hehe - and the abovementioned pulldown option then displays in flashing multicolours ;)

@ David. Sometimes it is more expident to write "Wow!" rather than meticulously tick off all the things that the photographer did right in an image.

Let us not forget, "Excellent" or "Splendid" is also contructive criticism.  It all depends on who is making the comment...

I've always had a pretty laid back attitude when it comes to who comments what, when, and why on my pictures, especially knowing how time consuming it can be and how rarely I ever have time to sit down and really seriously reflect on everyone else's pictures myself.

I have so much gratitude for people who come to visit my gallery, that I'm just pleased as pie if they leave any word at all to say they've been there. Of course, the constructive criticism comments are by far the most educational..and the rarest sort of comment about, it seems. Yet I am absolutely positively sure that I have been evolving as a photographer very much as a result of the support, advice, and generally helpfulness of the people in this community. I've never had a question, either in this forum or in private message, go unanswered. :)

So thank you everyone!

Mayliah.

Mayliah, very well said, indeed.  I feel the same.  My growth has been from "being here" with many avenues to learning including the desired "criticial comments".       TomDart.

Thank you for this thread PeeWee05. It's been very informative listening to everyone's thoughts. 

For the most part the amount comments you get is in direct proportion to how many fluffy comments you leave in the gallery. I don't play that game, my lips are chafed enough from living in the frozen North. :)

It makes my day when someone new I've never seen before leaves me a comment. The comment was based on my photo and not who I am. And I appreciate everyone that takes the time to studied my photos and leave constructive comments to improve it. 

PhrankPower made a good point in another thread about how it would be interesting to have the ability to post pictures without reveling who the artist/photographer is and see how many comment the posts are received and than reveal who the artist/photographer is. 

I'd like to make a suggestion here. For those of you who are tired of getting fluff comments. Turn off comments. Ask viewers to instant message with constructive comments. 

That's just my two cents.    

I just wanted to add a little bit here.  PeeWee05 was one of the first to give me a good constructive critique on a rose photo of mine....  I was thrilled to get it... so much in fact that I wrote her and said how much I appreciated it!  She's also been an absolute sweetheart in giving me advice on how to better use my camera and I so appreciate her time!

I'm still learning and probably will always be. That's just part of being human.  This subject came up just last week in another site that I frequent and a good point was raised.  Very simply a gentlemen stated that there is a huge difference between giving a constructive critique and a critical critique.  I think he had a very valid point.  It's hard sometimes to interpret words on the internet since we can not "see" or "hear" the other person to better understand what they might mean.  Emotes help but still sometimes it's hard to tell.  I guess just be real with eachother and kind in your choice of words and if there is something about someone's critique that you don't understand message them and simply ask.

On one last note - giving a good constructive critique is a learned thing - I know a lot of my first comments here and on other sites were a lot of the "nice capture" and "wow" variety but from reading other's comments I'm learning more each day how to better put into words what it is that I like or don't like about someone's work.  My former color and design class instructor would be proud LOL.  That was the part of the class that I stunk at completely LOL.  Still sometimes when pressed for time I fall back into the short two or three word comments.

oh and btw - constructive critiques are more than welcome on my gallery.... 
I think I might add that text to my notes under each upload as well it's a good idea :-)  
I also give my vote for the extra flashing text bar that says YES I really want a critique LOL

Thanks for your time :-)
Lisa

Interesting and thought provoking thread. 

I must admit that I am somewhat worried that I have fallen into the trap of being to "soft" in my comments, although I only comment on images that catch my eye or on artists that I think are showing an ongoing improvement in their work (another subjective opinion). 

This thread has made me think that I should try to be more critical but I have no wish to discourage others by being overly critical and I often feel that while there are things in an image that I am viewing I would have done differently that these may be deliberate on the part of the artist. 

In the end I suppose that I am guilty of commenting on the emotional content an image has for me rather than the technical quality.  I' m not a great one for analysis rather I go for the feel of a thing operating on an instinctive level and I hope my comments reflect this.

To all of you who read this I always welcome constructive critique of my images.

One downside of all this talk about comments is that now I'm stressed about what I write.  I see something that I like and I'm trying to come up with some new way to say "Wow!  Great shot!"  I'm here avoiding work, not adding to it.  

But I'll get through it.  I suppose it's a good exercise to try to articulate what I like about an image.

(See, now I'm using words like "articulate")

Oh well, back to work so I can get a break from all this deep thinking.

David.

ROFL!!! I so feel your pain David!!! I feel the same way sometimes!!  Thank you so much for the good hearty laugh!

