ViewBug

Plenty of photos to view. The "contests" seem somewhat odd--at least on first inspection. Level of buy-in is tagged to participation in most of the galleries. The available postings in some of the categories (contests) are very random or maybe its the oddly-cutesy titles... so what happens in "Faces and Places" is photos of cannons (from where?) appear with portraits (human, okay) and horses and dogs and insect heads and plants that might look like they have a human face! No rules, just "give-me-what-you-got."

I was a member of Viewbug for some time and it's a great place to see some awesome photos. The prizes for competitions are very good as well and I can see how people are enticed to enter. But if you view the entries, 99% of them are ultra-professional - staged, magazine-like entries from stock catalogues etc which are unlikely to be beaten by a photo that an average member would post. It has put me and many friends off entering as these photos always win.
The judging is also flawed, same winners and same type of photos. Very false and not a true reflection of the average audience who enter photo competitions. Good if you want to look at nice photos from a stock website/catalogue though!

I have been a member of this photo sharing site. They have many technical glitches and they never fix those. They are polite in their response but they can't fix anything. When I first joined it used to be good. Last couple years whatever changes they made has made it worse. It keeps getting worse. I became a pro member many years ago in order to post many photos. I can still do that. However, what they call Challenges (contests created by a member) have become ridiculous. Too many technical issues which they ignore. I am fed up with Viewbug. I am going to look for another community and quit Viewbug. It is not worth my money or time.

This site is actually a lot of fun, even for a professional. Art and photography are subjective, so this is by no means bible, its my point of view. I have seen some wonderful images on this site. Manipulation is part of photography and takes a lot of work to perfect, so for those of you that are complaining about these types of pics, learn the craft before you say its easy, or just a person clicking a button. Remember that its not the camera or how big your lens who takes great pictures, its the person using it.
I am a free member mostly to keep my social media aspect for my website. If I can have fun in the meantime, even better.

I just found this site, i happen to like it... "rigged" or not. I think its a good way for people to get their artwork out there to get it looked at, besides using flickr, Viewbug is pretty good, simple to use, and not too many bells and whistles... and as for the Redbubble statement. Redbubble is for selling your photos. Not just getting them viewed. If you have that much of a personal vendetta against viewbug i got an idea. How about just don't use it, say whats wrong with it. Where it goes wrong, what its good for, but don't make it seem so personal. Just makes you look like a twat.

I have been a member for over two years now, I have not upgraded yet, but even as a member with a free membership, their support has been super helpful and treated me as if I was a paid member. The perks of having an account are great, as I can participate in free contests and create my own challenges. I also enjoy the community, as other photographers are willing to give you advice on your photos. Overall it has been a great experience.

I remember that when I first found this site, I was enthralled. There was so much to do and try out for a photographer! Since then, however, it really hasn't improved. I would actually argue the site has declined.
The biggest pull of the websites is its photo contests. This is where you are made to believe you can receive big prizes for good photography. However, this has turned into another cash grab for them. Most contests are reserved for their memberships. Finding a contest that you like and can do for free is a chore. There used to be a way to sort out the free contests from the elite ones, but now there is no way to do that. Viewbug makes you go through all of the elite contests to find a free contest, which creates a feeling of fulfillment with your free membership: a ploy to make you buy pro.
If you want to showcase your photography in any way, this is not the best site for you. The only thing you will get is a lot of spam and no prizes.

Documentation needs a lot of work... I don't understand how most of the site works or what the heck "you're almost there" means! I also have trouble voting, because the voting menu does not offer an "are you sure?" Option to confirm a choice... I have given so many people a "peer award" when they deserved so much more, because the button is so sensitive. Also, I only vote one per four or not at all because the next four come up right after the second vote, and I have often gone on, so that leaves me with a skipped set not voting at all when I should, so I feel like a terrible judge! Quality of photography is great, and would SO love to win a better camera. Appreciate the decent prizes. Also appreciate the articles to improve technique.

