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i'm with Pippa but just didn't want to say. am amazed one of Ruth's did not make the final. in the past i have also felt others should of made the final. yet again comes down to subjectiveness and i feel this thread lends even more weight as to why the judges should post comments as to why they have chosen what they have chosen for the final on any given week. anyways been a long day so off to hit the hay. will return to pass comment in the competition in the am.

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Regards,
Kwame.
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body : Canon 400D
lens set : Canon 50mm f1.8 / Canon 17-85mm IS USM / Tamron 55-200mm Di II

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First off,this has been a great thread to follow. Second, I've also enjoyed the candor on display. Third,Darren and Steve and all the other fianlists,enjoy your week in the sun...you've earned it

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I just had to add a comment. I recently looked at my images entered for the whole of last year. Ironically, many of those I felt were best never made the final 6. further, serveral that did make the final 6 but not win were, in my opinion, quite superior to my shots that won. I also know that some weeks I made the finals there were many shots equal or better than mine by others that were at least as good as my finalist. That said, with all of the above images, I grew and I learned dur to other members of this site.

BTW (bragging), I won 4 times last year and made the finals twenty five times in the year - a great year for me so I am not complaining, but I am still totally confused with which ones will make it tothe finals. I thought Ruth would make the finals last week. I also thought one of mine would make the cut. I also have high respect for the 6 that did make the cut.

That said, I also looked at the 52 overall winners last year, and Byte had a great year of photography. Kevin, Aladyforty, sambo, you guys had awesome shots last year. No dis-service to the rest of you, but those guys did it week after week after week! Autumnsky won a special award last year - and really deserved it. His creativity continually inspires me. Milan won a few, placed a lot, but most important to me, he really helped me try tools I never considered using in processing. JoeMc taught me that there is always another way to shoot a light house ...and alont the way he educated me on slow shutter speed photography. I can't name everyone, but ... to all, I can't wait to see what you produce in 2008.

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Buddy


I gaze at the sunset with the woman I love and think F8 at 1/250

Last edited by buddy4344 on Jan 30th, 2008 at 07:20 PM

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well.

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It's the people who keep on posting week after week even if they don't win enough to keep count who deserve the biggest applause, Buddy, and who keep this site going.

Sheila.

I think it was Richard Avedon who said "Beware of falling in love with your own perfume."

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I post every week. I vote every week. I have won once since I joined in Nov. 2005. I post for the comments.

Suggestion: Why not vote for each photo, like 1-5 stars or 1-10 starts or something like that? The highest totals go to the finals. That would eliminate the pressure on the judges to make the decisions. Just a suggestion.

--Rick

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Rick, they final six used to be chosen by a points sytem awarded by members. It was wide open for favoritism and in the same way that critiques now often say "great shot" some not so great shots were getting high points. This is a better system in my opinion and ultimately the membership picks the winner - now if only more than a handful of people would vote.

Sheila.

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Rick,
I actually liked the old 1 to 10 system. There were really 3 problems I commonly saw: a) newbies would often use the whole number range. The result is that some would get numbers like 3 (10 was high). When this happened, some would get offended by the low numbers. 2) in the above case, if the newbie only voted on part of the total entries, the low numbers skewed the results. 3) we had at least one case where a dishonest poster registered multiple screen names and proceeded to give his shots 10's and everyone in close competition to his score low numbers to game the selection [I wonder what joy existed in that twisted logic].

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Buddy


I gaze at the sunset with the woman I love and think F8 at 1/250

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What if everyone got 1 vote to vote on any photo except their own? You would vote for the one best photo for that week. Top number of votes would win.
--Rick

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We're sorry if one or two photos are not accepted for the final six, but, you must admit, it's a difficult choice when we don't have so much time to select the final six, becaiuse in general, it needs quite a bit of thought and discussion to choose 6 from the list of excellent photos entered into POTW

I personally (Stephen) think it is a lot fairer to do it this way because in the past we have seen new members using the "Ballot Box Stuffing" system to try to win the POTW.

The necessity to have 15 comments/posts to vote in the finals is also another reason for this.

Hope you all understand.

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all know - I just wish more people would vote on the final six. Which is how this thread began.

I interested in a little more transparency of the judging system i.e. are the judges rotate? Are they the same all of the time?
I don't believe I'm alone in this.

Thanks for your input Stephen. Interesting idea, but unless more people voted I'm not sure it would be a huge improvement.


Sheila

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I agree with admin....I believe it is done the fairest way possible.....other sites the members have zero say on the winner......atleast we get to pick from the top 6. As for the top six, I sometimes to do not agree with them either....But in admins defense, I have never seen a shot in the top 6 that wasn't worthy of the attention.
Leave it the way it is.....But if you post to the contest, then you should vote for your fellow photog.!
Cheers, Joe

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www.JMdigitalphotography.com

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Since 2003 the voting system here has always been an issue with certain members so this is why we have chosen to make the "subjective" choice here at BytePhoto.

The jugdes/admin come from 25/30 years of a Photo/Graphic professioin , so I think they are qualified to deciide the difference between a good and not so good photo.

However, I (Stephen ) undertstand the subjectivity but there is a limit.

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Stephen,

I accept the current system. If I didn't I would be at another site. I also understand that as a free site the admins can only commit a limited time to this endeavor. That said, I would love just a little more insight into selection criteria. For example, is their a conscious effort to select a broad family of styles (i.e. do you try to avoid having all six be portraits or landscapes or whatever?). This could help rectify week to week confusion in my little mind.

Buddy

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Buddy


I gaze at the sunset with the woman I love and think F8 at 1/250

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think this is what we have all be saying, Buddy. as far as the current system goes, it would be nice to have more insight into how the selection process works. also if there is a panel, how many are there on the panel? does admin use the same panel members each time? i don't think byte has a revolution on its hads, just yet
pippa

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