Gurushots

Like many have said, the more you spend, the better off you are in the "game" It started out being fun but has slowly become a chore.
I'm in the Champion rank and I will never get to Master. I need two more 5% ratings which I'm sure I have and I have emailed them asking them to explain to me the 5% rating and of course, no reply. I thought if your rating was in the top 5% of the level your in but it appears not.
Yes, I've spent money but once my swaps and fills are done, I'm out of here.

One Star is very high for this game. It's just a game. Nothing morethan that. Privacy is very very low any one can access our photos and use them or their own. They access our photos and IP address and all the details including with FB. Very recently FB blocks the access to Gurushots becoz of the privacy issues. Not a Geniune voting. Completely a Meaningless algorithm voting system. Quality of the app very low. Time waste app.

Because, in the end, it's all about the feeling pictures bring.
For me, it's a great social way -not technical- of sharing and improving based on feelings. All levels are present (that's what makes it great), yes, you can buy boosts and increase exposure but, at the end, I agree with all the challenges results I have seen so far. Anyway, I haven't spent money on it and I like it: I participate when I want, I see great pictures and surprises and the fact it's mixed gives it a flee market feel that I like!

I am a complete amateur who wanted to improve my photography skills. I joined gurushots sometime ago and it has helped me enormously. There are some great photographers and photos posted and you can generally see the settings these were taken at. When you post photos you get and overview of whether they are a strong, very strong or average image. Viewing and voting on other peoples photos has improved my composition and eye no end.
The voting system is not foolproof especially in the speed sections and yes you can spend some money buying keys and fills but nothing comes for free.
I reiterate I give it 5 stars for improving your photography!

I am a professional photographer, & I've been on Guru Shots for years. I have not ONCE won a challenge, & all I see are crappy photos winning & getting more views than any true photographers. A terribly edited snapshot will win over any real talent, and that's sad. This is a site that has potential, but you won't get anywhere unless you're paying.

Gurushots has groups that are fun and the people you meet are nice. However, the photos that make it to the top are all over the place. Some are amazing and others are noisy, grainy or out of focus. In addition, the more money one spends on "boosts" and the like, one does better in the game. Also, the site has a lot of glitches. Chats appear and disappear, or one gets locked out just before a contest closes. It can be fun but it costs.

Winning a Gurushots challenge has very little to do with talent and a lot more to do with both chance and manipulation.
Just look at how most, if not all members vote. The requirement for everyone to vote on so many photos demands way too much time for those of us with lives outside the app. This encourages speed voting which is simply tapping the positive vote button as quickly as possible in order to gain exposure for your own images. When your images gain the exposure you will also receive votes made by those similar fast button-pushing voters for the same exposure rewards. More exposure is given to those who wish to pay heaps of cash for image swapping and boosts. On top of this, I hear there are organised groups willing to help boost you for a price, sad but true. I also get the feeling that, like many, if I actually do get to Guru status I would simply consider this stupidity completed and give the game up. I also think Gurushots understands this mentality and have a vested interest not to let too many people attain this status. Like gambling addicts continually betting in the hopes of hitting the jackpot.

Approach Gurushots with the attitude that it is only a game. Attaining the coveted guru status has more to due with how well you play the game than the quality of your pictures! Enjoyed by people that love to cut in front of the line. Entertaining, but not for the serious photographer that wants an honest evaluation of their work.

I never had any intention of paying for Gurushots, and when I started it was quite fun. You could progress up the levels and in general the strongest shots got highly rated. But they seem to have changed things so it is much more difficult without spending money and some blatant abuses of the rules are ignored. If you have to spend money to get better results, I don't have a problem with that since Gurushots is a business not a charity. But for me it's too time consuming and not rewarding now so I'm out.

You can boost your photo! This way not so good photos get on top. While better photos don't get much attention, unless you're a pro. It's a pay to win game. Disappointing.

I am a pro photographer that being stated I look at the photographs of many of the "gurus" on the site and I wonder why some have even picked up a camera as their photo's are lacking in many categories that are fairly simple such as framing, composition and exposure! The basics, and they are "GURU's? If you want to peruse photos all day there are some NEWBIES they call them that are much better.

I'm in Gurushots and I'm having fun with it - mostly because photos are my hobby so what's not to like?
I never have and never will pay one single coin into it - just like I would never ever pay to boost a facebook post neither.
Yeah clearly the algorithm is corrupt and I'll probably never make it to become a Guru, but I can see through all that and I don't give a f*** about my title nor status in there. I still get all the exploration.
I enjoy looking at all those awesome good photos and compare to my own. Constantly learning to improve myself. It's cool. /brian6000

I didn't know this was a 'game' where you have to spend money to 'win'. They should mention that in their ads.

Admittedly I have enjoyed the app, but find it grossly unfair that Guru's are allowed to play alongside ranks beneath them.

As soon as a Challenge is over, I've checked into the winners including Guru Picks and, lo and behold, over half are Gurus.

My belief is that once Guru status is achieved, you should be sent to a level for Gurus only.

Fills Vs Voting. You get a warning if you vote for too many shots in a row yet a fill allows you to do a blanket vote of all shots without actually voting yourself.

This is unfair as if a photographer has a particular passion such as landscapes etc, they have to discriminate in which shots they don't vote for even if they are great shots.

I have taken this up directly with the company but they won't reply, instead passing the buck to their 'Product Manager' who's area this is.

All in all, it's a cash grab on a grand scale, you've got to pay to raise your status.

