> This is a very interesting subject. I suspect many of us have > different feelings about it. I'll lay out some of my thoughts. > > I am not a big fan of 'me too' type of responses - it does give a > warm fuzzy for the photographer but not much beyond that. However, a > critique or at least some thought out drivel takes time. So if the > volume of photos is high, that can be difficult. This is one reason > I struggle with saying much of anything about a GESO, there are too > many pics to spend time writing about. So, time becomes one element > that is impacting. > > Another issue is the level of the photographer. We, on the list, are > at different levels of photography along with different genres, alone > with different goals and aspirations. So with this in mind, the > critique should take into account who the photographer is and provide > meaningful input for them. That means that the critiquer needs to > know the critiquee and be somewhat familiar with their work. That > becomes another element of impact. > > Enough blathering from me for the moment... > > -- > Bruce
On top of which, one has to guess to some extent what the photographer can put up with. I've been in the situation several times (not here) where people have asked for my opinion and I've given my opinion. When they've stopped blubbing I learn that actually they wanted my unstinting praise. I ruined a contract I had from day one with that once. A team I joined asked my opinion on the work they were doing, after demoing it to me. I gave my opinion and none of them ever spoke to me again - turns out they were a battered and beleaguered team caught in an advanced state of defensive group-think and they really wanted me to make them feel good. My contract was not renewed. On the other hand, we know that some people want to receive honest views, and accept them as given. It seems to me that there is often a clue in how they phrase their request. Some people ask for help with some aspect of the picture they're not happy with, and get some good feedback that way - I found that a very productive approach when I asked for people's thoughts about my pictures of Fez. But if the same text is used for every picture you post, eg "Comments and criticisms welcome", one gets the impression that the photographer hasn't even noticed they've written it, and some people do seem a little sensitive to criticism, even when they've asked for it. It's not always easy to tell whether people mean it. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
