Best Photo of ZooChat 2021: The Vote

Which photo do you think is the best?

  • Chinese desert cat (Felis bieti)

    Votes: 4 7.4%

  • Common kingfisher

    Votes: 19 35.2%

  • Phyllopteryx taeniolatus

    Votes: 7 13.0%

  • king cheetah

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Motion blur wildebeest

    Votes: 7 13.0%

  • California Condor

    Votes: 5 9.3%

  • Joanne the Sumatran Tiger

    Votes: 2 3.7%

  • Seychelles tiger chameleon

    Votes: 3 5.6%

  • javelina chase

    Votes: 2 3.7%

  • Wild Costa's Hummingbird

    Votes: 5 9.3%
  • Total voters
    54
  • Poll closed .
A few things:
Totally missed this thread!!!, I don't know why but I completely forgot about the best photo nominations and I only just realized it ended when I randomly clicked on this, so sorry!!

So I can see some negative energy towards my King Cheetah nomination, and since it got 0 votes I count it as a knock towards me for nominating it:
First of all, I think it's a brilliant photograph, from the facial expression of the cheetah and the perfect clarity of the image, it's absolutely gorgeous. Which is why I nominated it.

Second of all, yes I know it's a great photo subject and that is part of the reason why I chose it, but I don't know, I really think it's a well made photograph?!?!! :confused:.
It's well done, as all of @Arizona Docent's work is proven to be.

So yeah just felt I had to get that out there.
 
NigeW said:
I have some sympathy with Stefan's point. This is Zoochat, captive fauna is our core and it seems rather a shame that so many entries in this competition aren't taken in zoos or collections. It is, as said, 'Best photo on Zoochat' though, and that can't be changed retrospectively.

The wildlife photos are great, I hasten to add.

I get rather frustrated - maybe too strong a word - with the general standard of photography that is accepted in the gallery, with reams and reams of duplicates, repeats and poor images flooding the gallery at times and I'm sure there's been some superb imagery posted and I've missed it amongst the noise. I think maybe the remedy for that is for discussion in another thread some time. But it would perhaps explain the lack of nominations for this comp.
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! agree! Recently there have been quite a few photos which have been out of focus, under or over exposed etc.. Also not-so- good shots of wire fences or bars, as well as many shots of exhibits, often with either a very small view of the animal depicted, or just a small part of the animal. A few exhibit shots are fine, but there have been a few too many that really do look much the same, including those of new exhibits being constructed, or old ones that are no longer used. As with any competition, there will always be photos that are overlooked, and that are very, very good shots, quite capable of winning. Wish I was in that league!!
 
Terry Thomas said:
! agree! Recently there have been quite a few photos which have been out of focus, under or over exposed etc.. Also not-so- good shots of wire fences or bars, as well as many shots of exhibits, often with either a very small view of the animal depicted, or just a small part of the animal. A few exhibit shots are fine, but there have been a few too many that really do look much the same, including those of new exhibits being constructed, or old ones that are no longer used. As with any competition, there will always be photos that are overlooked, and that are very, very good shots, quite capable of winning. Wish I was in that league!!
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I guess we completely disagree on the whole point of zoochat, then. IMO the exhibit photos are at the core of what this place is. I can see nice photos of tigers or other species anywhere. I want to know what the exhibits look like! They are what separates each zoo from one another. Knowing how exhibits look is a huge part in my decisions on where I want to go (especially when it's a multi day trip). Do they look nice? Will I be able to take those better close up photos? Do they give their animals plenty of enrichment, a nice home? If I'm trying to see a rare species, and there's only a few options for where to see it, I want to go where the exhibit is the nicest for viewing and photographing. They're also a documentation of the history of a zoo, how it has changed from the past, and how it looks now for the future.
My photos specifically - no point in acting like this isn't about me - also show every exhibit at each place I go to. That means there's a record of every species they hold at that time and how they're kept. I rarely even post my "nice" photos taken with a camera on here, because I don't see the point to it.
 
TinoPup said:
I guess we completely disagree on the whole point of zoochat, then. IMO the exhibit photos are at the core of what this place is. I can see nice photos of tigers or other species anywhere. I want to know what the exhibits look like! They are what separates each zoo from one another. Knowing how exhibits look is a huge part in my decisions on where I want to go (especially when it's a multi day trip). Do they look nice? Will I be able to take those better close up photos? Do they give their animals plenty of enrichment, a nice home? If I'm trying to see a rare species, and there's only a few options for where to see it, I want to go where the exhibit is the nicest for viewing and photographing. They're also a documentation of the history of a zoo, how it has changed from the past, and how it looks now for the future.
My photos specifically - no point in acting like this isn't about me - also show every exhibit at each place I go to. That means there's a record of every species they hold at that time and how they're kept. I rarely even post my "nice" photos taken with a camera on here, because I don't see the point to it.
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I did not intend to upset anyone with my comment. If you enjoy a particular type of photo, then that is OK with me. I always look at exhibit shots that show something new, or especially interesting, and appreciate views of landscaping etc.. I don't think too much of shots showing mainly railings, wire netting, wooden or brick walls etc.. Shots that are either to dark, to light, or blurred, are not really much good. My comment was not in fact about you. I am sorry if I have offended you -- this was not my intention. I do disagree with your comment on shots of animals. There are often photos of species that I have never seen, and sometimes never heard of, before. I also look, with some envy, at the quality of many photographers work. Keep them coming!
 
