Different views for different sites?

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Pirate Neilsouth

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Do you find that there can be a big difference in the idea of what is good photography and what is boring?... For example posted shots here and they really like the colours and picked out some good ones of the set, post it somewhere else and they found it generally way too bright , fake and some said boring.
Same with flickr , posted the black and white shots and got lots of awards and requests to be posted in other groups. Yet on another site "Bit Boring " " White balance way off ".

I don't mind critism but i think sometimes people can be WAY too picky :thumbsdown:

My photography fits MY mood , if im happy i like a happy bright scenic picture if im moody i like a nice mono shot. A few times i felt like throwing my camera in the bin because i ended up being damned if i do damned if i don't. I've had nothing in life of interest and other such things made my life a sh*t. Photography finally gave me a new life , it got me away from the troubles the feeling went into my shots. Maybe i should do my photography the way i want it and stop caring for peoples comments of they are boring or my eye is lost. What do you do when you go to the beach , your eye doesn't stare at one damn thing NO it looks around at everything.

End Rant :(
 
mattyh said:
it's all subjective, what one person will like, another will hate... you can't please everyone, so you may as well please yourself :D
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I do exactly that, I have found this site to be by far the friendliest I have found so far with regard to photography, no nasty crit, just constructive and a bit of banter which is what I loikes :)

Also so great advice that I have tried to put into practice and it works a treat, I also see sites like this very good for seeing your work progress !
 
I think that here people generally tell it how they see it. Lots of other places seem to generate a group swell in a particular direction. Often around the musings of a guru figure.
 
Hi Pirate, Just do your own thing - if you like the picture then it's good for you. What I have noticed on this forum is that if your pictures are good then people try to find something they can criticise rather than ignore them. This is good as we all try to strive for perfection.

I have noticed that if some peoples pictures are really bad then people generally try to find something nice to say about them to encourage them to carry on trying. From what I have seen of your pictures you have nothing to worry about. Some I really like and some I don't, but that's life not everyone is going to like the same thing. So don't throw that camera away - you have posted some really nice shots.:thumbs:
 
Thankyou hillwalkinggirl for that , i've also liked yours aswell...

And everyone else , made me feel better :)
 
pirate what is your flickr page so i can have a look.
 
From a NY art critic,

.....I believe a lot of modern art is a fraud. Jackson Pollock's splatter paintings how can anyone take them seriously? Yet they are sold for millions of dollars. A painting (not a Pollock) hung in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC for a number of years before it was discovered to be upside down.
 
admirable said:
From a NY art critic,

.....I believe a lot of modern art is a fraud. Jackson Pollock's splatter paintings how can anyone take them seriously? Yet they are sold for millions of dollars. A painting (not a Pollock) hung in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC for a number of years before it was discovered to be upside down.
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lol thats crazy


hillwalkinggirl said:
Just looked at your website, some really nice photos there. Have you photographed any ghosts? Spooky.
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Nope , if i do get a real ghost i'll sell it for millions :shrug::bonk:
 
Photography is a personal thing, you photograph what you like to photograph if sombody else likes it aswell thats a bonus if not so what, you have a lot of positive results on flickr, I like them aswell.
 
Pirate don't worry to much i think your work is fine, i have found on various sites comments are very different some people like some dont that is fine,(some people say things like your horizon is squint then i look in cs2 with the ruler tool and all is ok) then these same people post a bit of tosh a few days later this is a good forum ive found very helpfull some work is superb some is lacking but as long as we get help and give help to others we are all doing are bit.

Anyhow after a week on this forum big thumbs up.

Michael.
 
I think you are more likely to get an honest opinion in a "hardcore" photo site such as this one. No disrespect to people who use Flickr but I bet every man and his dog with any old camera uses the site, I think most people here are VERY serious about the hobby and enjoy discussing.

All I am saying, Flickr is maybe too mainstream to get proper advice from real enthusiasts.

G.
 
I sometimes think this forum is a bit too 'great shot' sometimes when I'd rather see some more negative critiques. Maybe it's just me and I don't have the same tastes as the rest of you but I sometimes see what, in my eyes, is quite an average shot and lots of people rate it. Doesn't happen to mine when I post them mind:thinking:
 
Hum
Ok my take on this.

I like this site 'cos it's predominately 'british' with everything that comes with that.

You don't get lens reviews that reading between the lines say that the lens it brilliant just because you spent a lot of money on it. US based reviews especially seem to be biased this way.

You tend to get very good critique on your photo's, not just that's good or poor, but why it's not quite right and ways to maybe improve it. Not only that but you generally get a few differing views, which you can then tailor around your thoughts on the photo.
 
