Over the past six months that Ive been using Gurushots, I have seen countless photos that either comply with the challenge in the barest terms, or not at all. Speaking of running challenges: I still have seven challenges waiting in the review queue after more than a year (read my article about how challenges are created here). Its another trick to maximize players engagement. But remember, Fills are not free. Should be out in the coming weeks. Boosts allow the challenge participants to gain a lot of exposure to a particular photo. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. My advice would be to go through the top 100 photos in a challenge you like, then try to work out how to do something similar. (Image: Micro image of small cactus plants bristles.). Thank you for your help! Using GuruShots. (LogOut/ Otherwise you can use a key and decide to boost a photo at the time of your choice. Its a great way to discover a new talented photographer. Yet, you can still see a challenge lasting for 15 days from time to time (500px started something called Quests and they last for a month). GuruShots' goal is to suck away the maximum of your life and probably of your money in return for meaningless and empty fame. Spending time on Gurushots. Done! However, in a game, one has to compete to win competitively. Again, maximize user engagement. Shoot to play and join the race for votes from anywhere in the world. Here is a bit of advice regarding Gurus pick. In the end, you just have an empty feeling as the virtual interaction bypasses anything that one considers socially fulfilling. GuruShots photography competitions can be a fun way to gain experience and exposure while networking with photo-lovers from around the world. It is by far the most complicated aspect of the game. Low exposure levels equal low (but not no) exposure, naturally, and the images for users with the highest exposure levels get rotated so that everyone with a high exposure meter level gets an equal shot at getting their images seen by voters and viewers. More challenges mean more repetitive themes. Long-lasting challenges (a week or more) are much less frequent than they used to be. While voting for the images of other users in each challenge you are participating in is a great way to boost the exposure level for your own challenge-submitted images, you dont want to just start voting willy-nilly and hope for the best. You have to claim them, though. Remember, Boosts arent free and use them while your exposure level is at the maximum. Here, users upload their photos for the community to see, rank, vote and comment on. Take advantage of swaps: Swapping at a specific time is the key to gaming and gaining the highest ranking. Another common question is: Does GuruShots buy photos? Not only it is a scam, it has nothing to do with photography. So many people might abuse this, and vote yes just for the sake of voting and having their own photos exposed. Your email address will not be published. See this map for your state's voter laws to find out what form of ID you need to vote in person on Election Day, or if you can vote without an ID. However, in a 4 photo challenge, do not fill the exposure after the swap; instead, swap back 8 minutes before the challenge ends and fill the exposure only after the votes have stopped. Some people might have difficulties finding enough photos to enter a four-photos challenge. GuruShots.com was founded in 2010. Usually, they are locked during the challenge and only open randomly once during the challenge. I am going to stop playing this game. 20 Best Photography Contests to Enter in 2023. If you've connected your calendar you'll be . My photos have definitely improved by doing the challenges and whereas when I started I was delighted when they reached premier level, now I'm quite surprised if they don't get 'all star'. Disclaimer, Im not paid by Gurushots for this article. I left the game several years back. I couldnt find you under Numeric Citizen, could you give me your link? This example is for a one photo only challenge. The free Boost will only unlock for members who have joined a challenge before 25% of the challenge time has ended or a maximum of 24 hours after the . Viral Vote is a free photo competition with real cash prizes! Voting is surely the most expensive (time-wise) activity, but other things cost time as well. This time, I want to give you the best tips and tricks on playing the game. fernywood 4 yr. ago. I enter most challenges at the . I ran a challenge and gave out 700 Guru picks and as a result had my privileges of running challenges taken away. Those people spend 24/7 playing the game. But Your best shot is a way more general theme and it is difficult to get a good score in these challenges because you are competing with very talented photographers. Funny enough, I entered a challenge entitled Rusty & worn. This is where Fills come into play, if you have any in your possession, using them will help you alleviate your burden. Without going into detail, basically they do this to get the maximum amount of votes at the end of the game for that image. Git gud, as the kids say! If your picture gets selected, you earn 50 votes just for this and you increase your achievements as it takes five Guru picks to become a Guru. I received none of those prizes when I won. Not everyone feels positively about it though. These are activities where the goal is to get as many votes as possible (by participating in as many challenges as possible, obviously). Its not. When you swap in a new image to replace an existing one, the new image gets an exposure bonus to make sure it gets as much exposure as your other photos already have. You will get the same number of views whether you enter early or late, but one possible difference might be the rank of the voters. Founder & content creator at Digital World Beauty. Voting for our Best of Nac opens this weekend and will continue through 5 p.m. March 27. If you want to play GuruShots and be successful, read on and youll thank me later. Teams can challenge each other. Respect the theme. 