03-07-12 – Instant Inspiration

I was only putting the “new shot” restriction on myself because finding shots to fit random quotes seemed like a big hassle. It wasn’t specified in the theme so I don’t see an issue with archive dives.

This. Word for word.

The windmill shot was a dive. The other two were fresh. The scenario with the windmill shot was as a couple people have described: I opened “Breakfast of Champions” and that was the first sentence I saw, I said to myself “I have the perfect photograph for that”. The others, not so much.

edited to say:

Thanks kashari and Baracuda.

I’m sorry I did not participate this week (hey–I voted though), congrats flufy and the big O.

I probably won’t participate for Legos, either. I will try–theoretically it’s possible. I just can’t think of what to do with them after the contest, and the apt. is crowded enough already.

Well, this contest was a bit of a record-setter. It’s the new #1 in lowest # of entrants (17) and lowest total votes (302), edging out the previous records of 18 entrants (Barbie and Ken) and 333 votes (Pinhole Camera).

I don’t think that reflects on the quality of the theme; I think maybe there’s just a perfect storm of regulars who are busy with real life situations. That’s the case for me; right now (and for the past few months), if it isn’t amenable to a quick archive dive (and sometimes regardless), I just can’t do it. I’m only here posting today because I’m unwinding from 2 weeks on the road. (Not looking for sympathy; that’s just the facts, Jack.)

So while I had a few minutes today, I put together some charts to try to gauge the overall health of the contests. The following charts cover all contests starting when the rules were standardized at #7 and show the total Entrants, Entries, and Votes. Each chart has an overall average line as well as sliding quarter and sliding year average lines. For those unfamiliar with sliding averages, they’re basically a way of looking at recent short-term trends as opposed to the long-term view shown by the overall average; i.e., the sliding averages forecast where the overall overage is headed if the recent trends continue.

• Entrants chart
• Entries chart
• Votes chart

You can see from the SQ average line that all 3 stats have taken a precipitous dive starting late last year. I also found it interesting that while the number of entrants has steadily declined, the number of entries declined only slightly (even rising sometimes) and the average number of votes has actually steadily increased. Until recently, that is. The overall average total votes peaked at 1574 on Oct 26, 2011 and has been slowly declining since.

What’s the cause? Is the recent downturn a foreboding omen or just a “market correction”? Is it related to the voting changes, have we just had a spate of less open themes, or is everyone just too busy? Where have some of our past regulars gone (LeicaLens/No Catchy Nickname and Uranus come to mind)? I have no answers, so all opinions welcome…

I just talked to LeicaLens re: farkbook and he is super busy and not feeling photography right now but he said he will be back eventually. We all go through those periods.

As for other things I honestly think the change in voting has hurt all Fark contest threads.