Am i being jealous

woody12

woody12

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Hi, really annoyed at the moment because after three years of trying to learn, improve and capture the art of photography my brother-in-law has brought a camera - bridge camera which he brags will take better shots than my beloved nikon 3100. That's not really the issue. What is, is that he disses all my shots and after taking a few shots of his daughter, which are like all first pictures blurry, no real thought in the shot. Tried helping but he won't listen because he's posted to Facebook and he's got lots of lovely comments which my boring landscape shots don't generally get. I feel like giving up because I thought my hobby was a skill that you honed not sticking a subject in front of the lens and shooting. Am I being jealous ? Should I just ignore people like this? Really feel giving it all up.
 
Id go with ignore it! Dont give up just because of what people have said. People have knocked me back plenty of times, and im laughing with what ive already achieved.

People post absolute rubbish on facebook anyway so dont worry about that! Post your stuff up on here if you want genuine feedback.
 
I wouldn't ignore people 'like this' but neither would I pay to much attention to them either.

I certainly wouldn't get hung up about Facebook comments or the likes of Flickr views for that matter.

Getting some recognition is always nice but 'nice comments' don't really mean much or help you progress as a photographer. Far better get some constructive crit through the likes of TP.

At the end of the day if it's your hobby, you should do it because you enjoy it rather than worry about the attention it brings.
 
Ignore it. There are two types of photography these days I think. The any old crap that gets posted to Facebook, and the good stuff that us enthusiasts are more appreciative of. It doesn't really matter which you prefer or what anyone says about it, you just need to enjoy what you're doing.
I think photos of kids in particular receive an awful lot of praise on Facebook no matter what the quality is because on there people just don't care. I've posted some lovely landscape photos on my profile that have received little more that a few likes and then I've posted poor snaps of my young nieces and received lots of comments saying great shot even though its not.
 
woody12 said:
Should I just ignore people like this? Really feel giving it all up.
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yes.. ignore people like that. You are doing photography for you, not other people.

Most people who see most of my stuff dismiss it as arty farty nonsense... am I bothered? Nope... I do it for me. Those that do appreciate art photography tend to like the work, so I know it is hitting the mark intended to hit.

It's for this reason I only really post up my more mainstream stuff in here. My other stuff would just get the usual responses because it doesn't obey "rules".

Take a leaf out of my book. Shoot what you want. Take stuff from critique only if it actually makes sense to you, and helps you.... otherwise, the whole world can go to hell. It's your work, not his work, so why should you care if his inane shots of his kid gets comments on facebook. They probably only like it to be friendly, and because they think the kid is cute.

Be true to yourself, shoot what makes you happy.
 
Facebook is a popularity contest, it's nothing to do with the quality of the photos.
 
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I post photography magazine competition winning Landscapes to my Facebook profile and get 4-5 likes if I'm lucky!

Post a pic of my daughter taken on my iPhone with no consideration and get 50 plus likes,think that pretty much sums it up!

I only take notice of constructive c&c given by photographers that I respect and couldn't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks!

I certainly wouldn't consider giving up something I enjoy!

Tell them if they want some honest feedback post a few on here!
 
I am in the "Ignore him" camp.
 
Agree with the above, don't give up because of your brother in law's attitude.

What sort of person feels the need to tell you his camera is better than yours? I think the last time I heard someone tell me whatever they had was better than the one I had, I was in a primary school playground.

He also seems to believe Facebook is a measure of quality; eeek!

Ignore him and enjoy your photography.

Dave
 
Tell him to post some shots on here for us to crit.
 
He'll be doing weddings by the end of the week. Just ignore and enjoy your hobby.
 
thanks for all the positive comments some of which made me lol literally. Cheered me up no end. I was just a bit depressed and will never allow bigots like him to control what i do. Actually asked him down to our local lake to teach him how to come out of auto mode and take some sunsets. His answer? Auto mode does all the photography for you, whats so hard to learn about that. Laughing i went on my own and took some lovely shoots. Sorry cant stop LOL.
 
Ignore it.

People are not commenting on his photos, they are commenting on the subject. Sure, they might say great shot etc but it is because of the subject primarily.
 
