Low Scores Hurting? I Feel Your Pain...

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

04/08/2009 06:04:37 AM · #1

Hello everyone...

With so many low scores being posted (particuarly in the Textures challenge) I though we could all do with a smile and perhaps a little counselling so I put together a guide to the DPC Photographers Cycle of Grief.

A Guide to the DPC Photographers Cycle of Grief.

1 - Denial - NO WAY! My picture is not that bad, Its not OOF or blown in any way. The composition IS strong and the border really DOES add to the overall feel of the image. These are all reactions to the DPC Photographer receiving a barrage of low scores. Depending on the individual and the photo/challenge affected a low score will most likely be anything below 5.0 and certainly anything below 4.5 will likely invoke the 'Cycle of Grief'. Depending on how passionate the photographer is about their picture this stage can last a few minutes (before proceeding to anger) or reside for many days. Often both a complete lack of any comments or any comment that is mildly critical may add to the sense of denial and a more rapid moving into the anger stage, which may well be further enhanced by the effect of comments made or the lack of any comments. Typically very low scores accompanied by no comments at all will result in the strongest feelings of denial and the most rapid transition into stage 2.

2 - Anger - WTF, these idiots don't know what they are talking about. If they weren't hidden behind their computer screens they wouldn't be so mean. Cowards. Maybe I should just vote everyone a 1, that would teach them etc etc. This part can vary in length and intensity depending on a number of factors. 1) Just how good does the photographer actually believe their image is 2) How long/painful/expensive/difficult* (*delete as applicable - more than 1 reason is perfectly acceptable) was the image to capture 3) The image has a strong personal meaning. If an image is of a member of a persons family, particularly a partner or child then the anger is likely to be longer lasting and more intense. Finally, highly criticized and low scoring self portraits or pet portraits are likely to result in the strongest reaction from which the photographer may find it difficult to recover within the time frame of the particular challenge. In such cases the anger may be such that abstinence from challenges or DPC for an extended period may be the only path to full recovery.

3 - Bargaining - Here the DPC entrant will be looking for ways to negotiate with themselves (as anonymity is required within the challenge no other negotiation is possible) in order to dilute the effects of stages 1 & 2. Typically they may consider pulling the image out of the challenge, vowing never to visit the site again. A sense of 'these *&**%Â£$'s are not worthy of my genius' often accompanies these feelings. They may attempt to console themselves by turning off their scores or not visiting the site but this often fails and the photographer will be unable to resist the temptation to look at their score. They will be clutching at the faint possibility that it has risen considerably over the last 1/2/3* hours (*delete depending on how long you actually managed to not check your score for) and raising the score back to an acceptable level, therefore completely negating the effects of stages 1 & 2. DPC entrants should be aware though that in reality this never, ever, actually happens. This is a slow and painful stage but is necessary for the DPC Photographer to pass through this stage of the cycle in order to elevate the pain of the first 2 stages and work towards a resolution. Bargaining rarely provides a sustainable solution and is simply part of the journey.

4 - Depression - Also referred to as preparatory grieving or the steps on the way to acceptance. The severity of the depression will vary depending upon the individuals path to this point. Depression will be most severe in 2 particular categories of DPC photographers. The first is the DPC master. They will have been a member of many years and will have accumulated a number of ribbons and will posses personal best scores well over 7.0. Upon receiving low scores their perceived fall from such lofty heights is likely to result in a very severe depression. The second category of DPC'er likely to suffer the greatest depression is the new member. They will have been on the site for a short period of time (under 6 months) and in these cases it is the crushing of the inherent optimism and expectation that lies at the root of the depression. The new DPC'er may never recover from the effects of this blow.

In all cases the symptoms of the depression are easy for the carer (read family member/partner or concerned significant other) to spot. The DPC photographer will stare for extended periods at their computer monitor, usually at their DPC entry. They will then begin to look through their own portfolio and in particular highest scoring entries to re-establish confidence. This will often be accompanied by indistinguishable mutterings about their photographic ability. In severe cases this may then extend to looking at all the other images in the challenge, multiple times and they will often be heard declaring, "mine is so much better than that, I can't imagine what they must be scoring!". Through the depression stage it is perfectly natural to feel sadness and regret, fear, uncertainty, etc. This shows that the person has at least begun to accept the reality and is ready to move onto acceptance.