2. Id be most interested at seeing your ptf. Users without special keys will be kept out. Don't use the daily free boosts. However by then the leading images have usually already scored a couple of thousand votes so it is impossible to catch them up or overtake! Thanks for your comment. Just that when they vote on an image, it is a Guru Pick. You need to fill up your vote-meter to . What's Next? The voting view is the number of times a photo has been viewed in a specific challenge. This is what your participants will vote on. (LogOut/ In the first part, I covered all the basics but sprinkled in some tips & tricks as well. Win a challenge 4. Oh dear god, I feel you! So far, as I play, I have used swaps only for poorly performing photos in a challenge. Early averages may be as low as 5-5.5 votes per voter while some periods within the last day can be upwards of 6.5-7 votes per voter. When you submit your photos to a contest, you can vote for other people. I noticed that watermarks are not favourite for Guru picks, which of course is understandable. Without a doubt, there are pros and cons to. I think you have to be lucky to some extent and swapping often gives a huge advantage to finding that luck. The site uses an algorithm ensuring that each submitted photo gets equal exposure regardless of when it was uploaded during the challenge. bientt! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Ive swapped a photo today in a challenge as I thought the leading image had just over 1800 votes and I thought that ought to be within reach for a good photo. Once you have obtained Guru status (you must, among other things, win a contest to obtain it) you . Also make sure to join our Community Discord server: https://discord.gg/hxYkYTu Also, what happens if I swap my best performing image (after votes have stabilized) when the exposure meter is high and it has boost? I'm stuck on veteran because i can't get top 20% or any guru picks and I'm wondering if you guys have noticed entering as soon as it opens or maybe 1 or 2 days before the contest ends is best? If you want to see the game in action, head to my Vimeo page. Apply to many contests 2. When your exposure is at the highest level, your images do not get maximum exposure at all times. The Guru moniker has lost its lustre over time; there are too many of them who can run their challenge. The information contained on Digital World Beauty is intended for informational and educational purposes only. I had a phenomenal photo that matched the name of the competition perfectly. Just go to the website and sign up. They used to run 40 challenges at the same time, now they run about 20. Get 5 Guru Picks Some tips to get there: 1. Vote for others! To move the needle, I would have to create a support request, then maybe Ill get some attention, and maybe theyll approve some of them. It doesnt make a difference for the final results are most of the voting sessions by others happen at the last minute anyway. There is one or more team leader who decides which challenge the team enters as a whole. If a photo doesnt perform well, youll be able to swap for another one. The key to success in Gurushots isn't a mystery, it's simply about getting more votes. What is the best time you would join? For a two photos challenge, dividing the result by two is required. Now I see those names as investors, but what makes you think they are the mafia group? On the subject of swapping, swap when your bonus exposure is high to maximize the effect. Can you help please. You see, people get bored pretty easily, the turnover must be high to keep the interest high. A good photo has factor 3. Remember that the more you vote, the higher score you give to your competitors, so it seems better to vote as little as possible by joining late. The first thing was that the same small group of players were consistently winning games with very average images. Does anybody know why my better performing photos always end up with really lacklustre boosts. A few, more competitive contests do require users to spend money on a key to enter, however. If you want to create your profile, follow this link. You decide that it does not get as many votes as your oth . Playing on the bigger screen would allow for better image visualization. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. How does this give an advantage with receiving votes? While a virtual connection is excellent for todays business, humans still crave physical connection. The best time to swap an image into a challenge is when there is less than a day (24 hours) left before the challenge ends. Its really awsome, thank you! Hope this helps. As an online gaming platform for photographers, it emphasizes prize winning more than the participants talent. Would love to find you & follow you, I will try. These will allow your photos to get noticed, resulting in more votes in the competition. Submit great photos! Want to update or remove your response? 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It no relevance to the competition and it was a poor photo in general. GuruShots is an online gaming platform for photographers that is fun, social and educational." It is a "free membership" to sign up but there are features you can pay if you want to advance in the competition and time-consuming voting daily tasks. I tried again this afternoon swapping a photo into a challenge with just a few hours to run. After having had an accident and surgery and not being able to walk for months, it occurred to me that I can share my passion for photography with you through words. Press the boost key.. Once youve reached maximum amount of votes possible voting on your picture have ended and you are in # 1 position (you may need several swaps and fills to get there) swap your picture out of the contest. The top photo was garbage. Suppose the photo gets to the top, swap 12 hours and 6 hours before the four photo challenges and six a single photo challenge, respectively. Its a trick, so you feel the need to spend more time in voting sessions13. At some point, your photos wont get more votes for many hours if your exposure level is at the maximum, then this means your photos wont really get new votes. It takes a combination of triggers (keys, swaps and fills) to win a challenge. You dont have to pay to play at all. (Image: Atalaya Castle, Huntington Beach State Park, South Carolina; All images are the original photography of the author. 4. The game design is based on the same principles behind social media: to get you engaged as much as possible. No worries if you cant answer. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Utilize your auto-fill feature during the day when competitors are looking at voting on photos on the platform. First-Time Voters. (Which is not exactly fair.). However, you must utilize some features to promote your work visibility on this platform. Its a major problem in the game platform as it shouldnt make a difference if votes were evenly distributed during the challenge running time. None others than the ones already on the blog post Im afraid, Thank you for your much appreciated tips and tricks! Late morning and mid-afternoon will be the easiest times to get in, but if you need to go later, don't let long lines scare you off; as long as you're in line when the polls close, you will be . The participants upload a photo into the competition, which immediately gets many views. To do this you need to get your photographs seen by as many players as possible and make them stand out. This time, I want to give you the best tips and tricks on playing the game. The more you vote, the more exposure your photos will get. Competitors spend a lot of time on the website to increase their visibility. When uploading your photos, make sure to keep EXIF metadata. When joining a team, you cannot participate in a match while one is currently being played. While those posts are not 100% true, there is some truth to them. Teams are divided up into leagues based on the score they achieve each Season. Track your progress in real-time throughout the game. They are named Guru Pro on their profile. In this case, you level up by earning points and getting noticed by the photographer, and receiving specific awards. While Georgia is a state with its own set of voting issues and recent shifts in policies reducing the number of voting . Dont miss part 2 where I give two examples to explain how much time you should expect to play in order to be successful. It features millions of participants globally. Youll find the same pictures again and again in many similar challenges. Im sorry but I dont do support for Gurushots. Its a good enhancement to the gameplay. It is a legit website that allows participants to compete and win big prizes. Level requirements can change from one challenge to the other. If you are not sure to understand the theme meaning, open the challenge and look at the current guru picks or the current ranking. Start it near the end. An example of the narrow theme is flying birds. Dont give them any. As a DigitalWorldBeauty.com reader, you have an opportunity to get the Creative Photography Cookbook for 80% OFF. In the first article How to Become a Guru at the GuruShots Game I described how to create your photographer profile, how to enter challenges and play. I've also noticed more professional photos enter the last 24 hours I was worried that if I enter the last 24 hours the guru would have already picked their photos so I've been going back and forth entering early and late to try and get guru picks haha. We hope you are inspired and have fun with them! When you dont have one, youll need to buy one. The equal opportunity that each participant receives makes this game reliable and legit. As the competition is running, the guru pro creator will select a few of the best pictures. Also, bear in mind that the voted view differs from standard views. The person that made the negative comments above seems very bitter and negative. I am enjoying submitting my pics and I am always learning in the field of photography. Another addition to the game is that now youll get a notification when the challenge organizer is actively picking up photos and GuruShots will encourage you to swap one of your pictures to get attention. Late afternoon and early evening are great times during the week, because people have come home from work, eaten dinner, and are settling in at home and checking all their programs, apps, platforms, and networks. A winning photo could be awarded anything, including: After a participant uploads a photo or photos in the challenge, the voting system ensures that all photos receive the same number of views. Good photos are an asset needed but not enough. GuruShots