How to stop being discouraged from lack of feedback?

[Vtec44]

You're over complicating this. Just take amazing photos.

 

[nerwin]

You're over complicating this. Just take amazing photos.

Then I'd have to buy VSCO presets...

 

[Vtec44]

Then I'd have to buy VSCO presets...

Hey if you think VSCO is amazing, go for it! Don't worry about what others think but more about what you think.

 

[nerwin]

Then I'd have to buy VSCO presets...

Hey if you think VSCO is amazing, go for it! Don't worry about what others think but more about what you think.

I was joking, not a fan of VSCO. If I want the filmy look, I'll shoot film. hahaha - then again, no one around here really develops it lol.

 

[Vtec44]

I was joking, not a fan of VSCO. If I want the filmy look, I'll shoot film. hahaha - then again, no one around here really develops it lol.

I happen to like VSCO also, and I shoot medium format film. It's art don't limit yourself. Most people don't realize that VSCO isn't necessary to duplicate film, but it's a style. Keep an open mind and you'll find yourself to be a lot more creative. Your photos become more fun and not bland/boring.

 

[otherprof]

Today we are so incredibly fortunate to be able to share our work with the entire world with a press of a button, while it's a blessing, its a curse.

We are so use to people these days providing some sort of feedback on your work and we enjoy getting that feedback, it makes us feel good.

What happens when we don't get feedback? We feel discouraged and makes you think that you are not good enough.

There are times when I get a lot of feedback on my images in forms such as favorites, likes, comments (negative or positive) and that really encourages me to keep going but there are occasions when I get very little if not no feedback on my work and it makes me think, well maybe this photo just sucks and I start to feel discouraged and contemplate deleting the photo.

Social media is a very odd thing. You see all these photographers on Facebook, Flickr, Instagram, etc and they have thousands and thousands of followers and get an alarming amount of feedback but yet their photos are mostly mediocre and processed using a one click VSCO filter, every single photo looks and feels exactly the same.

Is that what photography is? Just to get views and popular on the internet? I'm seeing this more and more everyday. I know many photographers who's work is outstanding, heck a few I know have photos on display in popular art museums and yet, they get next to no feedback when they share their work on social media. Why is that?

I'm unfortunately falling down this trap, I'm starting to post my photos certain times of the day using certain tags, processing them a certain way to get the maximum popularity just so I get that little tiny bit of feedback that makes me feel good but even then, its not a guarantee your going to receive that feedback your looking for. When you do all this work and get little or no feedback, it can really upset you and bring you down.

What can we do keep ourselves encouraged when we don't get feedback on our work? How do you keep yourself encouraged?

One might say to not post your work on the internet, while I understand that, I certainly don't want to end up like Vivian Maier! I like to share my work with the world but how can I get the thought out of my head that I NEED some kind of visual or verbal feedback on my photos to keep going?

The Stoic philosopher, and former slave, Epictetus, once said, "Did he say those terrible things about me? I guess he didn't know my other faults or he would have mentioned those also." Strong man!

 

[chuasam]

Date a good photographer.
you'll have more feedback than you know what to do with.

 

[zombiesniper]

I would answer your question at first with a question.

Why do you care about the feedback?

If it is for a business then yes you should care about customer feedback.

If it is solely for the endless supply of shepple on the internet, who give a ****? I have exactly 2 twitter followers and under 20 flicker followers and maybe 80 likes on my Facebook page. Am I an amazing photographer..no. Am I at least as good as the multitude of filter freaks on Instagram? O hell ya. The difference is I stopped trying to impress 15yr old girls when I turned 16.

 

[john.margetts]

I get my meaningful feedback from my local artist's society - painters and sculptors don't worry about 'pin sharp' or rule of thirds or what lens you used but concentrate on how good a picture you have produced. They happily chose an out of focus picture of mine for our autumn exhibition.

Sent from my A1-840 using Tapatalk

 

[Juga]

This forum can be very frustrating at times because it can also be very cliquey. Most of the feedback I have received on here have been of my portraits which I have learned a great deal about because of honest brutal feedback. The shots I post now are nothing super special nor do I intend for them to be masterful works of art. I share them mainly because I like them and every once in a while someone will add some solid critique...butttttt I also don't mind the comments like "nice set", "cool shots", etc. At least I can share my photos and some people enjoy them like I do.

 

[Vtec44]

This forum can be very frustrating at times because it can also be very cliquey.

The thing about online interaction is that you have to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone is an expert online.

 

[Juga]

This forum can be very frustrating at times because it can also be very cliquey.

The thing about online interaction is that you have to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone is an expert online.

Not exactly what I meant by that comment but I couldn't agree more with what you said.

 

[Derrel]

Instagram is MOSTLY about properly tagging posted images, and about spending a LOT of time and effort kissing ass, meaning leaving likes and comments on the pages of other like-minded like addicts and following a metric shi+-tonne of other people...not that tere's anything wrong with being a like-addict...

If you use the appropriate hastags, photos can go from 1,2,3,4,5 likes to 30,40,50,50,70, 80 likes....with ZERO added skill, it's just ther nature of the beast. With a massive following, or the right, provocative, sleazy hastags, the Likes go wayyyyy up. Amply bosoms, sugegstive clothing, boioty, and the like can draw a lot of "likes", no matter how sh___y the work is.

If one is a social media darling, like san an Emily Ratajokowski (spelling?) for example, with big, curvy t***s and a name....400,000 to 600,000 "Likes" will accrue if enough thigh or boob is hinted at...an average wanna' be local agency model will get 4,000 to 10,000 likes if she hastags with the right tags and has "a look" that people like...

I dunno...it is what it is...most people do not do social media photographic stuff for the pohotography, but for the "Likes" and the adoring worshipping of the sycophantic followers they have cultivated.

Facebook is another thing entirely.

 

[tirediron]

Looking at this from a slightly different perspective (maybe?)... feedback and approval are two very different things. Feedback is very important to every artist, approval? Not so much. Feedback is important because it's a key component of what helps us grow. If all we ever did shoot exactly what we liked and wanted, and never heard (or listened) to anyone, we'd never improve. Approval on the other hand is, as has already been mentioned, a drug. We all like approval, but it rarely helps us.

 

[Derrel]

Shoot for yourself, or shoot for those who pay you to shoot photos for them. Nobody else matters.