It is my understanding that replies to posts in this section are expected to be not critical of an image and that criticisms of photos are restricted to the “Critique” section where posters solicit negative as well as positive comments. I understand the thinking that such a forum is designed to be a place to display work one is proud of and looking for ego stroking, but it troubles me that 3 pages of “great shots”, “ 👍s” and “well dones” in response to clearly inferior photos may do the poster more harm than good. I’m not talking about subjective analysis of a particular image. Rather I am referring to photos that are unintentionally out of focus, over sharpened to the point where the halos become the subject, unintentional skewed horizons, unintentional color shifts and other technical issues like a tree growing out of the subject’s head” that are NOT subjective. If a member posts a photo he/she is proud of looking for affirmation and experienced photographers clearly see that the image lacks sharpness, commenting “nice set” will not allow the poster to learn how to improve.

Again - I understand the desire to be supportive of such posters and the reluctance to say something “not nice” as my mother warned me not to do, but reinforcing demonstrably poor technique prevents a shooter from improving. I really don’t have a great solution for this problem, other than to say nothing in response to a post. Anyone else see this as a problem preventing growth in photography skills?

It is almost always better to be kind & encouraging than to be critical of someone's efforts. Most folks ,here, tend to seek the later and offer critiques if asked to do so and generally with the proper solutions in tow....otherwise they'll say very little and move on.

Everybody takes bad pictures. I enjoy looking at all the pictures....not just the special ones, but the Not so Special ones as well.......at least they are trying to please me and I appreciate their time & efforts .

Kindness is never out of fashion.

I tend to agree with you, Rick. Posting to this site has definitely improved my photography. It's an approach of the "do I really want someone looking at this?" approach. You're correct in stating numerous pages of "pats on the back" of a mediocre photograph are not going to help anyone improve. Along with your "list" of points to consider, a pet peeve of mine is color contamination. Oddly, I'm primarily a black and white photographer. However, when producing a black and white photograph from an original capture done in color, it's important to have accurate color from which to work. So, I think you have some valid points in your post.

One problem that exists is knowledge of how to properly critique. Critiquing is an art in itself. Many lack the insight into that art but proceed with critiquing regardless.
--Bob