Is it fair and correct to vote according to your own score? Suppose your score is 6 in the current challenge. As you vote, you determine in your own mind whether or not the photo is better or worse than yours and vote accordingly. This is not what I have done in the past but I am wondering if this might be a better way to give a more fair score.
Also, if the challenge was to photograph a foot and someone entered a hand, would it not be fair to score it a 1? I'm not talking about splitting hairs here. Just that there is no way that perfect photo of a hand could in any way fit the challenge. It would be my inclination to vote 1 and comment how nice a hand it is.
I do not rate one picture compared to any other. It should strictly be on an individual basis.
As for the second question. If the photo is extraordinary but clearly off topic it can still gain a few extra points from me and make it a 4 or a 5. I don't remember the last 1 I gave out. It would have to be bad all the way around. To me, extraordinary work is like extra credit, it still counts for something. In high school art class I refused to do a cartoon assignment because I just couldn't do cartoon work so instead I did the best realistic pen and ink drawing I had done at the time and I passed that asignment with a C or a D. That has always stuck with me. Whatever you do, do it as well as you can because it matters.
That's an excellent example Tim..
I, too, have always rated and commented each photo at face value, and as if it was the only photo. I do not compare photos to each other (i.e. that shell photo is better than this one..), I do not vote, and then choose "winners" and re-vote them according to that, and I reserve 1's and even 2's for those rare photos that are just, well, not photos. I do not usually vote based on whether a photo meets the challenge.. unless it is blatant. Given your example about feet and hands.. well, I would still have to agree with Tim on that.
1's and 2's are for mistakes, not for effort and just haven't met all the criteria. Voting someone a 4 instead of a 1 for not meeting the challenge will get the point across. They will not win ribbons with 4's. Why tell them their photo isn't even a photo by using a 1?
Also, if the challenge was to photograph a foot and someone entered a hand, would it not be fair to score it a 1? I'm not talking about splitting hairs here. Just that there is no way that perfect photo of a hand could in any way fit the challenge. It would be my inclination to vote 1 and comment how nice a hand it is.
The hand could be holding a ruler (US). It could be titled "There But For The Grace of Bipedalism Go I," or "Makeover." It could be a closeup of someone doing a handspring, or walking on their hands, or kids playing wheelbarrow. It could be...
What's the purpose of a challenge subject if we are not bound? Why should I be given any votes for a hand when the challenge subject is foot? If I can do that, why call it a challenge? Why not just call it photo of the week?
No one is saying that a photo that does not obviously meet the challenge should ever win these challenges. What some of us are saying is that we may give extra points if they are exceptional photos.
What's the purpose of a challenge subject if we are not bound? Why should I be given any votes for a hand when the challenge subject is foot? If I can do that, why call it a challenge? Why not just call it photo of the week?
Just my two centavos.
Which of the ideas I listed below do not fit the concept of "foot?" You did not specify (in this example) "take a picture of a bare, adult, human foot, preferably the right one." If the challenge is just "foot," then I may give bonus points for people not shooting themselves in the foot (pun intended).
gie credit where it's due. A good photo, even if not enttirely within the constraints of the challenge, deservessome recognition. I'm in the same boat with Tim & Karen. A photo would have to be utterly horrid in all ways imaginable, completely devoid of any redeeming quality whatsoever, to get a 1.
Likewise, for me at least, a photo has to leave a truly lasting impression on me to get a 10. Simply being "one of the best this week" isn't always enough. Even now, looking back at some of the photos I have given 10's to, I think "Wow, that one was OK, but I was being kind of generous with that 10." There are several photos I gave 8's to which I have marked as one of my favorites, and several 10's which are not. Go figure...
My problem with people giving out 1s for not meeting the challenge is that it is hardly ever as black and white as "take a picture of a foot". It is usually far more subjective and it really REALLY stinks when good work is given a 1 or 2 just because the voter has their own narrow interpretation of the challenge. Just remember that your interpretation isn't necessarily the right one and be a little lenient. A color photo of a pink flamingo in the black and white challenge would obviously not fit, but giving an awesome seascape photo a one just because you don't consider it a landscape (which can be argued) ... I don't think that is right at all. If the photographer really thought that they WERE meeting the challenge topic and others agree ... Just put yourself in that situation and decide if you think it is fair to be given a 1.
i give 1s for photos that in my opinion don't fit the challenge even by a stretch. i appreciate the fact that the submitter obviously thought it fit the challenge (assuming he/she wasn't just pulling everyone's leg), but if i can't see it, the point didn't come across to me. i also make sure i comment on the quality of the photo other than its fit for the challenge. but that's just the way i do it ...
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Which of the ideas I listed below do not fit the concept of "foot?" You did not specify (in this example) "take a picture of a bare, adult, human foot, preferably the right one." If the challenge is just "foot," then I may give bonus points for people not shooting themselves in the foot (pun intended).
Genral E, I wasn't responding to your idea of a ruler being a foot. I was speaking in general that a challenge means nothing if obvious disregard for the subject is awarded points. If I can sumbit any nice photo and have a chance of winning that takes away the incentive for me to shoot the subject. Voting for off topic photos does more to encourage laziness than it does to promote creativity. In the case of a ruler, that is creativity. You have my vote!
