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04/29/2005 11:07:57 PM · #1 |
I would like to share with you all the Critique Club comment that I just received on my photo âtAcKs iN SpAcEâ from the Tacks! challenge. Please donât take this the wrong way. Iâm not posting this in order to brag about my photo, or anything like that. What Iâd like to do is tell you how wonderful it is to get a real critique on one of my photos, and maybe get a few of you out there to join in and participate in the CC. Or, if youâre already a CC member, to let you know that your efforts are a valuable addition to the quality of this site and are much appreciated. Itâs nice to get any comments on a photo, but an honest, detailed critique is even better.
Also, and this is very important, please be sure to thank the person that gives you a critique. Whether or not you agree with what they say, they spent their valuable time looking at your photo and writing about it. Thanking them is simply common courtesy. Something that is short supply these days.
Anyway, hereâs the critique I received from bear_music â¦
â***** CRITIQUE CLUB COMMENT *****
Yowza, this is a fun one to draw! I had this picture pegged for a ribbon as soon as I saw it, and it was the second one that opened for me in the challenge random draw. My original comment was somethign like "I sure hope this isn't Calvert in a rut", I hope you took that as humorously as I meant it.
This wildly imaginative shot is one of my favorites among all the challenge entries I have voted upon. For me it excels on so many levels it's almost funny.
1. Technically it's exceptionally nice, and allt he more so given your relatively primitive lighting setup. Some might say the BG should be sharper, but I disagree with that. I think the tacks would be downvalued if the BG image were crystal-sharp (as, for example, it is in Scalvert's "Nightbulb" shot, where the sharpness is an asset since the BG becomes part of the foregrounds, as it were).
2. It has an extremely high, but not "in-your-face", humor quotient, only underlined by the bizarre spelling of the brilliant title, which calls to mind all sorts of low-budget sci-fi movies in my twisted brain.
3. It's metaphorically complex. It's amazing that such a mundane subject material and a few odds-and-ends can produce such an example of visual stortytelling. It has an air of "documentary", it has a heavy aura of "science fiction", It has hints of "global domination", it raises questions in my mind as to whether the tacks are a malevolent or a beneficient force, and it speaks (for me at least) to the loneliness of the human condition and our quest for meaning in the universe. Quite a load for a handful of tacks to tote, eh?
4. It's visually appealing; it's beautiful "eye candy" even though (as explained in 3) it's far MORE than eye candy.
In summary, this is a powerfully good image, and one of which you should be estremely proud. I wish I had some specific areas I could address by way of suggested "improvements", but honestly nothing stands out for me as being in NEED of improvement. Perhaps the large, central blue tack could be better-separated from the background? jejejeâ¢
Thanks for the chance to comment upon this image in depth.
Robt.â
Thanks Robert! You are a gem! Keep up the good work. :)
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04/29/2005 11:28:35 PM · #2 |
Way to go Robert - nicely done!
I just had the pleasure of doing my first CC last night, and was also a tacks entry. |
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04/29/2005 11:53:20 PM · #3 |
I think it's a great thing to have and good on you Brad for joining up. Like micknewton mentioned the site may need just a few more experienced volunteers to become part of this club. I'm still eagerly awaiting my first critique after 20 challenges. Hopefully I will get one soon and look forward to it. It's a random process I believe, and the chances are quite slim on being chosen.
Keep up the good work CC - your time, effort and experience is much appreciated on this site :-) |
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04/29/2005 11:54:32 PM · #4 |
That's awesome Brad! I'm sure your participation will be greatly appreciated.
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04/30/2005 01:12:17 AM · #5 |
HA!
Pulled another tonight and snagged Tranquil's Blue Ribbon!
Nothing like a trial by fire as a newbie CC member...
Message edited by author 2005-04-30 01:38:42. |
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04/30/2005 01:18:40 AM · #6 |
Yeap! Thank you Critique Club!
Thank you hbunch7187for the critique on my Tacked Memories
Add the fact that she is so cute really made my day ;)
Shrek: "Really?"
Donkey: "Really, really!!!"
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04/30/2005 01:35:18 AM · #7 |
I've never received a critique club comment despite entering 36 challenge :(
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04/30/2005 01:37:41 AM · #8 |
Thanks very much, Mick. I appreciate the effort you've taken here, and appreciate even more that others have chimed in to make this a praise of CC, not a praise of Bear. I enjoy doing these critiques, but actually stopped for a while because it seemed painfully obvious that nobody gave a damn. lately the tide seems to be turning, attitude-wise, so I'm back in action. Thanks to Honey for kicking me out of my rut :-)
Robt.
Message edited by author 2005-04-30 01:40:24.
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04/30/2005 01:39:30 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by megryan:
I think it's a great thing to have and good on you Brad for joining up. Like micknewton mentioned the site may need just a few more experienced volunteers to become part of this club. I'm still eagerly awaiting my first critique after 20 challenges. Hopefully I will get one soon and look forward to it. It's a random process I believe, and the chances are quite slim on being chosen.