There are far too many similar photos in some of the galleries and although exhibit/structure pictures are of great interest, surely we dont need so many. I rarely look at the galleries anymore because of it.
Maybe this coming years photo comp could be made up of nominations from some of the guys who actually post the real good photos regularly, like carlos and arizona? They can look at the photos from previous years and judge what is not so striking having received fewest votes and avoid including similar.
 
littleRedPanda said:
Maybe this coming years photo comp could be made up of nominations from some of the guys who actually post the real good photos regularly, like carlos and arizona? They can look at the photos from previous years and judge what is not so striking having received fewest votes and avoid including similar.
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With all due respect, I'm not in favor of this idea at all. I'm not sure whether the first-past-the-post nomination system @birdsandbats has in place is the best one, but IMO one of the great things about the competition is that anybody can nominate a photo that spoke to them visually or emotionally. Even though I didn't end up nominating one, I regularly subscribe myself to several great photos in case I want to nominate one of them at the end of the year. Restricting the ability to choose what photos are nominated to just a few people takes away a lot of the engagement and sense of community competitions like this inherently contain.
 
littleRedPanda said:
Am I right in thinking "subscribing" to a photo is not available to non premium members? I'm sure I been through this before
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Oh, I'm not sure. I've always been able to subscribe to threads without actually posting anything in them; I assumed it was the same for photos, but maybe it isn't?
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Oh, I'm not sure. I've always been able to subscribe to threads without actually posting anything in them; I assumed it was the same for photos, but maybe it isn't?
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Best Photo of ZooChat 2019: The Nominations
I think it was discussed a couple of years ago and I found it didn't work for me.
Regardless, this is a zoo/wildlife forum and the photo comp is nothing serious so I don't think it worth the fuss. Just a bit of fun really.
 
Terry Thomas said:
I did not intend to upset anyone with my comment. If you enjoy a particular type of photo, then that is OK with me. I always look at exhibit shots that show something new, or especially interesting, and appreciate views of landscaping etc.. I don't think too much of shots showing mainly railings, wire netting, wooden or brick walls etc.. Shots that are either to dark, to light, or blurred, are not really much good. My comment was not in fact about you. I am sorry if I have offended you -- this was not my intention. I do disagree with your comment on shots of animals. There are often photos of species that I have never seen, and sometimes never heard of, before. I also look, with some envy, at the quality of many photographers work. Keep them coming!
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No offense or upset here :) Just a disagreement on thoughts. I do try to avoid shots like that (some places can't be helped, unfortunately) and I probably spend too much time waiting for people to move on so I can get clean shots of exhibits.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
With all due respect, I'm not in favor of this idea at all. I'm not sure whether the first-past-the-post nomination system @birdsandbats has in place is the best one, but IMO one of the great things about the competition is that anybody can nominate a photo that spoke to them visually or emotionally. Even though I didn't end up nominating one, I regularly subscribe myself to several great photos in case I want to nominate one of them at the end of the year. Restricting the ability to choose what photos are nominated to just a few people takes away a lot of the engagement and sense of community competitions like this inherently contain.
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This is what I had in mind when I implemented it originally.
 
littleRedPanda said:
Individual photos. I can only see the "Watch Media" option on photos but it doesn't do anything. I don't want alerts or notifications from it.
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The way I use it is by selecting "Watch Media" and then setting all notifications to off. Once I do that, I can go into the "Watched Media" tab at the top and scroll through all of the media I selected that for (mixed in with photos I've commented on, but I can usually tell the two sets apart).
 
Thank you all for voting my photo to be the best of 2021. I feel honoured and humble with this result between so many other great photo's and photographers on ZooChat.
Hopefully 2022 will bring more opportunity to go out and see and photograph all those beautiful animals all over the word.
 
Terry Thomas said:
! agree! Recently there have been quite a few photos which have been out of focus, under or over exposed etc.. Also not-so- good shots of wire fences or bars, as well as many shots of exhibits, often with either a very small view of the animal depicted, or just a small part of the animal. A few exhibit shots are fine, but there have been a few too many that really do look much the same, including those of new exhibits being constructed, or old ones that are no longer used. As with any competition, there will always be photos that are overlooked, and that are very, very good shots, quite capable of winning. Wish I was in that league!!
Click to expand...

I think the key thing for me is first and foremost, if about to post something, users check to see whether its been posted before. There is no value in having ten images of the same enclosure, whether people like enclosure photos or not. Also, I think, some users need to do some self-editing before they post. Another huge tranche of record pics from a visit to Chester or wherever adds nothing but clutter. The same applies to badly composed or executed images, unless especially newsworthy.

Personally, I see the value of enclosure shots but one of my main motives for zoo visiting is photography. I like to look up a zoo and see what's possible there. That will affect whether I decide to go. We've all got slightly different takes on being a zoo enthusiast and the gallery can serve us all. We just need to curate it carefully or else it becomes too big, and unmanageable.

@Stefan Verhoeven that's a great photo, and one to be proud of.
 
Benosaurus said:
Hey @birdsandbats, any plans for a Best Photo of ZooChat 2022?
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I had planned to do it, but I have no plans at this time.

I was pretty busy around the last New Year, so starting the thread completely slipped my mind. I remembered it by late February, which felt too late to be making a thread about 2022. Especially when you consider that participation on these threads was always fairly low and the negative reception from some users last year. But, if enough people want to see it, I will make the thread.
 
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