~~~ November Prelims are now up on GD ~~~

[JeffR]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7067534

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7067547

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7067562

[Mira]

1. There needs to be a "great job JeffR comment" right here, because

it is deserved!
Very smooth contest, thank you for your work.

[JeffR]

2. Thanks, Mira.

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. Yep. Definitely going very well just now, although the horserace for

the potential 10th slot in the next round is nail biting. One minute my little guy is in, the next he's out.

I can't wait until the next round! I look at all the beautiful photos that are just running away with this thing right now and I wonder how they will duke it out when they are all up against each other!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. yeah, this is a strange one

I think a lot of people are confused about the theme, but there seem to be more votes than usual?

weird

[intheflow]

5. It sure is!

I have no idea why my photo is doing so well. I don't even know the song I named it after. I had a photo I liked, I did a google search to find a name to fit it. But I certainly don't think it's an extraordinary photo and certainly not so fab to warrant its tremendous lead in the poll. Meanwhile, photos I've absolutely slaved over to get just perfect for contests routinely go down in the first round. *sigh*

There is no accounting for DUers tastes in these contests. Just no accounting for it!!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. I have had many similar exeperiences

very strange

[HappyCynic]

7. My thoughts during each contest...

I haven't entered a lot of the contests but no matter how well or poorly my entry does, my thoughts are pretty much the same each time. It goes roughly like this:

Wow! My entry got a few votes.
It's really cool that some people thought mine was the best out of this group of photos.
Hang on...
That means they thought mine was better than this one... And that one... And all of these...
???
Are they blind? Did they even look at the other photos?
I'm still happy with the votes but what the hell is wrong with these people?

[Celebration]

10. yeah

Since I would not have voted for my own photo out of the group of ten (sad but true), I can't really complain when I don't get into the finals. That some people liked mine more than the one I would vote for absolutely amazes me.

This contest (and the group) is totally a motivator. I don't really aspire to be a top echelon photographer, but participating is fun anyway. And, if I can improve a little along the way, and look at the world a bit differently, so much the better.

[Adsos Letter]

11. Getting to see what others see...

that is what I take so much pleasure from in any of the photo group threads.

Yeah, I would like to be much more technically proficient than I am (and I am trying to improve) but I get most pleasure just from looking at the things other people find interesting.

I remember DS1 once saying that seeing cool shots of things was the goal, not shots of cool things.

I quite often lose the struggle to internalize that advice. :D

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

15. and I keep making resolutions to stop

seeing cool shots, except through the viewfinder..... I am always appalled at myself for the pictures I miss

[Adsos Letter]

17. Yeah; but you share plenty of cool shots with us...

I admit that I am often as interested in the subject of the shot, rather than the technical skills demonstrated. I just consider this a factor of my lack of understanding of the tech issues/skills involved, and the fact that I like getting a glimpse of things I would never otherwise see.

Thanks for your advice on my shots, btw. They are appreciated.

[Celebration]

18. I like the subjects, too

I love seeing landscapes that are different, and quirky little things. It is fun to see what everyone has to contribute. The technical aspects aren't of much interest to me. But you can't help but try to assimilate some of that.

[Adsos Letter]

19. Sure; and I would love to be able to get as much out of my camera as it is capable of.

it would help me share the emotive part of what I am seeing.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

21. well, you don't HAVE to know how things work

to use them, that is the beauty of human ingenuity and sharing.

the problem comes in when you want to control how something works, which, in photography, is a point to which you will come eventually. then it is good to know these things as well as you know how to move your eyes or hands.

[Adsos Letter]

22. Yeah, and I'm just about there...

getting too many results that are less and less satisfactory to myself as time goes on.

[Mira]

12. I was thinking today that I did not tell you how much I liked "We are Family"

and wondered where would be the best place to say it....and now it presented itself.
I showed it to my friends where I visited, and they loved it, too.

[HappyCynic]

13. Seeing the world differently

Whenever I've voted, I've always voted for my favourite. So, I've never voted for my own entries. There are just too many other photos that I find absolutely captivating for me to even consider voting for my own.
One thing I loved about starting digital photography is that I've learned to see the world differently. I notice my surroundings more, especially the little stuff that previously seemed mundane. I find I'm finding a lot more beauty around me, even in things like rusted chains.
The contests serve as both motivation to go and shoot things (and coincidentally discover more of my little corner of the universe) and as a way to see what others see and how they would frame it. Like you, I don't aspire to be top echelon photographer but what photography has done to my view of the world is more than enough to justify continuing.

[Celebration]

14. I have to say

That often I vote tactically--not to favor my own photo, though. I will often vote for what I feel to be the third or fourth best in a preliminary round if the first two are running away with it. It's a way to even out the effects of the bunching of many great photos into one preliminary round that inevitably happens sometimes. When that happens, then some photos from the other preliminaries that are somewhat less deserving slip in.

Of course, sometimes my photo happens to benefit from being in a weaker preliminary. That's why I don't invest all that much of my energy into making the finals or not.

I guess I am a pragmatist like Obama.

In the finals I vote for what I feel is the best one, however.

[Adsos Letter]

16. On the occasions when I do enter a contest, I never vote my own...

seems unseemly somehow.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. Yeah, I try to support great photos that aren't getting the love they should. Unfortunately,

they still get left out of the final round sometimes. Too bad we can't use an IRV or approval ballot like these:

http://www.demochoice.org/dcballot.php?poll=reform

http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/141749

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Has any contest gotten this many votes before????

[JeffR]

9. Good question.

Seems to me the totals have been rising with each contest recently, but I'd have to sift back to see if they've been this high before.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. The horserace is still is still on for tenth place. My baby is still falling in and out of

that slot every other time I refresh the page. *biting fingernails*