Welcome to PSc Bigwater. I think you made a fair assessment of the situation and
think it's great you spoke up.
I've been here quite a while and hardly think it's beating a dead horse at all.
It's all new to you,the forums are here for everyone's use, and not everyone expects you
to spend an afternoon trying to find an old thread that said something similar,
and expect you to shut up and just go by whatever it says there...that's rubbish.
Mikey was quite honest and forthcoming, bravo Mikey.
As much as I love Showcase, I must remind the dear man that PSc is for all and every
level of chopper, and giving supportive votes for someone who has 'put in effort',
'improved', and hell, any reason someone may want to vote for, is a
Legitimate reason by all PSc guidelines.
It's just a phase Bigwater, PSc can be about the most welcoming place on the net, sometimes she just wakes up grumpy. I would not be here if that were not so.
Feel free to use the PMs and get my opinion on a chop yer about to enter,
advice, if I know how to do it, on pulling off a chop effect. Anything.
Glad to have ya here, Hope ya stick it out....This place needs and is the perfect place for people who want to master the chop. Some seriously fantastic talent has
come from this site. Hope yer the next.

Thanks to those who understood my question and concern, and I greatly appreciate all the advice.

The only point I was trying to make is, some of the entries that get large votes don't really have any chops at all.. Only tons of filters, blurs and effects??? I know chopping means more than carving out an image and pasting the image onto another but should certainly play a large part. I know everyone took the lame entry I posted and ran with it but the eagle with the iguana skin took some time and I know it cold have been more blended with the featured pic... color, contrast ect.... but I'm not a teenager, I'm a grown man who works 9 hours and day and I simply do this for stress and enjoyment. I honestly don't have that much time to dedicate to chopping...

I simply thought that some of the more experienced artist on this site would take note to the acuracy and blends of the eagle. I knew it was a late entry and didn't expect to win but thought surely someone might comment on it.

Thanks for all the advice and thank you to those who understood my concerns. I have looked over the site and have seem some truely fantastic images.. but with that said, I've also seen alot of stuff that probably didn't take longer than five minutes to slap together and had outrageous votes....

I think this is a great site but I certainly do want to be able to express my opinion and just thought I would get some in return.

Thanks again,

Steve

Another great place to look is the tournaments from the past 3 years. See what type of images win over others. you can find the links to them at the bottom of the contests page.

bigwater, I think there are a few things going on here that no one has mentioned so far. First, even on a slow day there are usually 30 or so entries to view. That can take a while, so people look for familiar names to see what they are up to. This can force lesser known members to the back of the pack early in the comp. The further back you are, the fewer views you are going to get

Second, if the thumbnail doesn't look interesting, that'll cut down on your views also. Your eagle/iguana image does look pretty good but in the thumb, it looks like a very simple cut and paste.

These things might seem unfair, ( I got 4 votes once on a 3 hour chop) but no one has the time to give equal consideration to each entry. Most of us surf this place when we're supposed to be working. So don't worry about low vote counts, I learn more from those than I do from the few that get the votes. That 4 vote chop just wasn't that exciting. Stick around. You'll learn a lot and when you have something interesting going on, people are going to notice.

While it's true that some people try and go with filters... sometimes it's not the case even when it <i>looks</i> like it. Some people may even try to make it look like one of the filters but with their brushes and.. well.. boredom. Either that or a strong dedication to it on PS there are sometimes several ways to get the very same effect. Some just take more time.

However, I do see your point. Don't worry though, once you've been here a while I know you'll get to know all about what gets what. I didn't join this place TOO long ago and it just takes a bit... unless you're super awesomely magical like a couple newcomers who got wins after a couple days.. They're amazing.

Some of these so called newbies are far from newbies" they come from other sites where they have been developing their skills for a long time" then they go to a brand new site and make a powerful entry with all the knowledge and skill built up in previous sites.. It's really quite refreshing to see great photoshop talent to inspire and bring a fresh view of how fantastic, gifted and creative the World really is! I hope we have a lot more talent show up and challenge both the novice and pro alike" I hope I did'nt use to many emoticons ...

cough*Meaty*cough
cough*akayuki*cough
cough*GrampZ*cough
cough*IwishImyselfwereonthislist*cough