Two different nights
Personal practice — garage, backyard, empty range, you and a bag. Photos are optional. Tap the scores, lock the end, keep shooting. I skip the camera when I am tired and I only want a log.
Tournaments and club leagues — other people are in the standings. A photo is required before the next end (or next 3D target) unlocks. That is the hosted card. If you do not want to photograph a league, do not join a hosted shoot.
Why hosted shoots require photos
Standings create pressure. Pressure creates generous memory. Without a picture, the loudest person at the bale wins. With a picture, the arrow wins. I would rather you spend five seconds taking a photo than spend fifteen minutes in the parking lot.
Photos are compressed so they do not fill the disk, but they stay sharp enough to read a line. Club admins can open the card later if two people disagree.
How to take a photo that actually helps
- Fill the frame with the scoring area — not half hallway and a blurry spot.
- Shoot before you pull — a hole is not a score.
- Watch glare — indoor lights wash out lines; angle your body.
- One clear picture beats three artistic ones.
- On 3D — get the ring and the arrow shaft in focus, not the scenic tree.
What good vs bad looks like (in words)
Good: the ring lines are visible, the arrow is in frame, you can tell 4 from 5 (or 9 from 10) without guessing.
Bad: taken after the pull; motion blur; only the floor; a thumb over the lens; a picture of your friends smiling while the target is a brown smear.
Privacy
Target photos are for scoring proof. Do not photograph strangers’ faces to be clever. Club members and admins may see hosted cards as part of running the shoot. Details live in the privacy policy.
How disputes work
Call the arrow with your partner while it is still in the target. Take the photo. Lock the end. If you still disagree, a club admin can review the picture. What you should not do is quietly edit a score after everyone is tired. The site is built to make that hard on purpose.
How this site enforces it
On a hosted Indoor 300 or Vegas end, you enter scores and provide the required photo evidence before the next end unlocks. On hosted 3D, each target works the same way. Personal rounds can skip the camera. The difference is intentional.
Indoor vs outdoor photo problems
Indoors, the enemy is glare and sodium lights that turn a 10-ring into mush. Move until the line is visible. Outdoors, the enemy is backlight and mud on the lens. Wipe the lens. Do not shoot into the sun and hope the ring appears in post.
If you wear glasses, take an extra half-second. A photo that looks fine on a bright phone screen can be unreadable later on a laptop. When in doubt, take a second frame closer.
Who holds the phone
Pick a job. The worst hosted nights are the ones where everyone assumes someone else tapped capture. One person is clearly responsible for the photo on that end. Rotate between ends if you want fairness — after the lock, not during the argument.
What club admins should tell members
Before league night one, say this out loud: photos are part of the card, not optional flavor. Show a good example and a bad example on a projector if you can. People comply faster when they have seen the standard. If someone refuses photos, they can shoot personal practice — they should not be in a hosted standings sheet.
Storage and honesty
I compress photos so the server does not drown. Compression is not an excuse to take a useless picture. If an admin cannot read the ring, the photo failed. Retake it before you pull when you still can.
Retake protocol
If the first frame is blurry, take a second before anyone pulls. Say “retake” out loud so the group waits. Do not pull an arrow and then try to reconstruct the face from memory. The whole point of photo proof is that memory is optional.
If the face is crowded and arrows block each other, take two angles. One wide, one tight on the disputed shaft. Attach the clearest one to the end. Keep the second on your phone until the night is settled if your club likes backup.
FAQ
Can my club turn photos off for a “fun night”?
Hosted means proof. If you want a casual night with no photos, shoot personal rounds or run a format your club agrees is unofficial.
Do I need a perfect DSLR shot?
No. You need a readable phone picture.
What if the upload fails on range Wi-Fi?
Move closer to reception, retry, or use phone data. Do not pull arrows and “upload later” on a hosted card.
Who can see my photos?
You, and the people who need them to run or review that hosted shoot. See privacy for details.