For this next contest/critique, we want to see your best wide-angle photos. There is some debate as to what exactly "wide-angle" entails, but for the sake of this critique, we want to see images taken with a wider field of view than 23mm on a 35mm full-frame camera. It's also extremely common to see wide-angle images taken of landscapes but we want to see perspective warping in your submissions. This means that at least one element of your shot needs to be fairly close to the camera.
Each photographer is allowed to submit up to three photos and the highest-rated, and one randomly chosen submission will both with a free tutorial from the Fstoppers Store.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO WRITE A QUICK PARAGRAPH ABOUT THE IMAGE AND WHAT LENS YOU USED IN THE IMAGE DESCRIPTION.
Cover photo by Manuel Estacio
In fairness, if you are going to post portrait images at portrait focal lengths in a wide angle photography competition you should expect to get 1 stars, the competition would be a joke of your 50mm image was highest rated when you didn’t read line one of the comp brief.
I have spoken in general terms and taken up a subject which I particularly noticed here, which many complain about. In addition, there is an comment function among the pictures, so you can also ask kindly or point out something that another member kindly did.
Now to your claim: no, the image I uploaded is not 50mm, but I will delete the image anyway, so that not my image gets into the center, but my suggestion and wish to inspire other. Maybe it helps and the community will be even better than it already is.
peace and have fun for every one here ^^
Yeah it’s poor.. hopefully they will remove them before choosing... at least my magazine featured, top 500 on Flickr, featured pic of the day in our local newspaper shot got a good ‘needs work’ rating on fstoppers, I mean all those other people must have been way overestimating how good it was seeing as how switched on people on this site are ;)
I think that eliminating 5% of the votes distributed between the highest and the lowest would give us a more real average
If anyone could give me any feedback and/ or advice on my images id be thankful. Really want more insight on my photos. Ive noticed all my photos have a 2 star or below this time around.
As a new person here, I would greatly appreciate feedback. I have been rated "Needs Work" but no one seems to offer any feedback on what might need work.
Thanks in advance.
I feel your pain Christopher. I have thought that for a long time. but apparently there is no way that the system can be changed to require a note when you rate an image a certain way.
Need work means you've got only 2.5 stars only
Which photos are telephoto?
.. maybe you should have mentioned in your submission that "I'm just trying to get a business tutorial dammit". That would have surely gotten you the desired 4-5 star rating.
Sorry but i wouldnt had rated your image 3... Its 3 cows asses.... how could that get something higher? Is not badly exposed nor badly framed, but what i am supposed to look at? A building with lights and cow asses? Have you seen the rest of the images posted here? I haven't rated your images nor i would had given them 1, but 3? I dont think so, specially if compared to the rest. Remember you only have a 5 star rating system, and considering you have some amazing images.... i would had given yours a 2. And before you go and say that mine deserve a 2 as well, perhaps, specially considering that the images posted here are more about landscapes, but you dont see me complaining about my scores ;) so yes must of the scores that been given to the people do some how allign with the quality of the photo.
Happy birthday.
If you guys can't stop getting your feelings hurt over ratings we may be forced to remove the ability for you to see the ratings.
Yes, people rate the images harshly, but the best images are always rated the highest. If your image is amazing it's going to make it into the critique and "haters" won't be able to stop us from seeing it with low ratings.
I completely agree with this. It’s all for fun anyway. I have a low rating right now, but I’m really not that pressed. All in good fun.
Because it's already asking a lot to get a large group of people to rate images. Most of the images submitted are 2 stars. The average person is not going to take the time write something about every image they rate and most 2 star images are so bad that it's sometimes hard to even come up with something to say.
Come on man take it easy, this is just for fun, no one cares.
Thats just a cop out for not governing the process better... you are basically saying its ok with you that people purposefully blaze through dishing 1 stars out (which is actually breaking the rating rules set by yourselves) because 'good images will shine through anyway. How about you guys doing a bit more to stop the obvious trollers by limiting the amount of 1 star ratings people can give, there isnt enough 1 star images on these contests for anyone to be giving more than say 5/6 each time.
I am totally against someone purposefully rating an image a 1 out of spite or in an attempt to "win" but I have not seen evidence of that. I do have the ability to see who rated what image what but I can't click through hundreds of images and try to tally up who is rating fairly or unfairly.
If you feel like an individual is targeting you or someone else I'll happily look into it, just post the images.
I mean i have no way of proving a particular person is doing it but looking through the images here 99% of them are at the very very minimum 2* and quite reasonably 3.... yet all of them have clearly had a lot of 1* ratings as you can get a general idea that a shot with 50 votes that 'needs work' has had at least 10 if not more 1* ratings.
One of my own images (thats been featured in practical photography magazine and also selected in the top 500 pics of the day on Flickr so is clearly of a reasonable standard) started with a few 3* ratings then suddenly is down to just above 2.5 which means somebody somewhere has called it a snapshot that takes little to no skill to capture, as per your website definition of what 1* means.
post the direct link to this image
Thats my image Lee
https://fstoppers.com/entry/486500
but i just want to add im not making this about me, i like to browse through and rate the images of other people and find it disheartening that some are even below 2 stars when that person has clearly taken time and effort to produce an image thats worthy of well above 2, if not into the 3s on a proper rating system.
