4OX

Thanks for having the balls to post how you really feel. "All the kids should get a trophy syndrome is NOT REALITY, and we are here to learn, not "make friends"! A real friend is honest, by the way.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

This is not intended as sarcasm, and it applies to art generally. assuming a technically correct exposure, A snapshot is an image that I don't really care about and a photograph is one I love. It can be the same picture of course, it just depends on who the "I" is. Some people don't think jazz is music, others hate classical music! I have seen images by renowned photographers and think "Meh...." On the other hand I have been moved by images taken by amateurs. Oh, and being done by a professional photographer doesn't automatically mean "art" after all a photo of a Pepsi can in an advertisement is made by a professional photographer.... Not usually worthy of a museum.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

This would be a snapshot. Credit goes to anonymous.

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I have seldom seen critiques such as you describe. Possibly you stumbled onto, The Attic where this happens but certainly not about filters or critiques on photographs. You must really be critical of UHH members to waste several paragraphs on something I seldom see.

Dennis

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

Rab-Eye,

I just can't accept the theory that a picture is less than acceptable because it is a judged to be a 'snapshot' by a critic with no understanding the complexities of getting the particular shot! It's almost like a politician making suggestions for laws to regulate something he/she knows nothing about & has never experienced, but thinks of him/her self as an expert on the subject--absolute stupidity!

My favorite venue, also practiced by many others on the UHH is boating: power or sail, cruising, racing or working--are mostly taken from the photographer's or other boats. They mostly qualify, at least to the uninitiated in that venue, as "snapshots". So what? There isn't any other way. Hand holding, longer lenses, high shutter speeds, auto focus and other settings, light that isn't perfect, and possibly also running the boat, but those conditions are what you have so you take the shots, and they are almost all spur of the moment. Don't all those things define 'snaps' to those that look down their nose at them? Most of them have never had the opportunity to experience that reality, and it is nothing like studio or even outdoor photo portraits or landscapes. Even photographing a race from a dock or pier only has half the complexity; the pier isn't moving.

I'm not arguing that some pictures should get a pass because of difficulty, but they should be judged on the picture presented, not dismissed as "only a snap" because of the the judge's bias. Maybe all judges should experience different the different venues they judge? In this particular case, they could try shooting a moving roller coaster car from a different moving roller coaster a quarter mile away or from a white water raft on some rapidly flowing & churning western river. Give them some sense of reality!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Good one there.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Bill - a fair question. I was sure the answer was so obvious that I walked the first four pages of the current photo gallery. Maybe another active discussion about doing better is having a chilling effect on the bad or a positive impact on the good? I found only three posts at 3:30pm Central that I thought fit as examples to your question. But really, since I'd never post a comment in the "gallery" that said you should have deleted this image instead of posting, there's no reason to call them out by linking here ...

Really, it is the out of focus, off colors or worse, unlevel horizons, dark or otherwise underexposed, out of focus (oh, I said that already, but it needs saying again), poor composition and / or failing to crop to remove the distracting elements or to simply have the subject fill the frame, and failing to perform any or an appropriate level of noise processing. I see another responding has pulled a LOL example. It's not a link so I wonder how many comments were made to this image that smell like flavors of "good shot" ...

We all start somewhere and we may or may not be still progressing. I have work posted here, that all things considered, I'd prefer were deleted as they are not representative of my capture nor processing skills currently. In addition to the areas for improvement itemized above, many could improve their contributions to UHH simply by being a better editor. That is: don't post 5 images when 3 of the 5 candidates are clearly superior and 2 of the 3 remaining good ones are virtually identical. You're only as good as your worst image ...

Our OP starting this discussion used 1,407 words over 14 paragraphs. Copied over to a Word document and printed on letter-sized paper, it consumes 3-printed pages. And yet, it probably could have been condensed to 3 to 5 paragraphs covering half a page and said the same thing as the long version. I wonder how much his photography differs or resembles his writing? I'm failing to find any examples of his photography work, just several novel length posts ...

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I think so many folks here have got this whole thing all wrong. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with "snapshots", casual family photos, people taking pictures as a strictly fun hobby or whatever people want to do about photography. There is NOTING wrong with folks just collecting gear and loving to play with it- it's good fun if you can afford it. Theses things are not fodder for serious critiquing. There is nothing bad or wrong about doing photography at any level, strictly for you own edification- you don't HAVE to share it or accept criticism from anyone.

Getting involved in photographic competitions, participating in advanced workshops, taking master cases and seeking critiques form experts in the field are all for serious workers, aspiring professionals and dedicated students of photography. Even for those people, nobody says that critiquing is MANDATORY. It's a great skill and knowledge builder for those who WANT to engage in theses kinds of of activities. Some photographers are more competitive than others. This "a trophy for everyone" thing is monkey-business. I never implied or inferred anything like that. If folks on this site or anywhere else want some insight into the mileu of advanced or professional competitions and judging criteria or want to understand a basic frame work, I offered this resource in my "blog". Why does the word "judging" have negative connotations- things can be judged positively. We all make judgments every day. For those who are not interested, simply forget about it!

As I alluded to previously, I don't personally believe in unsolicited critiques. Those that request them deserve an honest assessment.

Of course not every "snapshot" is bad, not every professionally made image is stupendous- where do y'all get this from? There are a few pros and retired professionals on this site- I have never heard of anyone boasting of their "superiority"- so why all the resentment? There is no reason that an amateur can not be an artist or even a genius given the talent and the savvy.

I am nor super-sensitive or overly critical. There is a great deal of bad-mouthing, name calling and hateful attitudes on this site. Where the hell is all this hate coming from? When it comes to art, music, literature, entertainment, food and everything else, we all have our individual tastes- likes and dislikes. So...why is it necessary to disparage other folks who have tastes other than your own. Why not look at the other person's point of view? That takes maturity rather than childishness. Some folks have to- as the late and great comedian Joan Rivers used to say, GROW UP!

tcampo11

The problem with the critique on critiques is that you should have googled critique. This subject comes up all of the time on UHH and all you have to do is Google it or go to critique videos and your question would have already been answered…

blackest Loc: Ireland

I enjoy reading your posts, longer posts can help the information percolate through the brain like fine coffee revitalising the synapses.
A harsh critique or the symptoms of a difficult bowel movement- sometimes it's hard to tell with some people. Reading this thread might suggest the latter dominates.
If a critique resonates maybe they have a point ,maybe not, but take heart it may just be reverberations from the porcelain.

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

Thanks for the post Ed. I submit images for critique to our camera club every week. I have also critiqued. You are right on the money with your comments.

Jack

Bullfrog Bill Loc: CT

Wow, here is a critique: while I think I agree with your premis, way too many words.

jmvaugh Loc: Albuquerque

Cute but it leaves an ugly mental picture!

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Yep, a snapshot, BUT I guarantee that SOMEONE will consider it art. Perhaps many..After all Jackson Pollock is a revered artist whose works are considered priceless. If you dig his work, cool, but to me 99% of his paintings look like the floor of the 85 year old mechanic's garage who painted my '60 Cadillac back in the late 1970s.

veezee Loc: CT