GuruShots: Photography Game Reviews

by Bryanthofer

When I started this app, I saw phenomenal photographs reaching the top votes and Guru top pick lists for a variety of different challenges. Being a growing photographer, it was definitely inspiring to see what makes a great photo and motivated me to improve my skills to earn votes and reach the top. Now, I see many poorly composed and off-topic photographs reaching the top votes for many challenges, there is no way that these photos truly reflect the votes of the users, period. I assume that the more money you spend on the boosts/swaps to use in a challenge it secures your spot in the top ranks. Are these fake votes?? This is incredibly sad, because it has destroyed the credibility of the voting algorithm and confirms that money, not creativity & skill with active voting, is what matters the most to gain exposure and win top prizes on GuruShots. Please switch to selling ad space or a one time paid app version. This is a very social game, so I'd rather pay for GuruShots itself and have voting be fair for everyone based on skill instead of always expecting someone to outpay me for votes in a challenge.

by M.photography.inc

One thing I’ve noticed about the winners of majority of GuruShots is the pictures are horrible not even close to a true photography picture or worthy of a Win !! Maybe a handful is most winners are in the experts an master n guru levels who are the ones who set forth the new games . They chose the winners among each other further more of you go to their pictures on their profile they are not even good pictures nor creative nor anything but a disgrace to us the real photographers I think it’s a cool game but if your looking for a real game with real winners worthy of winning well this isn’t it!! To top it off your exposure depends on ur voting ability an most pictures don’t even have anything to do with the contest so if it’s a red contest you have people putting up pictures with nothing to do Roth red but getting more voted then pictures that do all because people with no life gave all day to just sit around an vote. It’s pathetic an unfortunate then a lot of contest will say no sexual explicitness allowed but then you will see a picture of that nature being a top guru Pick disgraceful... I would give app a -10 if I could.

by Easternspock

The way GuruShots is set up makes it a waste of time and potentially money if they lure you into it. Is sort of fun to enter contests, but in order to get your picture seen you have to vote or use boosts which they try to sell you to fill your “exposure meter”. If you don’t do that, the votes on your picture will level off and you won’t get voted on again until you vote positively on a certain number of pictures. This mechanic encourages mindless voting just to fill the exposure meter and therefore the best pictures aren’t what’s voted for, anything that shows up is what gets voted for because that is just what you need to do to get your picture seen. Also, it encourages not voting for the best pictures. Why pile on votes to the best pictures which are going to overshadow yours when you could vote for pictures that are less likely to reach the same level of votes as yours so that you stay higher up in the ranks? And the prizes are always just in-app purchases, which really isn’t worth anything if you ask me.

TLDR; It’s just a broken system that in no way gives actual feedback or reward for your photography. Thought it’d be a nice change from Instagram but it’s even more disingenuous.

by YAY4TODAY

I loved it at first but now I find it annoying. There are people who are looking to be porn stars and are not tagging the pix as adult content, people who don’t know the difference between B&W and color, people who don’t know the difference between a reflection in water and glass and even those who cannot differentiate between a silhouette, a shadow or a reflection. I don’t know how the Gurus can tolerate them. The other thing is, the only way to gain any points or headway is if you have no job and no life and you vote constantly to keep your exposure high. My pictures tend to do quite well during the weekend or nights when I vote. I’m even placing 14th to 25th in my group. But since most of the voting ends at a time that’s appropriate for Europe, I stop voting about 8 hours before so I can go to bed because I have a job to get up for. Then the voting is over and because my exposure wasn’t kept up, my rating goes way down. Your exposure should stay up if others are voting for your pictures NOT because you are voting for other random pictures that don’t even fit the entry criteria. One guy actually posted a selfie under the competition titled “Perfect Timing”. Another “Perfect Timing” was a plate of food. SMH.

by Justdafactz

The constant bugs continue to ruin what once was an extremely fun and addictive game. Team play has become a complete joke at best!! Many times throughout a season random teams will be given double credit for the same win. During this current season in Gold 2 several teams had their total score doubled, while others lost half of their points!! At this level of competition where people set alarm clocks to vote/fill etc at 3am and use hard earned resources each and every match this is completely unacceptable! Where are the admins?? Where are the responses to all of the messages/tickets sent in about this? No acknowledgement or transparency whatsoever!! How about all of the challenges over the last few days that we weren't given our achievement badges, top 10s top, top 100s etc?!?! Crickets!!
GS was an amazing idea, and as I stated before, its fun and very entertaining, however, like so many others, greed and lack of accountability will be its demise!

by Curban222

This is a fun app that is a good way to progress your photography via incentive to produce images and quality as well as seeing examples and learning from others shots. It’s a good way to pass the time as well.

