User talk:Kevin Payravi/Archive/2017

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Wiki Loves Monuments Results

Mr. Payravi,

Hello I was surprised and very disappointed to see the 10th place winning photo of Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo in San Antonio. It is amazing that in all the photos you received, that a photo of this monument was in the top ten. I am thrilled about that!

File:Missions_of_San_Antonio_99.jpg|https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Missions_of_San_Antonio_99.jpg

I cannot find the photos I submitted online, but the photo I submitted of this mission was a far better photo than the one you chose. I would ask you to please look at my photo again and reconsider. I realize I am not a professional photographer but my photo is much better and I thought this was an amateur contest. I uploaded the files again.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mission_San_Jos%C3%A9_y_San_Miguel_de_Aguayo.jpg

Thank you for your attention. Steve Yount

Hi @Sbyount: Thanks for reaching out to me! You can view all your past uploads here. In the future, you can access this page by clicking on the "Uploads" link at the top-right of any page while logged in. You may also select the "Contributions" link, which will take you to a list of all your previous uploads and edits.

Regarding the results of Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States: You can see how our winners were selected at Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 in the United States/Winners. 11,000+ uploads went through three rounds of judging. The winners of each round were determined by panels of judges of various backgrounds (including artists, photographers, historians, etc). With 11,000 images to go through, this process was designed to be as fair as possible to all candidates, while bringing on-board diverse groups of judges with various backgrounds, perspectives, and preferences.

Regarding changing the winner: The winners were selected back in 2016, and I've never heard of a contest that replaces winners after-the-fact due to preference. Please keep in mind that for a contest like this, choosing the winners isn't an objective determination. The results of the judging process is, naturally, left to the judges and their own judgement and perceptions. You uploaded a great photo, but there is nothing objective about it being "far better" than the winners. Everyone brings different backgrounds, perspective, and preferences to the table. Take my perspective, for example - you've taken a great photograph at an interesting angle, but having a bit of an eye for the technical aspects of a photograph, your photo's sky is washed out from the sun and has a strong shadow-and-light contrast. Some viewers may not notice or may even like it, thinking it adds to the artistic quality; others may not be a fan. I'm not trying to disparage your photograph, but am rather pointing out that what some people value in a photograph isn't what others value. Out of 11,000 submissions, many are exceptional, and one could argue that any number of them deserve a spot in the top-10 - but unfortunately not everyone can win.

Let me know if there are any questions I can answer. I do regret that we can only select 10 winners for this contest, as so many of our contributors take their time to contribute great photos. At the very least, know that your contributions to the Commons are valued and have helped improve this free source of educational media - and I hope you consider participating in 2017. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 06:02, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo

Kevin, Thank you for you detailed comments. I realize the decision on the contest cannot be reversed and I am sorry I overreacted. I was just surprised to see a similar shot in the winners. My shot had much more content and color in it but I did not photoshop it so I admit the sky was a bit washed out. I will keep that in mind if I decide to submit any photos in the future. Thank you again for your kind reply. Steve

Your VFC installation method is deprecated

Hello Kevin Payravi, we are aware that using the old installation method of VFC (via common.js, which you are using) may not work reliably anymore and can break other scripts as well. A detailed explanation can be found here. Important: To prevent problems please remove the old VFC installation code from your common.js and instead enable the VFC gadget in your preferences. Thanks! --VFC devs (q) 16:24, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Real Life Barnstar
	Thank you for all your "real life" and on-wiki work within the Wikimedia movement. You did a spectacular job with co-organizing WikiConference North America, and I see you are spearheading Wiki Loves Monuments now, too. Keep up the great work! Another Believer (talk) 00:09, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

@Another Believer: Thank you for the kind words, very encouraging! :) Glad you enjoyed WikiConference North America, it's great to hear that people had a nice time. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 07:11, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States – Back for 2017!

This user participated in Wiki Loves Monuments 2016.

