No offence....BUT

[bace]

Ok I've been coming here for years now. I love most of you, you're great, friendly and helpful for the most part (with hearts of gold for putting up with me over the years:lmao.

Here's the thing; there doesn't seem to be enough talent here that actually gives legitimate advice, and for the most part, the good advice given is lost amongst a bunch of useless inane posts by people who clearly have no creativity and knowledge about what they're doing.

"use more fill flash to level the shot" isn't advice. it's "this is what i do to my shot because I think it looks good for my photography which is probably really boring"

I don't like fill flash. If I did...i'd use it. But it looks fake, in most cases it to harsh and I just don't like it. That said, maybe I'm doing it wrong? If it really looks better, show us an example, maybe suggest specific settings, and tell us to give'r a shot.

Also telling me how to frame a picture or that my location is wrong is completely useless to me. If I could have found a better location....I would have. Thanks though. That's awesome.

p.s. I really love you guys, but mods, if could suggest something, maybe it would be nice to have some of your best photogs available for people to ask specifically for advice? Or maybe have a rating on C&C until you can define who's C&C was most helpful. Then promote them to have access to post reply's in C&C threads.

too many idiots with useless posts (yes i realize the irony thanks)

 

[Big Mike]

Here's the thing; there doesn't seem to be enough talent here that actually gives legitimate advice, and for the most part, the good advice given is lost amongst a bunch of useless inane posts by people who clearly have no creativity and knowledge about what they're doing.

"use more fill flash to level the shot" isn't advice. it's "this is what i do to my shot because I think it looks good for my photography which is probably really boring"

I don't like fill flash. If I did...i'd use it. But it looks fake, in most cases it to harsh and I just don't like it. That said, maybe I'm doing it wrong? If it really looks better, show us an example, maybe suggest specific settings, and tell us to give'r a shot.

Also telling me how to frame a picture or that my location is wrong is completely useless to me. If I could have found a better location....I would have. Thanks though. That's awesome.

Well what kind of critique are you looking for? If you have already done all the things that you think you needed to do...what are you looking for, besides people's irrelevant opinions?

This forum has had many different reincarnations of a 'critique forum'...and it always seems to fail...either because people (posters and commenters) can't stick to the guidelines or because the poster doesn't put enough effort into it.

If you really want in depth analysis on an image, the critiquer needs to know what you were going for...in order to form an opinion as to weather or not you pulled it off. With any of the technical elements (composition, lighting, exposure etc) you can get comments all day about how other people might have done it...but if all those things were a deliberate choice by you, then the only thing that really matters...is whether or not you got your message across to the viewer....and a if we don't have an idea of that message, it's hard to give any worthwhile critique.

I'm sure Hurtz has laid it all out, much better than I did...somewhere in the archives.

 

[Jeff Canes]

Yes, there are a lot of very good photographers here on TPF. But I do not thing it’s reasonable to expect them just to be handing out on the forum all day dispensing advice.

 

[JohnMF]

i suppose what it boils down to is this... if you present a picture online to a bunch of random strangers, you can expect a bunch of worthless, random opinions... and maybe a couple of helpful ones if you're lucky. If you want a proper critique ask someone whose opinion you respect.

i really only post photos on here now to share, maybe get a pat on the back for a decent shot, but that's about it...

 

[Alpha]

Agreed.

And Bace, let's be honest here, most of the time people post bad photos, say of a poor location, it's for lack of trying or lack of a better eye.

 

[Lisa B]

I think, generally, it is sometimes better when not everyone giving the advice has been there and done it all - sometimes the smallest thing you've done to improve a shot or to make something better has happened by chance and what someone can master in one area someone may have mastered in another.

Not all techniques work well for everyone and not everyone's taste is the same.

Equally, what may seem a useless post or oppinion for one may be just what someone else is looking for.

Nothing is set in stone and I personally tihnk that you HAVE to wade through anything deemed "useless" or "pointless" in order to pick out that tiny morsel of information that perhaps suits your needs.

Everybody has different tastes and what may seem to be the best picture since sliced bread seems to be crap on toast to someone else.

We all have to keep muddling through and hope that one or two of the comments we get are helpful to the purpose of our cause.

If not, get a second oppinion - rating people won't work, simply because, as i said, one piece of advice given by that person to another may seem good or bad depending on the persons own preference and so their rating would change anyway and may remain un-reliable.

Only fool proof way of getting the answer you need or feedback you want is by expressing yourself clearly and/or getting a professional in.

That, or eat this cheese toastie i have and carry on...

 

[Alpha]

I like to think "crap on toast" is a pretty objective observation.

 

[Lisa B]

Me too

 

[Alpha]

Seriously, if you make crap on toast I will call it crap on toast. Nobody's got to prove anything to me. If you can find someone who thinks your crap on toast is in the shape of the virgin mary then you're more than welcome to settle for that, for all I care.

 

[Lisa B]

Wonder how much that'd fetch on ebay

 

[Village Idiot]

Phillip J. Flash to the set. Phillip J. Flash to the set please.

If I wouldn't have been using flash to fill in the foreground scene, the girl would be almost completely dark and I'd have a properly exposed sky. It's a little extreme, and almost a key light, but using "fill flash" is about making it look completely natural and not fake at all. Maybe you should have started a post titled, "Why does my fill flash suck and can you help?" instead of, "No offence....BUT".