is a newly launched service that turns photography into a game with a real-time online photo competition system. If you think this game is all about photography, think again. A Quick Overview of GuruShots . The more the fills, swaps, and keys, the higher your chances are for winning. You will undoubtedly find posts and articles online that explain how swapping at certain times is the ultimate key to gaming the game and getting the highest rankings (and most votes) on Gurushots. Choosing when you vote (or use auto-fill) is the key to maximizing your exposure level to get more votes. Again it rose up to just over 1300 votes and promptly stopped. I am in the camp that this whole thing is basically a rigged system. I had one in my group and as soon as I reported them, their profile was deleted. Early voting data shows best times to avoid long lines and polling place crowds. Furthermore, nobody cares about your award-winning budges outside of this website. Make sure you take photos that are worth submitting to a photo challenge. Only the obvious ones go to the top which means, more often than not, caricatural images. This app is almost essential for managing a large number of challenges in GuruShots, the most played Photo game on the Net. There are actually a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting more votes for your photographs. Sorry to hear about that. When I finally got Guru by winning the competition, the competition that I won had a top prize of a $1000 gift certificate to some camera store and a free portfolio critique by the Guru running the competition. Vote on other players' photos, collect votes and see how you rank compared to others. Is GuruShots a con? It was head scratching to say the least, but it didnt stop there. Work your way up from Newbie to Guru status by receiving peer votes, points and achievements. Gurushots is a gaming platform, not an art contest site. When is the best point in time to fill and . But what I think really counts is when people with highest voting power vote (it's better to have 1 guru vote than 3 newbies) and this is towards the end of the challenge. Are you an upcoming photographer looking for avenues to make extra cash? My guess is that those in the know join either just before the last 24 hours so as not to cost a key to enter, or in the last hour, so there's time to receive the full number of views before the challenge ends, but you only have to vote once. Thanks. These tips should help that happen. So it doesnt seem possible for a photo to come in late and come into the top spot from nowhere. Without a doubt, there are pros and cons to GuruShots.com platform. Watermarks arent really accepted and personally, I dont vote for photos with Watermarks. Each player may have a different experience of the game, hence different point of views. It is hard to say when is the right time to join one thing is sure, they now require a key in order to join a challenge 24 hrs or less before the end of the challenge. I'm not positive but I'm guessing the boost in a four challenge takes exposure from the other four pics and applies it to the boosted photo. Like anything else in life, you are rewarded for the effort and time that you put in. I would like to ask about how to recive the prize in gurushots. The game puts pressure on players to vote as much as possible. Thus, regardless of whether you upload at the beginning or the end, all photos will enjoy the same exposure. Thank you for this article. I've noticed that there are a flood of really good photos submitted near the end of most challenges, which implies that the higher ranked photographers who offer more points aren't voting until later in the challenge. The context of the conversation was that I had good images and they wanted me to join the team and win more comps. I have spent money on this game but I am not going to play it anymore. Fill has nothing to do with stopping the votes. This is important, since you get more exposure for your photos 3. Thus, the best time to use the boost is to join during the stated period and swap a lot. It has to be a four photo challenge. I've really taken my time to vote only for shots that respect the challenge theme and are well photographed. Please note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. What this means is that you need to use your voting power or auto-fill at times of the day when the most users are likely going to be looking at and voting on images in the Gurushots photo challenges. At the top of the Leagues page you will see a counter counting down the time left in the season.. GuruShots is not a platform for selling photos. View all posts by Numeric Citizen. . Let me be clear: if youve been playing GuruShots and like the game, fine, Im not judging how you decide to spend your free time. Thanks for the Tips. 2. in the last year or so and I dont like it. If you are raising your exposure meter in the wee hours of the morning when fewer Gurushots users are looking at and voting on images, you wont get very many votes by the time your exposure meter starts dropping back down. Get more Points 2. Im not done with this guide yet. Blogging about things related to Apple, photography, Privacy and Climate Change. Interesting math: for any given challenge youre in, dividing the current number of points by the number of voters (use the notifications drop-down menu on the website to see how many voters youve got), you get the average voting power of the voters15. What are your thoughts on this platform/game? The dynamics at the very end of a challenge play a big role in the final results, time