Hello,
Sorry to break into this high level discussion, but I joined less than a month ago, and out of goodwill, I started out by being a black sheep, as I have been giving Ken and others a hard time with the photos I initially uploaded.
And I am very appreciatitive of the way my outlawed photos have been dealt with (and my own case, if I dare say so) by those in charge.
First of all, the basics. The reason why I started out by uploading "raw" photos, is because each one of them meant a lot to me. The way it was taken, showing the subject, but also the circumstances under which each had been taken. At least to me.
I learnt the hard way that my emotions regarding the circumstances surrounding the way each photo was taken was in the least what the site and the Photo Admin. really expected from it.
They care about the emotions the main subject, the vessel pictured, and at the heart of the photo, will eventually create on members/viewers.
They could not care less about circumstances leading to the way the photo was taken. That is impressed on my mind (and heart), but not in the photo. It cannot be transmitted to others.
That I have learnt.
So I needed to adjust my mind, and start focusing on the ship at the centre of the photo, not on the circumstances under which the photo had been taken. It meant developping empathy with prospective viewers, and foregoing my own in-grown rememberings of circumstances leading to the actual shot being taken. That was a learning experience to me.
Since many of my photos have been deleted, I have tried to move into the subject at the heart of the photo, and forget all the rest. All the surroundings. And all the emotions those surroundings had inspired on me. I am still working my way there.
It is an emotional thing, not a rational thing.
Now, to the point.
I do not think I would have improved my technique had the answer been spelled-out in the site FAQs.
What really has been helping me (I am still learning the ways of the site, by the way - emotionally, I mean - not theoretically through the reading of the R&R...) is that, for every single photo earmarked for "Deletion" by the first screener, I was able to read his/hers remarks at the foot of the Description section.
Left there for the second screener to judge upon.
These few words taught me a lot, and helped me realise, in every single case, what had gone wrong, and what were the specific details on which I needed to concentrate, as spelled out, to make that specific photo acceptable to the site.
That was a very useful learning experience. Question and Answer provided on the spot!
Right now, seeing and noting those remarks requires swiftness on the part of the prospective (and delinquent...) photographer, as once the second screener sees the photo and finally deletes it, those remarks are lost (at least to the photographer self).
Maybe what could be arranged is a way to have those remarks by the first screener be automatically emailed to the photographer, so that one is sure he reads them, and acknowledges them, in the realm of his/hers own reality and limitations.
My 2 cents worth.
Thanks for reading.
Jose
(jdap)