do these stats prove that you are a better photographer, or better at conforming to the unwritten standard that DPC voters are looking for?
I make lots of money on photos that DPC voters are giving me 5's for. DPC is so out of context (needs more DOF - when less DOF is EXACTLY what my client wanted) that I wonder what to do with most of the votes/feedback I get on a photo.
Playing devil's advocate here - but if nobody on DPC is EVER going to buy a print or stock photo from me - why should I care what my DPC stats are?
I'm not just trying to kill the flame of enthusiasm here - I'm sincerely interested in what you think.
Getting a better score to me only means that I am able to please the DPC-voters.
If you are selling more photos ( that dpc doesn't like, but your clients do) then you are able to please your clients with your photos
I don't see anything different here, we are both only pleasing one section of the society and I don't know how this can be related to being a better photographer.
do these stats prove that you are a better photographer, or better at conforming to the unwritten standard that DPC voters are looking for?
I don't think the two have to be mutually exclusive. There is a definite element of "reaching your target audience" with these competitions...that's for certain. But these shots still have to be pretty darn good to ribbon. You can have an image that meets the challenge, and is of a style that "most" DPCers like, and if it isn't "done well", the score will reflect that.
Originally posted by digitalknight:
I make lots of money on photos that DPC voters are giving me 5's for.
Congrats on the money. Maybe these images were a stretch for the Challenge? Or you're not from Iceland. :-)
Originally posted by digitalknight:
DPC is so out of context (needs more DOF - when less DOF is EXACTLY what my client wanted) that I wonder what to do with most of the votes/feedback I get on a photo.
DPC IS you client during the Challenge.
If you make lots of money on those pictures outside of DPC, then you are exceding (or at least meeting) your client's expectations, which is your goal. Here, your goal is to compete in the Challenge, which is voted on by DPCers. Your client.
Originally posted by digitalknight:
Playing devil's advocate here - but if nobody on DPC is EVER going to buy a print or stock photo from me - why should I care what my DPC stats are?
For fun.
Originally posted by digitalknight:
I'm not just trying to kill the flame of enthusiasm here - I'm sincerely interested in what you think.
Hi all:
In my first 10 challenges my average score was about 5.13 and the average % was 43%.
In the next 10 my average score was about 5.54 and the average % was 54%.
In the last 3 my average was 5.87 and average was 73%.
Dear Dug: in my case I AM a better photographer than five months before. Not a superb one (not even a good one, if you want), but definetely better than I was.
I understand your point: yes, if you're a good photog selling in the market, it doesn't mind you're gonna have a good punctuation here at DPC. The winners of the ribons aren't necesarilly the most commercial in the real world, but this is DPC, not the real world...LOL.
Maybe an increment in scores doesn't implies that you're a better photog, but doesn't implies either that you're a worst photog. IMO, at least in some cases there's a relationship.
Álex.
Some of you guys (most of you, it seems!) simply start way too high to begin with... gotta leave room for improvement!
First 7:
Avg Score: 4.9373
Avg Percentile: 40%
Ribbons: 0
Top 10: 0
Favs: 2
Last 8:
Avg Score: 5.3114
Avg Percentile: 45%
Ribbons: 0
Top 10: 0
Favs: 10
The last 8 were helped significantly by two very good pics (by my standards). Of course, the one I have in a challenge now and the one I entered for one of the upcoming open challenges will bring these numbers down a bit. On the plus side, I do pay a whole lot more attention to my general composition and my exposure settings than I used to! So the learning part is going well.
Well, dang, even though I'm close to 50, I want to play now, so here we go for the first 44.
First 22:
Avg Score: 6.0372
Avg Percentile: 85%
Ribbons: 2
Top 10: 6
Favorites: 69
Second 22:
Avg Score: 6.2369
Avg Percentile: 84%
Ribbons: 1
Top 10: 4
Favorites: 69
It's interesting that the Average Score is quite a bit different, but that doesn't result it too much difference in any of the numbers below...
Geez, Doc, what did I just say about leaving room for improvement? ;) Interesting number of favorites in the split. Means you get 3.13636... (repeating) favs per challenge. I'd say that's a very nice stat.
Looks like I've leveled off. The stats for my first 50 are obviously on my profile page. After that...
Third 25: (including several stinkers)
Avg score: 6.307
Avg place: 30
Ribbons: 4
Favorites: 329
Next 17 so far... Avg score: 6.579
Avg place: 24
Ribbons: 5
Favorites: 231
I've taken a break from the challenges for a while, but I still have room for improvement... 7 of my top 10 scores have come from these newer submissions.
Doc...first 25 average 6? Come on now! :) Thats hardly fair!
And elsapo, I don't know what you are eating ( drinking, smoking, whatever) But send some up to Toronto, would ya!!?
The moment I actually show some improvement, you guys will be the first to know :)
You know, rather than reflecting any particular skill I possess, I think it probably means that my taste and DPCs taste are pretty similar. That is, it didn't take me long at all to figure out what gets high scores. Luckily, that was the same as what I tended to do before I even got here. It's nice to see that the scores have improved though.
