GuruShots

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

I love sharing my pictures and viewing other people's work
However I purchased a deluxe bundle for $ 21.99 and was never given the bundle. I don't like being cheated like that

Great platform / terrible business run as they are thieves who steal your money once you beat system

GuruShots is a platform for hobby photo enthusiasts to showcase and improve their skills and creativity simply by seeing the competition. Some of them have pics that are stellar. Others, not so much. The game aspect is important and you learn about timing entries, when to swap, how often to swap and more. Most important is a competitive picture others in the particular challenge can like and vote for. It's the contestant peers who vote, not professorial photo nerds.

Those who pan the game and platform are probably people more interested in focal length of lenses and gear than composition. These are people who scoff at point and shooters or phone photographers or even DSLR photographers (as long as the critics have gone full frame mirrorless). But most aren't as good as they believe they are. They want to be judged on technical aspects of their shots rather than whether or not they are compelling and the 鈥榞reat unwashed' like them or not.

I have never seen a more vicious hive of jealousy, and adverse criticism than from photographers who are struggling to make a living at it or who are content to aim arrows at people who simply enjoy making good, decent pictures for fun. Many of these people don't use 鈥榬eal cameras' (ie phonecams), or don't know if Lightroom is one word or two or what it can do for post processing. To the critics, I say if you are not shooting in RAW and spending hours in Lightroom finishing these wonderfully composed and technically perfect photos of yours then you aren't ac'real' photographer. If you do shoot in RAW with full frame mirrorless 鈥榬eal camera' and have thousands of hours of Lightroom or Photoshop time and have a certificate from a good fine arts school, then you should been hustling your stuff to National Geographic or be a successful freelance shooter. GuruShots is not for you. Leave it to people who want to have fun.

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.

didn't get confirmation email from mama, so trying again to see who to email about this

Many of the criticisms here are true. As a business, its primary purpose is to make money, and as such, they promote ways for you to give it to them. You can buy swaps, fils, keys, and if you want your winning photo you can be exhibited in a galleries around the world, or on a virtual gallery. For a price.

Winning a challenge makes it clear that submissions will not win a challenge on their merits alone, because the number of people who view them if throttled. To get a few more views, you can vote a lot, click the "boost" button for a lot more views, and of course you can buy additional boosts, keys, and swaps. Having more views for your work when you vote is a good idea. It sustains the number of people who vote. The other ways are just ways for them to make money, and for you to get high rankings for a lousy photo. So in short, gurushots is primarily a game. Like most online games, you can limp along for free, or you can catupult yourself into the winners circle by buying your way in.

The difference between my observations and the other reviews is that I'm fine with all of their tactics. They are a business, and they call themselves a game. They are upfront about that. They don't promise critical review, unbiased comarison, or a road to fame and fortune.

That said, knowing all this, I find it an invaluable resource in my own development as a photographer, by playing by my own rules and reward system.

I will never spend money to advance, which is why I've been still on the third level for more than a month, and don't care. What is most valuable to me, and the reason I gave it a 5 star rating is having my photos evaluated by a few hundred people, and by evaluating theirs. When I post four photos, regardless algorithms and number of views, I can see how they rank among each other. I am almost always surprised at how my personal ranking differs from that of the voters.

I vote frequently so they get more views to voters, but that isn't most value in voting. When I vote, over the course of a challenge, I review a couple hundred photos submitted from around the world. This provides exposure to new ideas and techniques for me to try later. It also shows me that some of the most creative and original photos that could have only been created my my own creative vision, have been created dozens of times by different photographers in the same challenge. Enlightening as well as humbling.

And finally, unlike stock photo sites, who evaluate photos on technical reasons and salability, gurushots puts your work in front of a worldwide audience, who judges your work on the merits of the image alone.

