Critique Can Hurt and Help – Thank You Jordan
Wow..if these are the good photos, I’d hate to see the bad ones. I’ve read some of your blog from time to time and it seems that you talk a good game but cannot produce a decent photograph. Just because you have some fairly decent equipment (not the best) for the amateur, you still have to know how to use it.
In this blog entry you state about your lens only being sharp only on certain conditions..DUH!!
same thing with the importance in lighting..DUH!!
The 2 photos of Julia above only prove my case. the left one would make a decent 8X10 at best, if you would have moved the leaves out of her head for better framing.
The photo on the right has too many things bad with it to list. But I will say it is a good shot of the railing..very sharp and clear, while Julia’s face looks out of focus. That photo should be your next topic of cropping and composition…what is all that crap on the right side of the photo.
You’re like the old saying…those who can DO, those who can’t TEACH.
Stick to teaching
That was the critique and comment on a recent post by someone named “Jordan” (I assume that the name is as fake as the email address “Jordan” left with the comment). When I first read it, it hurt. A lot.
I didn’t post the comment because I thought it was mean spirited, but then I started to think. “Jordan” is right. The images aren’t that good and that’s why I am not a professional photographer. I’m not as good as I’d like to be and I’m still learning. I hope that I always will be learning.
“Jordan” is right, I have some good equipment and I am learning to use it. That is the purpose of the photo shoot; to learn how to use the equipment in a real life situation. Julia didn’t pay for the session, but she did get some images that she liked. No harm done and a win-win for both of us.
“Jordan” talks about me stating the obvious concerning lighting and lenses. Again, he is correct and those are some of the skills that I am working on improving. I am learning the limits of my equipment and how to use light (flash or ambient) to help capture the image in my mind.
I agree with “Jordan” about the pictures. They aren’t great. I don’t think that I agree with all of his reasons, but I am not elated with the images. But that wasn’t the point of posting them. This blog’s subtitle is “The Journey Through a Photographic Life”. My photographic life. The point of posting them is for me to verbalize what I have learned and document that journey.
Trust me, the first shoot was atrocious. Julia was pleased, but I wasn’t. I wouldn’t even post them in public. Posting the most recent images is my way of documenting my progress in photography and I am making progress. Also, by posting my images and discussing them in the blog, I am teaching. I am teaching readers the mistakes I made and lessons learned from those mistakes just as “Jordan” suggested.
I’ll be coming back to “Jordan’s” comment in the future because I think there are other lessons to be learned from it, but until then, I have reaffirmed that I am still learning and I still enjoy the process.
And for that “Jordan”, I thank you.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Tags: comments, Critique, Education
Jordan has good points.
It’s unfortunate that the post is mean spirited. I always feel sorry for people like Jordan who seem to be so angry that they can only communicate with anger. Their daily lives must be full of unpleasant negative thoughts.
Personally, I would ignore the troll attitude and would heed Jordan’s constructive comments about the photos.
I agree. I think there is some validity to his comments, but the mean spirited manner upsets me.
What gets me is “Jordan” can rudely talk about how “bad” your photos are, but can’t leave his real email or website to show off just how great his work is to back up his comment. That’s what I love about people like him.
He can talk, but he can’t back it up. It’s like he thinks something like a D700 is the best, but in reality, the quality of the gear is determined by the use and the user. Actually, owning the lenses you have, I’d say you have some great gear that PROFESSIONALS use.
….they should learn some grammar before trying to act all big and bad….periods are only needed once….
I tend to ignore the ignorant of the world, so the wording doesn’t really bother me. I think that people who post anonymous comments like this have self esteem issues that are much too complex to delve into here. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have a point, you just have to read between the lines and the self loathing to find it.
The internet is full of trolls. I plan on writing a post on this very subject soon. Until then, here is a link to a good post by Scott Bourne on people such as “Jordan”: Going Pro: Don’t be a Troll