Possible way to make critique section work

[monkeykoder]

I was on another forum and I noticed a habit some of the better photographers on there had whenever offering critique they posted an image of their own as a sort of credential. I was thinking that this might be an interesting way to get the critique section back up. Require people to have a link to their portfolio (or flickr for amateurs) in their sig if they're going to post in the critique section. This would of course work better if you could find someone who wanted to moderate this and only this section. While it might not reduce the signal to noise ratio in the section it would provide a way for the posters to filter out the noise themselves. I'm not saying this would work or that it is a good idea just some food for thought.

 

[Overread]

I think most people that have a flickr or gallery have a link in their sigs or in their profile anyway - placing an image of theirs into a thread could lead to problems on a large site - comments might suddently shift from the OP's photo that of the person commenting or you could end up with direct comparisons being drawn.

Its food for thought, but I don't like the idea of posting own images and the links part is partly moot since most of us have them anyway

 

[Hertz van Rental]

...whenever offering critique they posted an image of their own as a sort of credential.

Strange as it may seem, people do post pictures on here.
If someone offers a critique there is nothing to stop you doing a quick search to see if they have posted any pictures here and then making up your own mind as to whether they know what they are talking about or not

 

[monkeykoder]

It doesn't seem to be anywhere near as high as the percentage that give critiques...

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Really? You do surprise me.
Do you think that means there are people here giving advice who can't actually put it into practice themselves?

 

[Chris of Arabia]

I shudder at such a suggestion - you'll be telling me next that the term "professional" is a measure of quality...

 

[Hertz van Rental]

I'm not sure about that but the word certainly appears to have persuasive properties.
If you claim you are one often enough - especially if you include 'large format' and 'soft-box' - people come to believe you are a genius instead of a jerk :mrgreen:

 

[skieur]

Why would anyone not be able to know right away from the Critique that the person knows what they are talking about???? Comments on technique or the technical side related to exposure, metering, filter or tripod use, shutter speed, depth of field, etc. suggest rather strongly I think, that the person knows the technical side of photography. Comments on composition mean that the person certainly knows the artistic side of photography. What other proof is necessary?

On the other hand, critique that amounts to "I like it" or comments that contradict each other or don't make sense, obviously indicate that the person does NOT know what they are talking about.

It is simple as that.

skieur

 

[monkeykoder]

In a critique section "I like it" or "awesome" should NEVER be uttered. I know I personally can sound like I know what I'm talking about in any number of fields without actually knowing much at all. It is knowing a language and basics of what those words mean. As for composition I could go about telling people to cut off arms and legs at the joints only and tell people to make sure to center the image all I want and a newbie wouldn't necessarily know that that is a bad idea. Having a picture up shows some sort of idea as to whether or not their ideas actually look good in practice.

 

[monkeykoder]

I apologize if you were being sarcastic.

 

[skieur]

In a critique section "I like it" or "awesome" should NEVER be uttered. I know I personally can sound like I know what I'm talking about in any number of fields without actually knowing much at all. It is knowing a language and basics of what those words mean. As for composition I could go about telling people to cut off arms and legs at the joints only and tell people to make sure to center the image all I want and a newbie wouldn't necessarily know that that is a bad idea. Having a picture up shows some sort of idea as to whether or not their ideas actually look good in practice.

Think about it. You are expecting someone who is quite good at photography to spend his/her time looking at your photo, compose a thorough well-written critique and then go through thousands of his/her photos to find one that ideally illustrates his/her recommendations so that the newbie can decide whether he/she wants to consider or ignore basic tips.

Any newbie should be happy that anyone even takes the time to make a few knowledgeable comments about their work or a suggestion.

skieur

 

[monkeykoder]

If you re-read my original post I specifically said they should have a link to their portfolio in their signature or some-such instead of having to post individual images. If they wanted to be really nice they could break that up into different categories of images that they have in their portfolio so people wouldn't have to sift through quite as much.

 

[skieur]

If you re-read my original post I specifically said they should have a link to their portfolio in their signature or some-such instead of having to post individual images. .

Why do you assume that everyone feels a need to have a portfolio on the Internet? Not all photographers work directly with the general public and therefore have no need for an on-line presence. If advertising is unnecessary, then why do it? So without a portfolio how is what you suggest possible?

skieur

 

[monkeykoder]

I don't assume that and I don't even see where you get your assumption from. What I said was IF we were to get a critique section to work we would need a way of determining the value of the individual critiques. This would limit the amount of posters by requiring one to have a portfolio but this has a practical upshot of less posts to wade through perhaps limiting some of the better photographers but limiting to a larger extent (I would hope) the number of unqualified remarks.

Benefits:
1 Less posts to wade through.
2 If someone posts a "Great work" post one can actually use that information by looking at their portfolio and saying this "I am of comparable or greater skill than this poster".
3 Someone that has great images is one of two things a great photographer or a good at determining what is good and bad and only posts the good.
4 I could go on but maybe you get the point of my idea.