Frusterated - what am I doing wrong?

[gsgary]

Try looking at shooting a project

 

[Overread]

A few thoughts:

1) ANY community run voting system on a website open to the public is more a game of networking and posting at the right time and even learning what is "popular" within that niche community than it is about raw skill in the craft. Some communities will LOVE HDR so if you only post them you'll get liked up quick - others will hate it and will ignore or vote you down if that's all you post.
So the lesson is to treat it as fun and don't get hung up upon rating systems. Unless its peer reviewed by a fixed group of skilled and respected individuals.

2) Honing ones skills is part learning to judge feedback, but also starting to set your own goals and targets in the sand. Once you've got that person standard and intent you can better measure yourself - you can aim toward it and give some structure to how and maybe what you shoot.

3) Projects, specific concepts, subjects etc... can provide short term structure and a focus for your learning. This helps you focus rather than trying to "Do everything at once." Note I'd avoid things like 365 photo projects for this - they are more fun rather than strict learning tools (they tend to work ok for the first few weeks and then quickly fall apart for most).

 

[W.Y.Photo]

You have the technical aspect of photography down, but your subject matter is just boring.

What you need to do is spice it up. Leave your comfort zone with your next photos. Do things exciting, new, or that you've never tried before and get people to actually be interested. Not only will this increase your ratings and quality of images, it will also increase your excitement and interest for photography and your skill with it.

You can write a novel with the best grammar, vocabulary, and literary elements ever used; but if its boring to read noone will give it a second though. This holds true with photographs as well, if not more so.

 

[Braineack]

If anyone has time, can they glance at some of my works and tell me what I am doing wrong?

posting on 500px instead of improving skill.

 

[pthrift]

I agree with the other sentiments here...don't get caught up in ratings, especially as a beginner. Mobs are fickle.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4. probably at work.

 

[gsgary]

Don't worry about it look how many likes I have on here and I'm a right tosser

 

[Braineack]

Don't worry about it look how many likes I have on here and I'm a right tosser

I'm beating you by one.

 

[gsgary]

Don't worry about it look how many likes I have on here and I'm a right tosser

I'm beating you by one.

You won't by the end of the day I'm going to tell everyone how wonderful their photos are

 

[CameraClicker]

What is your real goal for photography?

At one of the social photo sites there is a "Featured Photos" reel. Every few months someone asks how you get featured. Also, every few months someone wants to limit the number of photos you can post on a daily basis. Some people think posting fewer photos will raise the quality of photos generally. Others think fewer postings will let their photos be seen by whomever is involved with posting to the featured photos. 500px has some algorithm that determines what the rank is, and the rank determines the order of favourites. None of that means the photo is great. The simple way to get a high rank at 500px is to shoot scantily clad and nude women. Decent light and good poses help, too. That's probably cynical. Over saturated landscapes seem to do quite well too.

Most photos get a second or less of attention. Then the page is turned or [next] is clicked. At 500px, you need to have something in the square thumbnail that will make the viewer want to click on the image to see it full size.

 

[astroNikon]

Thanks for the continued feedback.

(1) Wow I am not looking for any pity, I feel it is noteworthy to mention I am a beginner. (2) I have never been paid to take a photograph, and I have never attended any kind of photography school. Everything I have learned has been online tutorials. Unfortunately I have no photography friends in which to share ideas, experiences, or stories with.

(3) I suppose I am still searching for narrowing down what I like to photograph. I do notice that on 500px and several other photo sites it seems a fairly large portion of the members have galleries that have a variety of photos. I mean, there are the members who just do bugs, or just do snowy landscapes, or whatever, but many have a large variety of types of photos.

(4) Maybe I should move over to 1x or a similar website where ratings aren't so important. I do know one thing, while I am a beginner with no professional or educational experience, taking photos is something I really enjoy. (5) I always have one of my Nikons with me at all times in hopes of getting a decent shot of whatever I can.

Thanks for the time and feedback and I would still be interested in more tips or ideas in which to build on.

(1) Looks like you didn't get any pity. The wonders of TPF lol
(2) Neither have I. I've only read things online, youtube, used TPF. You can also join a local camera club and get more exposure to other photographers.

(3) Instead of what sounds like you are trying to force yourself to get better, step back, and have fun with what you want to do. Don't just take a snapshot of something (except bugs, because they are not good at waiting for you to pose them or get in position) but think about the photograph some more. Take a shot from a different perspective --> http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/subscribers-forum/367952-here-s-thought-ponder.html

(4) Why are you infatuated with ratings? Ignore them.
If you enjoy it then you will learn more and it will get better. Photography isn't one of those things you learn overnight. It will takes years to develop more artistic capabilities. Just have fun, and challenge yourself with a project or something. Try to duplicate something that you really like, then do it again and improve up it.

and ignore the ratings.

(5) maybe stop taking photos of everything and put more thought into what you want to take a photo of. I go out and take photos of things, go home and think about how I can improve it. I then go back and redo photos. This really teaches you alot. Then I started using my hands like a movie producer to "frame" the image so I can see what I want to take and the perspective. Then you can add things such as distortion, etc and go on from there.

It's really quite fun, when you do photography for fun instead of ratings.
:thumbup:

 

[astroNikon]

Don't worry about it look how many likes I have on here and I'm a right tosser

I'm beating you by one.

You won't by the end of the day I'm going to tell everyone how wonderful their photos are

I'm going to have to do this too ... that's how I rate myself lol

 

[sscarmack]

You want a popular photo?

Boobs ranks #1
Milky Way ranks #2
Sunsets ranks #3
Birds rank #4


Shhhhh don't tell everyone though, then everyone will become popular

 

[astroNikon]

You want a popular photo?

Boobs ranks #1
Milky Way ranks #2
Sunsets ranks #3
Birds rank #4


Shhhhh don't tell everyone though, then everyone will become popular

I never knew a Candy Bar had so much following

 

[Designer]

A couple of the posters have already mentioned that there is "no there there", or words to that effect. Try to get some human interest going. If you look at the "popular" photographs, you see lots of human interest, and they don't even have to be OF humans necessarily. Even the fox picture has some interest because of the way the eyes are staring back at the camera.

 

[sm4him]

Don't worry about it look how many likes I have on here and I'm a right tosser

I'm beating you by one.

You won't by the end of the day I'm going to tell everyone how wonderful their photos are

If you actually carried through with that, I've a feeling you'd spontaneously combust as a result of the effort. :lmao: