JoJo wrote:

First, a rant....

How many photographers take the time (or have the inclination) to reduce their finished work down to avatar size or contest thumb size before they release the image?
The presentation of the thumbnail in the contest is VERY important.
Most photographers and retouchers have never thought to do this. They figure the thumbnail is just the small version of their work.
Take a look at the photographers that consistently win - why do their thumbnails in the contest always look so much better than anyone else's entries?
These people know how to 'present' their work... and they win.

Next time you are about to enter an image, stop - reduce the image down to thumb size and take a long look at the thumbnail. What can you do to make the thumbnail look better?
You may say the full sized pic and the thumb are identical... and you would be both correct and incorrect. The two pics ARE the same but if you really take time to look you will "see" different things in the thumb/full sized pic.

No, JoJo has not been smoking her old socks - make your thumbnails POP and you WILL increase your vote standing in the contests - this is called 'presentation' and it DOES work


Now to answer your question...

A small percentage of voters vote just on the thumbnail - their loss.
A smaller percentage of voters just look for the pic they came to vote on - they never look at the other entries.
A very small percentage of voters actually vote from their phones/hand-helds in text-only mode.

During MM's image server problems there were entries that received multiple votes on pics that did not exist... even the thumbs did not exist.

The rest, the vast majority, actually look at the big pics before they vote.

The headshot regular winners have been doing that since the contests inception, and they win in large part because of it.  I've looked at some spectacular winning thumbnails in large version and realized quite simply that they are mediocre photographers with good hair/mua's and they know how to make their image much taller than it is wide.

They can have those wins, I don't want them.  I'd much prefer my few wins that I earned based on the image itself.  But that's just my opinion, others don't share it as evidenced by you actually recommending it to people... and that's fine.  My way isn't the only way. 

JoJo wrote:
First, a rant....

How many photographers take the time (or have the inclination) to reduce their finished work down to avatar size or contest thumb size before they release the image?
The presentation of the thumbnail in the contest is VERY important.
Most photographers and retouchers have never thought to do this. They figure the thumbnail is just the small version of their work.
Take a look at the photographers that consistently win - why do their thumbnails in the contest always look so much better than anyone else's entries?
These people know how to 'present' their work... and they win.

Next time you are about to enter an image, stop - reduce the image down to thumb size and take a long look at the thumbnail. What can you do to make the thumbnail look better?
You may say the full sized pic and the thumb are identical... and you would be both correct and incorrect. The two pics ARE the same but if you really take time to look you will "see" different things in the thumb/full sized pic.

No, JoJo has not been smoking her old socks - make your thumbnails POP and you WILL increase your vote standing in the contests - this is called 'presentation' and it DOES work


Now to answer your question...

A small percentage of voters vote just on the thumbnail - their loss.
A smaller percentage of voters just look for the pic they came to vote on - they never look at the other entries.
A very small percentage of voters actually vote from their phones/hand-helds in text-only mode.

During MM's image server problems there were entries that received multiple votes on pics that did not exist... even the thumbs did not exist.

The rest, the vast majority, actually look at the big pics before they vote.

K E E L I N G wrote:
The headshot regular winners have been doing that since the contests inception, and they win in large part because of it.  I've looked at some spectacular winning thumbnails in large version and realized quite simply that they are mediocre photographers with good hair/mua's and they know how to make their image much taller than it is wide.

They can have those wins, I don't want them.  I'd much prefer my few wins that I earned based on the image itself.  But that's just my opinion, others don't share it as evidenced by you actually recommending it to people... and that's fine.  My way isn't the only way. 

My rant was in response to:

Translation: how do I get people to look at my big pic BEFORE casting they cast their vote?

Answer: Make the thumbnail pop - not changing the whole image, not the crop, not the image size/format, etc.

