Photo Approval

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by D2 Admin on March 13, 2009 at 5:25pm

Most photos should be approved. Anything resembling a snapshot will not be approved. It's hard to give much more description than that due to the broad range of artists that we have (which is a good thing).

Patricia Shriver said:

Sounds like a practical development in achieving the quality the site was setup to capture. Only thing that is now lacking is a size limit to photos being submitted. Can you share the criteria being set for acceptance of photos? What comes to my mind are: Subject Interest, Composition, Technical Aspects...

Permalink Reply by GabrielC on March 13, 2009 at 6:06pm

OK, there are good ideeas which look fine at first glance, but then it depends on how and by whom they are applied and some of them prove to be wrong in the end.
Of course you already have enthouziastic supporters for this ideea which I consider rather tricky for a site where I haven't seen a serious criticism comment since several weeks now, no matter what!

It all depends on which REAL standards you want to reach with D2 and on your skill to CLEARLY AND OBJECTIVELY DEFINE them so as these are CLEAR ENOUGH for all members.
Sofar it looked fine to me, but I am merely a hobby photographer so what do I know ?!? Maybe some
of the subtle details as such outlined above by Patricia might be out of my area of understanding :)...

Just a straight question: WHO will judge and approve the photos and on which basis? Couple of months ago when the question has been raised I didn't favor it, but seeing which concerns are expressed here I begin to think we should have an answer to this before continuing the approval discussion.

And btw, if you really want to filter the posts (which I don't think is really necessary at the moment) why don't you EXPAND the featuring area to - let's say - 50 photos and be increasingly conservative about it?

Anyway, meantime I think it's wiser for me to stop posting new photos on the main site until this approval processus will be settled one way or another, I don't want to bother anybody around here with my snapshots. I will keep on posting in the groups though and MAYBE in the lab group too.
For the members of this site who will still want to see my work and help my evolution by commenting,
I will also include a link to a remote personal page on another site.

Permalink Reply by GabrielC on March 13, 2009 at 6:41pm

I can not agree more with what LES said, in a far more concise and elegant way than I did. Actually he posted his comment while I was writing mine...

So, giving another thought to the matter in discussion, I am now in the position to say that I'd STRONGLY advise AGAINST IT, at least UNTIL the whole procedure is very well conceived, constructed and tested.
On top of this, I think the great effort you will spend to build such a procedure correctly AND efficiently can be better spent for the moment in other areas. Your goal - which I fully support, btw - could be simply achieved by A.Limiting the size B.Limiting the number of posts per day/week and C. Using firm,constructive and polite criticism on the photos you don't consider "dignified" ( read "qualified" :) ) enough for D2 and by ASKING others of the most proofed and knowledgeable members to do the same.

Permalink Reply by DAVID HOBCOTE on March 13, 2009 at 7:24pm

Les said:

David I wholeheartedly share your concerns about the featured area but I did not come right out and say so in my response because I thought I might have been on my own on this and was worried that I might cause offence.I have recently witnessed some really great images being overlooked while images of lesser quality have been featured at their expense, this is in direct conflict with the aim of promoting high imaging standards.


So I respectfully suggest that the guys in admin address this issue first before going ahead with the new proposals

Guess I just got a bigger mouth Mate! I also dont mean to cause offence and would not have said anything if this had not been brought up but really dont think the free posting is the biggest problem

Permalink Reply by D2 Admin on March 13, 2009 at 8:30pm

Thank you all for your comments. The feature has been disabled (wasn't working correctly anyhow). I'd also like to take this opportunity to address some of the comments that were made.

1.) The goal was not to nit pick people's work, but rather weed out the snapshots. The reason none of you ever SEE these so called photos is because they are removed immediately. So the goal was to save members from potential "public embarrassment" while also encouraging them to critique their work more before uploading. And as I already stated, "Most photos should be approved."

2.) Gabriel, the features were bumped to 50 last week. Good suggestion, and keep those shots coming!