I have to admit, I am trying to be more constructive with a great percentage of my comments as well. Not all of them though. ;']

I have to admit that lately, I have looked at commenting in a different way....... I don't worry so much about what is said anymore, but take more from my pict if someone who I classify as a great photographer (i.e. you Kort, Joe, Rich, Geert, Ilona, Bruce, Dan..... etc, to name but a few!) actually comments at all - that to me says that at least there was something about my thumbnail that caught your eye enough to warrent viewing it - whether that was a good thing or not!

That doesn't mean to say that I think the picts you don't comment on are not good, as I know you are all very busy and simply don't have the time to view all picts in the gallery, nor do any of us, but I still use this method as a measuring stick at the moment.

This perhaps is not fair on all the others that do post, and I still take a lot from their comments, especially now as I seem to be getting more comments from names I've not come across previously, but there are one or two which I almost dismiss as they are the same time and time again.

I think many people are now starting to critique more and I personally feel that it helps us all to understand photography so much more if we can sit and study a photo to the point of knowing what bits have attracted us to view it in the first place!!

Chrissy xx

Well, I'll have to confess:

I'm inclined to be more of an encourager that a serious critiquer. I don't mind someone telling me how I can improve, so I'm not here just for strokes, but I always excel when people encourage me, so I have a tendency to tell them what I DO like about their photos, not what I find weak. That way they know they're on the right track.

That said, I have always found it a bit off-ticking that people seem to be in this just to develop groupies. Then they all say superlative things to one another about work that is really pretty bad; that way they all feel better. It's particularly upsetting when I see people put up an image that is really thought-provoking and visually compelling and they have at most one or two comments after being on the gallery for several hours, and, the section that shows "most commented" and "highest rated" or whatever have dross by the same names you always see -- some of which is fantastic, of course, but a lot of which is just cookie-cutter junk.

This has been cussed and discussed a number of times, and I don't see any of it changing as long as there are "most (fill-in-the-blank)" sections. As far as critiquing goes, I think a person should say what they feel and not be mean about it. If you don't wish to say anything negative, you shouldn't feel pushed to. If, on the other hand, you have some constructive criticism, I don't feel you should hold that back or be expected to either.

Just my .02.
John

"A newbs idea on comentry"

I dont really have much to add here, i only really picked up a camera a few months ago with the intention of producing "art", or at least my own approximation of it.

When it comes to commenting, I just dont have the words.

Composition, light, framing, exposure, postwork are words i'm only begining to learn the relevance of and bring together in any meaningful way, ( i hope, anyhoo lol)

With that in mind, when I comment on a photo, alot of times my 1st reaction is "Wow", or "wicked pic, mate"

As my photography progresses, ( as i like to think it will, imho, a whole 10 or so posted pics, lol) so too will my commentry.

I do think the idea of a gallery devoted to critiques is an awesome idea, especially as alot of people have those "iffy" pics, the ones that the keep going back to, but cant define why they feel the "iffiness", and therefore don't post them.

Even though I am replying to a thread that has been idle for some time, I (having just come across it) felt compelled  to add my two cents worth anyway.

When I first started posting at RR, I was so thrilled to find a place to share my hobby,  that I hoped for little more.  I was a complete new-comer to digital photography in particular and photography of any sort to a lesser degree but it appeared that here was a place to get a lot of  honest feedback from a diverse spectrum of people who were interested in the same hobby.  That expectation was soon dispelled., lol.

My images did not attract large number of viewers. Honest feed back was almost non-existant and comments in general seem to be somewhat scare as well, but I was such a beginer that I just assumed that was due to my lack of skills.  After about a year or so, I began to realize that at least some of my postings were actually good enough to deserve more response than they were getting,  but apparently,  not many others felt the same, lol. 

I have come to terms with the fact that my posted images will only be seen by a limited number of people and that is ok with me. Not everyone is fond of bug photos and I have not become part of any of the  "Cliques" that seem to exist..  Despite that, I still have the thrill of sharing my images with at least some others.  I do get to see great examples of images that are good and some that aren't . I do get some positive responses from a small group of individuals and even a few people  have taken the time to post thoughtful comments.  For a while, I was rather put off by the people who give "cut and paste" responses but then I re-examed my thinking about those and decided that even though the actual comments left something to be desired, at least the people who posted them,  took the time to comment and that shouldn't be under-appreciated. 

As long as the gallery images have personal names attached to them, the number of views, comments and ratings,  which they receive, will always be influenced by personal connections between people and not based on the individual merits of the images.  I personally would prefer all thumbnail images to be posted anonymously.  One should need to at least click on a thumbnail  image before knowing who posted it. That would seem to be an effective step towards  more fair and impartial reactions to the images themselves. This process seems to work with the various contests but I do not really not expect this to happen with  the main gallery images.  I don't think the main purpose of the site is really geared toward  honest "Critiques" nor (in most cases) the merits of the images.. Even though some opportunities arise where such feed back is received,  It seems to be much more of a social opportunity site  than a technical one.