Want to show your participation in Wiki Loves Monuments 2017? Add {{User Wiki Loves Monuments 2017}} to your userpage!

Hi there! My name is Kevin, one of the organizers of Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States. Last year, you contributed to our 2016 event. It was a great success thanks to you and many others, with over 1,700 people contributing over 11,000 great photos of cultural and historic sites from all over the United States. Over 1,000 of these photos now help illustrate Wikipedia articles, making our open knowledge about United States history and heritage all the better.

I'm pleased to say that we're back this year with Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States, and I'd like to welcome you to participate once again in the event. Check out our updated event page for more information, including updated tips, lists, and prizes. Like last year, you'll be able to upload your new photos of any registered historical site in the United States through the end of September (even if the photos were taken before this month).

Once again, thank you for participating in Wiki Loves Monuments 2016, and we hope to see you in this year's event! If you'd like to respond to this message directly, please do so on my talk page. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 08:04, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Response to WLM-US inviteon

Hello Kevin, Thank you for the reminder. I will be entering this year. Gillfoto 24.237.5.47 15:48, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

@Gillfoto: Awesome, happy to hear! :) ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 03:19, 2 September 2017 (UTC)

Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States/Add images

Commons:Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States/Add images has been listed at Commons:Deletion requests so that the community can discuss whether it should be kept or not. We would appreciate it if you could go to voice your opinion about this at its entry. If you created this project page, please note that the fact that it has been proposed for deletion does not necessarily mean that we do not value your kind contribution. It simply means that one person believes that there is some specific problem with it. Please remember to respond to and – if appropriate – contradict the arguments supporting deletion. Arguments which focus on the nominator will not affect the result of the nomination. Thank you!

206.83.24.126 18:31, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Note: Closed as vandalism. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:07, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

Pictures of Kentucky Courthouses and Historical Sites..

I am photographing Kentucky courthouses and historical sites. My pictures are not the greatest but feel free to use any photos you wish => https://sites.google.com/site/kentuckycountymaps/home/completed-pictures. I will continue to update this site as I travel to more KY counties. I love Wikipedia!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Satupe (talk • contribs) 13:16, 4 September 2017 (UTC)

Hi @Satupe: These are great, thanks for sharing! A lot of these could be great for Wiki Loves Monuments, as well as Wikipedia articles. I was wondering - since I caught up with organizing the event, would you be interested in uploading your photos yourself? I personally love contributing images to the Commons, and I think you might too. I know you have your Google Site, but you could also use your userpage (User:Satupe) as a place to showcase your work.

Note that the Wikimedia Commons requires images to be licensed under a free license, which allows anyone to use the work as long as its author is attributed. The most common license is CC BY-SA 4.0.

Let me know if you'd be interested in contributing your photos in the next few weeks. If you don't want to upload yourself, let me know and I can try to upload them myself as well :) ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:09, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

Is Wiki profiting in any way from the photographs entered into the competitions?

Are you selling the high-resolution images to stock houses. Are you selling the images a stock images? Are you making the images available for other users to use? -William — Preceding unsigned comment was added by 2604:2000:8086:F600:81FD:19D8:9669:D4A6 (talk) 20:03, 4 September 2017 (UTC)

@2604:2000:8086:F600:81FD:19D8:9669:D4A6: Hi William! When you upload photos to the Wikimedia Commons, you have to choose a free license to license your photo under. The most common/default option is CC BY-SA 4.0 which, put simply, let's anyone use the work for any purpose, as long as its author is attributed and any derivatives are licensed under the same license. So images aren't being sold...rather, the images are made available for free use. Like Wikipedia freely licenses its text for anyone to use, the Wikimedia Commons serves as a free repository of educational images for anyone to use. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks, ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:01, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

Category:Images_from_Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2017_in_Mississippi

Images from Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in Mississippi has been listed at Commons:Categories for discussion so that the community can discuss ways in which it should be changed. We would appreciate it if you could go to voice your opinion about this at its entry. If you created this category, please note that the fact that it has been proposed for discussion does not necessarily mean that we do not value your kind contribution. It simply means that one person believes that there is some specific problem with it. If the category is up for deletion because it has been superseded, consider the notion that although the category may be deleted, your hard work (which we all greatly appreciate) lives on in the new category. In all cases, please do not take the category discussion personally. It is never intended as such. Thank you!

