Attack or ?

[Talli]

This was posted yesterday on one of my photos:
"Some of the photos from Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge are nothing but blurry images of feathers and wire, so why would anyone upload them?"

I don't know whether it was intended as an attack or a failed attempt at humor. I joined zoochat because I thought it was a community with a shared interest in zoos, and made up of folks who, like me, often plan their travel around visiting zoos - unlike most people who go to zoos because they have children to take or like to see animals once in a while. I've never pretended to be a great, or even good photographer. With zoochat in mind, I now take pictures I might not have otherwise in order to give people who won't get to that zoo a chance to see what they're interested in. For example, I've noticed an interest in zoo maps, so if I have a chance, I take and post a picture of a map. I used to feel badly that I hadn't posted more pictures than I have - it takes me hours, and I still can't control things like the order the photos appear in, and often am not sure what species it is and don't have the extra hours it would take to research them. I also used to feel badly that some photos from others had hundreds of views, and many of mine had few or none. But, as of yesterday, I just feel attacked and am pretty much sorry I've wasted all of this time.

 

[Chlidonias]

its all to do with what's in this thread: http://www.zoochat.com/4/missing-photos-184107/

snowleopard took it particularly hard as he lost thousands of photos he'd uploaded. The purge may have been necessary but it was very annoying for a lot of members. *Part* of the problem was due to people uploading photos that should never have been uploaded (blurry etc). Personally I think there's only two or three of the Woodford Cedar Ridge photos that should have been left out, so snowleopard's comment did seem a bit rough (but he did put a wink after it so maybe it was intended as a joke).

Don't stop uploading photos, especially if they are from under-represented facilities or of rare/unfamiliar species

 

[Talli]

Well, I don't know if that makes me feel better exactly, but certainly helps me understand. I had not seen the Missing Photos thread - as with I'm sure everyone, I just have limited time to spend in zoochat and usually spend it uploading to galleries that don't have photos yet. I wish there had been something next to the "New Photo" button that said something like "Space is limited, pick your best photos". I certainly would have made some different decisions and left a lot of photos out. I honestly don't know how many of my photos have vanished because I can't remember exactly what I've uploaded over a year ago, etc. As others have mentioned, if we could delete our own photos, I'd do some pruning.
I'm wondering if the number-of-views count will really show what pictures are popular. I know when I do spend some time looking, I mostly look at the thumbnails, and only open the individual photos when I can't quite tell what's in them and want to.
I kind of wondered why we could upload photos without any limits, but just assumed Sim had his own servers - I have friends who do, so it didn't seem that "out there".

Oh - and as I recall, the day I took these photos was overcast, and the wire mesh there is tiny, so it's amazing with my skills that there are any decent ones at all!

 

[OrangePerson]

I'm wondering if the number-of-views count will really show what pictures are popular. I know when I do spend some time looking, I mostly look at the thumbnails, and only open the individual photos when I can't quite tell what's in them and want to.

This is a good point.

I wonder, why can't we delete our own photos?

 

[Javan Rhino]

I wouldn't get too disheartened by a low figure of views, after all from what it sounds like this is a highly unknown and under-represented place, and few people will actively search out the gallery, the only way I'd see it is if I saw a thumbnail of an interesting species or a really poor/really good enclosure to see discussion on it - and then not always

Please don't get disheartened, and please continue uploads, especially for these lesser-known places