3.) Dave and Les, yes, perhaps we have been slipping a little lately on the features, but there are quite a few aspects we consider when we feature a photo. For instance, if someone like you (Dave) uploads 3 or 4 shots, we know that all of them are top shelf material. However, we may only feature one or two of them so that others can get features as well. Does that mean your other shots are "sub-par?" Absolutely not! (Just using you as an example Dave since you're a good sport). We also like to feature photos from photographers who show improvement in their work. While they might not be the BEST shots in the world, I personally believe that it's important to reward progress.

4.) Now, the idea of photo approval was NOT to have only the very best shots on this site, but rather to weed out the snapshots. You know them when you see them. They often receive low ratings and no comments. Since we will be conducting "business as usual" I encourage you all (D2 Members) to not pass these over, but rather to comment on them, even if you have nothing nice to say. I think people would appreciate tactful criticism to nothing at all.

5.) As far as "We already have our work being judge to join the forum!" and "Photographic likes and dislike is a subjective matter, which seems to be the only point that seems to be agreed upon in this conversation."

"Judging" sample images before a member joins is one of the BEST THING WE CAN OFFER! If we don't have that, what different are we than a Flickr or a Picture Social? That's the whole reason we have the members that we have. That's one of the founding concepts of D2. And again, this new "trial period" was not to judge work from a personal perspective. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that any serious photographer, professional or not, would agree that there are certain qualities that make up a decent photograph, regardless of the subject or the viewer's taste.

Regardless, as the creator of D2 I appreciate all of your comments and also appreciate you all being so active here. Please feel free to email me directly with any comments, suggestions, or concerns.

Thank you,
D2 Admin

Permalink Reply by Geno Sajko on March 13, 2009 at 11:55pm

I disagree with censoring submissions. I agree with what others have said regarding constructive criticism, this site for the most part lacks it. One reason, maybe, is that one can upload too many images per day. Who has the time to look at so many images. I came here to use this site for my Nikon images. I use www.myfourthirds.com for my Oly 4/3 images as that site only allows 4/3 cameras. While that site isn't perfect, it is all about quality images, quality postings, and quality criticisms. While non 4/3 owners cannot join that site, I suggest you all take a quick visit there and take a look. It is pretty impressive.

Fewer images per day. Real criticism. Public posts sharing ideas (in effect teaching). If this site can accomplish that, there is no need for subjective censoring. I have some images of my dogs, some are really really good. Just because it is my dog does not mean it is a snapshot and not worthy. Art is in the eye of the beholder...

Thanks for listening. Cheers.
Geno

Permalink Reply by Mark P on March 14, 2009 at 4:30am

Hi D2 Admin and fellow D2 Members, not being a web designer and barely a photographer I wonder if instead of written comments could there be check boxes with standard comments.

Eg Composition Excellent Good Poor
Lighting Excellent Good Poor
Subject Excellent Good Poor
Editing Excellent Good Poor

Or something similar maybe a sliding rating from 1-5 on key photographic requirements. I suggest this as it is very easy to offend people when telling them their work is woeful and someone is more likely to click a check box than write a bad review. Just a my thoughts typed out!

Permalink Reply by GabrielC on March 14, 2009 at 6:20am

Les, as far as I am concerned I understood exactly what you meant and you are right. As owner of three dogs and a cat and generally lover and interested in animals of all sort, I have and had a lot of shots of my own pets which mean something to me but I wouldn't post them here as they have minor - if any - photographic value. I know these are the kind of photos you targeted and - again - your opinion is correct. Probably we all have shots on various subjects that mean something special to us, but this is not enough to qualify them to be posted for others to see on D2.
Althought I highly appreciate the delicacy of your position, I do not agree with what you said about comments/criticism. Anybody here entered this site at her/his own will and I think most of us are seeking more than a simple approval of our work. Whatever cultural/technical/knowledge background we may have, I consider there are many things we have in common - actually this brings us together here on D2. Therefore I think we went well past the "introduce to each other" phase and any comment/criticism presented in a civil and constructive manner is not only accepted, but at least welcome if not wanted! As an example of what I mean, one of my latest shots, the one with the stormy sunset - which received quite some attention from the members, was shot with a slight but intentional underexposure, in order to enhance the dramatic effect of the clouds. The comments did show nothing about this underexposure which means that either some of the viewers understood what I did ore some took it as such. But without having a precise remark/comment on this, I can only guess...

