Solitude

[NayLoMo6C]

i can vouch for mindfloodz here and say that I am definitely picking up on the "loneliness" of the photo. although personally if this was my photo, i would have probably aimed to have the tree on the right cropped out or to not include it at all.

 

[mc1979]

I think Bitter said it wonderfully. I'm also new here, and new to photography. I haven't posted here much, mainly because I'm learning alot from what has already been posted. I spend ALOT of time on here reading other posts and I get cracked up at some of these threads. What I seem to see alot of is is beginner's like myself posting pics non-stop to be critiqued, without ever changing the habits from picture to picture that get critiqued on. They just keep doing the same thing! And then get mad when another keeps critiquing in the same manner!
I do agree that I find some can be downright rude in their posts. To me there is a difference in harsh critiquing and just being a smart a$$ about it. But Bitter didn't say anything remotely out of the way in his critique. The bottom line is and I've seen over and over is that if you can't handle critique you shouldn't post on a public forum asking for it and then get defensive about it. Is that so hard to comprehend?
We are all here learning, and there is alot of talent on this forum. Take the criticism you get and use it! OR don't post.

That being said, I will agree with the OP saying that he would like to see more of someone telling you what did work. And as Bitter said, well what if nothing worked? Ok.. so be it. People need to be able to accept that nothing might have worked in the photo. Move on to the next one.

 

[mindfloodz]

Thank you for the feedback and support naylomo . Artistically we will all have our own preferences about what we want in the picture etc... I respect your opinion, but I have made the decision to keep it as the original with the three dark bordering sides (Top across the street view, right tree, bottom planter/tree trim) and leave the left side open.

 

[mindfloodz]

I think Bitter said it wonderfully. I'm also new here, and new to photography. I haven't posted here much, mainly because I'm learning alot from what has already been posted. I spend ALOT of time on here reading other posts and I get cracked up at some of these threads. What I seem to see alot of is is beginner's like myself posting pics non-stop to be critiqued, without ever changing the habits from picture to picture that get critiqued on. They just keep doing the same thing! And then get mad when another keeps critiquing in the same manner!
I do agree that I find some can be downright rude in their posts. To me there is a difference in harsh critiquing and just being a smart a$$ about it. But Bitter didn't say anything remotely out of the way in his critique. The bottom line is and I've seen over and over is that if you can't handle critique you shouldn't post on a public forum asking for it and then get defensive about it. Is that so hard to comprehend?
We are all here learning, and there is alot of talent on this forum. Take the criticism you get and use it! OR don't post.

That being said, I will agree with the OP saying that he would like to see more of someone telling you what did work. And as Bitter said, well what if nothing worked? Ok.. so be it. People need to be able to accept that nothing might have worked in the photo. Move on to the next one.

So, to move on from thread hijacking - What worked and what didn't? did nothing work? Would you agree? did he actually say nothing worked, or did he just imply "what if nothing worked"? Hummm... Questions questions?

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

What got me heated to begin with is the "bear trap comment" That was the spark that lit the fire. Unless you've never seen one before, i can't image how it could be mistaken for anything else. Also, I own my own childishness for posting my photo "emotion". It was totally tongue in cheek and i wanted to get a rise out of it as well as be humorous.

Wow! Really? The idea that the shape of the edging made me think of a bear trap offended you? Did you get the part about all that stuff down there drawing my attention away from the subject? And here it is again, "you don't know how it could be mistaken for anything else", you need to realize regardless of what you see, it's open to interpretation.

In terms of solitude, if I polled 100 random people and asked what emotion this picture conveyed, I'd bet ya my Canon T1i that a majority would say sadness or loneliness. I was just taken back by the idea that this message was not conveyed to you. do you have children? Maybe this is only understood by those who have kids, maybe not. IDK.

You are still looking for an absolute "who is right". This will plague you.

As I said before, maybe in the future you could swallow your pride just a bit and tell someone what is right, along with what is wrong.

Swallow my pride? What?

I will continue to comment how I see fit.