How?: Places to start... try adding 5% to 10% to the "brightness", maybe push the contrast a bit, push the basic colours of the model's skin, eyes and teeth, decrease the contrast and brightness of the background minimally.
This will 'lift' the subject in the image and in many cases make the image stand out from the rest - that's 'pop' - been used in the print magazine world for years.

This is not applicable to all images but if you will turn up the volume here, turn down bass and fiddle a bit with the treble many images will appear more appealing and thus become more clickable.

At 00:00 Pacific time there are a bunch of CRON processes done
(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cron)
This puts a greater load on the system for several minutes.

The process of entering the PotD or PotD18+ requires processor load as the thumbnail needs to be made, the files written to the applicable files and a bunch of other behind-the-scene processes.

If you try to enter the PotD or PotD18+ within the first 5 minutes of the day sometimes the thumbnail id not formed or the BIG pic is inadvertently not placed into the contest queue.
When this happens I remove (not disqualify) the incomplete entry.
This is not a bug in the system, but rather a parallel to 'rush hour traffic' when you try to cram too much stuff into a finite space - result, fender benders... or lost files.

To save the users (and me) grief caused by incomplete entries I ask everyone not to enter the contests for the first 5 to 10 minutes after 00:00 server time.

I got it a few minutes before I posted here asking about it, so around 10:05am Pacific Time.

No worries, the 15-day checker will catch it and I will removed the second entry

15-day rule violation

are you using the 15-day checker?
http://www.sendu.me.uk/modelmayhem/15_d … id=1926140

Also remember, the 15-day rule is "image specific" - if the model entered it yesterday and you enter it today, your entry will be disqualified.

It's gone now

The version of the sendu utility used publicly is quite different than the utility that I use - the utility I use checks the images entered rather than just checking your entries.
Reason: the 15-day rule is "image specific", not "submitter specific".

Drew Smith Photography wrote:
I see female POTD 18+ has sunk to new lows again. 20th of Feb.

The pendulum has swung...

If the sky were really falling I'm sure one of you would have reported it in CAM.

http://photos.modelmayhem.com/contest/p … 60-big.jpg

You entered it in the female side of the contest - I see nothing 18+ about the female in the image.

You may want to consider the male contest

Ummm, we're talking about the PotD18+ - the basic concept of the contest is to allow members to display their 18+ images.

With the gender split of the contest boys go in the boys door and girls go in the girls door.
When a pic of a couple shows up it should be entered in the contest best reflecting the content.
In the case of the above cited image the female portion of the pic is not 18+ whereas the male portion is 18+ - the pic belongs in the male contest.

As for some of the male pics not seeming to be 18+, if you look closely you will see that the vast majority are really 18+, usually by virtue of the "pubic area (whether hair is present or not)" rule.
Then there are a small number of "17½ ish" rated pics that are a little too over the top for the PotD but still not really 18+ rated.

Every pic (legally) on MM is acceptable in either the PotD or the PotD18+.

Gone now

I wave my magic wand and *poof*, it's gone...
(or did I just send a toad to your house?)
This 2013 llama magic wand really sucks - can't even make a decent Martini

The image was disqualified as it violated the "emphasis on genitalia" rule.

Thank you for your response. After reviewing many of the images in this and past potd 18+ contests, I am very disappointed that the rules are not being applied consistently. Technically speaking, I see other posts that show more of the "area" and many photos of body parts with no heads/face that has more of that certain "emphasis" and not disqualified. I am not being negative about these images. Most are beautiful and well done. The image in question here was a body shot showing the entire head to toe with even substantial background space.

The rules also states:

"Moderators and administrators will consider factors including, but not limited to, framing, composition, surroundings, and total effect."

"The Picture of the Day moderators reserve the right to disqualify images at their discretion."

I do understand that this was your right and discretion.

Are you referring to an image submitted on Friday (for today's contest) or an image you submitted today (Sunday) for Tuesday's contest?

Hi Jojo - Submitted Sunday for Tuesday contest. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks.

It's gone