Are you the best judge....

[greypoint]

....of your own pictures? Do you find that the ones you really like tend to get passed by and the ones you upload as an afterthought are the ones that get the comments? I suppose what I mean is a case of do we sometimes get a bit tied up with trying to get things technically right and ignore the fact that content is the mopst important thing. Of course, getting both right is the ultimate goal. I give you one of my most popular flickr uploads - over 1150 views and a number of favourited. Uploaded as part of a set taken at a very wet show last year with nothing done to it but a crop, I think there must be a lot of welly boot fetishists out there!



Have you found the same thing??

[Trickee]

i totally agree with what you are saying i sometimes post a pic that i really like and think that it will stimulate some comments only to find that it gets passed over.
i think that sometimes the number of views can be attributed to the picture looking strange as a small thumbnail. i.e you cannot tell what the picture is until you view it good or not. of course not everyone here are active in making comments, probably because some pictures interest them more than others. just my 3 penneth

[Oldboy]

The most viewed picture are not always the best in photographic terms, but may invoke in people memories of times past and pets they have lost. In the case of your picture, a cute dog sitting next to his/her master, captures this moment perfectly and the fact that no genger or age can be attached to the wellie person, means they can see themselves in the picture. 

[greypoint]

No I definitely think this one has more to do with the boots!

[irv_b]

....of your own pictures? Do you find that the ones you really like tend to get passed by and the ones you upload as an afterthought are the ones that get the comments? I suppose what I mean is a case of do we sometimes get a bit tied up with trying to get things technically right and ignore the fact that content is the mopst important thing. Of course, getting both right is the ultimate goal. I give you one of my most popular flickr uploads - over 1150 views and a number of favourited. Uploaded as part of a set taken at a very wet show last year with nothing done to it but a crop, I think there must be a lot of welly boot fetishists out there!



Have you found the same thing??

Sue I don't think you can be ......
Whoever we are there is an emotional tie of sorts to the pic that you have taken. Even if its a work thing you have invested a thought process into it, apart from the time and energy, you see what you want to in it, whereas somebody else will only see the picture itself and although they may understand the effort you went to take it they have nothing of themself invested in it and can like it (or dislike it) for the graphic that it is

[skellum]

I've lost count of the times I have printed and framed a picture to sell on the market ( thinking I am onto a winner ) only for it to be totally ignored.

[greypoint]

Yes I suppose there is that whole thing about what you put into it. If I was to take a stunning sunset in a popular and much photographed location I'd be really proud of it - others would think 'yawn, another cliched sunset'!

[irv_b]

Well I spose if you are proud of what you've achieved, ultimately that's all that matters - or do we all secretly do this to gain people's approval of our skill in our chosen hobby. How many shots have you taken that people don't see what you see in it? and you just want to say to them "look at it just look at it" and they still cant see it (I am thinking of my wife and the dogs a*** comment )

[greypoint]

Ah - that's another 'photographer thing' I think - there are lots of pictures that a fellow photographer will praise for its composition, colours, tone and DOF - your Mum will say 'why on earth did you take a picture of a table leg?'!!

[Eileen]

I think most of us want a little praise from time to time.

This is an interesting question, and especially relevant for me today. I recently sent off my fourth assignment for my OCA course. I was really unhappy with this assignment. Lots of things went wrong and I ended up with a collection with some pictures I was happy with and some I really wasn't. I have been absolutely dreading the feedback.
It arrived this evening and I spent an hour building up to opening it. The tutor said I was being too hard on myself and it was good submission. There were some pictures that were less successful than others but they were good examples of what the submission was about.
Now I wonder why I was so worked up about it. I still don't like all the pictures but they weren't that bad. I think I invested so much time in the exercise and had so many things go wrong that I lost all perspective.
I also have the opposite happen sometimes - pictures I really like get very little comment. Usually after a while I can see why.

[greypoint]

I think the value of other people's opinion is'nt so much the fact you want praise, but, after you've spent a lot of time on something, you can find it hard to be objective and a fresh perspective can give you pointers for what could be improved next time.

[Oldboy]

I think most of us want a little praise from time to time.

This is an interesting question, and especially relevant for me today. I recently sent off my fourth assignment for my OCA course. I was really unhappy with this assignment. Lots of things went wrong and I ended up with a collection with some pictures I was happy with and some I really wasn't. I have been absolutely dreading the feedback.
It arrived this evening and I spent an hour building up to opening it. The tutor said I was being too hard on myself and it was good submission. There were some pictures that were less successful than others but they were good examples of what the submission was about.

That's because your idea of a good picture has been raised. If you cast your mind back to the first pictures you took and you thought they were great. Look at them now and you think they are rubbish. The further we push ourselves the more we expect. Well done on your course work and I know it will come right in the end.  

[spinner]

Let's not forget the reverse that can never really be confirmed or proven. How many photos do you have in your collection that you think are substandard, but might actually be seen as brilliant by someone else? You can't ever know.

[Oldboy]

Let's not forget the reverse that can never really be confirmed or proven. How many photos do you have in your collection that you think are substandard, but might actually be seen as brilliant by someone else? You can't ever know.

Very true! And I've got more than most! 

[greypoint]

Using flickr and tagging your photos does give you a good idea of what people search for. I use the flickr stats option to see what's been looked at over the past couple of days. One of the most often searched for amongst my pics is 'norfolk terrier' [there's someone locally who shiows them so I have a fair few photos] - you would'nt think such a minority breed would have such a number of searches on it. My Norfolk pics appear on lots of websites all over the world - mostly without permission but they do link back - the ones I know about anyway!