African Eagle

[Litespeed]

Let me correct you on a couple of small points. First I am female and I am 57 years old.

I believe that teachers give both encouragement and constructive criticism to their students to help them learn. Without positive feedback a student would simple not want to move ahead. I see nothing wrong with telling someone that certain points of their project are good. It's the way that "critique" or constructive criticism is presented to the student that will help them.

 

[Chichimoge]

Nice, I love how the background is blurred.

 

[camz]

Let me correct you on a couple of small points. First I am female and I am 57 years old.

I believe that teachers give both encouragement and constructive criticism to their students to help them learn. Without positive feedback a student would simple not want to move ahead. I see nothing wrong with telling someone that certain points of their project are good. It's the way that "critique" or constructive criticism is presented to the student that will help them.

I get this notion that alot of people in this forum give out the negative more then the positive - feeling that the more important critique can only be the negative. I totally disagree with this. I do agree with you that it is both as important and both are learning experiences. At times the right deeds aren't done conciously so bringing positive comments can actually point out what the photographer did right but did not notice(especially novices). Actually I believe that when you get to a certain level the better approach is to focus on your strengths rather then to focus on improving your weaknesses.

I'm not saying to deviate from an honest critique which is something i'm totally against(that's another topic). All I'm saying is to take the bad just as much as the good. It's always a balance and not a singularity IMHO.

 

[Gaerek]

Let me correct you on a couple of small points. First I am female and I am 57 years old.

I believe that teachers give both encouragement and constructive criticism to their students to help them learn. Without positive feedback a student would simple not want to move ahead. I see nothing wrong with telling someone that certain points of their project are good. It's the way that "critique" or constructive criticism is presented to the student that will help them.

I get this notion that alot of people in this forum give out the negative more then the positive - feeling that the more important critique can only be the negative. I totally disagree with this. I do agree with you that it is both as important and both are learning experiences. At times the right deeds aren't done conciously so bringing positive comments can actually point out what the photographer did right but did not notice(especially novices). Actually I believe that when you get to a certain level the better approach is to focus on your strengths rather then to focus on improving your weaknesses.

I'm not saying to deviate from an honest critique which is something i'm totally against(that's another topic). All I'm saying is to take the bad just as much as the good. It's always a balance and not a singularity IMHO.

I think I disagree with this statement. I am not saying that positive comments are bad, but they will not help nearly as much as a negative comment will. When I post C&C, I point out what I see is wrong with the photo. I am not considering the feelings of the photographer (nor should I, because that would skew my critique). If I don't mention something, it means one of two things:

1. I am indifferent about that aspect of the photo. (And there's objectivity in whether it's a good point or a bad point)

or

2. I think the photographer did a good job with that aspect of the photo.

In either case, it means that they didn't do a bad job, and that it doesn't need to be fixed. In most cases, if the negative C&C is fixed, the photo will be great and not need any more adjustment.

We are not children here. We don't need our hands held. That being said, I always try to point out at least one positive aspect of every shot. But that positive comment isn't because I think it will help the photographer become a better photographer. It's because I do care about people's feelings.

Just a little tip before I post and not reply here again. The one change I made that helped me become a better photographer more than any other change I made was to not become emotionally attached to my photos. I found that when I became emotionally attached, I couldn't critique my own shots properly, and I'd become defensive when others critisized. After I made this attitude change, I was able to see the faults of my own photography much easier, and accept others critisism much easier.

 

[camz]

There's no doubt that critique should be as honest in order to deliver the most proficient assessment possible for the best interest of the OP and the learning onlookers of the thread. Also yes you are right we are not babies here, we shouldn't expect any emotional cradling by anticipating positive feedback(which I think is BS). But I think fact is fact, good and bad. A critique is also the same way. No one wants to watch a movie, eat in a restaurant, watch a play or go to an art gallery where there are nothing but bad critiques only. I personally would not only want to know what's not working but, would also love to know what is working. I would also expect the same when I place a picture up for C&C. I've had shots in the past where I thought were horrid but clients thought they were beautiful....and vice-versa. So automatically expecting the OP thinks that his/her shot is great would be a biased approach unless said so by the OP otherwise. Being that this is a forum, it is also beneficial for the learning onlookers of a thread to learn from honest critique, what works and what doesn't which I will continue to do and hope to contribute. So the balance of both sides of the coin I think are equivalent learning experiences.

Happy shooting =).