DA Photo Contest Forum / Contests / Award Winners / Months later, has the weighting system changed how you feel? / Latest Posts

RE: Months later, has the weighting system changed how you feel?

WillPat — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:21:32 GMT

Like the OP, I too, feel a certain frustration with bumping up against a ceiling in the winning of awards beyond category winners. I'm also a classic "weight 9" person as I was before the change. But I feel that the current system makes it more difficult to break through into the upper echelons than it was before. I attribute that more to the 75 vote requirement that came along with the new system than to the replacement of the levels with the continuous scale. That requirement has had a drastic impact on who does the major proportion of the voting here; and a lesser, but significant, impact on how that major voting block votes. My impression is that these effects will grow as time goes on.

[quote][b]Petmagnet (4/17/2007)[/b][hr] ..... (For they just may be new here.) ..... [/quote]That little aside that I have extracted from Petmagnet's post expresses a lot about the current weight system. To a certain extent, it is a measure of the quality of a photographer's work, but it is also a measure of how long a photographer has been a member of this community and how active they have been in submitting images and voting. I think the average rating rankings are a far better measure of photo quality alone, with the "Standard rating of 20 or more" being the most accurate in that group.

RE: Months later, has the weighting system changed how you feel?

Tonka — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:16:22 GMT

Hey Jeffrey,,,

Yes I do feel frustrated...I do like to gain weight..ahahaha...lol...only in the DA sense ..but because I feel like I have improved my skills , not for the weight of it...I think it is nice to climb the ladder and have some sort of "reward" to show for it and the weight to me signifies skill improvement and I really do feel in my case I have improved....

I agree too that there is just no pleasing everyone everywhere.. I also know that there are major ups and downs in the learning arena...it feels like it has been a long "down" lately ..:)...but I also know I have taken on new challenges...

I like the goal, I like the reward and I like learning cause i have so far to go..Yes it gets frustrating..I have been tryin for a long time to pass the signature vote to get a homepage...ahh well....those are just my thoughts on the matter.. As far as the scale climbing..hmmm images have improved I will agree , but it also does seem to make it ever more challenging to compete... how can you argue with wonderful images though?...By gettin some myself I suppose :D..

well that is just my feeling...

RE: Months later, has the weighting system changed how you feel?

Petmagnet — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:54:44 GMT

[quote]What do you think? Does having increasing weights make you feel better?[/quote]

Honestly? No.

I have found that from this site to the next, the degree of acceptance of my images can vary dramatically. So excelling in weight here, may mean nothing elsewhere and vice versa.

Of course, that is not to say I don't enjoy the occasional awards I get here. I have just come to realize that I will never be able to please everyone, whether it be by skill, technique, or creativity of my images..So I just try to post images I enjoy, and except the thoughts of everyone viewing my shots with appreciation.

Sometimes, I find the comments that are left to be helpful when used later on other images..But as far as the weight issue goes, that doesn't make or break whether I feel I am growing each day,or learning for that matter. I feel no power to profess myself as a better photographer than, say, a 2 or 4 weighted person. (For they just may be new here.)

All I know is..I shoot, I post and I try to be positive with or without approval of my images. And I do this because I like photography. I may not be as accomplished as others, but it surely doesn't affect my enthusiam to be the best that I can be on a personal level.

Good question. :)

Months later, has the weighting system changed how you feel?

levyj413 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:22:22 GMT

My scores have gone up as the site's voting average has gone up, but not fast enough to catch the typical home page winners.

Most of the shots I enter win the category and signature category awards. But I've won only one daily award, and that was a fluke of timing.

In other words, I think I'm now a classic "weight 9" person from the old system: good enough to do well within a category, but not good enough to do well across them. Different system, same resulting place in the universe. So getting more of those awards is fun, but for me, it's not really indicating progress as a photographer.

Anyone else feeling that way?

This isn't a complaint about my scores, and it certainly isn't a complaint or request for change to how DA works. I'm also not fishing for compliments. I put as much time as I want into photography, and I really enjoy myself.

Rather, I'm wondering whether the change to the weight system from fixed numbers based on the type of awards you've won to the current ever-increasing weight really mattered. I knew then what I know now: my skills aren't yet at the level of those who frequently appear on the home page.

What do you think? Does having increasing weights make you feel better?