views vs replies dilemma!!

jemmy · May 21, 2006

Hi all, Im loving this site and posting and replying regularly... my only querie is..... im learning, so wanting as much feedback as possible. Makes me wonder when i have heaps of views but few replies?!! Either they are too crap :thumbdown: to warrant a reply or just not interested or sick of seeing that ive actually posted AGAIN!! xx. Kinda frustrates me, :grumpy:

cause i'd rather learn from constructive criticism than get no response at all. Dont suppose there is a way that you MUST reply to all you take a look at??????? this would certainly solve my dilemma. jemma xx

Peanuts · May 21, 2006

Well I can assure you it is neither issue, your photos are far from crap and there is no such thing as posting too much (as you can see by some of our post counts

) I think it is often just time restraints and such, and people such as myself prefer browsing and learning from looking then necessarily commenting. Another (bad) habit, is if what I think about a photo has already been said, I can't justify posting, there is something about echoing another person's reply that I just can't 'do' so to say.
Just keep posting, and some threads will have tons of replies and other none. (Although that can be somewhat frustrating :lol:

)

WNK · May 21, 2006

I have the same problem sometimes.
Personally, I check the list when I log in to each forum, and first look at the threads with no replies, then work my way up to the ones that have more. The way I figure it, the threads with lots of posts already have a lot of feedback, so if I dont get around to them, it'll be ok.
Meh, maybe its just me

terri · May 22, 2006

Hi Jemmy! I do understand your frustration. There is never an easy answer to this, because it happens to us all at some point.

That said, there are a couple of things you might want to try.

1) Post an image you want particular feedback on in the Critique forum - and in keeping with the Critique forum guidelines, offer up some technical information on the image and say why you are seeking feedback. It's a funny thing, but the more you can explain what you were doing and what you wanted to achieve, the more it helps the viewer to give some feedback.

2) Don't be afraid to "bump" your image back to the top of the page if you've posted something that's gotten no response. Be careful with this one

because you don't want to monopolize a gallery - but if you see it's been an active day with a lot of posters, it's very easy for images to slip off the first page, and remain overlooked.

3) Be patient. I like to give feedback as much as possible, but we all have daily time restraints, and often times I find I have to come back to an image before I can give it real consideration.

Hope this helps!

Alison · May 22, 2006

I think Terri summed it up very well, as did the previous posters! Another thing to keep in mind is that people will also click your post to read the replies, after they have already posted a reply themselves, so the same person can view several times and add to the "Viewed" column. I know it's frustrating to not have many comments, and I've been there myself too!

hyp0rbyte · May 22, 2006

I think another issue is having a lot of people new to photography. I have only been into photography for about 6 months so I don't feel that I have the experience to comment on other shots. Another thing is coming up with something better to say than "nice shot." There have been many times that I wanted to reply to a post, but couldn't really come up with a better comment than "nice shot"

I hope this helps.

Rob · May 22, 2006

I'll add a couple of quick pointers to the good advice above:

1. Less is more... it's best to post one picture with some words on what you want people to say - the more pictures there are, the more generic the answers will be. Also, people have about three seconds of patience, so waiting for things to load might be enough to make people hold back.

2. Ask for feedback - a simple "please post any comments or criticism as I'd like some feedback" works a treat.

3. Bump with a question. Add a question if you're not getting a response - ask something like "do you like the lighting here?".

4. Don't panic. It's not the quality of your images. Quite often when something is good it's tricky to thing of anything to say as you don't want to write "nice picture" on every shot in general.

5. Use the other specialist galleries. You'll get less views, but they'll most likely be more considered. Critique is great as long as you read the rules!!

Hope this helps!

Rob

mysteryscribe · May 22, 2006

I think (every now and then I really do) a lot of people don't really know what to say. they read so many "awesome" and " I really like this" already there that they dont bother to add their Awesome to it. As for really helpful comments, most of us really dont want to hear them lol.

Im going to make it a habit from now on to comment on every picture that has less than 2 comments and is over a day old. Everyone else should as well. "Awesome dude"

danalec99 · May 22, 2006

mysteryscribe said:
I think (every now and then I really do) a lot of people don't really know what to say. they read so many "awesome" and " I really like this" already there that they dont bother to add their Awesome to it. As for really helpful comments, most of us really dont want to hear them lol.

:thumbup:

PlasticSpanner · May 22, 2006

There are a couple of other factors to consider.

Many people have prefered areas of photography and subjects they find boring. For example I don't particularly go for flowers or pets so I tend not to comment on them.

Another thing along a similar line is subjects, especially very technical or specialist, may be beyond some peoples' scope of understanding, which may make them more cautious in replying for fear of appearing stupid.

I would tend to go off the number of views rather than the number of replies. If you really need advice on something look to the Critique Gallery.:thumbup:

It would be nice to set a ratio of 5 posts to 1 reply in the gallery sections or something like that but I don't think it's possible!

mysteryscribe · May 22, 2006

Then there is the really age old question that no one wants to ask so they don't comment at all. "Why the heck did you shoot this at all." I know that it should be applied to me a lot, but see you guys are just as kind as I am. None of you said it of me.

PlasticSpanner · May 22, 2006

mysteryscribe said:
Then there is the really age old question that no one wants to ask so they don't comment at all. "Why the heck did you shoot this at all." I know that it should be applied to me a lot, but see you guys are just as kind as I am. None of you said it of me.

It would be nice to get an honest slap in the face now and again! :thumbup: :lol:

Although I would hope it would be followed with suggestions why it's so bad! :hail:

mysteryscribe · May 22, 2006

But some of them dont have anything wrong with them, they are just boring shots. I know i've made them and i've have even posted them. AFter a second thought I cringe at the sight of them. Poor judgement happens to us all. I doubt that I could defend my decission to post at least one that I have out there now. There is nothing to learn, nothing of merit, best i can say is that it is harmless. Girl and her dog is the name if you want to get a laugh.

jemmy · May 22, 2006

mysteryscribe said:
I think (every now and then I really do) a lot of people don't really know what to say. they read so many "awesome" and " I really like this" already there that they dont bother to add their Awesome to it. As for really helpful comments, most of us really dont want to hear them lol.

Im going to make it a habit from now on to comment on every picture that has less than 2 comments and is over a day old. Everyone else should as well. "Awesome dude"[/quote

:hail: very good idea.... i often try to reply to the posts with less replies too!! Cmon guys xxxx]

LaFoto · May 23, 2006

As some of you may have found out by now, I am an "active replier". I know the feeling of not getting the desired feedback, I've been there, too, and it is nothing that only happens to newbies. I've been there in the past couple of months, too.

But keep in mind that a view - comment ratio of 10:1 is a good ratio!!!

And yes, I agree with PlasticSpanner on that people are interested in different things. There are absolute lovers of car photography who will also be able to comment on the light, angles, shiny-ness and whatnot of a car. I am not. So you will only very rarely find my reply in a car photo thread. Chris is no big fan of flower photography. So no PlasticSpanner-reply in many of my current "spring-threads". That is the way it is.

And you are in the process of trying to perfect your portrait photography skills, and I think you do get some replies in the Portrait Forum, don't you? But that is a specialised forum with not as much traffic ... but on the other hand you get replies from those who really know something about portrait photography there!

And I'd much rather only get three replies that comprise even maybe two sentences than 10 "awesome shot"-replies. I can do without those.