I have really enjoyed my experience with ViewBug. It even inspired me to take my hobby more seriously and now I have my own photography business. While I understand that adult content photographs have their place in the art world, I don't think ViewBug is the best venue to display this type of art. We have a lot of under aged patrons at ViewBug and I think there are a lot of other places these photographs could be displayed.

It seems recently there has been an increase in the number of adult content photos. I even tried to report one photo because of the nudity and the picture ended up on my Facebook page. As a result, I stopped reporting these images. While I will continue to support ViewBug at the Pro level, I wish more was being done to make this site a little less "sexual" and a little more artistic.

I also noticed that same shots for the same challenge appear on the voting page again and again, BUT... yes, there's a but to it. Those are shots that I did NOT vote for, so to me it is absolutely logical that they reappear (just in case you change your mind)... after all, there are only so many entries in a challenge, even if they do run into thousands. I have learnt so much from other photographers on Viewbug and I can see the results in the quality of my photography. I won't be able to compete with the greats on Viewbug, even less with the world renowned ones like my absolute hero Art Wolfe, but that is not my aim. I do what I love, have fun... AND I receive reviews and advice to boot.

When I finally found ViewBug, after joining a lot of other art/photography and other related sites, I felt I completely belonged to this one.
ViewBug is a friendly and social site for photographers and the talent here is unbelievable! Ranging from amateur to professional.
You can earn rewards and badges which escalate you to other fun contests and peer challenges to enter. It's an awesome rewarding experience just to belong. The winning is simply a bonus.

I joined when a friend that runs a photography studio invited me to vote for his photos in a contest about babies. I was very impressed with the quality of the photos so decided to create my account and join. So far I've been having a blast, seeing the most beautiful works and learning trying to win a contest... If you think you will win a contest right away, good luck, with so many photographers, it is pretty hard if you are great, if you are like me... almost impossible. But after a few months on viewbug i've learned that the contests are great for creativity and to meet people with the same interests. I did checked a couple of other reviews and clearly see that people expecting to win and don't get pretty pissed, that's sad given that art and beauty are in the eye of the beholder. Negativity sucks... but for me viewbug rocks!

Since I'm a member of ViewBug, I have been doing better day after day. Their contests are truly motivating and the results always inspiring. The prizes are true, the exposure works and you can make friends sharing photos and commenting on others' walls and works. One of my favourite websites so far.

I love Viewbug. I have been a member for 6 months. I have 400 photos and almost all of my photos have rewards. The community is friendly and help full. I am just a beginner photographer, so I get inspirations from all the great photos that are on there. Their is people from all over the world posting photos so completion is high. I have never won a contest but I am hopeful. This place is free to join and that's how I started out. If you are wanting to get some praise on your photos and get inspired this is the place.to join. It has been 3 years now that I have been on Viewbug. I have learned so much from them.

While there are other photography sharing sites, I dont think any of them have quite got the feel of ViewBug. If you haven't visited yet, go take a look - even if you aren't a photographer yourself, there's so much great quality work to see here.

I have so much to learn and only making slow progress am always surprised, delighted and encouraged by ViewBug members awarding my images. This is awesome! Can't tell you what a lift this gives when most of the time I even struggle to decide what is good and what isn't. This site is amazing, it not only encourages its members but provides every opportunity to learn from others images it also inspires us to try out so many options. I enter contests and challenges for wider exposure and points, never thinking I would come close to achieving more than that. Thank you ViewBug. Cheers Linda49

I have been on for almost a year, have about 187,00o points from all the "badges" you earn, I maintained top 10% of all the photographers for the year. My biggest complaint is the winners of the contests, whoever reviews the work is asleep at the wheel. I have been a commercial photographer for 40+ years and made a great living at it so I know good images when I see them and they seem to always pick the images that are over processed or soft and out of focus. I will be leaving soon.