Also, is it that bad? Honestly? Is it better than JCpenny's or Sears, or the Picture people in the mall? you know, the commercial photography places.. It's not Professional, but it's certainly not the work of a simple point and shoot either, It's sharp, the white to black conversion is decent, and it obeys the rule of thirds. So what's really wrong with it outside of your "bear trap"? Compositionally speaking, it's valid.

A technically perfect and compositionally "valid" image doesn't make it successful. I gave you my opinion. Do with it what you wish. In the end, if you are happy with it, is really all that matters. You will never please everyone, and that should be OK.

I would like to add, I do apologize for deleting my replies and would like to further extend this apology for my other behavior as an end to the bickering.

I'll accept your apology, and I can assure you, there will be no more bickering from me.

 

[mindfloodz]

I will continue to comment how I see fit.

It would just help us newcomers out a lot to know what's right as well as what's wrong.

I'll accept your apology, and I can assure you, there will be no more bickering from me.

Thank you

 

[Bynx]

If its ok to discuss the original posted pic I shall do so with hesitation. First off I dont like it. Generally speaking I dont like B&W. Its ok for an aged or timeless image, but I especially dont like it with kids. Thats just me. Secondly while the pic is a nice mixture of textures I really didnt know what I was looking at initially. The road looks like water and the farside curb looks like the weedy edge of a small lake or river. There is no conveyance of lonely. I guess that comes from what you see in the pic based on personal experiences. My experience is when photographing kids some dont want to and will turn their back for some extra attention. Being brat comes to mind but not saying your child is this. Its just how I perceive her posture in the setting. There isnt very much to say positively in the original pic. No sense saying lousy pic but great fstop and shutter speed. Its not a lousy shot, but just doesnt do anything for me. World of difference with your color post. Now I can see its a street scene and its paved road, not river and curb instead of weeds. It seems you did some cloning in the background of the B&W. That might account for the difficulty seeing what the image is. Now as far as everything Ive said its all my own personal opinion. You can take it for what its worth. If it helps you fine. If you dont like it tough. Anyone who posts a pic has to be thick skinned enough to accept whatever gets said like it or not. My mood changes throughout the day and night. Sometimes a post just tickles me to no end and I just love it. Some make my eyes water because they are so breathtaking. And some just piss me off because some guy thinks they are absolutely fantastic and in reality I can think of the minutes that are gone that I can never get back having wasted my time looking at them. Nothing is ever personal until someone else makes it personal. Then you have the goings on like you have with Bitter Jeweler and Manheim. I know it really hurts at times when someone shoots a shot you post, one you really like. But it will happen a lot. As long as the comments are made about the pic and not made to you personally then you can either ignore the comment or say thank you and move on. One thing you might try is to check the posts by someone who pisses you off. See if its what they do or if you are just reading the wrong thing in what they are trying to say. And keep in mind that the fun is taking the pics and not listening to the BS of a bunch of strangers whose life is sitting at their computers spitting out verbal diarrhea.

 

[o hey tyler]

OP, you severely overreacted to C&C. Bitter's first post wasn't even REMOTELY CLOSE to being offensive, or calling your image "bad". Personally, the image doesn't do much for me either, but I can't add anything that hasn't been covered. Images can be composed well and obey the rule of thirds... Heck they can even be properly exposed, but if the subject is uninteresting or lacking focus or meaning, the photo won't appeal to a wide audience.

I'm glad you got this 'worked out', but please try and don a thicker skin next time you post for C&C. :thumbup:

 

[mindfloodz]

Thank you Bynx, this is the kind of critique I value! Tough, but constructive. helpful to what i am doing right, (sharpness and f/stop), but critical of what you dislike. I appreciate your understanding of why I tok it personally, it can happen, as I will try to curb my personal feelings in the future as well as person attachments to my work that i want critiqued. Thanks again for the feedback

 

[Provo]

What if I don't care for HDR photography? Notice I don't go over there and critique them?
I was speaking to the challenges that you specifically brought up.

A simple search for your username and HDR section polls up the following.
Two of which where actually nice comments on two of my images which I thank you for.

