Voting In Contests

I like mine so I usually vote on it first!

Interesting ---
I don't remember the last time I entered a contest before the one I entered the other day on a whim. I learned today that I won 1st place!
I entered 3 images and voted for each of my own and also on a few that weren't mine.
I don't know much about contests but in the past I noticed that most people will only vote on their own or those of friends.
I know some people enter tons of them while there are those like me who rarely enter any . . .
I did it for fun - and I won. I can't imagine doing it for any other reason.

I never vote for mine in the first place.But I have had votes,I think I have placed in the top three a few times.

I will ALWAYS feel contest should be about the best IMAGE. Voting for yourself or your friends is not going to tell us anything about the best image. I would rather have just one vote from a stranger than 10 from friends "doing me a favor" and 1 from myself. Yes, I would rather have 1 vote than 16!

So I don't give a damn where I place in a contest. To me, I "win" when I get even 1 vote. If it is not my vote and not somebody doing me a favor that means someone voted on my image simply because they liked it, and nothing more. That is how I judge my work and, ultimately, I enter contest to judge the quality of my work. Not for exposure or to see how many votes I can get.

i only vote on mine and that's it.


---Mike Savad

Contests here just seem to silly, I'm done wasting my time on them. I did notice about 5 people do multiple contests every week, and I stopped entering them because I think they were from groups that just vote for each other. Not many good pictures get votes, so its just a waist of my time to enter them even if its good exposure like so many say.

@ John, I agree with you when you say it should be about the best image.
In my particular situation - enough of the people who voted thought mine was the best image and I would still have won had I not cast a vote for it. No harm no foul ;)
Re's how you judge your work - because of the way most contests work on FAA, surely you don't enter these contests to judge the quality of your work ... I wouldn't image that even possible, considering . . .

Well Donna I don't think my work is "crap" because nobody voted for it.

I think if SOMEONE voted for it, it must have SOMETHING going for it. I am at least on the right track. I guess it would be more accurate to use the term "barometer" instead of judge.

while they seem like a waste of time, if they lead to a sale, they aren't. and they have.


---Mike Savad

Right, I understand. I wouldn't think mine was either had no one voted on it. Barometer is a good term to use - although, I am not sure given the nature of what we hear so much about FAA contest, that THAT would tell us anything of real value, either. I've seen so many incredible images not get any votes when those I'd consider snapshots wound up winning.

The last contest I remember entering was a Valentine's Day contest in either 2012 or 2013. The top 3 winners had nothing what-so-ever to do with V-Day ... and those that were obviously about V-Day got no votes. The rules were clear - the image had to easily be linked to V-Day. Go figgur . . .

I enjoy looking at all the images and voting on what I personally like! It's fun! I vote for myself and any others that I like or that I feel fits the contest overview perfectly! I have found some really nice artwork and artists by simply looking in the contests. I might not have found them otherwise. :0)

I don't like, comment on or favorite other people's art work hoping they will do the same to mine. I do it because I like their image. If they turn around and do the same to mine, great. If not, I don't care. I really think a lot of folks over think this whole thing. If someone is commenting on or favoriting other people's artwork solely because they hope that person will turn around and do the same, I tend to think there is something wrong there. Have fun here. If you're not having fun, maybe you need to reconsider why you're here.