Boring/repetitive course photos

[EricBB]

I've been noticing lately that a lot of course photos are just kinda "blah"(to me) and don't really show you anything about the character of the course. Generally these are the photos taken from the teepad which are all the way zoomed out. Obviously it's great to see what the shots look like and any picture is better than no picture, but everything ends up looking the same on some courses.

I would personally much rather look at the pictures that show the "personality" of the course. Basket placements, approaches, weird little features, scenery,... stuff like that. I'm not saying I need to look at silhouettes of baskets with bald eagles landing on top in the sunset or anything, but seeing 18 photos of concrete slabs with some trees and grass way off in the background doesn't exactly make me want to make a dash for that course.

A combination of both kinds of photos would obviously be the best, and some of the pages do a great job of that. I would just rather get a general "feel" of a course. Anyone else?

 

[zenbot]

It looks like you found yourself something to do.

 

[NothinButChing]

yea 3D photos would be cool

 

[LeewayeDiscGolf]

A lot of people don't even take time to take photos. Usually when I go outta town and play a course I'm with other people and we are more focused on playing the course rather than documenting it. I'm usually lucky to squeeze a photo of each hole in before my group gets in the way. I took some photos of Skyline/PCC in the middle of my tourney rounds. lol. I like your idea though, and if people can go out and do it than sweet.

 

[Mike C]

I've tried doing that once or twice and the photos submitted got deleted within a day or two.

 

[scarpfish]

I'd suspect for every person that wants the photo feature to be aesthetically pleasing, there are several more who want it to be utilitarian. A shot from the teebox, however boring, is going to be the most useful picture there is. I could see use for an approach picture in some cases (super long holes, blind pins), or a reverse view picture for the same reason. Perhaps a picture of a basket to showcase the placements. A shot of the sign entering the park to show where you need to go.

There are two kinds of pictures that I utterly do not understand.

1. The tee sign closeup picture. Especially when the markings on the tee sign are half rotted away. Diagrams of the holes should be shown on a course map and uploaded to the links/files section.
2. The winter time no foliage picture. I could see a few of these to showcase the difference in foliage between the seasons, or on courses that are winter season only, but IMO one should ideally take photos when the trees are in full bloom, since for most of us that's the prime playing season.

So I'm gonna keep on taking my boring tee box photos. If you're not satisfied, you're free to add your own, pending site administrator approval.

 

[timg]

Scarpfish hit the nail on the head. Although the tee signs can be good to get a detailed hole view with the course map in the files area being an overview. Sometimes they act as nice separators in the photos area between holes too.

I like to think of the info/photos area as kind of an encyclopedia for the course. Lots of good info and not much clutter to sort through. While the miscellaneous shots are sometimes cool, they don't really do the job of showing you the course. The really stand out ones I'll normally leave but stuff like "the picnic table near the 7th tee" really doesn't add any value.

 

[optidiscic]

Ive had a
bunch of my photos deleted.......of course mine were way better than whats left on the site
I'm partly kidding
Seems that photos often don't capture a course...there also seems to be the formula tee pad and then basket and this game is about the airways and lanes and these are not really captured on film too well.

 

[Rip Van]

I like to think of the info/photos area as kind of an encyclopedia for the course. Lots of good info and not much clutter to sort through. While the miscellaneous shots are sometimes cool, they don't really do the job of showing you the course. The really stand out ones I'll normally leave but stuff like "the picnic table near the 7th tee" really doesn't add any value.

The shots are (generally) grouped by hole. Can't we have a group called "other" and put the non-encyclopedic photos there? Those that want the straight scoop can look at shots by hole, while aesthetes wanting a feel for the course could click on "other" and check out those shots.

 

[LeewayeDiscGolf]

I'm not big on the 'line to take to the hole' photos. Part of disc golf is reading the hole and picking your own line. The local course website for each course is a good place to post aesthetics of each course, though I realize not all courses have a web page.

