Gurushots

Gurushots is a game and like any other game the goal is to make money. The add says you get feedback from you photos and would improve your skills (it is a lie). Some of the gurus runs challenges but don't know exactly what is about. Challenge of " trees along side streets", the winners were paths in the woods and even a railway, when the challenge is the colour purple and the pictures of the flowers are pink or orange and they don't know the difference of hills and mountains. How can you take this "game" seriously and pay for it. Hell no. For the record I didn't pay a penny and of course I am not a "guru".

You have to constantly be voting on other people pics to get your pics noticed by others. Complete waste of time.

You also have to purchase items to increase your ranking

I have started with GS just for fun as one of my hobby.
One of the requirements to become Guru is to win a challenge. And every challenge is advertised to have some prize, so when I became a guru (in other words when I won a challenge) I contacted the customer service asking what would happen with my prize. That kept telling me other things and never answered my question, after I asked for like 4 times.
I think is not a big deal, overall is just for fun, but I just wanted some clarity.
Recently my account was suspended for as someone claimed 3 of my photos were not mine. Then I contacted the customer service again asking for some explanation. They asked me to provide the raw files to prove the pictures were mine, and I did. I provide the raws I had plus the original files.
After a week they told me I had to remove those pictures or my account will be deleted forever. I asked other clarifications, such as how can I do that, as my profile is blocked and I cannot access. And they keep repeating the same thing over and over without answering to my questions...
Now, I proved those are my photos, why do they have to delete my account?

It doesn't matter how great your pictures are all they want is for you to spend money to boost your photos, swap your photos etc etc. I've had great photos get beat out by crappy photos. It's absolutely impossible to get a guru pic unless you're a guru.It's a complete rip-off don't waste your time, your heart, your soul, nothing, especially if you are a young photographer trying to feel out where you are. It's a game that's it. It's like playing Candy Crush.

Have spent a lot of my life here, and can honestly say doing so has made me more self-critical and less emotionally attached to my photos. I also have improved technically and have worked hard to get to "Master" level, but think there is something lacking in my work that I search for that might get a Guru's attention... the public vote? Nah. Because I can predict exactly what images will be popular, and it is the same ol' same ol. Super glad photos can't win more than once... there was a certain photo of some black dogs that showed up so much I wanted to gag. Still problems with "similar" photos... the description should be very concise... different subject, different back ground... none should look anywhere close to the others in the set, lol. If you want to use the site, be sure to look up the definitions used in the descriptions... an amphibian is not a fish or a crab! Vanishing point relates to parallel lines. Minimalist photos have recognizable subjects, where abstract ones may not. I would love to see more creativity in the contests... I am constantly thinking of them, lol. Such as "The Accidental Photo that Worked" or "Ancestors" etc. etc. Be creative, and leave your phone shots on your phone... don't waste everyone's time. Thanks to Gurushots.

If it is a game, it is an annoying one. I constantly see a flood of terribly bad photos that are doing well. Originality, knowledge and real skills are not what matters there. Vox populi drags all fine works down, putting on top boring cliche photos. In theory it could work and be fun. But it would require some sort of moderation. As it is, it really is useless, sorry to say.

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.

99% of photos there are of very low quality. Boost & fill features which should let your photo be in the top for voting are not working properly so even if you spend you key for that your photo will never be shown for others and so voted, or it will be boosted for a minute in real, even if you see that "boost indicator" for several hours.
I cannot imagine how this photo-casino can increase your photo-skills or let somebody interested in your work

I was entering challenges on GS for a few years. I saw they were not treating everyone the same. I won a challenge with a bird looking straight ahead. A few weeks later I won a contest with the same bird but it had its head turned 45 degrees. This is the rule from their web site: "Once a photo has won a challenge it can't be used again in future challenges. This includes any revised versions with a crop, flip, or hue changes." I used a different photo. The photo was very obviously a different photo. GS sent me an email and threatened to ban me for winning with a similar photo. There is no rule against winning with a similar photo. I was seeing a lot of people winning with similar photos, so it made me mad and I deleted my account. I quit for over a year. A couple of months ago I decided to get a new account and just play some 1 photo challenges and not spend any money. Not long ago I received a notice that GS closed my account and said it was because of copyright infringement. I sent GS several emails and told them I have the RAW file for all my photos. I would never steal a photo. I told them to let me know which photo it is and I will send them the RAW file. GS deleted my account and said because of copyright infringement but would not let me send them my RAW file to prove it was mine. I'm guessing someone on GS is using my photos.

Thought I'd give a go for a week or two, I've been a Pro for over 12yrs working for Getty Images etc. However what a load of crap some great photographers are ignored by pure hobbyist's that aren't even on the same topic, almost holiday snaps with zero talent most out of focus. Have can this ever improve standards of photography if it's down to money that buys your rating. Just one photography site that uses a better voting system and scored on merit would be exciting but this is garbage.

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 meet@ insta & give each other feedback or maybe you'll have other ideas. Pls share

I have been a serious Gurushots player and customer for more than six years. Up until the last couple of years I got a lot more from it than I put into it. I learned how to play and I learned how to win. I am currently a high level "Guru" (level VI with VIII being the highest level), I improved my photography skills directly because of my involvement with the Gurushots system, I had a lot of fun, and I still enjoy and am inspired by much of the great photography I see from other system participants. But the game has been self-destructing now for the last couple of years. It's not what it used to be. The new system owners (Zedge) has implemented several new "features" they claim are designed and intended to make the game more fun. But the real design and intention is to con as much money out of the players as possible. The game is no longer fun or entertaining, and I have gotten tired of the multiple ways the system attempts to squeeze money out of its players. It's free... but not really. And it now sucks.

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

Been on Gurushots for about a year now. I found a lot of complete dog$#*! images getting far higher on the leaders board not only of my images which are relativity good but some outstanding work from real photographers. I decided the other day to carry out an experiment. Two separate challenges, one for images of cakes the other for windows. For the cakes i entered an image of an old tyre beside a beach, so far I have almost 1200 votes! For the windows i entered an image of two people reading on a beach, almost 900 votes! Ridiculous! Many People just vote for the utter dog $#*! images (and there are many) or for the totally unrelated so as to keep there exposure up. I am coming off it today and do yourself a favour come off it too or don't waste your time signing up for it... its $#*!!