Are you satisfied with the piece selected for Deviation of the Year, or the winners of any of the other categories? (Note: Since you guys seem to be confused, no, this isn't a dA sponsored selection. It's my own. Read latest journal entry for listings)
60%
9 deviants saidYes
40%
6 deviants saidNo
0%
No deviants saidI can think of a better one. (Place suggestion in comments)
...Which is capitolized but is inauspiciously your OWN exclusive pick ...Hence, I cannot in good; grammatical, consummer advocacy, NOR deviant faith~ participate... I also feel I deserved a personal answer back; rather than having to do research on your own whathaveyou...
I haven't even seen it. But I still said no, because there really isn't one single deviation that rules above all others. If you ask me, there should be a "Deviation of the Year" for every single subcategory, for example, instead of an award for photography, there should be an award for astrophotography, architectual photography, etc etc etc. Besides... something in me really dislikes dA handing out awards, even things as minimal as daily deviations. Because it seems to have lost all meaning, not only by the fact that they're also handing out thousands and thousands of pageviews and mindless popularity, but they give such awards to pieces that may be masterpieces, but still remain unoriginal.
Oh, well this isn't a DeviantART thing. It's just me reflecting upon my own pieces that I've faved (when I did a weekly spotlight way back when) and then in my newest journal entry, I displayed my own personal picks.
I agree with the bit about daily deviations. Not many of them are totally original. There was one I saw today (well technically, yesterday, Happy New Year btw) which had a very original sense of abstract expressionism to it. I really liked it, and though I couldn't exactly tell you WHAT it was, I could tell you a thousand and one things that it COULD have been.
What I'm getting at here is that this piece was original. It was fresh. It was something I've never seen before, and was glad to have seen get noticed. Unfortunately, despite being given a daily deviation, it didn't even get that many comments. A lot of people missed the main idea, and were the very obvious whore spam attention mongers who comment on everything featured to pick up their own pageview count. They didn't see what I saw, they just wanted to put their name on the piece in the vain hope that some passer by accidently clicks on them and visits them.
I'm not sure if you saw it or not, but mentioning the Daily Deviation feature struck a chord. You see, I got my first one this day. Indeed, I was extremely excited. 300 messages in my inbox, 125 comments, I was just thirsting and yearning to sift through the volumes of feedback I was getting from hundreds of different people. I read through the extensive display of comments on one of my pieces, and was just amazed at the sheer number of deviants talking about it.
But then, you hit the nail on the head. All this feedback seemed meaningless. Sure, there were a few people with the balls to criticize the image's frame, and I got a lot of kind words on the description. But overall, if you lump all one hundred of those comments into one pile, that pile still doesn't stand against the caliber of comment that impresses me. Just the same two-word compliments, like a broken record or skipping CD, comments that for the most part made me wonder if these people truly examined and absorbed the elements of the image. It's meaningless, multiplied by a three-digit number. I went in with such great expectations, only to be dissapointed in the sheer superficiality of some people.
Their signatures gave it away. "Come look at my gallery." "My LJ [link]". "Belongs to (insert eight clubs here)". Most of these people just wanted me to look at them. Thus, the excitement died rather quickly. I got a Daily Deviation, and looking back upon it, it was for the most part meaningless. I won't lie, though, I do appreciate the recognition, and I do appreciate the effort *KillerPerfection put forth to get it there, but looking at the actual effect it created, it's like winning a prized pack of baseball cards only to open it and realize that it's nothing but reprints.
What's worse. Half of them added me to their watch list. So that means that the next thing I submit is going to inevitably get fifty more of the same "woo-hoo yeah, uh-huh, lookin good" droning. If that's the case, I will sorely miss getting the two or three comments that blow me away, the ones I can take to heart. This kind of feedback is timeless. I will any day take 1 solid comment, one that convinces me that the viewer actually looked at the image, interpreted a meaning, and discussed the artistic elements, I would take just one of those over one hundred of the short wastes of space.
Another thing that you're right on is the prospect of originality. My photograph was nothing too spectacularly original. I was down there with a dozen or so other independent photographers, and one guy who was one of the local celebrity photographers for local newspapers, and has a very fruitful gallery downtown. The picture you see is the same exact picture that a handful of other guys have. It isn't unique at all. The angle, the elements, the sunset, it's all been photographed thousands of times at the same location for several decades. It's not original at all.
But thanks for the input. I greatly appreciate it, and agree from the depths of my heart. Hoping you the best in the next year.
Oh, haha I didn't know it was you picking your own deviations. Anyways, yeah, it sounds horrid to get that many crappy comments and meaningless watches from having a daily deviation. And I'm sick of people with links to their gallery in their own signature, as if we don't know how to click their username and then their gallery. People who actually have a link to their gallery in the message body aught to be banned. dA is like the world. Most people suck, and don't know what they're doing. But there are some good people. Happy New Year.
I admit it was with an initial bout of hesitance that I suggested your deviation for Daily Deviation, and not due to content, description, or anything else about the image itself. The image, I believe, is original - despite the presence of other photographers at the scene, you were there first, it was your picture and a gift to you and probably the only sunset that will look exactly as it did. So don't downplay your work, I still believe you did a fantastic job; so what if there are thousands of other sunset photographs out there? None of them bears your personal story or personal touch to go along with them, that is what sets you apart. [Yes... the frame initially bothered me too - not enough to mention at the time and it actually grew on me a bit, but it was the white that, I think, failed to contrast the image's colour properly]
Back to my initial point: I've followed your interaction on the forums, somewhat, over the past few months - not necessarily seeking you out, but rather since you post so very often and always say what I would say, given I had the figurative balls to do so, it started to become a treat to see your spinning avatar in a thread. Thus I became aware of your character, something so unusual to this community, that it set itself apart. [And there were a few times, in political threads, I'd wince reading down the replies and think to myself; "now where is *vest's input?"
