So, Niantic decided to reject the appeal for this wayspot submission because an animal is in the photo, even though it’s not the focus of the photo. It’s just a dog that’s far away and just happened to be running there while I was taking the photo. By that logic, every photo that has a bird in it would be ineligible. I seriously can’t believe that they don’t know their own rules, which say that animals can be in the photo as long as they’re not the main focus of the photo.
If I was in that area, I could know the dog was yours and thus go “hey it’s Zem’s nomination, I should vote highly on this”. I have seen it before with the same dog/animal on supporting photos even, and also with the same bike left by the sign that is nominated etc.
You could definitely take a better photo that does not have a dog in it.
(This is coming from someone who had a Live Animal reject for a mask of bacteria display)
But rejecting this is still against their rules. I’m definetelly not going to chase a random dog away just to get a picture without it, and I’ve had multiple nominations accepted with random cats/dogs being unintentionally in the photo.
Hello @ZemljaCE
Things in the distance in your nomination photos has come up before.
It can be difficult on a small screen to spot all these elements. If it is possible then take the photos, check them carefully on your camera roll an if you spot something retake or crop out. You can then make the submission using photos you have carefully checked, and lessen the problems that are occuring.
I am puzzled as to why this isn’t a much more straight om view of the sign. It looks more like what I would expect a supporting photo to look like.
If something like a dog or person is in the picture and unlikely to move then change where you are standing to find a better angle to avoid them.
The message from this rejection is not that this is ineligible ( I haven’t attempted to read what it is exactly) but that it should be presented in a better way.
Take that feedback on board, and you will have fewer frustrating situations.
I worded it incorrectly. They didn’t break a rule, but they haven’t made the correct decision according to the rules. The rules say that live animals are allowed to be in the photo as long as they’re not the main focus or placed there intentionally, which is not the case here.
Because the POI is supposed to represent both the pond and the community headquarters which is the building on the left. The sign is basically just a list of rules, eg. no swimming.
If I had thought that this dog would cause problems, I would have used Samsung’s object removal tool which I had used a few times to remove people or licence plates. However, according to the rules, this dog (and a few crows on the tree on the right) isn’t the reason for the photo to be ineligible, as it’s not put there intentionally nor is it the main focus of the photo.
The sign is basically just a list of rules (eg. no swimming), so I took a photo of both the pond and the community headquarters (building on the right) which the POI is meant to represent, with the sign being an “anchor point”.
We have seen pets used as identifiers in the past to influence reviewers. We have to err on the side of caution if we see pets in main or supporting images.
My point still stands, and this dog is very cleary not used as an identifier as it’s moving and far away, while identifier pets are usually sitting closer to the photographer.
Do this include for different type of animals like pigeons, cows, sheeps, horses, etc.?
I’m asking seriously as, in my opinion, they shouldn’t be considered as pets that you can put on purpose to take the picture; but it would be nice to be sure about this topic and what kind of animals shouldn’t appear in any of both pictures as they may fall in being considered pets and, because that, identifiers to influence reviewers.
When we take photos and write descriptions we do so from our own perspective and context.
So for example you know that the dog has nothing to do with you so to you it seems strange that others raise it as an issue.
But to those of us looking at that photograph we don’t have your absolute knowledge we can only go on what we see.
As a submitter you need to try and put yourself in the shoes of other people first and look at the photo and the text and how they might interpret it.
Make sure it’s a scary one.