Hello one and all,

I have been on this group since 2018, and only have some 300+ posts here- mostly in the photo forum. I have noticed something though and I wonder if anyone else here has as well. In that particular forum, I read a lot of comments that simple say "Nice shot" or "Great series" and nothing more. Then, when I see something and can show someone how to improve their work, they seem to get defensive. Strange to me and I always try to be polite and always ask if I can make the edit to show them what I am trying to explain. I am always told "no". Now, I have been a photographer for 40 years, worked as a photojournalist for most of that time with some of the very largest newspapers and newspaper chains in the country, worked as an editor, wrote for Popular Photography & Imaging and teach photography and photojournalism at a college. I feel that I have something to offer here, and particularly the photo critique forum. Yet, continually encounter this kind of attitude. I find this strange in a space within this forum that is specifically for critiques. Am I alone in this observation? A bit discouraging to try to help someone improve and have it constantly pushed away.

Sure, don't want to do anything disagreeable to you. Simply trying to help and give you a bit more than the typical "Nice shot" response. Take care!

A very fine image here, great light, composition, subject. It all works well here. If I could change anything about this image, it would be bringing the person standing in the image out a bit more because they tend to merge into the background a bit. Otherwise, excellent.

I like the spot of color in 6, but the post work needs to be reexamined. Note the halo around the left portion of the head, which is a dead-giveaway that there has been significant post work done to the image. The background needs some consistency to look authentic.

A nice shot here, but if you look, a full 1/2 of the image is empty space. If I had shot this, I would crop a significant portion of the image and concentrate on the head and neck, making the image a vertical with a very tight crop. This is a win-win because you will add greater emphasis to the animal and detail while eliminating the empty space that really ads nothing to the image. I teach photography at a college and continually see photographs that have significant unused space within the image and I always tell my students to ask themselves "What is necessary for this image?" and crop everything else out of the shot. If you'd like me to show you the crop I am discussing here. let me know and I will post.

I generally like these, but see some things that I think are worth mentioning. The contrast shifts toward the solid black. In these images, the blacks tend to drop out detail and in the shot of the Irish Church, the highlights are blown out in the outside of the window. I also see a lot of centering in the compositions as well. The building shots in particular seem to be very centered. In the shot water fall image, the tree on the right side of the image is distracting and if I had shot this, would have moved to an angle that eliminated that tree in what is otherwise an exceptional and well executed image. Overall, nice, but think the post work on the black and white needs a bit of revision.

I had the opportunity to photograph a few Presidents. The cool thing though was that my brother was the Director of Visual Media at the White House for several years, and to see him walk off AF1 and walk over to the press platform and set up next to me was a blast. I loved it. Keep shooting those great photos, OK? :-)

You know, I was a photojournalist for 30+ years, and one of the things that you learn to do is become a "utility shooter", who can go in and photograph the president or homeless guy equally well. Sports, news, features... we learned how to shoot everything. The ONE area that I have never, ever been accomplished in is wildlife photography. I am particularly bad at bird photography, which you are obviously very accomplished at. I love the last image in particular (Vultures?). I do wish you had a frame filled with just one of these birds, where you see all of the details of the species. Very cool stuff though and congratulations on some excellent shooting!

A nice composition and angle. I am fond of the glint of sunlight as well. Wish there were a few more clouds, but that's nit-picking a fine image. Good work here.

Very nice. Generally, when I look at black and white, most people have a very muddy presentation- the contrast isn't there and it is overall gray toned. These are not though and it's nice to see snappy whites with detail and good, rich blacks. Nice work here!

WOW... $200 per filter? Sure have gone up in price! I shoot daily and never, ever use a filter. My philosophy is that it is one more optical layer to go through, and I always cap both ends of the lens anyway, so I don't worry about getting anything broken and always use a strap when using the camera, so don't worry about dropping it. Never had any issues. I think the only time I would use a filter is for creative purposes for something that can not be done in Photoshop, so basically, I never, ever use a filter.

Welcome, Tammy...

Tell us a bit about you? What kind of photography do you like and what kind of equipment/experience you have? There are beginners to experts here, so jump in, the water is warm.

This is one of those things that every photographer has had to deal with at one point or another. If it is a posed group, ask everyone to close their eyes and tell them to open and shoot. If it is one or two people, ask them if they saw the flash go off. If they say no, eyes closed. These are the two I used for many years as a newspaper photographer and they generally worked well. The more simple, the better.

Fair enough! That's all I ask, and so nice to have you tell me you were doing this. I respect your honesty because most will never tell you they are doing this. Thank you!

Not a problem, as long as you respect my copyright and do not redistribute to anyone else. Thanks for your understanding regarding this.

Cordially,

Mark Lent