Yay! My own posting history proved you wrong. :lmao:

Calm down there sport don't go around patting yourself on the back that fast you did say you don't go in there to critique which what I showed was proven you have been in there. :scratch:Yes you made two positive comments :thumbup:I haven't taken the time to find all the negative ones nor will I do that. Has the war ended? Can I go kiss the pretty girl now?
Sometimes a little drama goes along way it seems you both squared it off good for both of you BitterJeweler as previously stated I do apologize for calling you out like that and calling you names.

 

[manaheim]

Oh my head.

Seriously.

 

[manaheim]

It's not worth getting too much into it, but I just wanna say I disagree with pretty much every damned thing Provo said and I think Bitter is a stand-up guy.

People on this damn forum are such a crack up. They want to post asking for critique, but then tell the people critiquing what is and is not acceptable when the critique is being delivered. That's kind of like asking a car mechanic to tell you what is wrong with your car, but telling him he's not allowed to open the hood or make any references to motor oil during the process.

If you're going to make the assumption that someone may know more than you about how to improve something, you may also want to make the assumption that they know more than you do about how to deliver the information.

Opening the hood and telling someone what's wrong with their vehicle is one thing, but to tell them they should have purchased a Caddy versus a Ford is another story. Then you go on to tell them their car doesn't have the type of interior you like, because you prefer cloth to leather, so it's a piece of crap. Oh and BTW I hate your paint job too!!! I prefer red to blue. Oh and them rims you put on your car, they are Ghetto and make you look like your trying to be in a music video.. etc.. I could go on and on.

Anyhow, the point is, to hold every single member to a standard as high as a professional is a bit counter-productive.Not everyone has professional experience under their belt. It's a bit disheartening and honestly very unmotivating after receiving such a harsh critique. If you're gonna give someone a critique, rather than completely ripping the picture in two, try to ATLEAST tell them what they are doing right, as well as doing wrong

. I believe many people come on here that think their sh!t smells sweeter than most and just tears down everyone's work except for their little cliques. Those clicks sit around in a circle and pat each other on the back. That's how I've see it. I've done a little digging.

Honestly, I'd prefer you not comment on my work at all if you have nothing to say that will lets me know what I'm doing right as well as wrong. I don't want kittens and teddy bears, but I'm just starting out, and I have people telling me one thing and then I got people telling me another. Who do I believe? I don't know who is right and who is wrong. It's very confusing to say the least.

it's like having the expectations of a college student from someone in junior high. It's just not gonan happen unless they are some sort of child prodigy. I don't claim my work is great, but i don't think it's quite as bad as the three of you have made it out to be. I belong to 4+ forums, and this is the only place I received such harsh criticism. Majority rules, or I've been lead to believe.

Again, you're telling me how, what and when to critique.

You say to tell you what worked and what didn't... what if that's not the way I provide critique? What if I've found that to be generally worthless and distracting... like "the exposure is nice, but the composition needs this or that". That's really kinda hogwash, IMO... it's just saying something nice to "soften the blow", and I think it's a total waste of time for everyone. If your exposure is nice but the composition isn't great, the picture isn't great. Period.

If you're not good at the area in question, you're not going to be qualified to tell someone else how to teach it to you. Period.

And no one here really said "I HATE IT! IT SUCKS!" ... they commented on distractions, how her looking away left them without a sense of the emotion, etc.

You're telling me not to critique your work? How do you do that exactly? It's a public forum.

In the end, it's a picture you like and you're defending it because you like it and you don't have the internal strength to like it even when people say it's not a good image. Get over this. Some pictures you will take will have meaning to YOU and not to others and that is WAY ok... MANY of these will be pics of your kids. I have TONS of them. Hell, I have some that I consider very artistic that I LOVE and absolutely no one gets. I still have them printed and framed because I love them. Maybe I'm working on another wave length and no one "gets me" or no one will until after I die and I become super famous... or maybe some of my stuff is just "meh" to anyone except me. Whatever. It doesn't really matter. I think that's what you need to wrap your mind around. SOME pictures are going to be just for your enjoyment and that's TOTALLY ok.

Anyway, I'm going to move on from this foolishness now.

Good luck.