73.240.79.31 03:34, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

Thank You For The Ohio Info

Hello! Thank you for the help with Wiki Loves Monuments as well as the information on the Ohio Wikimedians User Group. I absolutely did join and hope to help out. I mainly take pictures but do make some Wikipedia edits to subjects I feel competent to edit in. I am not affiliated with OSU but would be willing to participate in an appropriate event if possible. I also appreciate the list of photos around OSU that need to be checked off and I am sure I can help, but is there a list of photos around Columbus that need to be done as well? I’m sure there are many but some kind of priority listing would be nice. Thank you again, Sixflashphoto (talk) 02:54, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

@Sixflashphoto: Sorry for the late response! Glad you joined, and congrats on the recent promotions of some of your Columbus photos to quality status. Regarding a general list of Columbus photos that are needed, I'm not sure if something like that exists...but Columbus is relatively under-photographed I think, so lots to do! :) ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:47, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

@Kevin Payravi: We're all busy so I entirely understand. Thank you for you for complementing my recent promotions. Lately I've been doing a lot of River, Parks, Monuments, Sites people would recognize, etc. But i'll give you an example. The Ohio Department of Education did not have any images at all yet alone one of their HQ. There are a lot of articles in the Metro Columbus (Gov. Ohio) that are of some significant important that do need pictures still and I am more then willing to help with my camera but don't have a real idea of what is most needed urgently. I wish such a list existed.

In any case I will continue around the Metro Columbus ares. Right now I am on a kick of the Metro Parks, Local important monuments, Government and administration of Ohio pictures that should have been done ages ago, and the rives and watershed around Metro Columbus. But to be honest I tend to take pictures of what interests me and what I had plans to shoot that day I time to go out.

Thank you again. All replies, regardless of timing are more then welcome, Sixflashphoto (talk) 06:16, 28 September 2017 (UTC)

Hey

So glad to see WLM is back - will look forward to participating! Good to see too that the upload image button now works too for the NYC Landmarks template. How/where were you or Richard looking/wanting the template to be implemented? ɱ (talk) 05:03, 8 September 2017 (UTC) Also btw, been considering the rules/prizes again; wondering if having a separate award bracket for non-DSLR/MILC photos would be of benefit; it might help encourage more people who aren't at the near-professional level... ɱ (talk) 05:19, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Hi @Ɱ: Nice to hear from you! Sorry for the late reply - I've actually been busy moving from Ohio to Texas, but I'm mostly settled in now.

Re. the prizes, that is a neat idea...something we will definitely consider for next year, but not sure about this year since we're already underway. I'll think about it and talk to my co-organizer.

Re. the NY template, I'm about to head to bed but I'll get back to you + reply to the email chain tomorrow. Cheers, ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 08:22, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Sounds good. And yeah wasn't thinking this year. Hope it wouldn't cause more trouble with too many and too many bad images, but even I don't think I stand the slightest chance at a prize against other DSLR shooters... ɱ (talk) 15:30, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Made minor edit to my WLM entry

My original WLM entry was too dark due to a poor contrast adjustment I made with a poor quality monitor. Recently, I made a minor edit so the brightness and tonal quality are more realistic. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimney_Rock,_Western_Nebraska.jpg Regards, Gene Brown — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eugbro (talk • contribs) 09:37, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for Barnstar!

