Sep 2024 POTM Voting Thread

[smitten with ocean life]

whoa! nice answer!! even though its way over my head! id love any tips you could give on mine!! but im sure youve got enough to do

 

[IntrinsicReef]

Someone able to explain how this didn’t make it to the voting round? Apparently it didn’t “fit the theme as well as others”.

I would say the field of focus is quite narrow on this shot. I have the same issue when shooting subjects like Acropora coral that have lots of depth in low f-stop. There will be small area of nice focus, but much of the image is blurry, and almost strains the eye.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I was pleasantly surprised, thinking that black and white photos would be....boring. How could you take our overly colorized tanks and capture that in black and white. Boy, was I wrong. I had a hard time picking my top five. Great job everyone! And thank you @maroun.c for making the difficult choices in narrowing down these great photos.

 

[Hunna’s Stunnas]

I would say the field of focus is quite narrow on this shot. I have the same issue when shooting subjects like Acropora coral that have lots of depth in low f-stop. There will be small area of nice focus, but much of the image is blurry, and almost strains the eye.

That was the entire point of the photo… to have the sexy shrimp as in focus as possible, with the mushroom slightly blurry but still recognizable in the back. To say that was something that kept this photo out of the voting round is absurd. Especially compared to others that made it.

I by no means think I should win, or have the best photo submitted. But to be left out of voting rounds and given a subpar “explanation” for it, as well as privately messaged that the contests are “rigged” by a few other members, leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I won’t be contributing my photography here anymore. Best of luck to those who made it through with good pictures.

 

[luis angel]

That was the entire point of the photo… to have the sexy shrimp as in focus as possible, with the mushroom slightly blurry but still recognizable in the back. To say that was something that kept this photo out of the voting round is absurd. Especially compared to others that made it.

I by no means think I should win, or have the best photo submitted. But to be left out of voting rounds and given a subpar “explanation” for it, as well as privately messaged that the contests are “rigged” by a few other members, leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I won’t be contributing my photography here anymore. Best of luck to those who made it through with good pictures.

Rigged for a badge?, come on man, my photo also didn't make it through the round and it's not a big deal, I'll try again next month, I think it's been the most competitive month since I've been in R2R, congratulations to everyone for those beautiful photos.

 

[Reefing102]

My only issue with the contest, and it’s not just this one, is it seems the 15 selection part of the rules isn’t usually followed

“Winner Selection:
The mod team will select up to 15 finalists and a poll will be created and posted in the Reef Discussion Forum. The Grand Prize Winner will be determined by Reef2Reef member voting. To be eligible to vote, you must have been a member for 30 days and have 25 meaningful posts. Votes by members not meeting this criteria will be disregarded in the final count. In the case of a tie, the mod team will assist in choosing the winner. Rules, deadlines and terms are subject to change, without notice, at any time. The winner will be posted and tagged in the voting poll and will have 48 hours to claim the prize.

As this is a photography competition, and the goal is to recognize the highest quality picture. So take your time, do your post shot editing, and submit your best image.”

Now the above paragraph came from August as I can’t find the September thread but I believe the rules are generally copy and pasted for the most part.

With that said, I don’t always agree with some of the selections, but recalling what I can, I know this month was some very tough competition. I’m thankful mine made it, it’s not going to win, but there’s some that I could easily eliminate as I personally feel they didn’t meet the qualifications compared to others but that’s not my decision.

 

[IntrinsicReef]

That was the entire point of the photo… to have the sexy shrimp as in focus as possible, with the mushroom slightly blurry but still recognizable in the back. To say that was something that kept this photo out of the voting round is absurd. Especially compared to others that made it.

I by no means think I should win, or have the best photo submitted. But to be left out of voting rounds and given a subpar “explanation” for it, as well as privately messaged that the contests are “rigged” by a few other members, leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I won’t be contributing my photography here anymore. Best of luck to those who made it through with good pictures.

