1-3: Why was this uploaded? You can’t see anything at all, or it’s so ugly or blurred out that there’s no way you wanted to see it in the first place.
4-5: The middle point; adequate. You can see a skier (or the other focal point of the photo) but the trick isn’t good-looking and the photo is not well done. Example: an out-of-focus, off-center shot of a skiboarder doing a straight air. Okay, maybe that deserves a two.
A four... possibly three. But give the guy a break, it was his first 360.
6-7: We’re approaching the higher levels of the rating scale, and things are consistently looking better. The two things you might want to ask yourself is, 1. How good is the picture?, and 2. How good is the trick? Remember, we’re looking for visually pleasing here… a centered, up-close, crisp shot of a 360x should probably get a better rating than a poorly shot d-spin 9.
A five or six.
8-10: By now all of the pictures should be free of technical difficulties like focus. Anything rating an eight or above should be crisp and clear; the only excuse for its not being that way is if the trick is massively insane. A picture rating an eight, in my mind, is a clear, well-done picture of a skier throwing down a good trick with good style. Try to reserve the “nine” and “ten” ratings for the very best: the unusually exceptional, the artistic, the professionally-done picture of the professionally-styled trick.
An eight, possibly seven.
A 9 or 10.
Also, remember that there are hundreds of pictures that haven’t been rated that are buried deep down in the section. Take a minute, if you have it, and sort the pictures by description, or just flip a few pages back. Many unrated pictures simply blow away whatever pictures have been recently uploaded, and everything should get a rating at one time or another. There are some incredible pictures hidden below the surface, and if you find them and rate them, they’ll get the placement they deserve.
Use scathing discretion. There are over a thousand images on this site, and if the rating scale is used properly, there should be well under 200 that rate an eight or above. I’ve only ever seen two pictures on this site that I would rate a ten. Just because it’s your or your friend’s picture doesn’t mean it automatically gets a high rating.
Emily Bennett is a Lizard King-loving Sex Goddess!
'I don't know what's gonna happen, man, but I want to get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames!' -Jim Morrison
