I see thread after thread where members are distressed, concerned or disappointed by lower scoring images. Usually, it's a score in the 50's or 60's that seems to be the source of concern.

I just went through my gallery, and easily a full third of my work is in the low 60's or lower. the lowest ranking image is at 24. so, here's the deal. am I just overdue for a reality check? or is my work better suited elsewhere?

by the way, here's the 24-scored image :

http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=third_eye-1183238947.jpg


I'm looking for honesty, not an ego boost. honest.

Patterns

thanks, Keith. I wasn't home when I posted that, so I didn't have the text file I usually copy/paste links with.

"I'm looking for honesty, not an ego boost. honest."

I don't know you and you don't know me, but, from what I've seen, heard and read in the past I'm callin' out the BS card. In my opinion you're lookin' for an ego boost, hey who isn't?!?! The most desired human need and want is acceptance. No, it’s not “love”!! The greatest human desire is acceptance from you friends (which we are), family, loved ones (wink, wink) and strangers.

I’m not terrible enthralled with “Patterns”, but why would you care, that’s just me, myself & I thinkin’ & talkin’. Betcha I got’s tons of stuff you’re not really snazzy feelin’ about…and, that’s OK by me!! To each, his and/or her own buddy.

IT’S A NUMBER!! Really…a number that you stew over ‘n’ over in your mind, like many others I might add. Because I comment or don’t on an image doesn’t really mean I like it or don’t. I get a thrill when I comment and feel like I might be giving a person something to think about and absorb possible to learn from, what I’ve learned. It may be right and it may be wrong, but if they think for just a moment about it then neat. I ain’t no teacher that’s for sure…just check out my double negative there!! 8~O

Do you enjoy what you do? Do you do it for you or for us? If you do it for us then yes, you need to reconsider what you’re doing. If you do it for yourself…then we really wanna see it!! You like many countless others have some totally kickin’ stuff and some other stuff that’s like…”what was he thinking”? Perfection is pain!! Kill the pain and enjoy yourself!!

Just for S&G’s I went through my junk…I have 667 images posted. 1 ranked in the 90’s (.001%), 33 ranked in the 80’s (.5%) and 85 ranked in the 70’s (1.27%). That’s 667 images and not even 2% is above 70 points on the c-index, yet, I’m very happy with me and what I do and more so what I’ve accomplished since joining Caedes!! Seriously to me that’s what it’s ALL about…what you learn!! NOT some number!! Again that’s just me and my opinion and thoughts!!

WE luv having you here and I enjoy seeing you works, some of them anyway!! Wha?? I hope this helps and, somewhat round-about’ly answers your question.

Ps: I charge $ 175.00 / hour. You owe me $ 87.50…really!! I normally charge for a full session either way, but since we’re tight I’ll give ya a break. 8~P

unfortunately .. since you mentioned scores, your question can't be properly addressed without discussing the validity of the voting process

and THAT'S a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, stuffed in a jelly donut, and dropped into a half-finished cup of coffee, discarded haphazardly into a trash receptacle .... because the voter was late for work

I feel for you...a great deal (probably a majority) of my images also land in the 60s range or lower, and my lowest is 14!! I once had a 91 (for about a day), until that dropped into the 70s without any more votes! I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me, but I really like the feedback I've been getting, so I just keep chugging along.

As for "Patterns", the first thought that came to my mind was that you were going for the 'infinite lines' look, maybe you weren't, but I think that's what people might have been voting on.

~walks past a trash can~

Hey!! A half-eatin' jelly donut...cool!!

~reaches in and walks away mucho happy~

Hmmmm...taste like Starbucks for some reason.

hey!! .. Randy stepped on my Churchillian philosophy

~burp~

Rob's going through the calculations of the Caedes Control as we speak...has he got me beat?!?!

We wait with anticapation...