Permalink Reply by DAVID HOBCOTE on March 14, 2009 at 6:25am

D2 Admin Thanks for your response
I feel you have handled a potential minefield very well with your elequent response . I have never had any complaints about my featured or not featured shots and fully understand your position and comments on the matter I also understand that on many photographs this is very subjective and as originator your prerogative to decide what is featured .My main personal concern was that rather too many shots were being featured , sometimes when I looked it was almost every other shot . Although it is always good to appear on the top row I think if this was limited to less shots it would be more special .As this site does not suffer from mass postings it is still easy for anyone veiwing not to miss quality un-featured shots. Good to see there is so much response to your message and this must be testament to the enthusiasm you have generated in D2 .Well done keep up the good work ..........just be more selective Ha Ha .David

Permalink Reply by EVA CANTRELL on March 14, 2009 at 6:48am

I was confused at first and thought goddness do I have to have my evry click approved before I upload it on site what a hassle. But after reading this I can see many good aspects in it. In the area of taking clicks of pets I believe if they are done nice and 50 million of the same pet are not exibited then it should be acceptable as many people take wonderful clicks of there most loved pets. and if 20 clicks of one dog comes on and they are poor then that is where you come in and notirfy the woner f the clicks

I also think like some of the others who commented that this would not happen if you set a limit per day and per week than people would then only pick there best shots

I have had 2 of my shots corrected by another clicker and it was such a bg help and I took the 2 clicks of f the dite did what was suggested and it looked 100 % better and I am often asked to comment on clicks so one cannot take off the site these clicks that are not up to par with top clickers because they are learning and need the advice and so do I as I am still learning.

I think it is nice as you say to comment on photos with low comments or those wh0o have none it gives encouragment and you can post a click on picture social and it can be really good and you never get one comment and it is somewhat disheartening and this is the nice thing about D2 the comments are an encouragement to do better this is what made me have better goals many clickers on here have advised me on many areas of my clicks and I have improved alot and only because of the comments and advising me to do this or do that. I think alot of us are cautious about giving critisism as we do not want to offend the photogragher so perhaps you could start up a discussion group on how to comment on certian aspects of clicks we see are wrong and how critique and know how to say it in a polite way so as not to offend . I think this would be an excellent guideline for many of us and it shoud be where all members can read it and it is easy to find ( like send out a message advising members to read it like courtasy critique commenting to better each others skills

I have to say there are clicks I am not over wrapped with and to my eye I see something that I think would be maybe better changed but it might be a top clickers photo I see it in and do I or dont I critique it with my opinion and I am sure others might feel the same so guidelines on critique and how to say it so not to offend would be for many very helpful

Permalink Reply by Geno Sajko on March 14, 2009 at 8:26am

Les, no offense taken. Regarding criticism and what might be thought of it, culturally etc. Again the site I mentioned has a feature for this. You can set with each image what you would like, options like "dead honest critique", "encouragement", "impressions only", "Nothing, just placed to be viewed". And images used top be rated from 1..10. Seems they are now going to text "ratings, not to my liking, but to many. www.myfourthirds.com has been going through this type of discussion now for a couple of months, this happens on all sites I would say every year or two as new members join, people give or change their opinions on the site, the owners wish to improve the site - all good things. Mark p., you mentioned "checked" items to review. The new rating they use "over there" has that principle in mind, kind of, but to me nothing beats a good honest critique. And Wanda a while bad looked at almost all my images if not not and gave some meaningful critiques - thank's Wanda. And I still think, if a person is limited to 1 image a day, one tends to think and work on and present their best work... Want to upload 30 a day, that is what flickr is for... :)

Permalink Reply by D2 Admin on March 14, 2009 at 1:40pm

FYI - This has been added to our site guidelines.

• Do not upload more than 3 photos per day unless it is your initial upload. (even then, do not upload more than 6 photos.)

Thanks again for the suggestions.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page