Why are we fighting so hard to impress each other?

[thereyougo!]

The decision of what you like is yours. Yes sometimes people will make suggestions based on what they feel. Doesn't mean they are right as they could be talking out of their arse. So why bother trying? It's useful to try out people's suggestions as although you may not like it applied in one way on one shot doesn't mean it won't work on another shot. It's actually quite a positive thing for your development as a photographer and will teach you to understand why you like or dislike a shot. Understanding why is more valuable than the fact of liking or disliking.

 

[EchoingWhisper]

Yes, I do realise a lot of photographers here are morons and bull **** a lot.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I think deep down we all want to have our pictures to be loved and become known for them. My purpose here is to learn photography from others and at some point give back to the forum. Though my pictures currently are not to the caliber that I want, they will be someday. I love all these threads with visually stunning pictures and the hash but comical users that make them.

Yep same here. I will use a thread I had with Bitter as an example. I had a scenery photo with deers, chairs etc. I started getting a bunch of "subjective" CC and started way overediting it and ruining the photo because people were telling me how I should feel about the subjective elements. Assuming these people knew more I followed what they said. Until Bitter came along and said WTF are you doing? It's a good photo and YOUR instinct was correct. So who should we follow with these SUBJECTIVE matters?

Ah, but that thread points to you not knowing enough to make decisions for yourself, or stand behind what you have done and explain why it works. In subsequent threads, you have taken the stance that people don't need to learn about art. You have taken the stance that the "rules" should be thrown away, or that it's ok to "break" them. It all comes from a point of naivete.


So many expect to be "breaking" rules and be successful right out of the gate. So many want to dismiss educating themselves and reach the point that they can make their own decisions. You know why? Cuz it takes too long. They don't have that experience to judge objectively.

 

[Vtec44]

I didn't know I'm here to impress people. Well, maybe I should start posting more to impress ya'll.

Generally speaking, photographers know more about photography than the general population. If you work is well received by a group of experienced people in your field, you must be doing something right. It's not that hard to impress your Facebook friends, just use shallow DOF and vignette.

With that said, I don't feel that people are on here to impress others. We're here to learn and improve. I don't post much because I try to learn from the more experienced members. I certainly don't want to be the noob that gives out the wrong information to another noob, which I have done before. lol A lot of people don't care much for photography as long as they know the basics and make money from it. Others want to take it to the next level, making money or not. Most of the great artists throughout history were not wealthy and did not gain much from their artwork, while they were still alive.

 

[greybeard]

Nothing better to do.

 

[kundalini]

I'm not impressed with this thread. It seems to be another call for attention rather than a genuine topic of conversation.



On an aside note...........

ANSWER #1

ANSWER #2

ANSWER #3

Hey Lew, glad to see you posting again. Hope you had a good holiday. However, I do miss Mother Teresa.

 

[ph0enix]

Why continue posting here?

Let me guess: for attention.
The issue has been beaten to death.

 

[rexbobcat]

Regardless of how other members try to play it down, a lot of people are secretly pretentious, I believe. That's why there's always so much drama on here.

Don't forget those who are smug.

I think it's because photography is soooooo much more subjective than many other areas, and that causes people to be insecure about their abilities.

What other areas?
I have found it to the same in every area of art I have worked in and studied.

It is superiority under a façade of humbleness and self-deprecation. Those are just my observations. Maybe I just hang out with the wrong people.

If we bring this back to the forum, you have a ton of people pretending they know a lot about art, but don't. We repeatedly hear their opinions on how stuff doesn't really matter. But what point, what foundation are they arguing from?

I mean other areas in general. Like math. I HATE math, because I'm not very good at logical critical thinking. I think some people who are very logical thinkers have a tough time with photography for the simple fact that it's more abstract...

I think that photography is 2 parts intuition and 3 parts "what works."

 

[GnipGnop]

If you're so concerned, why bother posting? Keep them to yourself, and spare your creatives works from the no-holds-barred scrutiny of the Internet-folk.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I mean other areas in general. Like math. I HATE math, because I'm not very good at logical critical thinking. I think some people who are very logical thinkers have a tough time with photography for the simple fact that it's more abstract...

Oh. I get it.

You want abstract? Take a Logic/Critical Thinking class or two. :shock:

I think that photography is 2 parts intuition and 3 parts "what works."

That's the thing. What is the "what works part", and for whom?


Sorry for challenging you, we generally have seen eye to eye. I guess this is for thought clarification.

 

[Joey_Ricard]

Internet forums are what they are these days.

In the case of this forum - The topic and variety is wide open and all over the place within the world of photography
You post an image and people will tell you what they think. Good, bad or otherwise. Giving our opinions is one of the things we do on here.

I don't see us running up to someone on the street and ask them what they think about an image. This is a photography gathering with a lot of variety.

With that said, this isn't a place like Flickr, where you have groups that you can join and interact with people about a specific style within the wide field of photography in general (ie landscape photography). On the Flickr groups to which I belong, you don't have C&C, but more of a sharing characteristic with comments. If you like something, you comment, if you don't, dont comment, but generally it's not a C&C. You can have contacts you socialize with and share on a regular basis.

 

[greybeard]

Here is what I think.

Don't post for C&C if you have a thin skin and take everything personally.
If you are going to comment on someones work, always TRY to be tactful and at least find something good to say about some part of it.
Kind of like being a teacher at a parent teacher conference LOL

 

[Ballistics]

C'mon blackrose, when will the madness stop? Why does everything have to be so effin deep with you? It's not that serious. Post pictures, get critiqued, critique others, enjoy life. Who cares about people's motives? If you don't like the forum or the people on it... remove yourself from it. It's that easy. It's becoming evident that every once in a while you need the spot light on you, as if you crave attention, or if you are looking for affirmation to fulfill an acceptance insecurity. One too many "Who's with me?" threads.

 

[rexbobcat]

I mean other areas in general. Like math. I HATE math, because I'm not very good at logical critical thinking. I think some people who are very logical thinkers have a tough time with photography for the simple fact that it's more abstract...

Oh. I get it.

You want abstract? Take a Logic/Critical Thinking class or two. :shock:

I think that photography is 2 parts intuition and 3 parts "what works."

That's the thing. What is the "what works part", and for whom?


Sorry for challenging you, we generally have seen eye to eye. I guess this is for thought clarification.

Yeah, I understand what you mean about logic being less concrete than one would assume it to be. XD

What I mean by what works is statements like "if you place the light this way, it's more flattering. If you place it this way you get a different effect." It's just those things in photography that are tried and true. It has nothing to with the photographer not being creative. It has everything to do with what looks good. It's annoying how some photographers will ask critique on a creative portrait, when they obviously don't know the fundamentals of portraiture in the first place. I think you should be able to get a technically good, albeit generic photo first, so you at least have some basis for your creativity.

I also find it irritating when people are creative just for the sake of being creative. Like when someone takes a photo of a flower and adds borders and faux-lomography and blah blah....their treatment doesn't add anything to the photo, it just makes everyone realize that they don't know the fundamentals, so they're just creating their own....which rarely works.....

There are a few people, though, who are damn good at backwards engineering. Just take the third party TTL flash units as examples.

I can't really tell if I'm making any sense or not. My mind moves faster and my fingers, and I feel like I'm just rambling.

 

[skieur]

You really need to read through the post. I didn't say there is NO point in learning. I even said there are elements that you NEED to listen to criticisms. I specified I am merely taking about the subjective elements. I never one said CC is useless.More of what I'm saying is how much should we take in on the SUBJECTIVE side of things.

The elements of design/"rules" of composition are NOT subjective.

skieur