zones are critical in deciding which challenge to join14. First things first, check out the video below to understand what is GuruShots.com about: Suppose you are a photographer looking forward to gaining exposure and validation for your work and determining your skill set against other artists while enjoying a game. Winning the public vote requires you to have impeccable timing and knowledge about how the current implementation of the Gurushots system works. The free boost only unlocks for members who have joined the challenge before 25% of the challenge time has erupted or before the first 24 hours have ended. Thus, while downloading and joining the platform is free, it will cost you some dollars depending on how much exposure you want for your work and if you are looking forward to winning big. Basically a best-of-the-best approach from the viewpoint of the Guru who created the challenge. This way, the under-performing photo is a swap candidate. GuruShots, The first-of-its-kind photo app for photographers of any level, reinvents the way people interact with their photos, making it more fun, exciting and rewarding. The best way to win a nonprofit voting competition is by not entering. The easiest way to get your exposure meter filled without spending ten minutes per contest per 12 hours is to just vote for everything as fast as you can . A team can have standby members waiting to participate as two teams in a match must have an equal number of players. Unfortunately, I dont know as I never won the first prize ! However, the maximum views are dynamic and change as the challenge progresses. Spending time on Gurushots; Spending emotions on Gurushots winning and losing, quality of images . Youll save time and be able to do other things in your life, like reading my blog. Reading aims to ensure your photo complies with the competition guidelines. Time is shorter for fast challenges, which accumulate votes faster.). Social Appreciate you stopping by! If you are raising your exposure meter in the wee hours of the morning when fewer Gurushots users are looking at and voting on images, you won't get very many votes by the time your exposure meter starts dropping back down. GuruShots is free to download the app. The straw that broke my back was there a competition where I was leading the challenge for at least four hours. I do have a challenge waiting in review called Rusty places which never passed the review process. What you write is nothing similar. That said, good photos do tend to be up there in the top 50, it's just that there's often a bunch of not so great shots there too. You have to wait for the next match. People actually need to vote positively to at least 100 photos a time to get full exposure. Youll also have answer to your question: Here are the 10 ways to make money with photography. Any advice for that specifically? What is the best time to boost in GuruShots? Go look my page Find me here too, all links are there, OK Jean-Franois, je viens de vous trouver. Hi NC, just found your blog, most interesting reading material! June 11, 2022 Posted by: grady county, ga zoning map . Here is a scenario: Lets say a Dominant Blue challenge (4 photos) is going to end in 2 hours. Thus, the best time to use the boost is to join during the stated period and swap a lot. The best time for someone in New York wont be the best time for someone in California, or Russia or France or Madagascar. At that point, I knew the game was rigged somehow. I would have preferred different names instead. If you are an upcoming photographer looking forward to exposing your artistic work without spending GuruShots is your best option. Those things are: (1) selective use of the auto-fill option (or your voting ability); (2) advantageous use of swaps; (3) reading (and complying with) the challenge guidelines; and (4) submitting great photos. With these tips, I hope you get better at GuruShots and eventually become a Guru! Reddit /Gurushots is a great place to discuss strategy by the way. People didnt like them as they required way too much time for too many voting sessions and keep your exposure level high. Get 30 All Stars 3. Consumers complaining about Gurushots most frequently mention several times problems.Gurushots ranks 25th among Photography Forum sites. Once your image is back in, hit the auto-fill button and watch the results. There is still no limit to how many times you can submit a picture in a challenge, unless the picture won a challenge, which is a rare case, right? The one with the most votes becomes the winner of a prize worth $300 or more. I was in the lead for days in one challenge right up to where there was only 47mins left ..yep in the lead with only 47mins left ..wow.I thoughtBut in the end I finished in 15th..15TH ??????? On the first day of early voting, nearly 13,000 people went to the polls in Davidson County. Lets see why Im being so severe here. Choose a few options to ensure a higher likelihood of finding the best time for everyone to meet. The game is SO rigged and used as a crowd funding so the execs can go from country to country, exhibition to exhibition on the players dimes. Reading (And Complying With) the Challenge Guidelines. Teams advance by winning challenges. We already covered a bit of that further up where I made some calculations about how much time you could be spending on voting alone. I used to watermark my photos too but know now it doesnt make sense . Best photos never win. I observed that the final issue of a challenge always flip in the last few minutes. The 30 All-Star finishes and the 5 Guru Picks I got in just a few days.