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10/02/2003 01:03:04 AM · #1 |
This picture of mine Balls has recieved by far the most diverse comments I've ever recieved on a pic. In fact some of the comments seem to completely cancel out other comments...
EG: One person wrote "That's a lotta self-portraits there... good exposure of a difficult subject. If you didn't want yourself in there, perhaps a little self-timer action could have helped. If you WANTED it, awesome job!" and another said this "I especially like your reflection in all the balls, I didn't see it the 1st time I looked at this. 9"
Same picture also gets these comments "I would have rated this higher, but I don't like the reflections." and "Nece effect, but would be better with an abstract reflection rather than being able to see the photographer."
Another commenter panned everything I purposefully set up in this shot with this: "I don't like the reflection. I don't like the ball out in front. Keep working with these balls and mess around with lighting and patterns to see if you can find something that is more appealing to the eye."
My question....How would YOU interpret such seemingly opposing comments???
Added Edit: God I hope this don't turn into a rant. I understand that different people have different tastes....I'm trying to learn how to put it all together into a better next picture!!!
Message edited by author 2003-10-02 11:47:16.
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10/02/2003 01:46:36 AM · #2 |
LOL, you have to be able to sift the good comments from the bad. As you get more confident about your pictures and or skills, you'll be able to better know which are helpfull comments and which aren't as helpfull.
Example: In the comment that said "if you don't want yourself in the shot..." isn't helpfull because you DID want yourself in the shot, then just disregard the comment. I think if you don't really know what you are trying to achieve with your photo is when you'll be most likely to not know how to assess the comments you get.
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10/02/2003 01:50:21 AM · #3 |
| I wanted myself in my garden submission, but I kept getting comments to stay out of it ;) |
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10/02/2003 02:32:35 AM · #4 |
Hey, I got a little shout-out in your comments! Sorry, BabyHeads, wasn't me - hope you don't feel too stupid. :)
But back to your question, I think most of what your talking about is just taste and opinion. The fact is that your reflections are in the balls. The critiquer has no idea if that was intentional or not. Here's a place where, IMO, a title can (should?) be used to guide the viewer a little. A title of Reflections (not creative by any means, but effective), would have clued the viewer in on your intentions - something more subtle could have had an even greater effect.
But, back on topic... Not knowing your intention, the critiquer is left to wonder - was it on purpose or not? If on purpose, then assuming it wasn't "unfairly" discredits your efforts. If not, then assuming it was unfairly credits your mistakes. I think there tends to be an assumption, when the photographer shows up in a reflection, that either the photographer didn't notice it, or they couldn't or didn't find a way to keep the reflection out.
For myself, I didn't penalize you, per se, for the reflections. But without them I probably would have appreciated the effort made to achieve the effect, and given you a little bonus. Plus, as I mentioned, I think it would have brought out the markings on the balls, which looked like a really interesting feature that was lost in the reflections.
But, as I said, its about taste. Some of us liked it better with, some without. Maybe a more constructive way to look at the difference in opinions is to start from knowing what you wanted (with the reflections) and how you might have better made that clear to the viewer, so they could appreciate what you were trying to achieve.
On other aspects, you just have to decided what weight their opinion carries when balanced against what you wanted to achieve. If you wanted the front balls out of focus and someone comments they should have been in focus - hey, it's an opinion. They're not wrong for voicing it - you're not wrong for ignoring it. If you want, send them a PM and let them know it was intetional. But don't worry about getting too caught up in differences of taste and style.
Message edited by author 2003-10-02 02:39:54. |
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10/02/2003 05:22:58 AM · #5 |
Each comment is from an individual, doing their best to give their opinion. On one photo I got a comment that said, "Nice, but it's too dark." On that same photo, another reviewer gave the comment, "Nice, but it's too light." I just look at the photo and see why I think they might have thought it too dark or too light. In conflicting advice like this, I tend to click on both commenter's IDs to see what their submissions have received. If one guy is getting blue and red ribbons and the other is constantly in the bottom of the pack, I'm likely to listen a bit more to the ribbon winner. That doesn't mean the other opinion is invalid -- they saw something they didn't like and I still try to understand it -- I just give more weight to comments for people with higher rated photos.
Using that standard, I have no idea why people are in such an uproar over my comments in the irony challenge :)
Ironic, isn't it? |
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10/02/2003 09:31:02 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by hgpayne:
Each comment is from an individual, doing their best to give their opinion. On one photo I got a comment that said, "Nice, but it's too dark." On that same photo, another reviewer gave the comment, "Nice, but it's too light." I just look at the photo and see why I think they might have thought it too dark or too light. In conflicting advice like this, I tend to click on both commenter's IDs to see what their submissions have received. If one guy is getting blue and red ribbons and the other is constantly in the bottom of the pack, I'm likely to listen a bit more to the ribbon winner. That doesn't mean the other opinion is invalid -- they saw something they didn't like and I still try to understand it -- I just give more weight to comments for people with higher rated photos.
Using that standard, I have no idea why people are in such an uproar over my comments in the irony challenge :)
Ironic, isn't it? |
I also have gotten into the habit of looking at the commentors profiles. I look at their average score (edit: both given and recieved scores) and kinda weigh the comment with that in mind.
Maybe it was a GOOD thing I didn't get a any ideas for Irony....;-)
Message edited by author 2003-10-02 10:21:13.
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10/02/2003 09:39:25 AM · #7 |
| Toocool, all I can say is that I am sure that someone at somepoint went to Salvador Dali after seing his 'Last Supper' and told him it would be better if Jesus wasn't transparent. Just like the sense of taste, the sense of vision is triggered by different things for different people. |
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10/02/2003 11:17:05 AM · #8 |
HI. When someone looks at a photo, they don't know what your intent really was, and they don't have a history of how it was taken or the thought process used to get there. So, if someone comments, and you know they didn't understand what you were trying to acheive, you can ignore it. If it makes you think about the process of taking the picture and you see that what they have said has some validity for how you envisioned your picture, try to incorporate what they said in the future.
It's nice to look up the commenter's portfolio, but some people might not have been here a long time and might not have built a history.
You did accomplish one thing, I remembered your photo and knew which one you were talking about before I went to the link. |
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10/02/2003 01:46:54 PM · #9 |
i've gotten some comments on my pictures where people disagree with stuff i specifically did on purpose... if i get a bunch of replies that don't like one thing i did intentionally... that tells me that i picked the wrong "trick" to try :) if someone doesn't like something you did intentionally, then their comments aren't really too useful.. you just didn't meet their taste... constructive comments can be tough to pick out when there are conflicting views...
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