discussions on this but I just don't get how the three best images in any challenge could get a single one - let alone eight of them. Jealousy? Spite?

Yes, Phil, you are right - this has been discussed countless times before.
We all have our own theories, but are still scratching our heads over the issue of "Why?" and "what to do about it".

So far we don't have an answer so we just keep plodding on (and argueing about it *g*).
01/19/2006 12:58:51 AM · #18
Originally posted by Beetle:

Yes, Phil, you are right - this has been discussed countless times before.
We all have our own theories, but are still scratching our heads over the issue of "Why?" and "what to do about it".

So far we don't have an answer so we just keep plodding on (and argueing about it *g*).


I'm not argueing. You're argueing. So phhhhtttt... :)
01/19/2006 01:05:40 AM · #19
Originally posted by _eug:

I'm not argueing. You're argueing. So phhhhtttt... :)

Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyy, he's picking on me!!!!
01/19/2006 01:13:19 AM · #20
Agreeing with all the "Vote your way not the 'right' way" comments, but thought I'd add my scale in case you're still insterested:

10 = Outstanding (I would buy it.)
9 = Excellent
8 = Very good
7 = Quite good
6 = More than sufficient, pretty good
5 = Average, good
4 = Just below average
3 = Below average
2 = Bad
1 = Very bad

If you need a better idea of what I consider a 9 or a 10, check out my favorites.
01/19/2006 12:22:29 PM · #21
For those that care about the rules it states that "Users should rate each and every photograph in the challenge on a scale of 1 to 10 (with "1" being a "bad" photo and a "10" being a "good" photo)."

Also one should leave a comment on every image voted a 1, 2, or 3, something only a small percentage of voters appear to do.
01/19/2006 05:12:48 PM · #22
Originally posted by talmy:

For those that care about the rules it states that "Users should rate each and every photograph in the challenge on a scale of 1 to 10 (with "1" being a "bad" photo and a "10" being a "good" photo)."

Also one should leave a comment on every image voted a 1, 2, or 3, something only a small percentage of voters appear to do.


Thanks Talmy. Are those the rules or just a guide?

01/19/2006 05:20:36 PM · #23
Originally posted by dudephil:

Originally posted by talmy:

For those that care about the rules it states that "Users should rate each and every photograph in the challenge on a scale of 1 to 10 (with "1" being a "bad" photo and a "10" being a "good" photo)."

Also one should leave a comment on every image voted a 1, 2, or 3, something only a small percentage of voters appear to do.


Thanks Talmy. Are those the rules or just a guide?

Leaving a comment on every vote scored a 1,2, or 3 is just a guide. The other appears to be straight from the rules. But for both, there's no way to enforce them.
01/19/2006 05:32:54 PM · #24
Originally posted by justin_hewlett:

Originally posted by dudephil:

Originally posted by talmy:

For those that care about the rules it states that "Users should rate each and every photograph in the challenge on a scale of 1 to 10 (with "1" being a "bad" photo and a "10" being a "good" photo)."

Also one should leave a comment on every image voted a 1, 2, or 3, something only a small percentage of voters appear to do.


Thanks Talmy. Are those the rules or just a guide?

Leaving a comment on every vote scored a 1,2, or 3 is just a guide. The other appears to be straight from the rules. But for both, there's no way to enforce them.


That threw me off to start with. What I didn't understand about these being the rules is that it says that users should rate each and every photograph, then on down it says that you must rate at least 20% of them.
01/19/2006 05:43:34 PM · #25
Originally posted by dudephil:


...
That threw me off to start with. What I didn't understand about these being the rules is that it says that users should rate each and every photograph, then on down it says that you must rate at least 20% of them.


What that means is that people are encouraged to vote on all the photos of a challenge, but don't HAVE to...but one HAS to vote on at least 20% or those votes will be thrown out.
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