As one of the jurors (I am surprised that this term is causing confusion, it's a well used word in any sort of art competition), I have just set my own rules: I disregard any photo that has been entered more than once; I won't vote for a rose/iris/etc. in anything other than their specific category; no children or pets as the focal point; and I disregard photos I don't think are representative of the category. This last one eliminates a lot of quite lovely photos. I also realize I'm just one juror out of many. My arbitrary rules actually make voting easier for me.

Well, hmmm. Now my votes are not being registered. Anyone else having trouble with this? I am able to create the stars, then click on cast votes, check 3 photos, but then when I hit return to the contest, nothing shows as having voted. I read over the intro and it appears voting is still open, so I am confused.

Not having that problem. Yet. Wonder if any of mine disappeared overnight.

Once I hit the refresh button, it solved the issue. I don't recall doing that with other categories, but perhaps I disremember (would not be unusual).

Baja_Costero said:

Did the pollinator challenge and hashtag thing result in more butterflies and bees in the pictures?

What pollinator challenge? Not a category. Or do you mean the million pollenator garden thing that some of us got special badges for?

Yes.

tx_flower_child said:Anyone know when this first round of voting ends? UTC time confuses me. I'm in the CST zone.

Thanks!

https://www.timeanddate.com/wo...

Thank you Rj.

Voting ends on Nov. 30th, time not stated (or not seen by me). Correct?

I'd better get busy because I've got a lot of voting to do!

I try not to judge too harshly on the category, as it often depends on where you live and what each means to you. Some morning glories are native to certain areas and could be considered wildflowers, or they could be annuals, or they could be perennials, depending upon your zone. This is just an example, but there are many examples like it that could be pulled out of the photos that have been submitted. While I agree that there are a few that are "off-base" completely, a lot of them could be in the "correct category" if you change your perspective. Everything else, I just try to judge on clarity, subject, exposure, and just generally the "feel" of the photo. I do also immediately eliminate pets and children, though.

with James. I pick the ones I like best and they usually just kind of jump out at me. I'm not technical but I know what I like to see

This was my first time to enter as well as vote. I've read through all your comments, and agree with some things, but I just wanted to say that, even though there are prizes to be won, it's still more for the fun of it for me. I've been taking photos for decades now, of the garden, of nature - you name it! I'm not great, but I'm not bad either. I do it because it brings me joy. I think it must be the same for a lot of you. Does it matter so much about the categorizing? I think the rules were a bit nebulous, perhaps to allow for more creativity.
Though - to be perfectly honest - I did, myself, have some criteria that I applied to the judging. I mostly chose photos that fit the category and were well-executed. But I also allowed for whimsy and creativity - in short, what struck my fancy. I will admit to posting some bird photos myself, but after a while, even the best photos of anything can feel repetitious, and one longs for something different.
Oh, and I can't help myself - I didn't realize that in cyberspeak all caps were considered to be shouting. I often use a single word in all caps just as JoAnn does - for emphasis. But when in Rome...I will try to remember to be more careful of my caps. Now if they only had italics...
Alex

samhain10 said:This was my first time to enter as well as vote. I've read through all your comments, and agree with some things, but I just wanted to say that, even though there are prizes to be won, it's still more for the fun of it for me. I've been taking photos for decades now, of the garden, of nature - you name it! I'm not great, but I'm not bad either. I do it because it brings me joy. I think it must be the same for a lot of you. Does it matter so much about the categorizing? I think the rules were a bit nebulous, perhaps to allow for more creativity.
Though - to be perfectly honest - I did, myself, have some criteria that I applied to the judging. I mostly chose photos that fit the category and were well-executed. But I also allowed for whimsy and creativity - in short, what struck my fancy. I will admit to posting some bird photos myself, but after a while, even the best photos of anything can feel repetitious, and one longs for something different.
Oh, and I can't help myself - I didn't realize that in cyberspeak all caps were considered to be shouting. I often use a single word in all caps just as JoAnn does - for emphasis. But when in Rome...I will try to remember to be more careful of my caps. Now if they only had italics...
Alex

Alex, I feel exACtly the same way. And yes, there is some photo-fatigue involved. It's good that we have a nice amount of time to vote. BTW, we do have italics, you just have to tag them in your text and they'll show up in your post. Some other things too, but for some reason, the bold doesn't seem to work. Here's a nice bit that explains all that: https://garden.org/special/pag...

Enjoy!

You can italicize by utilizing[i] italics[/ i]

Just take the space out from between the / and the i. It will appear in italics when posted

Edit: got distracted while posting and it took me a minute. Thanks for sharing the link above!

Hey, thanks guys for the info about italics !

Oh, and Joanna, the bold did work. Maybe you forgot a space or something?

samhain10 said:Oh, and Joanna, the bold did work. Maybe you forgot a space or something?

Hmmmm, interesting....let me try it now......

Here is bold text

Nope, not working on my end....

If you enter the coding incorrectly, it shows up as text in the post. So here's an example of a mistake: [b ]not-bold text due to mistake in code[\b]

Glad it's working for you though! Was there bold text in your recent post?

Alex,

Joanna, your bold text is showing up on my end.

JamesAcclaims said:Alex,

Joanna, your bold text is showing up on my end.

Thanks, must be something to do with my computer.

Joanna - it's showing up bold for me as well. Must be a glitch in your system. How strange. Computers!

samhain10 said:Joanna - it's showing up bold for me as well. Must be a glitch in your system. How strange. Computers!

ah-HA! It's the browser! No bold in Chrome, yes bold in Safari. Mystery solved! Thanks @samhain10 and others!

P.S. Not yelling "HA!" It's just for emphasis. ah-ha looks too weird.