So, something that comes up a lot when I’m teaching people about Wayfarer in person or online is that a lot of photos may cause an otherwise good nomination to be rejected because of the season it was taken in. This is a big concern in the U.S. where a lot of the country experiences different seasonal changes: snow, fallen leaves (which lead to trees that look like sticks), grey skies, etc. I have personally had many nominations rejected in the past for taking pictures when it had snowed, and it was one of the first questions I had that originally brought me to the forums.
It could be nice to have a thread to send people to help them understand the reasoning behind the choices reviewers sometimes make. So, if you do reject these nominations for pictures that aren’t taken in sunny, summer-y weather, why is that? Can you talk us through your decision-making process? Are you open to being persuaded to think about these pictures differently in the future?
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I only reject when it is very difficult to make the poi out in the photo. This can be an issue with snow or rain. I don’t consider this rejecting for weather, but for low quality photo.
Sometimes a glistening wet or snowy surface can make a great photo and those I approve.
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In gloomy conditions you can try tweaking the photo, e.g. putting it through an HDR filter to brighten it up and make it more vibrant - take the photo using your phone’s camera app, edit it and then apply it to the wayspot submission as an existing photo.
Here’s an example - for this one it was nearly dark, so I used night mode on the camera and came up with something acceptable…
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Great thread to start. Being I’m in the northern US, and yes, we have snow right now, I’ve never had this issue, but have heard of others having it.
I think what is key when I’m nominating, regardless of the season, is to make sure the POI is the main focus of the photo. Sometimes there’s extra foreground/background that isn’t needed, but as long as I can see the POI clearly in the photo, I won’t reject, maybe IDK on the photo.
I submitted a LFL at a park a year ago, and yes, there was snow on the ground, no leaves on the trees, etc. I even upgraded the nomination, and it was quickly approved. This is the main photo that I took:
Another winter nomination of mine I also took after dark. However, the picnic pavilion is lit up at night, both on the top of the roof and underneath. Also upgraded, and quickly accepted:
We also have a good deal of Wayspots with main photos that show it during winter, with snow and ice around it, so it seems to not be that big of an issue where I am. Even with some of these Wayspots, I’ve submitted photos during other seasons, like this pond overlook I took a photo of in November during the global edits challenge:
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Great topic!
I often take photos during a light rain or just after the rain. A lot of what I submit is outdoor amenities like tennis courts, swimming pools, baseball fields, etc. So down here in the South where we generally have good weather, those amenities are typically packed with people during good weather days. Of course, I love a fantastic photo with blue skies and white puffy clouds. But removing people from those photos is a pain. It’s also more likely that I will get funny looks from people wondering why I’m taking photos.
So, with that in mind, I often submit photos of tennis courts with puddles on them. I recently had a swimming pool rejected - one of the reasons was Low Quality Photo. Thankfully, I was able to appeal it. There were 2 (non) issues that I assume bothered overly picky or uninformed reviewers. 1) The pool had a cover over it since it is winter. 2) That cover had a puddle on top of it from rain and then leaves had fallen into the puddle.
Is this the most gorgeous photo of a pool ever taken? Of course not. But can you tell that it is a pool? Yes. It’s not blurry, there is good lighting, it’s cropped and centered well. By no means should this have been marked as a low quality photo (for the purposes of Wayfarer).
So keep it in mind, people. We’re not out here taking photos to turn into travel posters. We are taking photos that help someone identify the location or item.
LOL. Here’s one where I literally captured the rain coming down. I got soaked that day. But it’s what we do, right? These places are great for socializing and exercising which means they are often in use.
If this photo bugs someone, I have no problem if they can get a better image to replace it. But until they put in that effort, the people local to this tennis court now have a place to play Niantic games.
BTW, I don’t think I’ll ever get back to interact with either of these wayspots. These were places that I found on a map and made a specific trip to go submit them.
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