As a beginner and untrained picture taker my opinion is there seems to be a need for a page with some basic rules.  I seemed have been ticking off a lot of members and not knowing it.  My apologies for not specifically asking for critique, it must have been very agonizing not to be able to add a constructive comment. I checked the box on the upload page.  The mission statement of this gallery provides some guidelines but seems to be mostly ignored.  And I can't help but wonder what kind of thoughts go through your heads when you see my thumbnails.  Of course my last upload speaks volumes to that and the buddy system point of view of this thread.

The views in this type of  thread have  been educating and eye opening.

Many thanks for taking the time expressing your opinions here,  I know that it is very valuable.

Mike

And as a postscript, I was viewing an upload of a very established photographer this morning and thought something just didn't seem right to me.  So as I was reading the posted comments I ran into a critique that expressed what was bothering me about the photograph.  However the next comment blasted this view essentially saying the reviewer didn't understand a thing about this type of photography and the picture was perfect.  There were about a dozen other comment saying how great it was also.  Buddy system.  Tough on a newby to pick up whats needed for an acceptable photo to post here.