I was talking about the focus on the shrimp. It looks to me the the front legs are in focus, but much of the head is out of focus. The head and eyes are what we are naturally drawn to. The composition of the photo ( with the blurred mushroom) is appealing to me. I think it just needed some more depth of field imo. I've shot many pictures that I really like that suffer from the same issue.

 

[maroun.c]

I would say the field of focus is quite narrow on this shot. I have the same issue when shooting subjects like Acropora coral that have lots of depth in low f-stop. There will be small area of nice focus, but much of the image is blurry, and almost strains the eye.

Narrow DOF is something we all struggle with, especially with close ups, macro and low light in our tanks.
higher ISO at the risk of noise which this shot could have still handled would have helped.
the real issue is the missed focus as if you look well the focus is on the coral itself just in front of the shrimp. not saying its easy to nail focus on such focus but when you go limited DOF its a must.

 

[maroun.c]

whoa! nice answer!! even though its way over my head! id love any tips you could give on mine!! but im sure youve got enough to do

we've done many photo critiques for hte first runner ups where I hoped many would chime in with their thoughts as photography isn't always a single persons opinioin except for the clearly visible observations...
will have a look at your shot and provide my input gladly but bnetter do it after the vote to avoid intergfeering with voters choices.

 

[maroun.c]

I was pleasantly surprised, thinking that black and white photos would be....boring. How could you take our overly colorized tanks and capture that in black and white. Boy, was I wrong. I had a hard time picking my top five. Great job everyone! And thank you @maroun.c for making the difficult choices in narrowing down these great photos.

same here was a surprise for me with the number and quality of the submissions and its not fun taking out good pictures.

 

[exnisstech]

Most competitive yet!

Agreed

Someone able to explain how this didn’t make it to the voting round? Apparently it didn’t “fit the theme as well as others”.

On my phone the shrimp looks too dark which is hiding detail.
I've been participating on and off since I joined. I think I made the finals once.
One thing I have noticed is this is a reefing forum first and foremost and the best photo doesn't always get selected. I've seen crappy photos of cool coral get selected. I've also seen people win by popularity vs having the best image. It's just the way it is. I'm not even sure how many of the mods other than @maroun.c are photographers and that can affect selection. There is so much that goes into capturing a perfect image that many people are not even aware of. It's supposed to be fun and it is for me even tho I never win. Maybe find a photography forum that has contests and try your luck there and learn along the way. You have to be able to learn from critique or your skills will never improve.
Oh and don't count the number of likes as a gauge as to whether or not your photo is worthy. I've seen some really poor photos get likes because the member is popular or the subject was cool even tho it wasn't actually the subject of the contest. Many people like images posted as a way of showing support or just being kind.

EDIT : I voted for 21. Loves me a good clown taco

 

[maroun.c]

That was the entire point of the photo… to have the sexy shrimp as in focus as possible, with the mushroom slightly blurry but still recognizable in the back. To say that was something that kept this photo out of the voting round is absurd. Especially compared to others that made it.

I by no means think I should win, or have the best photo submitted. But to be left out of voting rounds and given a subpar “explanation” for it, as well as privately messaged that the contests are “rigged” by a few other members, leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth and I won’t be contributing my photography here anymore. Best of luck to those who made it through with good pictures.

I very much know what a shallow DOF shot is, yet you need to nail focus when the focus is on the coral in front of the shrimp and not on the shrimp eyes and the picture is so soft, that makes it a missed shot.

No my statement was not absurd it was pure photographic facts and my previous posts with all explanations should make that clear, im very open for a debate when we keep it constructive but singling out a comment and twisting missed focus into me not understanding a shallow DOF shot is not fair!

Sub par explanation ? Seriously did you read my post above? feel free to PM a challenge of my critique without personal attacks and we can have a discussion.

POTM Rigged ? Seriously ? for a 50 Usd prize and a POTM badge? if the members who messaged you have proofs on who and how the POTM is being rigged do let me know or feel free to raise a report.

