Almost-rant/an observation from a newbie...

pgriz · Jul 10, 2011

Well, there seems to be an art to asking the right question, including for C&C. Certainly, there's an art to giving a critique - some do it very well, some can use some practice. And as for asking for critiques, you have to express the motivation - are you looking for affirmation or are you genuinely interested in getting a critique? If the latter, it would help if the poster would indicate, among other things, the idea or effect they were going for, what they did to achieve it (lighting, post-processing), and what they are not sure about and want comment on. Otherwise, since most of us are not good mind-readers, we may completely miss the point of the image, and the poster is both frustrated at a lack of suitable response, and upset if the comments came from an un-expected direction.

I generally skip the posters that appear to be high-drama, as they often do not appear to be interested in hearing opinions that don't match their own. And a 3-paragraph C&C isn't likely to change their mind, so why invest the time to do so? On the other hand, there are various posters who put their stuff up, and are not at all put off by negative comments. Those that then come back and incorporate the suggestions in a subsequent post showing what they learned or tried as a result of the critique, get bonus points in my book, and I'm more likely to comment on their stuff. It's not to say that the commenters are any better than the poster, but at least there is a two way street of information exchange and a willingness to understand the other. I know that I've learned from such interactions and even though I don't post much, what I've learned has influenced my photography.

@ Sammie_Lou: sometimes, we just can't take our eyes away from the train-wreck in progress...

It may not be pretty, but is can sure be entertaining!