Travel Photography group posting on GLOBOsapiens

Comments on 3* photos

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davidx Premium account Joined: Dec 04 Points: 34719 Posts: 440 Posted: 2007-11-30 17:10:00    With Hugh's agreement I am quoting from a message he put on one of my photos - '' This has depth and information. I do not know why the previous voter thought it was three. Why do they never leave a comment? it would help us all to improve' When I read this, I not only agreed on the desirability of more constructive criticism but realised that I rarely try to explain a 3* grading myself. I suppose I had felt that a 3* grading itself gives a messge like, 'a good photo but nothing to raise it to the high grades.' Sometimes there may be nothing else worth saying but on other occasions how helpful it would be to have a suggestion on what COULD have raised it to 4*. Similarly it would help enormously to get tips on how to raise 4* photos to 5*. I shall try to be more helpful in my own comments and hope to see it reciprocated. --- Grieve not for that which you cannot do but rejoice in that which you can. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact davidx   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2007-12-01 08:12:00    I try to comment on most photos I look at especially if they are 4 or 5 star but with a 3 star rating or even lower (not that we have too many of those) maybe it's more a case of if you don't have anything (positive) to say don't say anything at all. I am loathe to criticise too much as I don't consider myself an expert to post that sort of advice. At the same time sometimes it is not easy to take the perfect picture but to take the opportunity on the fly when it presents itself and hope for the best so the owner may well be aware of the photos faults but deems that it is still of interest to other globos so post it anyway. --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   mortimer Premium account Joined: Jun 04 Points: 15075 Posts: 528 Posted: 2007-12-01 10:04:00    Hi There http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-cant-we-stop-arguing-about-low-rates_47_3324_0000.html I think most is covered there And there are some members who care do give some detailed infos about why they like or what they don't like or what could be done better and what do they get: i think its a nice pic, and rangutan is just too anal about stuff !! but thats his problem. Or another comment: I dont remember exactly and not sure where to find it, but it said something like: are we a photography community or is this about travel? Martin [ This Message was edited by: mortimer on 2007-12-01 10:08 ] --- Today is the first day of the rest of your life, enjoy it! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mortimer   rangutan Premium account Joined: Aug 04 Points: 34752 Posts: 1044 Posted: 2007-12-02 01:59:00    Thanks for the "nudge" Martin. I had to get out my dictionary: "the term anal-retentive is often used in a derogatory sense to describe a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of that person." I will be drawing back a little! I try to ignore the few members who cry like children when their pictures are not rated as gems as they expected. The sunset pics are a good example. I try help by commenting on the few pictures I do, I would oppose the idea that everyone should write a comment on why the rated like they did, it just takes too much time to do that and too much time to read all the stuff! Rating is the BEST and simplest comment itself without getting hurt. When rating, it says enough, * or ***** or whatever! Perhaps we shall also give up giving free professional advice for a while, some think this is just a tourist family-snap club??? RR --- Rudolf "Rangutan" Graspointner Reply    Reply with quote    Contact rangutan   mortimer Premium account Joined: Jun 04 Points: 15075 Posts: 528 Posted: 2007-12-02 13:46:00    David you wrote: Sometimes there may be nothing else worth saying but on other occasions how helpful it would be to have a suggestion on what COULD have raised it to 4*. Similarly it would help enormously to get tips on how to raise 4* photos to 5*. If you really want to improve your photographic skills I recommend you to browse the photography forum and follow the links and try to implement the advise given there. Of course you have read most of them as you also posted there. http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-help-and-tips-on-good-photograhy_46_1637_0000.html http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-photographic-workshop-online_46_2654_0000.html http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-night-shots----hints-and-tips_46_1337_0000.html http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-picture-composition...-tips-on-good-photography-continued_46_1690_0000.html You could also have your own picture discussed in the forum just open a topic. http://www.globosapiens.net/topic-eiffel-tower-----whats-your-opinion_46_1213_0000.html If you really want to improve then you might consider taking a shot where you live upload it have it discussed and try to take a better one have it rediscussed and so on then you might reach a point of perfection. Some pictures just get 3* or 4* that could have gotten a higher rate, because people just point and shoot and do not think about what they are doing. If you want to take perfect shots you have to do an effort. So it's always down to the questions: why do I like this scene what looks so attracting that I want to take a picture in what relationship does the pictures stand what angle is best should i go back some steps, should I include something should I exclude something take a shot look at it and decide if you have the same feeling or see some room for improvement try another one perhaps with another setting and go on... sometimes the perfect shot takes about 20 pictures or more to achieve. Generally spoken I think I see the following percentage of pictures: * 5 % ** 10% *** 60% **** 20% ***** 5% Martin --- Today is the first day of the rest of your life, enjoy it! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mortimer   mortimer Premium account Joined: Jun 04 Points: 15075 Posts: 528 Posted: 2007-12-02 14:00:00    And sometimes it's just not a scene or a setting that does make peple go for higher votes, eventhough the picture itself is perfect, has great colors is perfectly sharp and has a great compostition. But the object you captured just does not find the way to the heart of others, this is a position where no other explanation can be found than "Its perfect but I don't feel like giving a higher note, it's not that interesting to me" --- Today is the first day of the rest of your life, enjoy it! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact mortimer   davidx Premium account Joined: Dec 04 Points: 34719 Posts: 440 Posted: 2007-12-02 14:59:00    I find your comments helpful, Martin, and I have rated some 3* today without further coment because I think the grade says enough in those cases. On the other hand I have tried to explain why I give 5 for one but 4 for other really good pics of a particular member. Needless to say, I hsould not feel able to give professional-type advice but it may be useful to know what I am looking for? I was interested in your summary of the grades given and I did find it much as I think it should be. Since most of us would be hesitant about using the term Photographer about ourselves but would not usually want to put up anything we thought less than good, the high proportion of 3*s is not surprising. I feel, without having made or even knowing how to make, a thorough test that the proportion of 5*s given is less than it used to be and I think this is good. I take it that excellent means the same as outstanding and I shouldn't expect more than 5% to fall into that category. As for my own picture, where Hugh's comment started this discussion, I should have rated it 4* if it had been by someone else. Cheers David --- Grieve not for that which you cannot do but rejoice in that which you can. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact davidx   bineba Premium account Joined: Jul 04 Points: 15174 Posts: 44 Posted: 2007-12-03 08:25:00    I usually vote for pictures without a further comment, unless there is something specific I want to say or ask. Often it's a question of time. Let's not forget that 3* means 'good' and is my no means a bad rating. Until we have a system where we can rate a picture on a variety of criteria (i.e. subject matter, relevance, composition, sharpness, etc.), which would give the photographer some clue why it got the rating it did, we have to accept that people give a high or low rating for whatever reason. I have come across pictures that got 4*, where, even with the best will in the world I can't see why, and without any comment, and I think we all have pictures in our galleries that only got 2* without any further explanation, which we think should have been rated higher, but this is a diverse community and everybody is entitled to their opinion. Personally, I do appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, as long as it is constructive. Sabine --- Sabine Reply    Reply with quote    Contact bineba