Campaign for Critique

None of us can definitively say what good critique is as different people have different styles all that this campaign is for is to encourage people to but thought into their critique so...(if you think it's a "nice shot" qualify why you like it)
 
PMN said:
Are we saying the same thing from opposite angles here or something? :p
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....Yes and No :D

Thanks to your reaction to my earlier post I better understand where other TP members are coming from when they appear to only be concerned with the technical. The only technical aspect I have ever judged about a photograph (professionally) is how well or badly will it reproduce in print.

Btw, in my short experience here on TP, I have found Trev's crits/feedback on Birds to be well balanced and extremely helpful.
 
RedRobin said:
Thanks to your reaction to my earlier post I better understand where other TP members are coming from when they appear to only be concerned with the technical. The only technical aspect I have ever judged about a photograph (professionally) is how well or badly will it reproduce in print.
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The thing is even technical aspects of an image aren't always clear cut and can be governed by artistic decisions. There are plenty of deliberately 'technically' underexposed images that wouldn't work anywhere near as well had they been 'technically' correctly exposed, similarly a photographer may want an image deliberately slightly out of focus. To be honest I often think certain technical mistakes whether intentional or accidental can add character. An occasional wrong note from a musician playing live can make a performance unique and human, similarly a slightly blurry photo can have 1000 times more mood than it would have were it pin sharp.

There's a thread floating round this section of the forum pointing to some wonderful images taken on the Underground during the last 40 years, it seemed the photographer largely shot on K64 so considering I'm usually up at ISO 1600-3200 when I'm shooting down there it's remarkable he managed to get anything at all. Hardly any of the images are technically good; some are technically terrible, but they're energetic, engaging, and honest. Give me that over being 'technically correct' any day! Well, at least for most things...
 
For me I am going to focus my critique within in the 365 and 52 section and I will also do what I can with in landscape and scenery, and nature wild and free and Motorsport as these areas of photography are in line with my own personal interests. And it is in these areas that I want to improve my own photography so that's my goals to achieve for this year.
 
PMN said:
The thing is even technical aspects of an image aren't always clear cut and can be governed by artistic decisions. There are plenty of deliberately 'technically' underexposed images that wouldn't work anywhere near as well had they been 'technically' correctly exposed, similarly a photographer may want an image deliberately slightly out of focus. To be honest I often think certain technical mistakes whether intentional or accidental can add character. An occasional wrong note from a musician playing live can make a performance unique and human, similarly a slightly blurry photo can have 1000 times more mood than it would have were it pin sharp.

There's a thread floating round this section of the forum pointing to some wonderful images taken on the Underground during the last 40 years, it seemed the photographer largely shot on K64 so considering I'm usually up at ISO 1600-3200 when I'm shooting down there it's remarkable he managed to get anything at all. Hardly any of the images are technically good; some are technically terrible, but they're energetic, engaging, and honest. Give me that over being 'technically correct' any day! Well, at least for most things...
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....Again I agree wholeheartedly with you on this, Paul.

As a 'musician' who doesn't know western music theory and who can't read music, I totally wing it and have recorded and produced 2 albums - I would post a link here but it's very off topic. I've been selling my home recording gear (as I can use someone else's private recording studio if needed) to fund camera gear.
 
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Pinkbikerbabe said:
For me I am going to focus my critique within in the 365 and 52 section and I will also do what I can with in landscape and scenery, and nature wild and free and Motorsport as these areas of photography are in line with my own personal interests. And it is in these areas that I want to improve my own photography so that's my goals to achieve for this year.
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Nice one Mandy, I'll add you to the critter list :D
 
MWHCVT said:
Well that's 5 volunteer critters, I'll be honest it would be wonderful if we could increase that number too 10 by the end of the day (y)
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The amount of time I have can be limited so I can't commit to anything, but if there's a secondary 'will always give critique consisting of more than 5 words' list then I'm happy to be added to it. :)
 
I have read through the whole thread and some good progress has been made. Well done matt. i am on the forum every day, morning on way to work; lunch hour at work; at home in the evening. I will commit to 3 critiques a week. Don't want to be selective on the genre as I visit most!

