Solicit votes for my contest entry? (Page 4): If ya win, what do you get?

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

If ya win, what do you get?

buddah17 Loc: The Bahamas

Where is the image? (I WANNA' SEE!!!)

buddah17 Loc: The Bahamas

dbfalconer wrote:

And the voters are not necessarily trained to judge quality. They just vote for that they like! In the end, I like my photo and that's all that really matters. Getting into the top 5 is just fun!

A contest where people vote on which what they like, and the one with the most "likes" wins, is not that unusual. After all, what is the difference between one "Professional" judge that STILL comes in with some pre-conditions on what they like, or think is more important, (quality of focus, subject matter, contrast, etc.. etc..) and is "the judge and jury" on what image is the best in the contest?
To be honest, I prefer the first one, that way I feel that more of the "masses" or "the people" liked my image, as oppsed to one person that was educted in photography, and feels (sayP that "B & W is legitimate, and color is not!"

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

buddah17 wrote:

A contest where people vote on which what they lik... (show quote)

...the main difference is that with the former, people will vote whether they like it or not (family and friends). Way too helter skelter for me...I'll go with experts every time, regardless of biases. At the minimum, it's the same bias for all contestants...if you fall on the bad side of that, it's the experience that will hone your act...

buddah17 Loc: The Bahamas

I understand your point. But if you are looking for "netural" or constructive criticisms, just ignore the family and friends opinions. (But what if one or two of friends and families are professional artist, photographers, or art teachers?)
Main point? It's ALL sugestive... (Kinda like politcal elections...)

chasgroh wrote:

...the main difference is that with the former, people will vote whether they like it or not (family and friends). Way too helter skelter for me...I'll go with experts every time, regardless of biases. At the minimum, it's the same bias for all contestants...if you fall on the bad side of that, it's the experience that will hone your act...

BebuLamar

SouthShooter wrote:

In this case, I don’t think it’s unethical either to solicit votes or to vote for your own work. Congrats and good luck.

I think if you don't vote for your picture you don't deserve to win because you yourself don't think your picture is good.
I think solicit votes for your work isn't ethical. People may vote for your picture because they think YOU are a piece of art rather than your work.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...because they think YOU are a piece of art rather than your work..." so on point BebuLamar

On IG images of scantly clad "hot" females receive a huge number of "Likes" and "Comments"
Not so much suave looking guys... Possibly the anabolic steroid Testosterone plays into the mix here...

btw for the longest time the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show rivaled NFL event viewer ratings...

In the real world of "commercial photography" photographers tend to be judged by the number of published tear sheets (especially covers for major circulation rags)... While contests typically are dominated by "pay to play" events... a.k.a. Entry Fees...

Ethics? Wearing a mask in public and practicing social distancing maybe?
Just a thought...

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

buddah17 wrote:

I understand your point. But if you are looking for "netural" or constructive criticisms, just ignore the family and friends opinions. (But what if one or two of friends and families are professional artist, photographers, or art teachers?)
Main point? It's ALL sugestive... (Kinda like politcal elections...)

...you're right, it's all subjective (I believe that's what you meant by "sugestive") but an *expert's* subjective goes a lot farther with me, and we're talking *votes* here, not just criticisms. YMMV

buddah17 Loc: The Bahamas

Yes I did mean subjective.
But if you entered an "expert judging contest" and there are (say) 10 judges, does that not become subjective as well?

chasgroh wrote:

...you're right, it's all subjective (I believe that's what you meant by "sugestive") but an *expert's* subjective goes a lot farther with me, and we're talking *votes* here, not just criticisms. YMMV

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

buddah17 wrote:

Yes I did mean subjective.
But if you entered an "expert judging contest" and there are (say) 10 judges, does that not become subjective as well?

...it *is* subjective, as all human judging is. Personally I judge HS band competitions in the visual caption...I am an expert with 50 years in the activity...we "assign" numbers which, absolutely, is subjective because we all have our likes/dislikes! But we're pros where the bias is the same for all units, we work at getting consistent, that's what keeps it "fair." I don't know what the standards for judging are in the art world, but, surely, someone assigned the task of adjudicating a show would take it to heart and understand the responsibility, unlike your neighbors asked to vote for your pic, lol. So, bottom line, an expert judging your work would at least provide a stable base, with far fewer variables, than a public vote. JMHO

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

It in my mind, impossible to judge without your own predigests. The alternate way is to systematically look for facts and deduct that way but even that way is subjective. Judging is subjective or arbitrary and in many cases will give good points to a picture you could not sell. I have seen many cases that the judging is a case technical skills (soft ware ability) and less or no art.
Judging is all over, depending on rules and judges. Good, bad and in-between. Don't get upset or overly upset in judging outcome. If you take pictures and people like or want them, that is what counts.
I have seen arguments and a few fights over judging.
Yes I do enter some judging and have been forced into judging. I's note bad and it's not good it's just judging. It can be helpful if they have a discussion at the end to get the feeling of what could have bee better to improve the pictures.
I belong to a club that does that as we consider our selves a mentoring club.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

Picture Taker wrote:

It in my mind, impossible to judge without your ow... (show quote)

...you seem experienced. But I don't think you really get what I'm saying. When you put "subjective" and "arbitrary" in the same sentence it gives the impression that they are both the same; they are not. Whatever, I've put my interpretation out there and don't want to argue semantics. <shrug> Nothing is going to change my POV on this topic. ;0) Uh, what is a "predigest?" Is that prejudice? Dude, proof your writing! Your first sentence states just what I've been talking about all along ("bias" means "prejudice"), there's just a helluva lot LESS of it when the adjudicators are pros and know their topic. Not someone's next door neighbor *voting*...eh? I be done now, be happy and take lots of pictures!

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I should have said "Subjective and/or arbitrary" sorry.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

Defining judging and actual judging are both imposable in my mind are not tangible and I can't define. They are, to me, a moving target.
I know some judges that you can tell what the picture will be rated by them and what they will give a + too and a - too.
Also I don't judge much as I prefer not to but, would run the electronic score machine for several years and by seeing each judge score I found my self playing a game by guessing each one score for each picture.

This input I know may not be important to the blog but, since you "chasgroh" got intuit I wanted to explain some of my reasoning.