5 - Acceptance - Again this stage definitely varies according to the photographers situation, however some things remain consistent in most cases. If acceptance has not been reached before the end of the particular challenge then the publication of the results will almost certainly bring the DPC'er to acceptance as they see the winning images, their own score breakdown and their position relative to other entrants. Having gone through the cycle this is usually enough to bring closure for them. Something unique to the DPC'er in the cycle is the announcement of a new challenge and new scores to focus on from the next challenge entered. There is one caveat to this. A DPC'er experiencing back to back low scores and entering the cycle of grief for a second time in a short period may well find the effects greatly amplified and require far more intense counseling to help them through the process. It will usually be clear to those around the photographer at this point that acceptance is beginning as they start to exhibit signs some signs of emotional detachment from their image and objectivity about their own ability and quality of their images. Until the next time that is.

Enjoy your photography.

NikonJeb

Nikon D850

04/08/2009 06:21:05 AM · #2

What a hoot! Well written!

ErikV

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR DG IF-ED

04/08/2009 07:32:43 AM · #3

Excellent! But you left out one stage that is critical in order to move from Stage 4 to Stage 5:

4A - Drowning Your Sorrows in Beer (or Wine or Whiskey ...)

04/08/2009 07:45:40 AM · #4

Good one Paul
Made me laugh...

04/08/2009 08:27:58 AM · #5

FORGET IT! JUST FORGET IT!

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 13:42:11.

jettyimages

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/08/2009 08:39:22 AM · #6

I definitely like Paul's version, its beautifully written and the punchline at the end 'enjoy your photography' still has me laughing. There should be more philosophising like this around here!
Agree wholeheartedly about 4A

ErikV
Add that one in, Paul!

04/08/2009 08:57:47 AM · #7

Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:

Somewhat familiar...

1. Optimistic: You stare at your masterpiece, awaiting rollover. You know this one has the technicals, the charm, the look to go all the way.

2. Hopeful: The first vote came in. If it's 6+ you're hopeful everyone sees what you you and this one other person saw. If it's 5 or less, you're hopeful that guy is a fluke.

3. Denial: The votes start piling up. Second, Third, Fifth, Tenth. You score is dropping faster than the mercury in Alaska. But how did all the trolls find YOUR image at the start of the challenge. No, the scores will build.

4. Anger: The "Why do I even bother with this crap?" stage. You swear, no more submissions. The voters here clearly don't get your genius.

5. Acceptance: Ok, I see what I did wrong now. I'll win those voters over next time.

From //www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=869306 (February 1, 2009) :)

Your point is what exactly? That I copied you? No, I copied Elizabeth Kluber-Ross.

This was meant to be my attempt to be entertaining in response to the low scores for people were getting on textures and to contribute something to the community here. Please don't spoil it.

Thanks.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

04/08/2009 09:00:45 AM · #8

FORGET IT! JUST FORGET IT!

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 13:42:35.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

04/08/2009 09:02:17 AM · #9

Nicely done, Paul. And it strikes me that this explores, on a macro level (i.e. reactions to a single challenge) what many long-time DPCers (myself definitely included) have experienced on a global level (that is to say, reactions to challenges as a whole)...

In other words, I basically have gone through all the phases and emerged in a sort of photographer's nirvana where "enjoy your photography" is the operative mantra and challenge scores are irrelevant :-) I whine a little, mostly to myself, of course, but it's a half-hearted effort at best, compared to the angst-ridden rants I used to engage in when there was nobody but Karma around to hear me.

R.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

04/08/2009 09:06:45 AM · #10

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Thank you Bear_Music. It was actually quite cathartic to write it. It seemed to flow quite easily, I think it may have been building up for quite sometime. :)

Cheers, Paul

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

04/08/2009 09:08:05 AM · #11

I had to set that one to "watched" status so I can easily locate it again. Well written.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

04/08/2009 09:16:16 AM · #12

Originally posted by TallPaul:

Your point is what exactly?

His point is that he got the stages wrong and he wanted to thank you for correcting him (he loves being corrected).

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 09:16:34.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/08/2009 09:19:21 AM · #13

FORGET IT! JUST FORGET IT!

