360° feedback

Jaspers - great statement - please use the same level of brutal feedback on my pics (but the more brutal it is, the more make a proposa, what to change) - I aggree we are all big boys and girls - but same at my work place - a real critical feedback or even saying "this was wrong" is rather seldom.... the fear to be political incorrect sometoimes hinders us, to speak these things out.

When I said be careful what you ask for, I simply meant that if you ask people to be brutally honest, then be prepared for some biting comments.

It was light hearted.

I don't sweat the PU Gallery comments. If people just want to post images they are pleased with for some reason, and only hear praise, that's fine. I don't spend much time there!

'Your Photos' is really the place to get that constructive criticism. I think the default commenting mode should be polite yet helpful, but anyone's free to ask for a more full-on approach.

The constructive crit section has been suggested before, by Cardiff Gareth I think. I'm not sure about it, as people may think that photos not in this section should then be immune from any negative comment.

Perhaps if you did some analysis and appraisal of your own works and tried to understand things first you would benefit from others comments more.

Simple stuff like what you feel is good in the image, what is the focus of the image, how the background helps, what elements of composition you used to enhance the image, what you wanted the image to mean etc etc

It would be nice to see this kind of thing first which might give people an idea of the level you're thinking on.

If you just want to know if you have a Sharp photo with the right exposure, it would become clear.

G rolls up his sleeves, sharpens his axe, and prepares to shed blood!



G

ah ok - yep this I can imagine.... when you call for such feedback you should be prepared for everything

Thats a good point

What I meant was not so much feedback on the basics (although - wen I see photos of abslute beginner, even this is sometimes needed....I had things in mind like - a not ideal or too agressive crop and/or ccomposition, a too heavy usage of some filterings (such as sharpening), a non-ideal viep-point, halos in HDRs, or also the fact that a picture does (for what ever reason) not transfer the message it should transfer.

It's a good suggestion Axel.

The gallery section is I think more of a pat on the back place. There are so many images there (the unlimited upload feature hasn't really helped imo, I think less is more) that it isn't practical to comment on all of them. I normally just comment on the ones that catch my eye for one reason or another and I deliberately don't scroll to reveal the photographer before I view the picture. I do agree that comments often overpraise, often mind-bogglingly so. And for some of the pictures, I think that pointing out improvements would just knock the confidence of the photographer.

I like to see frank appraisal in the competitions and I think that is generally still the case.

The Your Photos Section is a mixed bag. People post for different reasons. Some for honest appraisal, some to show off, some to give a pictorial flavour of an event and some to show the performance of a lens. Unless there is a specific request for critique or unless you know the photographer then it isn't always easy to know what level to pitch at.

Personally I prefer brutal feedback too and I would have no qualms in putting my photos up for the slaughter. In fact I would enjoy it - a few fellow forum members know that I don't like the W word anywhere near my photos. I don't like the name though, reminds me of American corporate speak.

As for your photos, I haven't commented on as many as I used to. That doesn't mean I don't like them - it just means I know what to expect and you probably know what kind of comments to expect from me. And there will always be things about some of them that I will always dislike (processing halos for example).

Yes I agree with what being said here , this forum has a many members from pros to real beginers.
So for some people to post the first photo in your photos section is a big step , but putting stuff out is what it's about
So getting stuff ignored is tough, getting stuff commented on is good, getting stuff liked is great. and the discusion that goes on about work you like by other people is very important to fill in the knowledge gap.
I think I understand a BIT more about making photos since I got my DSLR and joined PU, but I understand a LOT more about looking at photos since I joined PU .
And that has to be of value.... Jeff....

thats a good way to put it go 4 it

George, I look forward to being photographically dismantled by your good self.

I have booked a therapy session in expectation.

BTW I posted some images yesterday in "my photos" entitled "Under The Bridge"- knock yourself out (gulp!)

Very nice suggestion Axel. I'm not sure how we can implement this here but maybe we can have some guidelines (mods, help please? ) on how to *properly* critic a photo in all brutal honesty, without offending someone (good luck with that! LOL).

Although the following topic, I believe, pretty much sums it up for everyone: https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/making-comments-on-images-11282

So if someone was not happy with my "Bird Images from the London Underground", I'd take it like a man and cry in the corner.

"Brutal honesty" is a bit of hyperbole. Plain honesty is all that is required.

The topic you linked to, Opethian, says it all.

G

I've only had my camera for a few months and joined this forum in the hope I'd learn something to enable me to take better photographs. I prefer honest comments and pointers to taking a better shot. Even if the subject itself may not be considered worthy of taking.


Regards