About the Capture the Moment Contest

Overview

Capture the Moment is a community-driven unicycling photography contest. Our goal is to organize superb unicycling still photographs in one place, to help inspire growth in our sport by showcasing the huge diversity of unicycling experiences that happen everyday worldwide.

The Capture the Moment Contest is presented by Kris Holm Unicycles Ltd., with additional sponsorship support by Unicycle.com.

The first contest period will run from November 2009 to March 31, 2010

Rating Entries

You must be a registered logged in user to rate entries. You may change your rating at anytime by re-clicking the desired number of stars on an entries page. The first time you rate an entry, you will see a single line of stars. Click the stars to rate photos. Once rated, you will see the average user rating as a large row of stars, and your rating below that in a smaller row of stars. You may change your rating at anytime by re-clicking the desired number of stars on an entries page. Rating is on a scale of 1 to 5 stars:

(1 out of 5): Poor
(2 out of 5): Fair
(3 out of 5): Good
(4 out of 5): Very Good
(5 out of 5): Excellent

Scoring Calculation

Photo scores are calculated based on the entries average (mean) star rating, the number of votes for the entry and the average (mean) of all ratings across the category they belong to. The score is calculated statistically, based on a Bayesian estimate formula. This is the same approach used by the Internet Movie Database to calculate their Top 250 movie list. In summary, photos with both higher ratings and a greater number of ratings receive higher scores.

Currently, a minimum of 10 ratings is needed for a photo to register a score. Entries that do not meet this minimum number display a score of "N/A".

Winning entries will be determined by their Bayesian category score using the latest value of C once the contest closes and no further votes are accepted.

Score = (v / (v+m)) * R + (m / (v+m)) * C

which can also expressed as:

        |   v       |   |   m       |
Score = | ----- x R | + | ----- x C |
        | v + m     |   | v + m     |


 where:
  R = (Rating) average star rating (out of 5) for the photo (mean)
  v = (votes)  number of votes for the photo
  m = minimum votes required to receive a score (currently 10)
  C = the mean vote across the entry category (calculated daily at 00:00GMT and cached for 24 hours).

The formula normalizes the score. In other words, it pulls a particular rating R to the mean C if the number of votes is not well above m. If a particular photo only has a few votes above the minimum votes required to receive a score (m), the score is decreased a little if it is above the mean, or increased a little if it is below the mean in accordance with the normal distribution rule of statistics. The idea is that a higher number of votes corresponds to a more representative score for a photo.

Frequently Asked Questions View all answers

What are the entry categories? How do I choose which category to assign to a photograph?

You can assign one of three categories to your photograph. Use the following information to help you decide:

ACTION: The focus of your photograph is the riding itself. In other words, people seeing your shot are drawn to the riding. The rider might be in an impressive location but it is the action in the shot that really brings it all together.
CULTURE: The focus of your photograph is people, more than the riding. In other words, the photo contains unicycling but is more about the culture you are riding in or the people you are riding with. Examples might be your local riding scene or interactions with locals while traveling in a different culture.
LANDSCAPE: The focus of your photograph is the location. In other words, it is the landscape behind the rider that makes it a spectacular shot. The shot could be in either an urban or natural environment.

Tell me more about the riding style categories listed for each photo.

Riding styles listed for each photo are used to help organize photos in the Gallery. Categories include:

Standard: non-technical riding as a form of local transportation
MUni: all styles of riding offroad on trails
Trials: involves riding over obstacles of any sort, either in natural terrain or in an urban environment, where the challenge is purely a function of technical difficulty over short distances
Flatland (AKA Flat): involves doing tricks on a unicycle on flat ground
Freestyle/Artistic: Similar to flatland riding but with a performance aspect and its own style distinct from flatland
Street: Street riding combines urban trials and flatland techniques, where the objective is to use stairs, railings or any other urban obstacle to set up tricks
Distance: Riding longer distances on paved or dirt roads

Can I enter one photograph in more than one category?

No - just one per category.

How many photographs can I enter?

You can enter up to one photograph per category, for each contest period (about every 6 months).

What are the contest terms and conditions?

Full contest terms can be found here.

Do I have to register to enter?

Yes - you must sign up, and agree to the contest Terms and Conditions.

Can I delete my entry and replace it with a different photo?

Not at this time. We may add the ability to let entrants delete their entry and replace it with another in the future.

Why do I have to register to vote?

In order to ensure the integrity of each vote you must have a registered account.

Do I have to enter a photo to vote?

No - Anyone can vote a s long as they are registered.

How do I find photos?

The entry page shows the latest 6 entries. All entries can be located through the Gallery. Each entry has a unique url which can be used to share the entry with others. The best way for you to share specific photos with others is to use the sharing toolbar found on each entries page. Alternatively you can simply cut and paste an entries url from your browsers address bar.

You can filter entries in the gallery by clicking on one of the category links above the thumbnail gallery. Currently, filters include entry category and user-submitted photo tags.

Additional ways to organize and search for photos will be added in the future.

Why don't I see my photo right away?

Photos are moderated. That means that a human being must manually approve your photo before it can be displayed. Depending on the availability of the moderator, your photo may take minutes to hours on average to be approved. Don't despair if your photo takes up to a few days to appear though; it probably means that the moderator is overloaded or perhaps off on a ride.