"I don't know you and you don't know me, but, from what I've seen, heard and read in the past I'm callin' out the BS card. In my opinion you're lookin' for an ego boost, hey who isn't?!?! The most desired human need and want is acceptance. No, it’s not “love”!! The greatest human desire is acceptance from you friends (which we are), family, loved ones (wink, wink) and strangers."


kindly replace the BS card back into the deck. I'm not fishing for pity, a boost, or anything of the sort. Every single post I've put up, was put there for a reason. No, not all of my work is "pretty". Some were studies in texture, light, etc. I've never just taken a snap, ala Stevie Wonder, and put it up here.

"Patterns" would be one such example. I studied that ramp for the better part of half an hour, walking up and down, squatting, etc to find just the "right" shot. the diagonal perspective was by design, as was the placement of the verticals in a row, perpendicular to the diagonal/horizontal lines of the rails, with the boards of the flatter ramp to the right acting as a frame. I won't even get into the textures, or the leading of the mind's eye that the rail was intended to do.

I've gotten off-track. You say numbers don't matter. I agree, and yet not. I post here to share, and to gauge reactions to my work, as one day I'd hope to be able to sell some of it. But if I'm getting such low scores, my line of thinking is that perhaps, well, I'm missing my mark or as I said in my original post, maybe I'm selling to the wrong crowd, so to speak.

But looking for an ego boost? nah. If I was, I'd say so. There's three things I absolutely abhor in a person; stupidity, dishonesty, and laziness. So I tend not to practice them myself.

hmmm.. well Rob.. how many times have I told you that your work is up there with the "photographers" in the real world and that you should SELL THEM.. your very creative, and you always look outside the "square" which is a BIG PLUS.. so I wouldn't take the *whispers "C" to heart, it seems to me that a lot of members on here just don't appreciate good quality artistic/creative photography...

See Rob? .. she never tells me that .. so it must mean something


Jonathan Swift once wrote .. "Twas a brave man indeed that 'et the first oyster."

and his brother

Keifer Swift, once wrote .. "Twas a braver man indeed that first asked .. doth my yonder works suck, pray tell."

this got a 48

drip

this got a 73

rain on the rope

am I missing something?

Rob, without having followed any of the links that you provided in this thread, I've seen your work and I know the quality of it. If I remember correctly, I've even seen your work on photosig. Before I continue, I ought to say that I've been playing around with DA for a while now and not Caedes as much as I used to. After having been on photosig and DA, I'm convinced the whole c-index is completely worthless as is photosig's ranking system. Worrying about or trying to make sense of the cindex is a waste of your time. You (and I) have no idea who voted on your pics and what criteria they used. I think the views vs downloads is probably a better gauge of how people liked your photos anyway.

just my two cents.

Rob

Rob, I told you once before: I have no reason to visit your images and tell you nice thing - since it does not bring me anything. You are not a very busy visitor yourself and your comments are very ... directly. But I like your images and thats why I come day by day. I am sure there are many people like myself, who go through the same with you. Isnt that proof enough for you, that we really love your images? And if this is not - look how many of your images end up in the permanent gallerie or at least on the first page. I had a couple of images with more than 60 in the c-index and no image on the front page since months. So your images are loved by those, who have something to say. Be proud and forget what the voters say - I am still sure, that a lot of them are only one day visitors, who come, supscripe and "have fun." If their vote means more to you than our voices, the voices of your regular visitors, that would hurt.

I like 'Patterns' I have had the chance to vote on it.

I must be odd - I DO come here for an ego boost - not for high scores necessarily, although they are nice, not for'permanent' pictures necessarily, although they are nice too. I like getting comments, I like it when someone sees in a picture what I was trying to convey (if anything) by it.I like showing off my country, I like attempting to make a silk purse out of a sows ear with some of my flower pictures. I like experimenting. I like learning. Most of my pictures are not 'snaps' either but the odd one that is seems to achieve just as well as the others which perhaps is telling me something.
I like looking at the images of others - for enjoyment and insipration.

