New Members and Ratings.

[shootem]

Sometimes new members have a different "sliding scale" for ratings, than we are used to.
Sometimes they step on our toes. Mostly not meaning to.
When language becomes a barrier, it is even more difficult.
I hope we can all be accepting, and understanding of new members that may or may not "rate" as we feel is right.... especially if language is indeed a barrier.
I'm certain it will all level off in the long run.
JMNSHO
Cheers,
Carolyn

[Scubamom]

I certainly agree that everyone has their own opinion of what works for them & that is what life is all about. In this case though I have been reading numerous comments on numerous photos (some of which work for me & some that don't ), and it is difficult to be understanding when 98% of the comments are very harsh and critical. I joined this site in order to gain what I consider to be very valuable feedback on my pictures that can help me to look at a possible photo op with maybe a different eye & try different techniques. I am very accepting of any and all constructive criticism of my shots - otherwise I wouldn't be here.
Kathy

[shootem]

You are correct. The comments seem to be overly critical. I don't think he means it to be so. Let's let him know this, and see what happens.
The fact remains, we overscore.
I think he underscores a bit - but that could push us to do better, rather than letting us think - OK, I got a 9. This must be great. When in reality, a very small percentage of photographs weekly are great. Some weeks - none.

[seberri]

if someone wants to know how much its own photos will be rated by anonyms (not just polites persons, or persons expecting the same thing from them) he can go to photo.net ...
or luminous-landscape.com for what they consider to be photo quality

I am maybe wrong but the rate I gave to photos here yesterday is about what they will get there

it will be interresting with a waterfall photo for exemple to have a look at a similar photo from the bests photographs ... or masters
that is what i do ... as a reference for a 10

doing the same with our photos ... and trying to be honnest will give another score than allways 7,8,9,10
and a polite comment : ho ! wonderfull ! you have done great here ! but that is maybe a bit out of focus, and you could frame it in a different way, and maybe clouds are burned ---> 8

i saw only notes from 7 to 10 --> half-excellent to excellent

I saw many photos here totally missed (and I told it in my comments)
you just buy the first camera , you put automatic mode on, you dont think, dont frame at all, have absolutly no knowleedge of art history, and shoot .. here's what you get ... it cannot be a 8 ... never ! .. i have given a 4 but it is in my strange opinion a 1 or a 2

Shootem you say that I underscore but 5 here is supposed to be a good photo .. it is written Good = 5.... a 4 is nearlly a good photo .. I have scored 2 photos from you here 6, but you have a few photos on your website that I will score 8
you have given a 8 to one of my photos and that was overscored

I would like to get a PM if someone thinks that I am not honnest or that my project is only disturbing


I agree that my english score is a 2 or a 3
and that i am a bit direct
but I have good friends and try not to deserve them


thank you to everybody

[Bluesky]

I paid some attention to what has happened today when a new member came and gave many rating points that were substantially lower than most other members did. This did not surprise me.

I think that there are several issues that we may need to consider.

1) Although there are some guidelines based on photographic excellence, visual impact, artistic quality and originality, to evaluate a photo could still be very subjective. For those who have been members for sufficiently long period of time, there actually exists some kind of informal evaluation conformity. Currently, most people tend to be positive and encouraging. That is why we see a higher range in rating points. In this sense, a higher or lower rating range does not really make essential difference as long as one follows the conformity in existence. A new member normally is not aware of such conformity and may behave differently.

2) As the first step to select the top six photos each week, members vote through giving their ratings. This is different from the selection by judges who are supposed to be experts in the area. The selection procedure used at Byte means that the best photograph should be well accepted by the majority of members here, and a particular individual's opinion, which could be extreme, should not influence the overall rating of a picture.

3) Therefore, if the simple average rating system continues to be used, I would suggest that a photo do not have an overall rating until at least three people have rated the picture. The highest and lowest ratings will not be taken into account, and all the ratings in between will be employed to give the final average with an indication of the total number of ratings given. For example, there are one 10, four 9s, four 8s, and one 4, the 10 and 4 will be removed, and the final rating will be 8.5 (10). The number in the bracket (10) represents how many members have voted. Similarly, if there is a picture with a rating of 8.5 (4), it would be less popular (only 4 members voted) although the average is the same.

4) Comments on a specific picture should be more helpful to the member who took the picture for improving his or her photographic skills, they are also helpful for others to look and consider. This is one of the reasons why I like this website. It provides a convenient and effective vehicle for communications. On the other hand, the rating is supposed to represent a general evaluation of the picture from this community on a comparative basis. Therefore, a more reasonable rating system is also needed.

Does all this make sense to you?

[johno60]

I don't think it's so much how photos are rated, I am more interested in where people think I have done well, or could improve my photography. That's what is important to me at this stage.
What I do take offence to, is when a critic actually says in his comment that my sky is fake. I take that as an insult in the fact that I know it is real. If I was asked if the sky was added in, I would take that as a question and would answer yes or no. Seberri, my offer still stands, I can email you my RAW file or you can edit your post (or delete). Hope this does not come across as my inability to accept criticism, because I know that I am nowhere near the photographer I want to be and constructive comments are always welcome.

[famjad21]

How a person rates is up to that person but there should be constructive comment with that rating. As long as the criticism is valid I'll accept a 0.

I don't care how an image is created or if the photographer is formally trained. For me 'it's all about the image'.
If someone trips and clicks the shutter by accident but that shot is perfect in my eyes, it deserves a 10.

I can't remember where I heard this but I know it to be true; "Amateur artists speak about artistry--professional artists talk about money."

I am proud to be an amateur but secretly I think about the money.

I, for one, am pleased that Erick has joined us.

Frank

[nardix]

Hey, I see you had fun while I was away! I am trying to understand what happened and would like to add my 0.2. Being a new member myself, I do think that rates are generally too high on this site (I am not comparing to anything else). Differently from Seberri, I have tried to use the same rating criteria used by the majority here (basically, lower that 8 it's bad). While there are certainly some very good pictures, it's quite amazing that most of them rate near the perfection. Seberri may have rated a 4 in the waterfall picture, but what about the two 10 on that very picture?
Or what about raters that compensate -explicitly- for other people's ratings?
My position is that I try not to rate when my judgement is too far away from the average. But that's not good either.
Suggestions:
1) I agree that the extremes should be excluded
2) I suggest that the evaluation criteria (AQ, VI etc) should be built in in the voting box, so that the voter HAS to take them into account (I mean that the voter should fill 4 boxes, one for each of the criteria). This should also allow for decimals (there is --or should be-- a big difference between a 9.5 and a full 10).