I only post here and on flickr. Although I do occasionally lurk on a couple of other photo forums.

It tends to be the case that most people only post positive comments on flickr - there are exceptions, but they're rare. Mostly, the only way to rate a photo on flickr is by the number of comments / faves its got. And that's not a reliable guide by any means. That said, some of my best (ie my favourite) flickr pics do indeed have the most comments / views. There are others I really like that have had less exposure. I cannot begin to analyse the reasons why a given photo receives more views than another. Sometimes its quality, sometimes its subject matter, sometimes its which groups its been posted to. Sometimes its none, or all, of those things.

I reckon TP is a very different animal. There's stuff I post here that doesn't get on flickr and vice versa. If I post here, then I'm opening myself up to constructive criticism - good or bad. And whilst its always a boost to receive a "nice shot" type comment, I always try not to do that because it doesn't help me - what's good about the shot? Please tell me. I know I'd be seething if someone simply posted "crap shot" without saying why.

I think the crit on here is pretty constructive and I respect it for the most part, especially if it comes from someone who's work I also respect. But everyone gets to have a view and a chance to express it. And that's fine too.

I don't think your rant is a rant as such - its more like you're trying to understand why you put your photos up for scrutiny. I never put up anything here (nor on flickr) that I'm not happy with. Sometimes my view and that of the viewers doesn't coincide. Sure, that's disappointing, but hey ...

I'm rambling, so I'll stop. Its an interesting point, but whether I'm anywhere near dealing with your original post, only you know. I know, I don't :)

MV
 
Thanks for all the replies , its great to read the different view points and has helped me understand and feel better in myself.
 
mobilevirgin said:
I only post here and on flickr. Although I do occasionally lurk on a couple of other photo forums.

It tends to be the case that most people only post positive comments on flickr - there are exceptions, but they're rare. Mostly, the only way to rate a photo on flickr is by the number of comments / faves its got. And that's not a reliable guide by any means. That said, some of my best (ie my favourite) flickr pics do indeed have the most comments / views. There are others I really like that have had less exposure. I cannot begin to analyse the reasons why a given photo receives more views than another. Sometimes its quality, sometimes its subject matter, sometimes its which groups its been posted to. Sometimes its none, or all, of those things.

I reckon TP is a very different animal. There's stuff I post here that doesn't get on flickr and vice versa. If I post here, then I'm opening myself up to constructive criticism - good or bad. And whilst its always a boost to receive a "nice shot" type comment, I always try not to do that because it doesn't help me - what's good about the shot? Please tell me. I know I'd be seething if someone simply posted "crap shot" without saying why.

I think the crit on here is pretty constructive and I respect it for the most part, especially if it comes from someone who's work I also respect. But everyone gets to have a view and a chance to express it. And that's fine too.

I don't think your rant is a rant as such - its more like you're trying to understand why you put your photos up for scrutiny. I never put up anything here (nor on flickr) that I'm not happy with. Sometimes my view and that of the viewers doesn't coincide. Sure, that's disappointing, but hey ...

I'm rambling, so I'll stop. Its an interesting point, but whether I'm anywhere near dealing with your original post, only you know. I know, I don't :)

MV
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Great response and here's a little more !

I say it as I see it, popular demand shouldn't sway your opinion, what I like others may hate. Of course there is a technical element to taking a good shot, but the end result as many have said already is subjective and down entirely to your own taste.
Opinion is what helps the world go around, don't get dejected if it's not what you expected, look at it differently and a challenge yourself to better it next time or construct your case for the defence in a nice way :)

A famous man once said .....Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover

Don't analyse too much ... Just enjoy!
 
chewyuk said:
Great response and here's a little more !

I say it as I see it, popular demand shouldn't sway your opinion, what I like others may hate. Of course there is a technical element to taking a good shot, but the end result as many have said already is subjective and down entirely to your own taste.
Opinion is what helps the world go around, don't get dejected if it's not what you expected, look at it differently and a challenge yourself to better it next time or construct your case for the defence in a nice way :)

A famous man once said .....Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover

Don't analyse too much ... Just enjoy!
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Well said.:agree:
 
I don't recall cheating in any of my photos
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perhaps you need to go back and take a closer look then. :p
 
As an aside to this, but sort of on the point. I was listening to Mark Kermode's film reviews on R5 the other day when he made the comment that the view of a critic who always praises is worthless. Its the ones who like and don't like, and say why, who are the ones worth listening to.
 