I recently Was trying out gurushots and found it entertaining enough though as for exposure I'd say doesn't really get you to much of that. Imagine a community filled with a bunch of guitar players all various levels showing each other their $#*!… exposure to those who aren't buying only selling what your selling… but most importantly why I have given this app 1 whole Star is because it has a weird glitch or some troll decided that reporting photos was going to be hilarious either way I don't know. I am unable to log in and receive a message that my account is deactivated Because I deactivated it or for copyright violation. I have contacted gurushots several times and receive an automated reply with no human response explaining what happened and how to remedy the situation… I spoke to a person, I think, through their online help chat and they told me to refer to my ticket number and that they couldn't help me with that… my ticket number? For what? I font even know what happened I can't log in for reasons still not clear cause either option copyright or deactivating myself are both not the case. Case in point I still haven't heard a thing and they can kiss these sweet cheeks goodbye, 3 days I've tried and they have ghosted with no real concrete forward momentum in fixing this issue. Bye. Wouldn't recommend.

I Read all the comments below and I agree. In the beginning it makes fun, but after a while u dont het higher when u dont spend money on all their stuff.
So I stopped for a while.
Then I received a message about a contest and the possibility to get your photos published in a travel magazine. Nice was my first thought. Then I realized I had 2 pay 4 it.
And last but nog least, I ask myself what do these magazines have to pay 4 these fantastic photos? I'm sure nog as much as a photographer himself, but still a smart way from gurushots to make money from alle sides of this photocontest story.

So photographers if we take our works serious, stop this way of exploring your pictures. Lets [email protected] insta & give each other feedback or maybe you'll have other ideas. Pls share

Simply put the game is rigged to only ever allow those who spend a bunch of money to get anywhere.

I consider myself a mid-level hobby photographer. I have been doing it a long time but I don't expect to make money at it. That said I have won awards for my photos and honestly some of them are pretty damn good.

I don't mind my photos taking a back seat to better photos, I truly don't. On the Gurushots platform, there are a lot of photos that are better than mine, but there are also a huge number that are worse, including some that should not be shown to anyone (exploitive of children imo) others which are completely prosaic. And some which are frankly horrible (out of focus poorly composed, over-processed, etc.) Losing out to these photos is an insult. Were Gurushots about better photography this would not happen. And no it is not just sour grapes. I see really well-done photos far better than my own suffer the same fate.

On the platform, you enter your photos into challenges. Some challenges have themes such as the color pink or farm animals, others are more general such as a photo of the day (must be one you uploaded recently). Some let you enter one photo others allow four. You enter photos and others vote on them. You increase the exposure of your own photos by voting on those of others. The voting is allegedly blind, meaning you do not see who the photo belongs to. All that is good. But, iffen the game were about better photos, it would stand to reason that the better one would win the challenges. They don't.

The problem is actually in the game's algorithm which seeks to normalize chances to be voted on across all pictures. In other words, suppose you entered a picture 4 days from the end of the contest. And suppose you received 100 views and enough votes that were in the top ten (I have been there). One hour from the end of the contest someone enters a photo. The system will see to it that they get the same 100 views as your photo did. Never mind that you have spent the last several days keeping your exposure level up by occasionally voting, That means nothing to the game.

Of course, just being viewed does not mean that the person will get the votes, The idea being that poor photos will not get the votes, but they do. In the game, a person's exposure level is maintained according to how recently you have voted on other's work. Especially as the game nears the end exposure level drops quickly as this is when much of the voting takes place. So, people are rapid voting. You vote by clicking on a picture or clicking a button yes or no. On the computer or android app you are not required to even see the photos, you can click on a black square where a photo has not been drawn yet. The only way to expect any votes, especially at the end is to keep your exposure level at the highest point.

Also, you can swap photos and this is where the algorithm is abused. Suppose again that you entered a photo and gained 100 views. Early in the game voting is much slower and quality matters but not so much later in the game as people are rapid voting as I explained., So twenty minutes before the end of the contest, you swap out a photo that has a hundred views. The system will make sure that the new photo also gets a hundred views. Since this is the time when people are just voting to increase their own exposure votes are more likely. I have yet to have any swap that did not net more votes. This swapping out of pictures is the ONLY way to have any chance of winning or coming in at a decent place. Why? Because swaps cost money. Up to about a buck a peice (cheaper in bulk of course)

I am to opposed to the game making money, but to rig the voting system in such a way that only those who pay will have a chance is frankly Capitalism at it's worst.

