gdmcclintock
Well-known
Actually, my "fishing for compliments" reply was meant as a "kick up the bum"! The OP should quit feeling sorry for himself and begin to photograph again, if he is serious about photography.
FrankS
Registered User
Tough love.
antiquark
Derek Ross
You should try completely different styles of photography. You might find something you like, that's totally unexpected to you.
Also, as far as people commenting on your pictures, the old saying is true: "give and ye shall receive." You have to comment and fave other people's pictures in order to get the conversation going. Also you have to add your pictures to groups. It takes some effort.
Also, as far as people commenting on your pictures, the old saying is true: "give and ye shall receive." You have to comment and fave other people's pictures in order to get the conversation going. Also you have to add your pictures to groups. It takes some effort.
back alley
IMAGES
lots of posts, lots of advice...
i'm not sure how to respond...too many posts and ideas to answer individually.
i'm in a funk, that must be clear. i have not stopped shooting and i am way too old to take a long break.
i'm not fishing for anything. yesterday, i was fed up with my stuff and myself. i looked at my images and saw some pretty pictures and some very mediocre street stuff.
i am only interested in shooting the urban landscape, city scenes with people in them so changing my focus really wont work for me.
i look at other's work all the time...here, at flickr and just searching the net...lots of great images out there and i would like to add to them.
of late, i am coming to terms with trying to see myself as an artist with a camera, a photographer. something i would never have had the nerve to say out loud before.
yes, it's my hobby, but also my passion and obsession...my way of creating art and expressing myself without words.
i practice as much as i can, i shoot regularly and i have my favourite subjects which i return to in the hopes of seeing better images each time out.
i think most of you can relate, which is the main reason i went public instead of whining at home to myself.
i'm not sure how to respond...too many posts and ideas to answer individually.
i'm in a funk, that must be clear. i have not stopped shooting and i am way too old to take a long break.
i'm not fishing for anything. yesterday, i was fed up with my stuff and myself. i looked at my images and saw some pretty pictures and some very mediocre street stuff.
i am only interested in shooting the urban landscape, city scenes with people in them so changing my focus really wont work for me.
i look at other's work all the time...here, at flickr and just searching the net...lots of great images out there and i would like to add to them.
of late, i am coming to terms with trying to see myself as an artist with a camera, a photographer. something i would never have had the nerve to say out loud before.
yes, it's my hobby, but also my passion and obsession...my way of creating art and expressing myself without words.
i practice as much as i can, i shoot regularly and i have my favourite subjects which i return to in the hopes of seeing better images each time out.
i think most of you can relate, which is the main reason i went public instead of whining at home to myself.
antiquark
Derek Ross
That's the problem! Your focus is not working for you... why stay with something that's not working?
dovi
Well-known
Please post a sample shot
Please post a sample shot
tell us what you were after and let us see directly what the issue may be.
It would be very interesting to see firsthand.
Please post a sample shot
tell us what you were after and let us see directly what the issue may be.
It would be very interesting to see firsthand.
alistair.o
Well-known
This reply demands pictures from you in the gallery, immediately
PS: I'm first in line to call them crap
gdmcclintock
Well-known
I guess I am lucky. I started photographing and working in darkrooms when I was 11 years old and realized I approached the medium as an artistic expression when I was 15. (There is a photograph in the RF gallery that I made when I was 18.) For any number of reasons I did not pursue photography as a profession, but this decision in no way minimizes my commitment to the art form. While I would like my work to be appreciated as I appreciate it, as art, I know that judgement is in the beholder's eye.
Perhaps it is better that we accept ourselves for who are, always strive to enhance our vision, never cease to communicate our reaction to life with a camera....
sreed2006
Well-known
There's been lots of suggestions and advice given to you here. If you have room for just a bit more, I would like to offer this:
If you haven't already done so, create a physical photo album of your best work. You've taken some great pictures. Get them all together in one place, in a form that you can hand to somebody and say, "Here's my best. What do you think?" Then, hand it to somebody who is not totally familiar with your work.
A few "oohs" or "aahs" will help you out.
If you haven't already done so, create a physical photo album of your best work. You've taken some great pictures. Get them all together in one place, in a form that you can hand to somebody and say, "Here's my best. What do you think?" Then, hand it to somebody who is not totally familiar with your work.
A few "oohs" or "aahs" will help you out.
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
Lots of good suggestions here! Some of them have got me thinking.
Guess it comes down to any one or more of these:
-change your subjects
-change your scenery
-change your m.o.
-change your audience
-change your occupation/hobby
-give it a break
I suppose one of those should do the trick!?
Guess it comes down to any one or more of these:
-change your subjects
-change your scenery
-change your m.o.