mobilevirgin said:
As an aside to this, but sort of on the point. I was listening to Mark Kermode's film reviews on R5 the other day when he made the comment that the view of a critic who always praises is worthless. Its the ones who like and don't like, and say why, who are the ones worth listening to.
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So thats why i hate film critics? , i remember this guy abode? or something on bbc news he loves crap and gives loads of critism against movies most people would watch :lol:

oh lol i see you mention Kermode that must the same guy , he is full of himself and gives high ratings to movies that alot of people wouldn't see... My old man thinks he is a faggot who likes tripe , not one film he has rated good that our family and my friends have liked or wanted to see
 
Pirate Neilsouth said:
oh lol i see you mention Kermode that must the same guy ... not one film he has rated good that our family and my friends have liked or wanted to see
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Indeed it is the same one. You may disagree with his views, but at least he tells you why he doesn't like a film.

Its a good example of the point you made in your first post.
 
Pirate Neilsouth said:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23035231@N03/

I used to do alot of hdr , but i moved to proper light metering and the right shutter speeds rather than cheating :D
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That's rubbish. You can light meter properly and use the right shutter speed, but how are you going to capture the full dynamic range? Do you know what HDR is? Don't you realise that it's often used to produce specific results.

And plenty of people probably think digital photography is cheating when compared to traditional methods.

If you're truly taking pictures for yourself, then you shouldn't feel the need to 'rant' when you get feedback that's either not constructive or non-descriptive. Too many people seem to get enjoyment out of taking photos, but then have some major self-esteem crash when someone doesn't like it.

Something else to remember is that different online communities have a different way or working. I believe this is often down to how websites are moderated. Some encourage fairness (this one, for instance), whereas others are just sickeningly patronising, full of people that just cannot give negative feedback for fear of 'hurting someones feelings'.

If you're launching your work into the public domain, you have to be ready for whatever comes back. Besides which, all the time people aren't telling you that your work is 10/10 perfect, it means you have room to improve. Improvement is satisfying.
 
Purely in terms of responses that say too light or too dark or the white balance is off, don't pay too much attention if the image looks ok to you, you never know how the other persons' monitor is set up or what colour scheme they choose to use. An image can look very different against a light background versus a dark one although if 'everyone' says it's too dark then of course there may be a problem.

Boring / not boring as said above is subjective, if you put something up for the world to see you're going to get a world of opinions.
 
Ian T said:
That's rubbish. You can light meter properly and use the right shutter speed, but how are you going to capture the full dynamic range? Do you know what HDR is? Don't you realise that it's often used to produce specific results.
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Notice the smilie at the end? , no need to bite my [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER] off :razz:
 
Yes, but it's boring, like people going on about urban exploration (which I believe you do) being illegal. Those who use HDR on a regular basis, use it well, and have achieved really impressive results, may just be a little tired of that. No different to people calling usage of Photoshop cheating.
 
chewyuk said:
and so are the constant threads about HDR - This isn't about HDR ultimately, lets have a thread which doesn't descend into a HDR debate... please.
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As are the constant threads about weddings, and what lenses people have bought.

It's all relevant photography discussion. Besides which, the OP started it. His funeral!
 
I also like the Britishness of this site.

I think we all come at pictures from different aspects, largely depending on whether we shoot for ourselves or other people. Some of us look at the technical aspects first, others at the whole picture. For instance, I am generally not keen on black and white or a lot of noise in image, someone else would love a grainy black and white (which I can appreciate technically but maybe not always artistically), so it can be difficult to critique, maybe we mostly go for images we like to comment on?
 
Pass some here Pete. :D
 
Errm, popcorn, yummy.
To get back to the ops' point, I think you need to take photos of what pleases you, in way that please you too.
I'm a total newb as far as this lark is concerned, and welcome constructive criticism, but being told it's a "nice shot" just for what it is, is also very nice!!!
A lot of photography is very subjective as all artforms are, and frankly if you don't like it, keep stum unless you can explain why. (opps, loud mouth for a newb!!)
As far this place is concerned, I have joined a few photo forums to help with the learning curve, (and to share with like minded peeps) since I got my 400d and this is the one I like the most, Friendly, informative, and people really interact. I think it's great. oh yea, and you all (mostly) speak english, which is very relaxing for an expat :wave:

Tara
 
chewyuk said:
No funerals here .....
Why are lens threads boring, you are a member of a photographic community ... :thinking:
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It may sound crazy but some people are into taking photos not lens specs. I don't read lens threads because the only time I'm interested in a lens is when I want to buy one. Oh and why are HDR threads boring, you are a member of a photographic community ;)
 
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