But it gets worse. The game creators say the algorithm works to normalize views, but…

I track things pretty closely. It is possible to see the number of views you have as well as the number of votes. In one contest I had managed to make it to position 100 (not my worst) and sit around that number for much of the challenge. A few hours from the end I did a swap and sure enough, the new picture did better than the old one. I made it to position 55. Then I sat, and I sat, and I sat. I kept my exposure level high through occasional voting but I gained no points on any one of my four pictures for 30 minutes, then 45. I checked the views (Like I said I watch pretty closely) NADA. It was not that my photos did not get the votes they had no chance to as they got no views. I fell in the ranking to number 150 then further. Finally, I started getting views and votes on the last 5 minutes, but even with more votes, I sank further. I ended the contest at 175. This was not the first time this sort of thing happened. Another time I was in position 8 and after the same sort of thing where I just got no views I ended in 25th place.

If I had only swapped and swapped and swapped and swapped, maybe I would have a chance? If only I were willing to put my paycheck into a game. If you are not willing to spend money you will not get to the upper three levels. Because they require winning contests and the only way to win is to game the system. If only it were about better photography I might be willing to pry my wallet open, but it's is not it is about gaming the game. That's a shame too because this has promise otherwise.

Also there should be better social aspects.

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

"Art of Photography", "Powerful Composition", and ""Your Legacy" . . . three contests in GuruShots right now. I realize they want to keep the themes broad so that many people can feasibly participate, but seeing as that they have at least a dozen challenges going at any time, it would be nice if the themes weren't subjective to the point of literally allowing any photo to fit within the parameters. Half the creative fun is in coming up with a composition that fits a theme, so when many of the challenges are anything-goes, it gets kind of boring.

Participants must also spend a tremendous amount of time voting throughout the life of a challenge in order to maintain the exposure on their own entries. It's only fair that if you enter a challenge, you should be expected to spend time looking at and voting for other entries, but the time requirement is so high, I suspect many users vote for photos they otherwise wouldn't. This method is to encourage users to purchase boosts (amongst other items for sale to increase your advantage in the challenges). It is a business after all, but it would be so much better if they would charge a reasonable membership fee and then greatly reduce the number of votes you need to make to keep a high exposure rate.

GuruShots can be fun if you don't take it too seriously, but I figured out a long time ago that quality and creativity or only part of what it takes for photos to receive high rankings in the challenge.

First of all , you get nothing on this
You give them money , they gave you nothing
Why waste your time money and effort on this unrealistic photo game .
This Photography game isn't accurate ., they flagged everyone that those who always buy their product , and not giving you accurate exposure of your photo, because they want you to use swaps , fills and ofcourse the expensive keys.,
Hello? You can print your photo and exhibit your own !
Don't be fool of this useless , inappropriate game .,
This Gurushots not even deserve a star.,

THIS IS A SCAMMED GAME !
Don't be fool

I signed up for it, submitted some pics and was allowed to swap for free the first day of membership. Tried to swap the next day and that's when they wanted my credit card. I'm not caving in to this. Bye-Bye, Gurushots.

Winning a challenge doesn't have anything to do with talent and totally based on votes and exposure which depends on the time of the day, number of people who are voting at the challenge at the time of uploading. Besides you need something called guru's pick to obtain to level up in challenges and you can get only if you are posting a new picture or boosting it at the time the guru is voting too, which is absolutely ridiculous given that you might have a number of gurus voting for the picture but you wont get a guru's pick until the guru who posted the challenge has voted for you. Recently the unmonitored reporting has started has started causing problems where a picture of a sea was in a sea based challenged was reported and they removed it. Its ridiculous how people putting up stupid reporting can impact you and you have no way to defend yourself. I am done with GuruShots just because it is the stupidest photography competition website. Don't waste your time on it. With increase in number of users it is becoming more and more stupid by the day.