Hello Kevin, Thank you for awarding me the Barnstar. Do you think I could post it on my User page? Gillfoto 16:21, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

@Gillfoto: No problem - feel free! ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 05:10, 11 November 2017 (UTC)

WLM 2017

I appreciate how hard this would have been with 8k+ photos, but many of the ones chosen aren't even QIs, so what standard was used? PumpkinSky talk 02:02, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

Hi @PumpkinSky: Nice to hear from you. If you haven't seen it yet, a more detailed overview of the judging criteria given to judges is available here (I'll update the contest's main page to make this link clear). Photos were judged on quality (technical and artistic), as well as their encyclopedic value (i.e. how well the monument is already covered, as well as the educational value of what the image shows). For Round 2, the jury was provided the Featured Picture and Quality Image guidelines as a base to help evaluate photos as well. Overall, the criteria was a mix of technical quality, composition, and encyclopedic value.

Factoring in whether or not an image has been rated as Quality or Featured into the judging is difficult, as I'd wager that there are many photos that might qualify as QIs, but many of these simply aren't nominated in time for judging, if ever.

I know you uploaded a fantastic featured photo during WLM, which is awesome and appreciated. We will be distributing special WLM-US barnstars to users who contributed a featured or quality image to the event. We're also planning on setting up a gallery page featuring the featured and quality images uploaded during the event. It's not a monetary prize or top-ten recognition, but we hope it serves as some level of recognition for great contributions.

If you can think of any improvements to the judging process (whether it's the criteria, judging recruitment ideas, etc.), would love to hear it. Likewise, any other improvements you can think of. Something I've thought of personally is sub-contests, such as monetary prizes for the most QIs/FPs, and/or other forms of recognition for QIs/FPs - so if you have thoughts on that as well, would love to hear them too. You can reply here; or, in the coming days we'll be sending out a message to all WLM-US uploaders with a link to a feedback form, which can also be used for feedback. Let me know if you have any questions or I can clarify anything else. ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 02:39, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

You've got some good ideas there, like the barnstar thing. I'll see if I can think of more. I agree that all the top 10 are QI worthy but they're not all FP worthy. "encyclopedic value" is very nebulous. I might be mistaken but I think none of the FPs nom'd made the top 10. Something about that just strikes me as odd. All that being said, I wouldn't want to be a judge in something like this. PumpkinSky talk 02:52, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

I did some thinking and put my suggestions into the event feedback form. Best wishes. PumpkinSky talk 16:39, 15 November 2017 (UTC)

@PumpkinSky: Thanks! :) ~Kevin Payravi (talk) 20:21, 15 November 2017 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States – Results!

This user participated in Wiki Loves Monuments 2017.

Want to show your participation in Wiki Loves Monuments 2017? Add {{User Wiki Loves Monuments 2017}} to your userpage!

Thank you for contributing to Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States during the month of October! The United States contest saw over 1,400 people (the most of any nation this year) contribute over 8,000 great photos of cultural and historic sites from all over the United States and its territories. Hundreds of these photos are already being used to illustrate pages on various Wikimedia projects.

We're excited to announce that our national judging process has concluded, and that we have selected the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 in the United States! These photos are recognized for their photographic quality, artistic merit, and their encyclopedic value as illustrations of unique historical sites. We were amazed by all of the uploads, and regret only being able to formally recognize the top 10. That being said – congratulations to our national winners and their amazing shots! Our 10 winners will be sent to the international Wiki Loves Monuments jury, who will then select the winners of the international contest. If you're interested in seeing the winners of the other national contests, you may do so at Wiki Loves Monuments 2017 winners.

If you would like to view all the photos submitted for the U.S. this year, you may do so here.

Finally, we have also created a feedback form for all U.S. participants to fill out. The survey is optional and anonymous, and only takes a minute or two – we hope to use the feedback to organize better events in the future!

A quick thank you to our national jury, as well as Commons editors who have helped categorize and place photos for the event. And finally, thank you for participating in Wiki Loves Monuments and helping to preserve our history through photography - we hope to see you again for future Commons photography events!

~Kevin Payravi & Nikikana, from Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States (16:26, 15 November 2017 (UTC))