Cheers
 
chriscross said:
I have read through the whole thread and some good progress has been made. Well done matt. i am on the forum every day, morning on way to work; lunch hour at work; at home in the evening. I will commit to 3 critiques a week. Don't want to be selective on the genre as I visit most!

Cheers
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Nice one Chris every single piece of critique really does make a difference so it will be great to have on board :thumbs:
 
MWHCVT said:
Well that's 5 volunteer critters, I'll be honest it would be wonderful if we could increase that number too 10 by the end of the day (y)
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I will only volunteer Matt if there is Mod status attached and I get a golden Ban Hammer, I got two on my hit list already :D
 
u8myufo said:
I will only volunteer Matt if there is Mod status attached and I get a golden Ban Hammer, I got two on my hit list already :D
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I think a simple 'Critter.......' for a status name for Rich, I'll let you fill in the '..........' :p
 
RedRobin said:
....Yes and No :D

Thanks to your reaction to my earlier post I better understand where other TP members are coming from when they appear to only be concerned with the technical. The only technical aspect I have ever judged about a photograph (professionally) is how well or badly will it reproduce in print.

Btw, in my short experience here on TP, I have found Trev's crits/feedback on Birds to be well balanced and extremely helpful.
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The only useful thing about Trev is that his wife cooks a mean Fry up! :woot:
 
u8myufo said:
I will only volunteer Matt if there is Mod status attached and I get a golden Ban Hammer, I got two on my hit list already :D
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:lol: I'm sure Rich I'm confident that anyone that has been here for any length of time has there lists of who they would ban if given the Devine powers :D at the same time I'm sure we are all on at least one other persons list :lol: :lol: :lol: sadly I'm not able to offer anything more than the warm feeling knowing your doing your bit to help make the forum that much better
 
DG Phototraining said:
If sarcasm is allowed I might want to be a critter :D

Dave
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Dave it would be wonderful to have you on board, there is nothing IMO wrong with a little bit of sarcasm :thumbs: often it helps to lighten the mood
 
MWHCVT said:
Dave it would be wonderful to have you on board, there is nothing IMO wrong with a little bit of sarcasm (y) often it helps to lighten the mood
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DAMN :(

Does that mean I'd get to take the P out of Frac without him being able to complain then ??? :D

And as I did read comments about southern softies also wanting crit I'm guessing we have to take location into account in any commentary given, toning it down for those sarff of Sheffield ;)

Dave
 
DG Phototraining said:
DAMN :(

Does that mean I'd get to take the P out of Frac without him being able to complain then ??? :D

And as I did read comments about southern softies also wanting crit I'm guessing we have to take location into account in any commentary given, toning it down for those sarff of Sheffield ;)

Dave
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No one can stop him complaining, but nobody listens to them complaints now so do as you please...as to toning it down for them soft southerners I'm not sure, personally I think they should be forced to learn northern...will considering when I was in hospital in London a few years ago apparently they though I was northern :lol:

So come on Dave, can we get you on board as a critter?
 
DG Phototraining said:
Forgive my ignorance of not reading 5 pages of posts !!! But what exactly are you looking for, commitment-wise, and what Forum are the critters meant to be active in, or is it any of them ???

Dave
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You can commit to as much as you wish in all honestly, personally I'm aiming to critique 5 threads each day I log in so as I'm on here most days it effector sets me a target of 5/day and I'm going to spread those across general/landscape and creative sections although there are other sections I'll also post in

So put basically make a commitment you feel you'll be able to keep, and ideally looking for people to focus on areas they have the most interest, as that way it should hopefully not feel like a chore and should actually prove enjoyable :thumbs:
 
I may not comment so frequently, and I will comment only on the photographs I feel competent to do so, but I do try to give balanced and honest criticism. If the OP takes umbrage, then I care not. End of.
 