However - the voting process is flawed. In order to increase your exposure and get votes you essentially need to vote for hundreds of images constantly. Nobody has time for that. What ends up happening is that you are not voting for the best photos, you’re simply voting for as many decent looking photos as you can as quick as you can. Which doesn’t bode well for you’re images and doesn’t end with he best images as the winners. Secondly, the only way to advance in levels (does it even matter?) is to get guru picks. This seems to be just about impossible. I’ve entered so many contests with so many photos and have yet to get a guru pick. I’ve ended up in the top 10-20% in many contests but have not gotten a guru pick. Finally, GuruShots has been cleverly created with an algorithm for voting that gets you a bunch of votes quickly when you post an image, but then slows down. The only way to increase voting (and stay relevant on the leaderboard) is to swap images, which you eventually need to pay for. This I get, and don’t really have a problem with. In fact I think it is smart on the developers part. Just be warned.

by ==>snoops<==

It helps you to organize yourself with photography. You get to see other professionals "Gurus" share their work and it helps with inspo. However, if you are not a "Guru" don't expect to win any of the challanges and money prices. The competitions also are not separate, meaning that both beginners and professionals can compete. GuruShots says that it has to be original pictures and the pictures have to pertain to the challange. When I look at the pictures there a bunch selfie with those snapchat or Instagram filters that have nothing to do with the challenge. Some are pictures that are professional, but taken by others, you can tell because they are the same pics that circulate in Instagram on fake accounts. If not, they are photos that have nothing to do with the challange. The rules for the challanges say that these type of pictures will be disqualified, but I don't see them being taken down. Is like no one is monitoring that.

by Hurdle Ball Hurdle Ball

As a new photographer I thought this would be a good way to put some of my photos out there and see what people think, I was wrong. I’ve noticed that the only way to actually get recognized is to be a high level and you need to be recognized to become a high level so I see it as one of those carnival games you play at fairs, you never really win and if you do it’s just luck.
I’ve also noticed the amount of copy right photos is insane. I even see gurus picking copyright images, one has even been taken from a National Geographic photographer and it still won because the person stealing photos was a high level. I like the idea of the exhibits but the chances of your photo being picked even after you spent hours voting to get your image seen it’s not worth it because even if your at the top it all comes down to what the guru thinks and if your a high level or not and they don’t always pick original photos. It’s a good idea but it’s not a good way for photographers to be in a real community where’s there getting feedback on their hard work.

by Jashalee02

Started playing, and thoroughly enjoy discovering others beautiful photos, while being discovered at the same time. It feels great to get 300 vote-ups on a picture you’re proud of, and its so fun, and a great pastime, swiping through neat works by everyone else, too. However, after completing challenges at elite and all-star level, and gaining GS points (which are like an experience value), I was excited to move up to Challenger level, knowing I had all the requirements to do so. But then I noticed I needed to make 2 more successful “swaps”, which is a paid for ability in-game, that allows you to swap a photo out for another in the middle of a challenge, in order to enhance how many votes you might get. But I can’t do this, because I only have one swap, not two. Now, granted, its a small in-game purchase to get one swap, and I wasn’t unaware of the fact that this game offered in-game purchases in the first place. The problem I have with it, is the next level, I’ll have to complete five successful swaps, which I will have to pay for, yet again. Its very frustrating, to complete requirements for level advancement, but lack one thing which is just a money grab. Anyway, regardless of this, I will happily continue to play. Its a great concept and game experience, for those who love color palettes and photography. Get it – its fun... and frustrating.

by Christopher_Howard_Photo

GuruShots is pretty cool for photography, but there are a few (very fixable) problems. 1. They send wayyyy to many emails, just give me notifications. 2. There’s no way to search topics, hashtags, or keywords, only accounts. 3. The only way to get anywhere in a challenge is to either vote constantly to raise your exposure bonus which is incredibly time consuming and a solid 60% of entries are crap, or pay for more and more exposure boosts. 4. GuruShots never loads ‘activity’ which means when a challenge ends you can’t see how you did if you pass on a notification. That’s all of my gripes honestly. I complain as much as anyone about in app purchases and it’s certainly a platform where you pay to win (if you have great photos) but it’s not so bad; it has problems but the are definitely fixable. I’m sure the support staff and server costs are through the roof for an imaging platform but if they can fit even one of problems into the budget I’d have a 99% higher chance of supporting them monetarily. It’s an awesome platform to gain exposure; though an option to link other platforms for cross exposure would be very nice and helpful for the true photography industry.

by Iagal2018

I’ve been an aspiring photographer for the past 7 years now. I do enjoy GuruShots, as it allows me to see other photographers’ unique photos! It’s fun seeing the different challenges which allows for hundreds of different people to partake in, and I love how photos are edited, the main focus point, the angle of the shots, etc.