Why not invite him to join you in a shoot that will tax the P&S mentality then see what he says when you compare results. You can still ignore him :D
 
I just think its one of those thing will all come across one time or the other,just ignore him :)
 
Just had a very quick look at shots youve posted, you do need to work on composition and some of your PP, but all in all they look OK to me, other than above their decent enough shots, some are just records, but I get them all the time too
 
Forget Facebook and twitter etc Problem solved.
 
I'm in agreement with everybody else .... "Don't give up"

This is your thing, don't let anybody take it away from you!
 
This can be summed up simply with 'people like people'.

The other day I went out with my kids into the back garden for 20 minutes, the results got more comments on FB in 24 hours than anything else I ever posted on my personal page.

Are they great shots? No

Are they OK shots? Yes

Why so many comments? because each of the kids were tagged, giving an audience of hundreds, it only takes a tiny percentage of their mates being bored twiddling with their phones. I certainly wouldn't take anything from those comments as a critique on my photography.

As for your BiL he will either give up and move onto the next thing, or he'll start to take his photography more seriously, he's not a jerk, he doesn't need you to help him or ignore him.

But you need to understand where he's coming from, and you'll realise that there's no significant relationship whatsoever between his 'snaps' of people and your landscape photographs.
 
I'm in the stick at it camp too. Sounds a bit of a tool as mentioned above.

As for Facebook my lad can get 100's of likes for an iPhone pic of him and his mates pulling a stupid face from all his school friends and yet I may get a dozen for a carefully thought out image. Don't let such a thing bother you.

Buy a black dog and see if he buys on that is blacker. That should tell you everything if you've not already worked it out by now ;)
 
In most cases people are liking the subject matter not the effort that's gone into it.
99% of the time, people will "like" a motion blurred out of focus kid that they think is cute - especially if they know the kid's family - even if it's taken on a mobile phone rather than like a well composed and thought out landscape shot.
Most of the time, they're being polite, are not photographers and haven't got a clue as to what makes a good photo and what doesn't.
Have a look at the people who have "liked" the said photos of your BiL's that you talk about and you'll probably find that the bulk of them are family and friends.
Also, if you just posting pics on facebook or wherever else just to see how many likes you get and see it as a competition, you're probably doing it for the wrong reasons.
 
woody12 said:
Hi, really annoyed at the moment because after three years of trying to learn, improve and capture the art of photography my brother-in-law has brought a camera - bridge camera which he brags will take better shots than my beloved nikon 3100. That's not really the issue. What is, is that he disses all my shots and after taking a few shots of his daughter, which are like all first pictures blurry, no real thought in the shot. Tried helping but he won't listen because he's posted to Facebook and he's got lots of lovely comments which my boring landscape shots don't generally get. I feel like giving up because I thought my hobby was a skill that you honed not sticking a subject in front of the lens and shooting. Am I being jealous ? Should I just ignore people like this? Really feel giving it all up.
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I'd be more concerned with using the word brought to describe a purchase lol
 
Im in the who cares camp - if this upsets you how to you handle other criticisms in life
 
A) He's your brother in law - therefore you don't need to see him all the time B) Post your work on here to get true recognition and critique and C) You have an SLR.

There's no real comparison here, his first mistake was buying a bridge camera!

At the end of the day you bought the camera for yourself, not to brag about it. He's probably one of the ''All gear, no idea'' crowd (statistically speaking, middle aged men who buy a Yammy R1, All the latest Alpinestars helmets, full race leather and then wrap themselves round a tree as they didn't start off on something a little less 'dangerous')

That sounds harsh but just look at the motorcycle accident statistics (uncle is a traffic cop to confirm this unfortunate fact)

If you're passionate about what you do in life then nobody should guide you on what you can and can't do with kit :)
 
Tell him that:

a) It's not the camera that takes a good photograph, it's the person taking it regardless of the cost of the camera etc
b) photography is subjective and one persons junk is anothers treasure (if he'll understand that analogy)
c) megapixels aren't everything
d) he's a knob
 
He married your sister. It's called alpha male rivalry.
 
You say he brags his camera will take better shots Paul, how about a nice long exposure clouds movings towards you captured down at the lake especially when Mother Nature turns up., if you are passionate enough with your hobby which I know you are Paul, then nothing else matters IMO.
 