Despite that dissapointment, I  will continue to post images that few see and even fewer comment on.  At the end of the day, I am willing to accept the parts of the current situation I dislike in order to enjoy the parts I do like. 

Lee

Very well put, I think you are quite right. I no longer post for any reason other than the sharing of photos which I like no matter if they are good, bad or ugly. I belong to a local camera club and can get there what I may feel is lacking here. So the best of both worlds so to speak.

Okay so I have a proposal - with reguards to no bashing newbies but also showing the more skilled photographers some learning potential.

I would like to ask the Mods and Adims if it is possible to put a scale system into place.

1 - Skills/level of photographer (as voted by the council, either current or one to be elected, I would like to see the council made up of all recipients of the GOM Award). This will keep our good/great/skilled photographers here and at the same time let newbies know who knows what they are talking about.
AND
2 - What am I here for (user chosen icons that reprsent the value of the main reason the photographer is here namely: Memories, Fun, Family, Happy Snappy, Learner, Amature, Pro, Sharing, Social) The user can chose this category to be attached to their Homepage and a little icon will show up on every posting to represent what their main aim for being here is. So that we don't crit ppl would are here for purely social reasons (and don't get annoyed at the buddy system) BUT THE BIG THING IS YOU CAN ONLY CHOOSE ONE CATEGORY, that can be changed at a later stage.

So is this a possibility? Or just a shitty idea?

If thats what you would like, but surly anyone who doesn't think the photo is worth looking at from the view of the thumbnail won't click on it anyway. If you don't like the thumbnail don't open the photo. Putting a label on everyone will change nothing IMHO but I am easy either way. I don't go for the buddy system and don't give reply comments on receipt of any I may receive. A Us and Them system will only cause friction but I more than likely am wrong.

I mean have the labels inside the post once the thumbnail is clicked on. I'm not talking about views here, simply once you're in the image.

Views are a whole seperate issue, that's unto the viewer and their tastes.

What I suggested in regards to the commenting part of it all (the topic) is so that these label can help ppl like me when commenting - I give constractive crit on all images that I think there's room for improvement (provided I know what I'm talking about) but then I don't know everyone's personal history. As with the case of the lady who could bearly hold her camera, I was more than lightly someone who would've commented on the focus but if it is not said 'I have a disbility and am really proud of this shot as I had a good day and sould hold the cam' then I would've known that this person is here on rendo for friendship, social and support to get her thru the day and I would never offer anything technical or crit, I would only pick out the good qualities and comment on those.

That is why I think a button/label/icon that states what the main reason for someone being here is would be helpful when it comes to comments.

Your idea has merit PeeWee, why not post it over in the suggestion forum so we have it officially on file. I won't say that there are or aren't clicks but can only speak from personal experience. Having been here a while, I've see commenting in my gallery shift this way and that. People commenting on my work now are pretty much completely different than those who commented on my work years ago. Sometimes I get a bunch of the same people commenting, other days it is scattered. Sometimes I'll get a lot of comments from one person as they catch up on things. The point is, everyone's situation is different. There is only so much time in the day and we all want to make the most of it. With so many photos being added each day it is hard to give attention to them all. And why should you? Just because they are in the gallery? I try to skim the gallery on occasion and comment on images no matter who posts them. Other times I check out only one page, or to the ebots I get for my faves. And yes, I have faves because there are people who's work I don't want to miss for whatever reason. Sure, if you comment on everyone's images, you'll probably get a lot of comments in return. But even if it is the dreaded "cut and paste" comment, you at least know the person stopped by and thought well enough of your work to let you know they were there. At least that is what we could hope were the reasons...

I am not much in favour of adding categories of person posting the image. If it a self selected category then I think in our minds we are all a little bit in advance of what we are in actuality. It is one of the main reasons for people lacking inspiration or having an artistic block imho. They see the shot in their minds and the reality is often different, it is human nature .

I do think if people want genuine critiques they are being unfair if they do not start the whole process off by stating something about the shot, why they took it and what they are hoping to show. The example of the lady above would be an excellent example - and the image would deserve being critiqued in a far different way to the person who is rudest of health and taking shots using top of the range pro equipment. I do try from what I know of the regulars here to gauge my comment as to the person who has posted it. I do expect far more from an image if I know the person has experience and/or has used pro equipment to the beginner with a compact cam.  
Some may consider artistcally the image should stand on its own without explanation I think this is rarely the case. A write up from the person posting would start the whole critique process off by giving something to the viewer instead of passively sitting back and waiting for the viewer to do all the work.

Well put as always Richard.

could I get the link to the suggestion thread, pretty please?

Attached Link: Suggestion Box

Tx Kort, Done.