 

[optidiscic]

its still by far the best site ever though....so take the complaints with a grain of salt

I always wished the tee pad photo and the hole info should be automatically linked....I mean usually whats written by members is deleted and generic script is given away....I d love to scroll photos and just see hole #7 399 ft I know this seems like bitching but sometimes a hole looks shorter or longer than it does online....automatically citing distance would be cool.

 

[timg]

That's something I can look into. The only things I normally delete from captions are personal notes or info that isn't true for everyone. Stuff like "I aced this one" or "the hardest hole on the course", etc.

 

[optidiscic]

That's something I can look into. The only things I normally delete from captions are personal notes or info that isn't true for everyone. Stuff like "I aced this one" or "the hardest hole on the course", etc.

awesome Tim thanks for considering it

 

[Peterb]

3d imagery is in its infancy, but my guess is that sometime soon we'll have some sick tools to use for capturing disc golf. One of the criticisms has been that the game is too difficult to film. But technological gains can make the visualization of something like disc golf make a lot more sense for the average non disc golfing person.

Click this link and scroll down to the woman in orange for an example of where this is headed. Pretty cool right?

 

[bcr123psu]

One thing that I've noticed about the course photos that I don't understand are the pictures that show the perspective from basket to tee. The photos that I find to be the biggest benefit show tee, to fairway, to approach, to basket. That way you get an understanding of how each of throws might pan out. The backward view doesn't do anything for me. I sort of get why you might consider taking that photo, but I don't quite see how it's helpful.

 

[EricBB]

I guess I never even realized photos were sorted through and some were deleted. (I guess this makes sense because I could upload a photo of a water skiing squirrel if I really wanted to).

I totally understand the "encyclopedia" approach Tim pointed out. I do think these kind of photos are important. They might even be the most important for a lot of players. And yes, I don't think we need to be uploading pictures of "the picnic table on whatever hole" because that is just pointless. On the other hand, look at the review system. I can write in detail about a bunch of stuff nobody cares about if I want to. I can write a paragraph about that picnic table if I want to (I don't want to, and won't, of course.) But I can't upload a picture of it?

I do like the idea of having separate sections for just straight up tee shot photos and also some room for some "character" photos. (Not that I want to make more work for Tim, of course.) I just think that some courses don't translate well at all through JUST the tee shot photos, even if they are an awesome and interesting course. I'm not implying the cool or interesting photos just get tossed out (maybe not that many ever get uploaded in the first place)?

Either way, I appreciate ANY photo of a course over no photos. This isn't an attempt to complain in any way. Just wanted to see if anyone else had thoughts about it. Good feedback so far.

 

[eegor]

I would like the photos better if people were playing the hole... from the tee shot, you could see where players generally land as you photo them taking their second shot...

From the fairway where average players land... photo players putting. This would give the feel of what it's like to play the hole with people as the "distance reference"...

just my 2 cents...

good looking girls playing would be better....

 

[deBebbler]

That's something I can look into. The only things I normally delete from captions are personal notes or info that isn't true for everyone. Stuff like "I aced this one" or "the hardest hole on the course", etc.

Or "Empty your bag here"...:|

good looking girls playing would be better....

Or not playing even....

 

[jhgonzo]

This site has always done a really good job at providing pics from the tee, with cool features like "Show Target" (highlights the basket on blind/long holes), as well as "Zoom" (self-explanatory). One thing I've noticed about playdg.com, though, is that since I was referred there probably 3 years ago, I haven't noticed many additions to the site--they have some pretty strict photo uploading rules, from what I understand, and I don't think most DGers are also professional photographers (cough, tomjulio, cough).

 

[optidiscic]

I actually prefer winter photos to summer as usually more of the fairway is visible and as a disc golfer I'd rather see lanes than leaves. But then maybe playing in winter is a foreign concept to some. Of course a whiteout pic is not as good as a summer pic. I agree.