Ok I can see that 2 people rated this image 1 star. I then needed to try to figure out if these 2 people are purposefully going around rating every image 1 star. I clicked on my favorite image of this critique which also happens to be the current highest rated; it also has two 1 star votes but they have been given by two different people.
So, in this case, your image and the current winning image both have the same amount of 1 star ratings.
And thats fine from my POV but there are other images that are criminally underrated... and if we are being honest those 2 people that have voted the winning image as 1* are an absolute joke arent they, it might only be 2 people but its 2 more than is acceptable on what is essentially the best shot thats been posted. They are either blind or have done it for other reasons.
I completely agree. But I don't have an answer for this. Even if we banned every 1 star voter, they could make another account and vote more.
I will ban anyone who I can prove is voting out of spite or to cheat but other than that, the only thing we can do is try to get more voters to average everything out. And I do think we have accomplished this. Yes, the ratings come in a little low, but overall, the best images are always rated the highest and the worst images are always rated the worst. That's the only thing that matters.
Could you, as a lot of people have suggested, introduce a feature whereby placing a 1* vote requires constructive feedback to explain why? i think you would soon weed out the culprits then. Id be more than happy to have to explain myself should i ever feel the need to vote 1*.
These contests are still small enough that we can't afford to make it harder to enter/vote. In the future, as this grows, I will certainly consider more things like this.
Yeah that’s a fair point. It baffles me what motivates someone to behave like they do. Quite sad really.
I suggest a "report off topic" button. I know people use the 1 star as an off topic option. Also making the individual votes visible is worse as it leads to people retaliating on those who give them bad ratings.
Oh come one Stuart, it's not like your image is beautifully composed, perfectly timed with a great cloudy sky and a flash of lightning giving it a surreal and mysterious light... Oh wait...
Hahaha thanks Stefan, the worst thing is me and my mate actually went there for sunset because the forecast was for sunny intervals and sun sets in the sea in the summer at that point.. so it’s essentially an accident:) but I’ll take it:)
Well, happy accident then ;-)
100%, the best thing was having to switch up so quickly and forget everything I’d envisioned I was going to shoot and quickly think about how to capture the storm. It’s fair to say we were both a bit gobsmacked at the scene in front of us.
Ya because everyone wants to get a rise out of you. Just forget it about it.
Lynne, you've admitted to rating the pink hair girl image 5 stars. That is in my opinion a 3 star image. I could make the argument that you are unfairly rating images yourself, just in the other direction.
These arguments could go on forever, it's not worth worrying about.
So you are admitting to giving false ratings because you felt like the current rating was unfair. I'm sure that is what other people are doing in the other direction. I'll look into removing all ratings.
And usually the people complaining have actual 1/2 stars images...
Yep
Only thing that frustrates me is when you guys rate photos as a 2.5 in the video reviews. It’s sort of admitting that your 5 star system as you have it laid out doesn’t have enough fidelity.
I would recommend getting rid of “world class” 5 star and making a 5 what’s currently a 4. This would be the “highlight” image of your portfolio. A 4 is what’s currently defined as a 3, portfolio worthy... and a 3 would be a solid image that needs a tweak here or there. A 1 and 2 star could be rated more appropriately.
I would suggest a workaround way that will lower the numbers of unnecessary comments about rating.
First, I would remove all rating from viewing, even by the image owner. Instead I would show where the photos are located by percentage to the rest of the competitors. For example show the people they are in the high 20 percent of the competition, if someone is in the top 10 than show that he is the top 10, and if someone is getting lower score, than just write “you are below 50 percent of the highest scores”. That way, I believe everyone will have less things to complain about. Cheers.
Guys, most of my submissions have been 1.5-2.5 at best. I work in a corporate video + photography environment, people there every day say how awesome and amazing our photos are, that's one place.
It's harsh, but it's also refreshing to see a different "real world" perspective on photos at a glance. This is another aspect of the photography business, and as all business and free market works its way, these contests are another variable to consider. I don't like how people rarely write, I am guilty as well. However, the ratings give something to think about in analyzing your own work.
Thanks Fstoppers 👍
I wouldn't give much thought to how people rate your photos here. I've seen amazing photos rated at a 2 or lower. Lots of people just vote down other people's photos just to keep theirs in the top.
That's a fair indictment on the way they pick the shortlist if true.
Guys, once your photo gets 50+ ratings, how much effect do you think a few trolls have?! Not much. It may be hard to see a low score next to your photo, but the majority of photos submitted into these contests shouldn't be in a professional photographer's portfolio.
If you want great reviews all the time, ask your mom for their opinion - they're very supportive.
This is a voluntary activity. It is supposed to be enjoyable. If it isn't, the best part is that you don't have to participate. Please like it or leave it!