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 13:42:57.

mikeee

Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i

04/08/2009 09:40:56 AM · #14

DPC is fundamentally flawed in that the voters are generally the entrants. Therefore, if people feel their photo is under unfair attack they may react accordingly by scoring low. It is human nature to compare ones efforts to those of others so a voter may well think 'mine just got a 3, so any other photo that I consider to be as good gets a 3 from me'.

I don't vote in challeges I've entered any more.

jettyimages

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/08/2009 09:43:26 AM · #15

Originally posted by mikeee:

I couldn't agree more, and attempted to bring that up 6 months ago, citing that no other competitors in the outside world are also judges. I was shot down in flames - I think someone told me that the US presidents vote for themselves.....

mikeee

Canon EOS-550D Rebel T2i

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/08/2009 09:47:05 AM · #16

Originally posted by jettyimages:

Well, you can't argue with logic like that. I'd say if scores are available during voting and competitors score other voters, scores will be artificially lower. However, as this affects all entries I guess it doesn't really matter.

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

04/08/2009 09:50:37 AM · #17

Originally posted by mikeee:

It started that way with me--the first challenge, in which I voted but didn't enter, I gave a lot higher average. I entered the next challenge, and since mine was getting a 5.4, I rated all photos worse than mine a 5. Now it's much easier. If I'm doing well, it's great fun to give out high scores and share the wealth. If mine is doing poorly, I'm still having great fun giving out higher scores, since I appreciate it when I get some. I figure my one vote is not going to make that much of a difference in my own placement, and I find that I'm a lot harder on my own photo when I'm critically looking at others of the same type. I actually learn a lot by voting in my own challenge.

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

04/08/2009 09:51:34 AM · #18

Originally posted by jettyimages:

Originally posted by mikeee:
DPC is fundamentally flawed in that the voters are [i]generally]the entrants. Therefore, if people feel their photo is under unfair attack they may react accordingly by scoring low. It is human nature to compare ones efforts to those of others so a voter may well think 'mine just got a 3, so any other photo that I consider to be as good gets a 3 from me'.

I don't vote in challeges I've entered any more.

I couldn't agree more, and attempted to bring that up 6 months ago, citing that no other competitors in the outside world are also judges. I was shot down in flames - I think someone told me that the US presidents vote for themselves.....

It is also the case that MPs here in the UK vote for themselves but of course they don't have a hand in deciding what vote their competitors get.

Someone once told me that it used to be the case that you could only vote on the open challenge in which you did not have an entry and to be honest I think that is a great idea.
However if you are the type of person who is going to hand out low votes simply to try and advance your own position then there are ways around this I suppose

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 09:52:35.

smudgeSMJ

Apple iPhone 6

04/08/2009 09:52:34 AM · #19

I think I tend to skip steps 2 and 3 and jump right from Denial to 4A and carry on from there, hahaha :)

04/08/2009 09:55:43 AM · #20

Originally posted by smudgeSMJ:
I think I tend to skip steps 2 and 3 and jump right from Denial to 4A and carry on from there, hahaha :)

I find there is a nasty little GOTO statement in there that just as you hit 5 something happens that sends you back to 2
I think you'll find it in Subroutine Troll(lowscore,angerflag) lol

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 10:01:45.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

04/08/2009 10:39:45 AM · #21

FORGET IT! JUST FORGET IT!

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 13:43:30.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

04/08/2009 10:43:33 AM · #22

I like voting on the challenges I've entered. I usually have more interest in the subject. I will vote an entry on it's own merit and not relative to my own or the rest of the field. I can think of only one time where I felt my voting would have been biased from being in the challege, so I skipped that one. It's only a game.

04/08/2009 10:45:55 AM · #23

Originally posted by Yo_Spiff:
I like voting on the challenges I've entered. I usually have more interest in the subject. I will vote an entry on it's own merit and not relative to my own or the rest of the field. I can think of only one time where I felt my voting would have been biased from being in the challege, so I skipped that one. It's only a game.

Well said and I agree.

04/08/2009 11:46:07 AM · #24

Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:

I wonder if either of the very due apologies will be forthcoming...

... breath != held;

Do you know what I changed my mind I just can't be bothered.

Message edited by author 2009-04-08 11:49:02.