This sounds really interesting - a game for photographers, with other people clicking on your pictures to pick them out of many.... however, the game is fatally flawed. In order to get votes, you have to keep the "exposure meter" filled. And many (if not all) people to that by clicking quickly on as many pictures as it takes to fill that meter. No matter if the picture if good, bad or ugly. Click on it, and your meter will fill, increasing your own exposure. Of course you can also buy (with real $$) exposure. This is not about good pictures, it's about a bunch of clicking monkeys.

All photographers voting on photos are using different evaluative criteria - no consistency. Weighted voting helps a little. Too many submissions are off topic; for example, participants don't seem to know what complementary colors are or the difference between a profile and a full front or 3/4 view. Contest designers frequently ask participants in their contests to "be creative" but the more creative your entries are the fewer points they score. I am both a professional artist and an advanced amateur photographer.

Since my status has changed to guru around a bit over a month ago, I think it is interesting to see how I feel about the game from a guru perspective now.
Being a guru doesnt change the experience you have, you still have to compete with others whether better photographers or not. You sometimes also see gurus win when other non gurus had equl or better pictures- probably won with a better strategy and use of swaps etc.

There are different types of gurus out there, some really professional ones in the sense of responsibility when running a challenge- I put myself in this category, and others who are a bit more careless.
I explain what I mean by that.
One of the advantages of being a guru is that you get ro run challenges (it doent go very smoothly as there are more and more gurus, so it can take up to 3-4 weeks to run your challenge), it is very thrilling to see how people submit their photos and you can select the better photos- sometimes very difficult.
You dont see whose picture it is, just like the non gurus- so its anonymous.
I take time to go through all the pictures and enlarge the ones that fit best to check on quality and details. I check every singe photo I select for copyright- there are a lot of cheaters out there... so I report them and their account is closed most of the time, or picture removed.
This is our responsibilty as a guru, but other gurus do not spend that much time, are less selective or more carefree.
For those of you that think only gurus are selected, I can confirm that this is not the case.
From the three challenges I ran- it turned out I had selected many champions, masters, and sometimes other categories. There are professional photographers or amateurs who just start with the game and they may only be a challenger for example, but the quality of the picture is indeed excellent, so a guru pick is deserved- you can see who you have selected once it is voted.
So from a anonymity perspective, the game is fair.
Another positive aspect of the game is that you actually learn something or are reminded of what makes a good photograph.
When selecting the photos for a guru pick, I take into consideration, composition, quality and details like is there a piece of the subject missing, is there enough room between end of the frame and subject, any distracting elements etc.
There is a lot of strategy but also good luck involved and rules are changing often.

It can be very disappointing, but rewarding as well.
There are now vote-a-thon contests that bring the level of the challenges down, as it encourage people to submit crap and off topic photos to participate in as many challenges as possible.

At the moment I am trying to take down one step and see how things are evolving.

Hope this helps.

I have ended as #1 photo in one challenge. I have received perks dlfor the win, but I was not listened as a winner of top photo and I was not promoted to the guru status. I have asked support several times why, but the support just ignored my emails, tickets. Based On their FAQ "According to YOUR FAQ "Top Photo: the participant whose single photo received the most votes in the challenge." I have the most VOTES ON one photo, but they just ignored that fact. Shame On you gurushots.

This app is nothing but a scam only out to make money by enticing you to enter exhibitions or buy swaps, keys and fills, has anyone ever reached the top and if so what do you think happens, you get deleted just like my boyfriend did. DO NOT USE THIS APP. A complete waste of money and most importantly time, stay away from it please

Absolutely unfair "game" created by scammers for cheaters, there is no place for a true photography lovers. Do not waist your time and (more important) you money.

Basically, a scam(ish) game designed to make money out of its players

I must say the idea is great and it would be unfair to say it is not about photography. It is just to some degree, and you get to see some really great shots.

Unfortunately, challenges are boring and repetitive. They seem to be proposed on a cycle basis. And, worst of all, most peopledon't care about them. Tons of crappy bad amateurish photos are thrown on each challenge, many of them only loosely related to the proposed theme (Things get even worse since many challenges are very loosely defined and almost everything could fit in)

Most people don't even care about other pics. It's all about beating the game and reaching levels (there are even onlineguides about how to hack / beat Gurushots) and you end thinking you can only do something using the game tokens (fill, swap, keys)with eventually you will have for (I never did, of course)

I could somehow cope with all this, it was just a time killing app I logged in to from time to time, just to pass time. It was about a year ago since I uploaded my last photo there and I only logged in this week just to browse around and see only the same old boring
Challenges were available.

To my surprise, my account was deleted this week due to "content violation" without previous warning or appeal mechanism. Now, I am usedto some very prudish platforms such as Instagram and even there I know how to appeal and what.

Here my work, which had been online for some years, was deleted because suddenly some bigot took a male nude with "pornography" and all my photos (just some of them were about the male nude) were down and my account deleted.

OK, of course I won't download this app again, you actually did me a favour. I am in no need to take part in a so-called "photography" contest where some idiot can't tell apart between photography and a male nude.

Eventually I will look for some interesting photo contest online, if there is one.

Thought I'd give a go for a week or two, I've been a Pro for over 12yrs working for Getty Images etc. However what a load of crap some great photographers are ignored by pure hobbyist's that aren't even on the same topic, almost holiday snaps with zero talent most out of focus. Have can this ever improve standards of photography if it's down to money that buys your rating. Just one photography site that uses a better voting system and scored on merit would be exciting but this is garbage.

There are some very helpful poor reviews of this site so I won't repeat it all, however since teams started, the GS app has improved. I added one awful picture first and then a better picture to the same challenge and the bots can't tell the difference so the first one uploaded always did better. Try View Bug which has lots of free genuine challenges and you can even create your own but neither apps are worth spending any money on. Points are pointless and challenges very repetitive.