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Thing is, I'm sure we all have one of these characters in our family? I have 2! :)
 
Say this a lot; but before pressing the shutter, ask WHO (is going to want to look at the picture) and WHY (will they want to look at it)

Your 'boring' landscapes probably ARE boring, to most people. But were they taken to interest most people?

Point of taking a photograph is for some-one to look at it. Why else should it exist?

As Phil says, most people are interested in people; look at the papers, look at the magazines, look on the net; MOST photo's people want to look at have other people in them; people who are interesting because they are famous or uinfamous; or doing something stupid, daft, exiting, dangerous, unusual or other wise 'interesting'.

The average viewer is not one jot interested in the subtelties of sensor resolutrion, optical clarity, exposure accuracy, or even great composition... they dont give a damn, and most cant apreciate it ANYWAY, and even those that can, probably wont get very exited about it.

These technical merits? Well, the only people that are likely to appreciate them, are other keen photographers, like yourself.

So, WHO are your photo's for? and WHY should they be interested?

'Better' is very subjective. All depends what you want to achieve, and really is measured by how well it succeeds.

Brother-in-Law's snap-shots; object of recording family doing stuff, if it does the job, could be a pretty good photo. Could be 'better' technically... but if it does the job, its a good picture.

Your Landscapes. Who is supposed to look at it? What is supposed to interest them, and does it do that job? How well does it do it?

Its nothing you should be jealous about; but the feeling of your better camera and more diligent application of craft being 'less' appreciated, is understandable... but turn it around, and what can you learn from it? WHY are his 'cruddy' snaps so much more widely appreciated than your presumed 'master-pieces'?

Who and Why. if a picture has a viewer and that viewer is interested in the picture, its a good picture.

If the viewer isn;t interested in the picture? Well, either its the wrong subject, or the wrong viewer.
 
Ignore it.

Facebook is more like a society network. People liking his pictures doesn't necessarily mean they are good pictures. Maybe just because he is popular or his daughter is cute. If his pictures are more popular than yours on the sites like flickr, I may pay a little more attention. But overall, I wouldn't worry too much. Life is short so take the moment in the way you like, not the way others like.
 
Don't let it bother you, lifes too short! My BIL's holiday photo's that I have to sit through are nothing other than hundreds of snaps of him and the new "friends" he has made getting p*****. The rest of the family think they are fabulous photographs. So I know how you feel.
 
If you wan to get loads more likes than him take a pic of a pretty girl showing plenty of cleavage.

:D
 
You take landscape photos because it's something you like to do, so don't worry what others think, by all means take good advice from the great landscape photographers on here, and their are plenty, don't take any notice of facebook, whilst their are some great photos on there, most are just snapshots, it's a fact you will always get more response on people photos on there, and particularly children, because most people just look at the child and think awww isn't he/she gorgeous, they have no technical ability or an eye for a good photo, it's just the way folk are. Just remember your photography is for YOU and no one else, so just concentrate on yourself and your own progression, and like i say take good constructive crit from the good guys and gals on here :)
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think I've been looking at my photography in the wrong way and you guys have opened my eyes a little. I've been thinking you have to get loads of likes, comments on such like social media sites to be a good proud photography. I've been tying to impress others when I need to stay true to what I like and why I'm actually taking the picture, not thinking Fred's wife be impressed with this. From now on I'm going to shoot just for me and only post for top photography's like yourself to advice and improve my skills so having a moan has helped me and pushed me in the right direction. Thanks again and here's to many top shots in the future
 
Pookeyhead said:
yes.. ignore people like that. You are doing photography for you, not other people.

Most people who see most of my stuff dismiss it as arty farty nonsense... am I bothered? Nope... I do it for me. Those that do appreciate art photography tend to like the work, so I know it is hitting the mark intended to hit.

It's for this reason I only really post up my more mainstream stuff in here. My other stuff would just get the usual responses because it doesn't obey "rules".

Take a leaf out of my book. Shoot what you want. Take stuff from critique only if it actually makes sense to you, and helps you.... otherwise, the whole world can go to hell. It's your work, not his work, so why should you care if his inane shots of his kid gets comments on facebook. They probably only like it to be friendly, and because they think the kid is cute.

Be true to yourself, shoot what makes you happy.
Click to expand...

A big Amen to that. Very wise words.
 
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