Those on my Friends List I particularly do not want to miss.
You are on that list Rob, I always know there will be something interesting, sometimes pretty, often not, but ALWAYS worth looking at and often thought-provoking.


Try to ignore the c-index. It goes up and down like a yo-yo, and is not reliable as a gauge for the quality of a picture. Yes, I moan a bit when my 80's are archived, but recently had a c-index 44 get made permament - do you hear me complain? lol NO

p.s.THIS was a snap. I like it. I liked the comments. I even liked the score. Snaps sometimes work.

See Rob? .. she never tells me that .. so it must mean something

:o)

perfect example, Rob. I just got a cindex of 40 on one of my latest posts. a 40 and I'm sure it will come down as it usually does. Surely it is better than a 40! Not that I'm complaining, I couldn't care less, I'm just offering it as another example of how worthless the cindex is. (If it's truly a sub40 then I want comments on technical flaws as well as comments on artistic ineptitude)

You see, the problem with the c-index is that everyone kinda cares in a way. I say I've given up caring about it because it's doing nothing but leaving me depressed and wondering if I should just give it up. But I know I couldn't do that. I'm too in love with photography now to be able to stop. Even when my friends don't see the artistic side to my work (and I'm talking about on caedes and in real life), sure, it makes me sad but I just carry on. I think I have one image that just about made it to a 60. That's my highest ever. The reason it got it? It wasn't that it was artistic (and it wasn't at all). It was just a picture I took of some leaves. It got voted high because it was a high quality.

Now I think that sucks to be honest. The other picture I posted along with that was Zest. It hasn't appeared to be very popular in the c-index or in comments. Yes, it's out of focus. I intended it to be so people would pay attention to the almost stem like flower. It has great colours. It has something to it. It's not "just another flower image". And yet it scored low, just because I didn't focus properly. No, I'm not going to go back and take another photo in focus because people didn't like this version. This is the one I like, and if people can't deal with that, quite frankly, they can shove it where the sun don't shine.

Yes, the South Pole in the half of the year where it is pitch black. That's so what I meant.

C-index. Yes, it still gets me depressed. But at the end of the day, it's my picture, I'll do it my way. People vote on these images, some people don't take artisticness into account. They just see if it complies with the rules of a good picture, which totally sucks. Some people can't see meaning. It's just another image.

Personally, your images are the first I click on when I view my friends list. Even if I don't comment, I enjoy them. You know I loved 'Patterns', it's in my faves. I loved the strange perspective of it, especially how it broke the rules being wonky. That just made it all the better. C-index means nothing, especially in this instance.

And now I should stop, or my English teacher will have my guts for garters (hopefully not literally) if I don't write an entire essay by tomorrow. Thanks for listening to my strange disjointed ramblings.

*wanders off mumbling something about magpies*

"This is the one I like, and if people can't deal with that, quite frankly, they can shove it where the sun don't shine."...

Right on!! I love your attitude...I think that's the attitude everyone should have.

I generally do not pay much mind to the c-index insomuch as the number of views/downloads...That to me, shows the REAL impact of a image /composition...

Your photo is not sucky. However, there's not a lot that makes it stand out from the rest either. In my experience here, it's the pictures that stand out from the rest -- in a good way -- that get the highest marks. Different is good.

I also have to agree that the c-index is not very reliable. There is currently no accountability for the bored or upset people who continually go through and give photos 0's or 1's for no apparent reason. Most are probably just bored people with nothing better to do. I'd ignore it.

I'm not singling out the author himself, but merely using this image for comparison. it has a 39 at the time of my writing this, and the image I posted this thread about has a 24. help me understand, because I don't. how did I find it? I received a comment request for it.


http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=MTlens-1184118452.jpg

Ye Old Saloon .. by MTlens

~unsubscribes from this one too~

I'll be willing to bet that 90% of the people who vote on the C-index do it in a rush so they can upload their own photos. Never ever go by the C-index, it is a flawed system. Just look to honest advice and forget the index exists.