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.

There are some very helpful poor reviews of this site so I won't repeat it all. However 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 instead. No need to pay but lots of free genuine challenges and you can even create your own.

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.

I was really excited, because a photographer told me about Gurushots, it worked for her. I thought I give it a try, what can I possibly lose. Time, that's what you will lose and you'll win frustration, you certainly will not grow as a photographer, that's why I joined in hoping of.
It is full of cheaters, that's how many of the players are able to get high ranks! I'm a Veteran now, but yesterday I had enough. I spotted the crappiest photo I've ever seen, blurred, poor composition, poor light, it could not be more out of focus, etc. – submitted by a Guru – in the first 10 in the challenge. While one of my photos I really proud of and on other sites operating with strict rules, unlike Gurushots, it already got acknowledgements was the 150th. In a Vote-mania "contest" one of the high-ranked player in a matter of seconds gave away thousands of votes! How? On several occasions I got votes from a "phantom"/non-existent profile. (It says "Oops, the page doesn't exist".) It was odd that the same player voted for all my photos in the contest at the same time. The voting supposed to be anonymous and the algorithm doesn't show – so they say – all your photos next to each other. So, I don't know what happened. As others mentioned here before me, I'm sure there are groups operating "undercover", manipulating the votes and people literally purchase their high ranks somehow (literally or not). This is just one of the many flaws of this so called game.
People submit the challenges with everything. I even saw a magazine cover, a chicken as a water bird, photos saturated/photoshopped to death, they are mixing with landscape, seascape, cityscape, personal photos, holiday shots, plastic dinosaurs in the animal portrait challenge, don't know what black and white means, pathetic mostly and there are loads of obviously stolen photos!
This algorithm or whatever is also seriously flawed, although I'm not an IT expert, but how is it possible that the 90% of the time I only get votes if my exposure meter is pushed to maximum (rhetorical question). Also happened that the algorithm suggested to swap a photo in a good position with the same photo!
I noticed that as time passed I got less and less votes on every challenge I joined, now my best photos barely pass the second level (I don't use the same photos everywhere as many players do, that's another con for me). I don't know that whether it's anything to do with that I reported a lots of off-topic photos and uncovered adult contents lately or what is more realistic: I don't spend any money on the game.
The clock starts running about 1-3 hours earlier than you are able to vote, so a 24 hours challenge is not 24 hours long. The "game" does not reward the players for good quality, it's all about quantity. Just click as fast as you can.
If you want more swaps, fills, keys to get further – naturally – you have to pay for them. And always a Guru or a Master wins the challenge; your rank only means you are in this waste of a casino for a longer time, not how creative photographer you are and how good is your "strategy". It does not supposed to be a strategy if the game was about merit.
Conclusion: I do not want to win every challenge, this is a game after all, it's fine, nevertheless I want fair play, but with so many cheaters in the first rows and without real prizes I really think that it doesn't worth my time to try to get to the next rank. My advice: shun this site as far as you can! They could not care less about photography.

Fraudulent Game there are many great photographers on there. But what I can assure I is u will never win because the developer/owner never pays out ever its alway he who wins this Fraud will take your money laugh and you will never win how do I know I dated him I know first hand I will not divulge his name because of the Repercussions but you can rest assured your all getting ripped off I no longer play have not played in over 9 months from the time found out! He has many apps especially dating scene he does the same thing with. True fraud people take your money omg busted