But other times GuruShots can also fall flat. Half the time most photos don’t follow the guideline rules set for each specific challenge (outdoor photos posted in indoor only challenges, colored photos in B&W challenges, etc), and sometimes these “professional” photographers take photos straight from the internet and pass them off as their own, which is frustrating. The amount of selfies and porn star wannabes I’ve seen is ridiculous and shouldn’t be applauded. (I do understand that forms of nude photography can be artistic, but you can clearly tell the difference between by how they’re composed, lighting, etc.)

GuruShots could be great, and a fun way for photographers to compete in these challenges if they’re taken seriously (as guidelines are made for a reason, otherwise what’s the point of them...)but until then I can’t rate this app 5 stars until these issues are dealt with.

by Itisry

I absolutely love GuruShots! But there are a few things keeping me from wanting to continue to play. The rank up system is pretty bugged and never stays up to date. For example one of the things I had to do to rank up to the next level was have x5 successful swaps. Well i had far surpassed the 5 mark and had probably around x10 successful swaps all together. But I noticed none of them where counting towards my progression. Well I didn’t think much of it until I got a notification later on that night saying I had ranked up. All though I completed all the tasks earlier that morning. Same thing is currently happening as we speak. I need to hit premier level 10 times to level up. Well I’ve hit premier probably 20 times in the last 2 days alone and none of them are registering and it still says I need them to level up. So it’s almost like GuruShots can’t keep up. And my second complaint is the rank system all together. I feel like it’s a good idea, yet flawed at the same time. Someone could post a pic of a booger and it would rank high just because people spam it just to boost their own post. Which means over time a person with a page full of booger’s could potentially rank all the way up just because of the way the boost system is set up. Love GuruShots , just would also love to see it tweaked a bit.

by Kelstwins

GuruShots is great if you appreciate photography. I enjoy seeing other photos and have gotten some great ideas. Occasionally I’ll receive a short video through GuruShots with photography tips - very helpful. Challenge: getting enough viewing for a guru pick. When I first upload for a challenge I can receive a large number of votes within the first day. After that voting slows down. An option to increase votes is to swap a photo. Unfortunately you only receive the occasional free swap but can purchase additional swaps. Also, in the recent update the view for voting has changed on the mobile app. It used to show one photo at a time, which you can still do if you select that mode. However the default is to view a large number of photos on one screen, and they are at different sizes. Who decides which photos appear larger than the others? Some of the photos are so small they are very difficult to see details. Hurried voting will be less about quality and more about increasing your exposure meter.

by Ablifedesigns

I really do love GuruShots! I just have a couple concerns and frustrations as well.
1) I can’t say voting is always fair. Photos that are not within the guidelines of challenge details sometimes get high voting just because they are pretty pictures and I don’t agree with that. For example the shadows challenge, water reflections and silhouettes are NOT shadows!
2) A lot of adult content is not marked as such! There have been many times when I am scrolling through photos and nudity is forced upon my eyes! I can understand nudity in photography and the beauty of it but people should have the choice if they want to see it or not. I feel like the administrators of GuruShots should take stuff like this more seriously. And sometimes the nude photos are done in suggestive or provocative ways which is ridiculous to say the least.
Other than those things, GuruShots is an awesome community for photographers, beginners and pros. It gives great opportunity to grow and learn and keeps my days full, looking for beauty everywhere I go!

by Francesca, PA

The challenges set forth are interesting . They spark you to look beyond what you see, to see what you never saw and bring to focus what was right In front of you. All which I love. GuruShots is not without flaws. The voting seems unfair although they attempt to explain how photos get exposure they fail and it seems like luck. They need a better way to monitor adult content,as I’ve run across several obscene ( not artistic nude ) photos that have not been marked. I’ve seen children in a coffee shop ( absolutely nothing adult about it) marked adult content.
Off topic photo have won many votes which I don’t understand. Lastly, GuruShots is down for maintenance for hours every few days. Votes and exposer is lost during that time and is quite aggravating . Response to emails is 2-3 days.
Having said that, knowing as an amateur photographer, I’m never going to get above a certain level nor attain Guru status. The game and the challenges along with the photography tips are enjoyable and I do recommend it.