Yellowbelly said:
I may not comment so frequently, and I will comment only on the photographs I feel competent to do so, but I do try to give balanced and honest criticism. If the OP takes umbrage, then I care not. End of.
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Seems more than fair Bob, when starting the thread my only goal was to further the cause of quality critique, not to try and get people commenting on stuff that doesn't interest them as that would be sole destroying and pointless
 
boyfalldown said:
That said, the thing that gets my goat is when people ask for and then ignore crit. Not even a simple thank you for taking the time
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Mod hat on or off this is one of my pet hates too, and I've said it a few times too!
If people take the time to comment, whether critique or just "nice image"
The OP should at least have the manners to say thanks at the very least!
Its not hard and takes a few seconds to do ;)


MWHCVT said:
there is nothing IMO wrong with a little bit of sarcasm (y) often it helps to lighten the mood
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I'd disagree with this Matt,
You have to be very careful.
If you are offering to give proper critique, then sarcasm is likely to put the OP off posting again.
Its maybe OK between mates, but there are a lot of people out there, who don't know who is mates with whom.
And it can be can be taken the wrong way.
And then the RTM button lights up in the staff room ;)

If you are planning to do this seriously, lets keep it serious.
Light-hearted, thrown in, can lighten the mood, but not sarcasm.
 
Cobra said:
I'd disagree with this Matt,
You have to be very careful.
If you are offering to give proper critique, then sarcasm is likely to put the OP off posting again.
Its maybe OK between mates, but there are a lot of people out there, who don't know who is mates with whom.
And it can be can be taken the wrong way.
And then the RTM button lights up in the staff room ;)

If you are planning to do this seriously, lets keep it serious.
Light-hearted, thrown in, can lighten the mood, but not sarcasm.
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I'll be honest Chris, when I refer to to sarcasm I was thinking not along the lines of personal jokes but more light light hearted wit when delivering what could be particularly painful critique :thumbs:
 
MWHCVT said:
I'll be honest Chris, when I refer to to sarcasm I was thinking not along the lines of personal jokes but more light light hearted wit when delivering what could be particularly painful critique (y)
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I agree, and would I be right in assuming any potential sarcasm would be directed at certain people who you already know? There are certain things I know I can say to certain members here and it will be taken in the way I intend, but I wouldn't dream of saying those things to others I either don't know or know it could be taken wrongly.

I think context is everything in these circumstances!
 
PMN said:
I agree, and would I be right in assuming any potential sarcasm would be directed at certain people who you already know? There are certain things I know I can say to certain members here and it will be taken in the way I intend, but I wouldn't dream of saying those things to others I either don't know or know it could be taken wrongly.

I think context is everything in these circumstances!
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It's a difficult one Paul as there is certainly a case for it but also shared jokes / sarcasm between a couple of friends doesn't really translate well to those outside of the joke or at least new to the forum who may not have seen that X and Y always joke at the expense of each other for example and while it is harmless internally from an external perspective it can actually be detrimental, and it's why personally over the last few months I've worked on restraining my own banter
 
I'll be a critter for you too, Matt. I'll try to do one at least every day that I log in.
 
DG Phototraining said:
Sarcasm filter on it is then :D

Ok Matt - I'll volunteer for you matey :)

When's kick-off date ???

And surely the Mods can sort out a badge !!!

Dave
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Brilliant Dave, it's an on going drive to improve the critique so get started as soon as you like :thumbs: is there any areas you'll be concentrating on?

As to the badge, I'm sure if we can make a success of this they might sort something out for you :thumbs:
 
MWHCVT said:
It's a difficult one Paul as there is certainly a case for it but also shared jokes / sarcasm between a couple of friends doesn't really translate well to those outside of the joke or at least new to the forum who may not have seen that X and Y always joke at the expense of each other for example and while it is harmless internally from an external perspective it can actually be detrimental
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I understand your point but you could say that about any thread in any part of the forum. I guess judgement just has to come into it!
 
ancient_mariner said:
I'll be a critter for you too, Matt. I'll try to do one at least every day that I log in.
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Excellent Toni that's the spirit, will there be any particular section you'll be concentrating on?
 
PMN said:
I understand your point but you could say that about any thread in any part of the forum. I guess judgement just has to come into it!
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Indeed, it's a case of knowing when it will be appropriate :thumbs:
 
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