I was really excited, because a photographer told me about Gurushots, it worked for her. I thought I give it a try, what can I possibly lose. Time, that's what you will lose and you'll win frustration, you certainly will not grow as a photographer, that's why I joined in hoping of.
It is full of cheaters, that's how many of the players are able to get high ranks! I'm an Expert now, but yesterday I had enough. I spotted the crappiest photo I've ever seen, blurred, poor composition, poor light, it could not be more out of focus, etc. – submitted by a Guru – in the first 10 in the challenge. While one of my photos I'm really proud of and on another site that operating with strict rules, unlike Gurushots, it already got acknowledgements was the 150th. In a Vote-mania "contest" one of the high-ranked players in a matter of seconds gave away thousands of votes! How?! On several occasions I got votes from a "phantom"/non-existent profile. (It says "Oops, the page doesn't exist".) It was odd that the same player voted for all my photos in the contest at the same time. The voting supposed to be anonymous and the algorithm doesn't show – so they say – all your photos next to each other. So, I don't know what happened. I've seen numerous times that magically some players are able to submit the same photo multiple times in a challenge! (I checked it: liked them, but amongst my Likes only 1 photo appeared, ergo that is the same photo.) I've seen that in a 6 days challenge a Guru's pick (=50 votes) was given out in an hour after the voting started, in the first 10 or so – it also means that photo has the highest chance to be the Guru's Top pick. I also noticed that some high-ranked players gained so many GS points in no time, in a GS-point-hunt, that they even could not get if they would climb all the running challenges; as if you want the max amount (1250 GSP) you only can receive that when a challenge ends. As no challenge ended since the hunt began that's an interesting progress. I conducted an experiment (I'm in cast, I have time): I borrowed a National Geographic-level, breathtaking photo and submitted it in the very beginning of a challenge. As it should be, it was Elite in no time, in the first 10, amongst really good photos. Okay, I left it. I checked it an hour later, as I expected: it was 49th and all the other good quality photos are gone as well – the Gurus, Masters and Champions arrived with their crappy/mediocre/raw pics. A day later this pro photo was 554th. As others mentioned here before me, I'm sure there are groups operating "undercover", manipulating the votes and people literally purchase their high ranks somehow (literally or not). This is just one of the many flaws of this so called game.
People submit the challenges with everything. I even saw a magazine cover, a chicken as a water bird, photos saturated/photoshopped to death, they are mixing with landscape, seascape, cityscape, personal photos, holiday shots, plastic dinosaurs in the animal portrait challenge, don't know what black and white means, pathetic mostly and there are loads of obviously stolen photos! Once I accidentally joined a challenge with a photo without any humans on it (there's an instant option with the suggestion of the algorithm and I accidentally hit it) – it was a "people outdoor" challenge. I had no any swaps, so I thought they'll just boot my photo out. It made it to the All star rank. Seriously?!
This algorithm or whatever is also seriously flawed, although I'm not an IT expert, but how is it possible that the 90% of the time I only get votes if my exposure meter is pushed to maximum (rhetorical question). Also happened that the algorithm suggested to swap a photo in a good position with the same photo!
I noticed that as time passed I got less and less votes on every challenge I joined, now my best photos barely pass the second level (I don't use the same photos everywhere as many players do, that's another con for me). I don't know that whether it's anything to do with that I reported a lots of off-topic photos and uncovered adult contents lately or what is more realistic: I don't spend any money on the game.
The clock starts running about 1-3 hours earlier than you are able to vote, so a 24 hours challenge is not 24 hours long. The "game" does not reward the players for good quality, it's all about quantity. Just click as fast as you can.
If you want more swaps, fills, keys to get further – naturally – you have to pay for them. And always a Guru or a Master wins the challenge. Your rank only means you are in this waste of a casino for a longer time, it's absolutely nothing to do with your skills and how good is your "strategy". It does not supposed to be a strategy if the game was about merit.
Conclusion: I do not want to win every challenge, this is a game after all, it's fine, nevertheless I want fair play, but with so many cheaters in the first rows and without real prizes I really think that it doesn't worth my time to try to get to the next rank. My advice: shun this site as far as you can! They could not care less about photography.

The GuruShots Team continues to run challenges that they list as 3-10-12-24 hour challenges but The voting does not start for 1 to 4 hours after the clock has already started running. They misrepresent the actual time of the challenge.

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.

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.