-change your audience
-change your occupation/hobby
-give it a break
I suppose one of those should do the trick!?
johannielscom
Snorting silver salts
Second that, my reasons to not use the gallery anymore indeed!
reagan
hey, they're only Zorkis
Bob Michaels
nobody special
I will not pretend to understand others psyche, but I know I need to see some final results. And that is not a series of random photos here and another there. I need a tightly edited cohesive body of work, never more than 30 photos, sometimes just a handful. Now I need them to be hard copy prints. Others may do with a section of their website. But something that has the final product together that others can see.
Separate issue about feedback. If you need some personal reinforcement, show it to friends and family. Then bask in the accolades. You can get serious feedback if you really want it by picking the right people. Just be sure you really want to hear the answers before you ask the questions. And, there is a lot of middle ground between those two extremes. Pick where you want to be.
back alley
IMAGES
my second wife was an excellent photographer but an incredible editor.
she would look at my contact sheets for a few minutes, circle a few shots and send me back into the darkroom. she had a wonderful eye...this was me at my best.
maybe i should seek someone out again...i like the idea of printing my stuff. my condo walls are lined with small prints of my images but i have stopped putting up new ones this past year.
perhaps a tightly editied blurb book would help as well.
she would look at my contact sheets for a few minutes, circle a few shots and send me back into the darkroom. she had a wonderful eye...this was me at my best.
maybe i should seek someone out again...i like the idea of printing my stuff. my condo walls are lined with small prints of my images but i have stopped putting up new ones this past year.
perhaps a tightly editied blurb book would help as well.
Bob Michaels
nobody special
Everybody is different. I find the best way to improve my photography is to have a fixed number of photos in a public series. Then I strive to shoot a photo good enough to merit me removing one of the previous best and replacing it.
But it is also OK if you want is to expand your series of 500 "pretty good" photos of your cat to be 600 "pretty good" photos. We are all different.
BillBingham2
Registered User
Another approach might be a Picture A Week (PAW).
Take all the images you shoot in a week, pick your favorite and put it in a PAW site. Limits the time it take to comment, gets you to edit, edit and edit some more. I wonder if the Big Man would host or link such a thing for RFF? I'm not one to post my pictures but I'd join a PAW here.
Thoughts?
B2
p.s. If you want a second opinion you're .............
p.s.s. Insert any number of old vaudeville joke endings.
Take all the images you shoot in a week, pick your favorite and put it in a PAW site. Limits the time it take to comment, gets you to edit, edit and edit some more. I wonder if the Big Man would host or link such a thing for RFF? I'm not one to post my pictures but I'd join a PAW here.
Thoughts?
B2
p.s. If you want a second opinion you're .............
p.s.s. Insert any number of old vaudeville joke endings.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
jky
Well-known
Joe,
...come down on the 23rd and listen to/see the work of William A. Allard. A couple of years ago I felt like I was in a downward spiral when I discovered that Larry Towell will be speaking & showing some work at the Calgary/Banff photo festival. Seeing his work was incredibly inspiring (add to that the fact that we don't get those big wigs out here in the west coast that often).
It's been suggested here to look at books and perhaps study the work of photographers you admire. Taking "a break" doesn't mean abandoning photography altogether... why not just put the camera down and get fired up by the images in "The Suffering of Light (Alex Webb)" for example....
If you're intersted though re: William Albert Allard then follow this link: Bill Allard
...come down on the 23rd and listen to/see the work of William A. Allard. A couple of years ago I felt like I was in a downward spiral when I discovered that Larry Towell will be speaking & showing some work at the Calgary/Banff photo festival. Seeing his work was incredibly inspiring (add to that the fact that we don't get those big wigs out here in the west coast that often).
It's been suggested here to look at books and perhaps study the work of photographers you admire. Taking "a break" doesn't mean abandoning photography altogether... why not just put the camera down and get fired up by the images in "The Suffering of Light (Alex Webb)" for example....
If you're intersted though re: William Albert Allard then follow this link: Bill Allard
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
Number of comments at RFF's gallery is definitely not the yardstick for photography, Joe. I've seen excellent shots being excellently ignored for other really really really banal ones who get lots of comments. I stopped visiting the Gallery over a year ago, this reason being the main one.
I deleted my photos (as some others have) exactly to avoid that frustration.
Also, being self-critical is a good sign. Yet, you should take it easy and not invest yourself too much into it. Some are extremely lucky and get "exposed" (no pun intended) right away (many by short-circuiting the male-dominated Intertoobes using naked --not "nudes"...I mean naked, although to most people the difference doesn't exist, others by working their connections), others not until they're gone (Vivian Maier, anyone? who, btw, I'm pretty sure got ignored by all the photosavants during her lifetime).
Just hang in there. And do take the dogs for a walk; it's always good advice
zauhar
Veteran
I think one issue is that many good photos may not stand out as thumbnails. Some banal ones (yeah, I had one) may stand out in thumbnail and attract a lot of comments.
That said, I think there are superb photographers on this forum (listening Joe?) who I admire and learn a lot from, and I look at the gallery every day and post when I can (even thought it is an enormous pain in the ass to use).
Randy