Over-zealous moving?

[jadin]

It seems every other photo in the critique forum gets moved. Many of which at least to my eye meet the requirements for being there. Is it just me, or am I missing something?

 

[Alison]

If the post doesn't meet the guidelines for that forum it will be moved. Often the original poster will come back and edit the photo and if so, they are welcome to PM a mod/admin to have it moved back. While it may seem over-zealous at times it's really just done to help the critique forum to serve it's purpose by providing a venue for serious, thought out critique in specific areas. A photo posted with "What do you think?" isn't what that forum is designed for.

 

[jadin]

If the post doesn't meet the guidelines for that forum it will be moved. Often the original poster will come back and edit the photo and if so, they are welcome to PM a mod/admin to have it moved back. While it may seem over-zealous at times it's really just done to help the critique forum to serve it's purpose by providing a venue for serious, thought out critique in specific areas. A photo posted with "What do you think?" isn't what that forum is designed for.

I looked for editing before I posted this. As far as the "What do you think?" argument, I must say most users don't know even know what type of critique they are looking for in order to ask for it.

 

[Alison]

That's what the guidelines are there for, to help guide people in asking for help. Unfortunately we aren't able to please everyone all the time. Before we changed the posting guidlines and enforced them by moving posts we got complaints that the critique forum was of no use and that we needed to do soemthing about it.

That's not to say that suggestions aren't welcome, but just stating that you're not happy with things isn't particularly helpful. If you can offer a suggestion on how to improve it we'd be happy to consider it.

 

[jadin]

I'm not saying I'm not happy, I was just wondering if I was the only one seeing it that way.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Possibly not, but then you can't please everyone.
As for what type of critique to ask for - the majority of moved posts don't even ask for a critique at all. If someone shoves a picture in there and just says 'what do you think?' - well, they will get just as good a response in the general or landscape galleries so that's where it goes.
The Crit is really for people that have a problem, either with an image or their photography in general. If people want board members to give up some of their time and use their knowledge and experience to help solve the problem then I don't think it is too much to ask to expect the poster to put in some effort and meet them half-way.
I don't think it beyond the capabilities of anyone to try to express in some way what it is about the picture that is bothering them. There are really only two broad areas that usually cause someone a problem - technical (exposure/contrast/colouDoF etc) and framing/composition.
I've taught Photography in Colleges for over 15 years and in my experience when someone comes up, shows you a picture and says 'what do you think' what they really mean is 'I took this and I think it's dead good and I want you to agree with me'. Similarly, when people have a genuine problem they make the best attempt they can at trying to put their doubts or worries into words. It's quite easy to distinguish between the two.
I used to send people a PM whenever I moved a post, explaining why it was moved and telling them what they should have done, but I only do it sometimes now. Only 1 person in 30 or so ever responded - which would indicate that they were not bothered about getting a crit or not, and I felt that vindicated the move.

 

[Chase]

Well said, Hertz. The crit forum is there for a very specific purpose and our approach to moving threads is in support of that purpose. It is very difficult for those who are really looking for critique to get the critique they need if that forum is full of photos from people who may not be truly interested in in-depth review of their photo. The best way for us to determine if someone is serious about wanting critique is to look at their post and see if it adheres to a few guidelines that were created to help promote higher quality feedback. If the person doesn't bother to adhere to a couple of guidelines, they are likely not that interested in this level of critique either and are often content with the general critique they would receive in other areas of the forum.

I hope this helps give a better understanding of some of the things we do and why we do them. Our goal is really to give the best overall experience to people viewing the site.