I could tell that you appreciated real feedback, real art, and intelligent interaction and it was only a matter of time until I eventually found my way to your gallery to see what you presented there. Wonder of wonders, the gallery was great too - it all fit together into something beautiful that I believed was overdue for some good recognition. At the same time, having seen Daily Deviations before, I realized that it may also bring with it a torrent of "insta-comments" worthy of little more than a casual distracted "that's nice" spoken at first glance of a photograph. Thus was my dilemma - I wanted to do something nice, but I didn't want you to be flooded with meaningless deviant chatter all emphasizing the importance of their galleries. I, obviously, came to my conclusion however, with the thought that out of all that, just maybe there would be more commenters like me - a few drawn out focused comments in the batch would make it all worth it, so I implored ^Moonbeam13 to take a look.
I hope that this has not turned into a negative experience for you, for that was not my intention. I also hope this does not come across as ass-kissery, as that is also not my intention - just an honest perspective regarding you and your work.
layer_embedded
Sta.sh
Devious Comments
no.
I'm dissatisfied the <quote>
Deviation of the Year
...Which is capitolized but is inauspiciously your OWN exclusive pick
Og.
I agree with the bit about daily deviations. Not many of them are totally original. There was one I saw today (well technically, yesterday, Happy New Year btw) which had a very original sense of abstract expressionism to it. I really liked it, and though I couldn't exactly tell you WHAT it was, I could tell you a thousand and one things that it COULD have been.
What I'm getting at here is that this piece was original. It was fresh. It was something I've never seen before, and was glad to have seen get noticed. Unfortunately, despite being given a daily deviation, it didn't even get that many comments. A lot of people missed the main idea, and were the very obvious whore spam attention mongers who comment on everything featured to pick up their own pageview count. They didn't see what I saw, they just wanted to put their name on the piece in the vain hope that some passer by accidently clicks on them and visits them.
I'm not sure if you saw it or not, but mentioning the Daily Deviation feature struck a chord. You see, I got my first one this day. Indeed, I was extremely excited. 300 messages in my inbox, 125 comments, I was just thirsting and yearning to sift through the volumes of feedback I was getting from hundreds of different people. I read through the extensive display of comments on one of my pieces, and was just amazed at the sheer number of deviants talking about it.
But then, you hit the nail on the head. All this feedback seemed meaningless. Sure, there were a few people with the balls to criticize the image's frame, and I got a lot of kind words on the description. But overall, if you lump all one hundred of those comments into one pile, that pile still doesn't stand against the caliber of comment that impresses me. Just the same two-word compliments, like a broken record or skipping CD, comments that for the most part made me wonder if these people truly examined and absorbed the elements of the image. It's meaningless, multiplied by a three-digit number. I went in with such great expectations, only to be dissapointed in the sheer superficiality of some people.
Their signatures gave it away. "Come look at my gallery." "My LJ [link]". "Belongs to (insert eight clubs here)". Most of these people just wanted me to look at them. Thus, the excitement died rather quickly. I got a Daily Deviation, and looking back upon it, it was for the most part meaningless. I won't lie, though, I do appreciate the recognition, and I do appreciate the effort *KillerPerfection put forth to get it there, but looking at the actual effect it created, it's like winning a prized pack of baseball cards only to open it and realize that it's nothing but reprints.
What's worse. Half of them added me to their watch list. So that means that the next thing I submit is going to inevitably get fifty more of the same "woo-hoo yeah, uh-huh, lookin good" droning. If that's the case, I will sorely miss getting the two or three comments that blow me away, the ones I can take to heart. This kind of feedback is timeless. I will any day take 1 solid comment, one that convinces me that the viewer actually looked at the image, interpreted a meaning, and discussed the artistic elements, I would take just one of those over one hundred of the short wastes of space.
Another thing that you're right on is the prospect of originality. My photograph was nothing too spectacularly original. I was down there with a dozen or so other independent photographers, and one guy who was one of the local celebrity photographers for local newspapers, and has a very fruitful gallery downtown. The picture you see is the same exact picture that a handful of other guys have. It isn't unique at all. The angle, the elements, the sunset, it's all been photographed thousands of times at the same location for several decades. It's not original at all.
But thanks for the input. I greatly appreciate it, and agree from the depths of my heart. Hoping you the best in the next year.
Back to my initial point: I've followed your interaction on the forums, somewhat, over the past few months - not necessarily seeking you out, but rather since you post so very often and always say what I would say, given I had the figurative balls to do so, it started to become a treat to see your spinning avatar in a thread. Thus I became aware of your character, something so unusual to this community, that it set itself apart. [And there were a few times, in political threads, I'd wince reading down the replies and think to myself; "now where is *vest's input?"
I could tell that you appreciated real feedback, real art, and intelligent interaction and it was only a matter of time until I eventually found my way to your gallery to see what you presented there. Wonder of wonders, the gallery was great too - it all fit together into something beautiful that I believed was overdue for some good recognition. At the same time, having seen Daily Deviations before, I realized that it may also bring with it a torrent of "insta-comments" worthy of little more than a casual distracted "that's nice" spoken at first glance of a photograph. Thus was my dilemma - I wanted to do something nice, but I didn't want you to be flooded with meaningless deviant chatter all emphasizing the importance of their galleries. I, obviously, came to my conclusion however, with the thought that out of all that, just maybe there would be more commenters like me - a few drawn out focused comments in the batch would make it all worth it, so I implored ^Moonbeam13 to take a look.
I hope that this has not turned into a negative experience for you, for that was not my intention. I also hope this does not come across as ass-kissery, as that is also not my intention - just an honest perspective regarding you and your work.
Have a splendid new years day.