 

[maroun.c]

My only issue with the contest, and it’s not just this one, is it seems the 15 selection part of the rules isn’t usually followed

“Winner Selection:
The mod team will select up to 15 finalists and a poll will be created and posted in the Reef Discussion Forum. The Grand Prize Winner will be determined by Reef2Reef member voting. To be eligible to vote, you must have been a member for 30 days and have 25 meaningful posts. Votes by members not meeting this criteria will be disregarded in the final count. In the case of a tie, the mod team will assist in choosing the winner. Rules, deadlines and terms are subject to change, without notice, at any time. The winner will be posted and tagged in the voting poll and will have 48 hours to claim the prize.

As this is a photography competition, and the goal is to recognize the highest quality picture. So take your time, do your post shot editing, and submit your best image.”

Now the above paragraph came from August as I can’t find the September thread but I believe the rules are generally copy and pasted for the most part.

With that said, I don’t always agree with some of the selections, but recalling what I can, I know this month was some very tough competition. I’m thankful mine made it, it’s not going to win, but there’s some that I could easily eliminate as I personally feel they didn’t meet the qualifications compared to others but that’s not my decision.

Yes indeed yet sometimes you cannot eliminate pictures as they are of similar quality, so we leave it to members to make the final cut, after all its a fun competition for people to participate and share tips and trick. Again its always tricky with the reefing part of a picture VS the photography part being selected.
I'm more than open to a constructive critique so after a POTM vote is done no harm starting a thread with your shot and providing your critique and having peoples thought on it... I myself don't agree with some votes in POTMs or in many competitions on Photography forums, yet its at least a chance to learn or listen to other peoples thoughts as you mention.

 

[Griev]

I guess mine wasn't black and white enough! Oh well, all I have is a phone. Not going to buy a professional set-up to participate in a forum contest, lol

 

[Reefering1]

This seems like the results of not keeping score at sports for kids. Nobody likes to lose but it's part of a balanced life

 

[revhtree]

We have no reason to rig a free photo contest we offer here on R2R.

 

[revhtree]

Beautiful photos everyone including many that almost made the cut.

 

[maroun.c]

I just toyed

I guess mine wasn't black and white enough! Oh well, all I have is a phone. Not going to buy a professional set-up to participate in a forum contest, lol

Just found out on samsung in the pro menu bring saturation down to the minimum then add a bit of contrast abd u get amazing black and white shots.

 

[Griev]

Just found out on samsung in the pro menu bring saturation down to the minimum then add a bit of contrast abd u get amazing black and white shots.

While I appreciate the tip, my comment was a bit more meta. At the risk of coming off as a complainer, let me explain my thoughts.

Should the criteria for finalists really be so stringent? If this is a forum contest, why are reactions from the submissions thread not considered?

Why focus so much on quality of the photography over the creativity of the overall submission or interpretation of the theme?

Just seems like there's a disconnect between what gets a lot of reactions and what you tend to pick as finalists.

 

[maroun.c]

While I appreciate the tip, my comment was a bit more meta. At the risk of coming off as a complainer, let me explain my thoughts.

Should the criteria for finalists really be so stringent? If this is a forum contest, why are reactions from the submissions thread not considered?

Why focus so much on quality of the photography over the creativity of the overall submission or interpretation of the theme?

Just seems like there's a disconnect between what gets a lot of reactions and what you tend to pick as finalists.

Reactions as mentioned above can be biased by popularity of the person posting the picture , we try to avoid that by hiding the POTM thread while vote is ongoing which is not 100 proof I realize. Also the idea is that one might not scroll through 6-7 pages to react so they are very random except from few members we see in the potm consistently.
We never focus on any of the aspects specifically and try to have a combination of all the aspects you mentioned, u will.see submissions that are nice shots without necessarily being phtogrqphically excellent. Yet at times pictures are very flowed that even if the match the theme its still not fair to be allowed like for example dirty glass or blurry shots .... its a tough balance.
Typically it's not as bad with the selection but this month potm was very active that we had to nitpick.
And when pictures are close to the point it's unfair to allow one and not the other I increase the number of finalists allowing members to make the cut. That's what seemed like the most fair approach well definitely consider the Input.