by RedPhoenix13

For the most part I love GuruShots, except for one thing - it has a tendency to crash sometimes when I’m in the middle of voting, and then I lose all my votes and my exposure bonus goes back to zero. I realize that apps can crash for a variety of potential reasons, but it seems to happen around half the time, and only while voting. It’s particularly annoying when you consider that when my exposure bonus is low to begin with, scrolling through photos to vote on to fill it up again can take a while. And if GuruShots crashes when my exposure is almost full, I don’t want to spend more time scrolling through the same number of photos to fill it back up, so I just end up using the fills I have accumulated. Can you fix this problem? Or at the very least advise users to maybe submit a few votes at a time several times to get their exposure bonus filled instead of filling it all the way up in one single round of voting?

by Awriterinspired

Guru shots is a great, simple app that lets you easily submit your own photos into contests and vote on others.

By voting in a contest you gain exposure, getting more views and potential votes. It can be a little time consuming, but it helps encourage people to vote on contests and not just submit photos.

The one issue is the ranking system. You have to perform certain feats to gain rank. The higher your rank, the more voting power you get and the more contests you can enter. The problem is one of the things required to go up in rank is to do a successful “swap”. This is where you submit a photo to a contest, get votes, then swap it for a different photo that gets more votes. To swap a photo though, you need a swap, which you have a very limited number of. To get more you have to win contests or buy more. So essentially be a top notch photographer or pay the company money to be able to get past the rookie ranking.

This adds a bit of a payment gateway. It takes days for most contests to end and even then you have to win to get anything. I have enough points and skill levels in contests to go up a couple of levels but can’t because I don’t have any more swaps.

Overall, it’s a great app ad I’d highly recommend it. Just be warned that it can get difficult to raise in rankings.

by LordSam76

I gave the game a 4 out of 5 because there are so many different ways to get to the top. Granted you need a good photo. Someone like myself and my fiance who are new to photography completely,( Xmas gifts were Cameras ) we have learned from others. Like what to do and and not to do when it comes to picture taking. The competitions have forced Us to go beyond what we would take pictures of normally. From the most simple to the more complex photo. At 1st we were expecting magic to happen when we would take our shots, but soon enough we figured it out that not only must you take an initial great shot, but also ( we call it tweaking picture ) you have to tweak the picture to get that result you were trying to capture and more. I did not give it all 5 stars is because, if you boost.... you get more votes and this is just a way for the ”Guru People” to make there $$ and unfair for the competitors. But overall the game is fun, creative, addictive and, challenging 😎😳Just don't expect to get famous 😎😄
Keep up the good work. Thank You, Sam The Butcher.

by Stratozfearz

I absolutely love the whole idea behind GuruShots , and what you can do with it, and how it works. There’s just a couple things that I think need tweaking:

For me the ranking system doesn’t seem to he up to date. I’m not sure if it isn’t tracking correctly, or it is just slow. I have hit high rankings on my photos, and met swap requirements, but I am still Beginner. Not sure how. But that’s not a huge deal.

Another is the voting system. I feel like a lot of people don’t worry so much about the photo as they do their own. Voting to increase the exposure they get can lead to unattractive photos winning in the long run.

Other than that, I love GuruShots. I’ve already found some photographers I absolutely love, and have been inspired by the variety of photos and talent I see on here. For beginners this would be a great step in gaining confidence in your work because other people may like it a lot. There are categories for just about anything. Also I do virtual photography as well, and people don’t seem to mind that either. Overall, great experience!

by Holtsartistry

I have been active in this app for a little while now and have really enjoyed it. I have been getting heavily into photography for a bit and I’m enjoying using GuruShots. I had taken lot of photos before using this, but this really did a solid job in helping me identify my topics and hone some skill. Those things I appreciate about this. I also definitely appreciate the ability to have an adult content filter on the photos. I have no desire to see scantily clad dressed women or nude people in general, and with this I have the ability to have that filtered out.
I also appreciate the healthy amount of boosts that’s one is able to acquire if you are playing the game consistently. I also like the idea and desire to be able to have the ability to enter your artwork into exhibits around the world. I would really like to visit one at one point. All in all, this has been a pretty solid app. Crashes sometimes, especially when voting a lot in a single contest without submitting a bundle of your votes. Highly recommended to give it a shot 📸