Keep up the good work CC - your time, effort and experience is much appreciated on this site :-) |
I know from my own experience with the Critique Club that itâs discouraging when you get no feedback whatsoever from writing critiques. You begin to wonder if the people even read them, let alone appreciate your efforts. Other CC members have told me they feel the same way. Thatâs why I believe that itâs so important to thank the people that take the time to give your photo a critique. IMHO, if you donât take the time to thank them, then you donât deserve a critique.
I think much of the problem is caused by the way critiques are handled on this site. They are treated as just another comment left on a photo, and only after the challenge is over. There is nothing to differentiate them from a photoâs other comments. Perhaps some changes in the website are in order. Maybe something that somehow highlights the critique, such as an icon or hotlink, would provide some incentive to the CC members to become more prolific. Just a thought.
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04/30/2005 03:36:31 AM · #10 |
Originally posted by micknewton:
Originally posted by megryan:
I think it's a great thing to have and good on you Brad for joining up. Like micknewton mentioned the site may need just a few more experienced volunteers to become part of this club. I'm still eagerly awaiting my first critique after 20 challenges. Hopefully I will get one soon and look forward to it. It's a random process I believe, and the chances are quite slim on being chosen.
Keep up the good work CC - your time, effort and experience is much appreciated on this site :-) |
I know from my own experience with the Critique Club that itâs discouraging when you get no feedback whatsoever from writing critiques. You begin to wonder if the people even read them, let alone appreciate your efforts. Other CC members have told me they feel the same way. Thatâs why I believe that itâs so important to thank the people that take the time to give your photo a critique. IMHO, if you donât take the time to thank them, then you donât deserve a critique.
I think much of the problem is caused by the way critiques are handled on this site. They are treated as just another comment left on a photo, and only after the challenge is over. There is nothing to differentiate them from a photoâs other comments. Perhaps some changes in the website are in order. Maybe something that somehow highlights the critique, such as an icon or hotlink, would provide some incentive to the CC members to become more prolific. Just a thought. |
Yep, I agree with you there Mick. You should be recognised and thanked for your time when you analyse a submission. I know I would thank the CC member personally. And yes, there should be a highlighted link that stands out so other users can view the critique you have made. Did you suggest this to site council ? I think it's a good idea. :-) |
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04/30/2005 04:11:02 AM · #11 |
I agree that the Critique Club rocks! I've been hoping and hoping for a response from the CC -- got lucky to have mine on my ninth entry (Tacks).
So, here's a public thank-you to BAMartin:
Thank you, Barbara for taking the time to be a member of the Critique Club. It's clear that you take your job seriously.
I admire and appreciate all of you who take this much time to contribute to our dpchallenge community. Thanks! |
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04/30/2005 11:05:04 AM · #12 |
I like doing critiques for the club--though I do feel discouraged when you spend 20 minutes on someone's image and they can't even bother to check off that it's useful.
But my main issue with the way it works is that there's no way to "reenqueue" an image. Once you get it you have to critique it (or wait until it decides you are not going to submit one). I've gotten images that I already had commented on, and a few I didn't really feel comfortable or interested in commenting on, and then you are stuck doing that one, or waiting until finally it automatically requeues it.
I also had the converse experience, as I recall. It was when I first joined. I was working on an image, had to take a break, didn't get back to it until the next day or something like that, and by the time I finished, it was no longer "my image" to critique! But it wasn't a problem, I justed completed the critique anyway.
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05/01/2005 02:16:23 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Tiberius:
Yeap! Thank you Critique Club!
Thank you hbunch7187for the critique on my Tacked Memories
Add the fact that she is so cute really made my day ;)
Shrek: "Really?"
Donkey: "Really, really!!!" |
*blush* Thanks!
Came back to this thread cause I remember Megryan saying she was eagerly awaiting her first CC, and I just happen to draw her photo out of the hat today. So keep an eye out for that!!
I hear a lot of people saying that it's discouraging to not get a helpful mark. Do you send PM's to the photographer letting them know they received a critique?
I have done 50 or so CC's in the past week-ish and all but 6 (minus the ones I most recently did) have been marked as helpful. 2 of those 6 I received emails from thanking me for the useful crit, but they must have forgot to click the button.
I send a message simply saying "Hi there. You have received a Critique Club comment on your *enter challenge here* entry title *enter title here in form of a hyperlink directing them to their photo* Hope you find this helpful in some way" I sign it with my name and click send.I get a lot of replies thanking me.
nshapiro made the comment that we should be able to 'throw away' an image that we don't want to comment on. I think that it's those images that we don't want to comment on that need the comment most. So while I have wanted to do the same thing a few times, I'm glad we can't.
Anyway, There are currently like 450 or so images in the list, so I'm trying really hard to get that number down. Thanks to those who are helping as well.
~Heather~ |
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