I feel like I'm being misunderstood. I say post for help and critiques AFTER in the forums , not the gallery because I would like to figure out by my peers (people that voted), why I didn't have votes to win. What could I have improved , Etc. If it's done before voting, its fishing for votes in a way. You go to any other website that does photography contests, JPGmag for instance, you would see that people shoot to win and if you gain learning experience, that's great. If you win, its validation of your skill and that your doing something right. If you don't win, then its a way to grow. If all you're looking for is to get feedback, then why not post in the multiple other sections of the dgrin forums and ask people's opinions of your work? If all you're looking for is feedback and NOT to win, then why enter a contest?
I think where you're getting confuse is this is not a contest, it is a challenge, or learning tool. The prizes are just gravy.
We can take away the prizes if you all would like.
The point of having the challenges, is to help people reach out of their comfort zones and try new things with their photography. It is imperative to the nature of the challenges, that people utilize the forum by getting feedback BEFORE entering into the challenge. Not to do so for getting votes, but rather so they learn how to improve.
The whole point of the CHALLENGES is to challenge yourself to do better. If your entering strickly for the prize, then you are missing the point of the challenges.
As for the voting, most of the votes (about 90%) are from dgrin members who are entered into the challenge. The 9% is from other dgrinners that frequent other boards but do not participate in the challenges.
There is about 1% or less that I would concider questionable votes, those are the ones that will be taken out of the voting pool if they continue.
Considering how close the rounds have been, means that many are improving on their skills. NO ONE has come out in the top 5 and didn't earn it. The votes were all accounted for and fair.
We already have that with the mini challenges were the person judging usually says why s/he likes the photos. But for us to do that with the other challenges, I think the interface would have to be changed. That might not be a trivial exercise. I don't know.
“"..an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered." G.K. Chesterton”
Gotta give a HUGE shout-out to SmugMug for sponsoring the challenges & for all the wonderful gifts/prizes they provide to the winners. THANK YOU SMUGMUG!!!
But, the prizes pale in comparison to the wealth of ideas & knowledge at our fingertips in the forum, the exchange of thoughts, nits & suggestions, the help, the improvement, and that little bit of excitement and confidence that comes from getting a photo voted into the top 5. The challenges forum is a wonderful tool that can help us to see different perspectives & opinions & to understand what may be good or bad about a photo (we can be blind to something others see as obvious), or why people may or may not like a photo, so we can improve that photo or take another shot.
Most of the comments in the gallery are just positive feedback; I think constructive criticism can be so easily misinterpreted, and since the challenge galleries show up in the dailies, some of those comments come from regulars who browse the dailies & they may be more inclined to comment if they know the photog (but they may not vote at all).
I figure if someone wants a critique with the potential to improve their photo for that challenge then they will post in the forum. When time permits, I ask for feedback in the forum & it never crossed my mind that it might be considered trolling for votes - guess you could consider it getting help with homework, which is different from having someone else do your homework (not acceptable) - we all could use a little help now & then. Also there is no obligation to vote for a photo I may have commented on in the forum. If it is one of the top shots that round (IMO), then yes, I would vote for it, but if it's not, it doesn't get my vote - I consider the photo, theme & title in my votes, not the photographer or comments. I personally like that the votes are not public & would shy away from having to say which shots I voted for in the polls.
And as soon as the new challenge is put up, my time & energy go to ideas for the new challenge, not to reworking a finalized shot from a past challenge.
We already have that with the mini challenges were the person judging usually says why s/he likes the photos. But for us to do that with the other challenges, I think the interface would have to be changed. That might not be a trivial exercise. I don't know.
You are correct, although you can do that in the gallery at anytime!
Thank you lkbart for understanding what the challenges are about.
I've been absent for a while due to real life stuff keeping me busy, but thought I'd try jumping back in again with this current challenge of Close-Ups. Even though I've been a member for a while I'm still not all that comfortable giving critiques probably because I'm not a professional and think to myself 'who am I to critique the pro's here?' Usually I like quirky things about photographs and they aren't necessarily 'by the rules'. So, mostly all I can say is why I like something vs giving a technical critique that would be of any real help to anyone.
Comments
I think where you're getting confuse is this is not a contest, it is a challenge, or learning tool. The prizes are just gravy.
We can take away the prizes if you all would like.
The point of having the challenges, is to help people reach out of their comfort zones and try new things with their photography. It is imperative to the nature of the challenges, that people utilize the forum by getting feedback BEFORE entering into the challenge. Not to do so for getting votes, but rather so they learn how to improve.
The whole point of the CHALLENGES is to challenge yourself to do better. If your entering strickly for the prize, then you are missing the point of the challenges.
As for the voting, most of the votes (about 90%) are from dgrin members who are entered into the challenge. The 9% is from other dgrinners that frequent other boards but do not participate in the challenges.
There is about 1% or less that I would concider questionable votes, those are the ones that will be taken out of the voting pool if they continue.
Considering how close the rounds have been, means that many are improving on their skills. NO ONE has come out in the top 5 and didn't earn it. The votes were all accounted for and fair.
But, the prizes pale in comparison to the wealth of ideas & knowledge at our fingertips in the forum, the exchange of thoughts, nits & suggestions, the help, the improvement, and that little bit of excitement and confidence that comes from getting a photo voted into the top 5. The challenges forum is a wonderful tool that can help us to see different perspectives & opinions & to understand what may be good or bad about a photo (we can be blind to something others see as obvious), or why people may or may not like a photo, so we can improve that photo or take another shot.
Most of the comments in the gallery are just positive feedback; I think constructive criticism can be so easily misinterpreted, and since the challenge galleries show up in the dailies, some of those comments come from regulars who browse the dailies & they may be more inclined to comment if they know the photog (but they may not vote at all).
I figure if someone wants a critique with the potential to improve their photo for that challenge then they will post in the forum. When time permits, I ask for feedback in the forum & it never crossed my mind that it might be considered trolling for votes - guess you could consider it getting help with homework, which is different from having someone else do your homework (not acceptable) - we all could use a little help now & then. Also there is no obligation to vote for a photo I may have commented on in the forum. If it is one of the top shots that round (IMO), then yes, I would vote for it, but if it's not, it doesn't get my vote - I consider the photo, theme & title in my votes, not the photographer or comments. I personally like that the votes are not public & would shy away from having to say which shots I voted for in the polls.
And as soon as the new challenge is put up, my time & energy go to ideas for the new challenge, not to reworking a finalized shot from a past challenge.
A photograph is an artistic expression of life, captured one moment at a time . . .
http://bartlettphotoart.smugmug.com/
You are correct, although you can do that in the gallery at anytime!
Thank you lkbart for understanding what the challenges are about.
Panasonic Lumix 10x DMC-TZ3 :photo
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