jason ssg wrote:
Okay, I'll try this again, but seriously-

I've noticed that every comment I see left on a photo on any portfolio I see is non-constructive back patting. Often, when I look at someones port I see a photo that could be great except for _____.

Is it bad form to say- I like this, but... and give a little constructive criticism? I know many thirst for it, but some might be thrown by it...

Opinions?

Your post is an excellent comment.....and you must have been reading my mind....a MM member just left a comment on one of my photos called "you mean they have eyes".....all it said was...."this is retarded"......

At first it aggrevated me....but then I checked out the poster.....an 18 year old female supposedly attending art school ......then I thought...there you have it.....someone who is just full  of themselves....and doesn't even have the experience to know it.

....I deleted the comment!.....had she made it something worth while....I'd leave it there.....but just a unexplained comment about a photo of a subject that was meant to illustrate another post in a humourous way....apparently she didn't bother reading it....or she lacks a sense of humour....either way...who cares....she's only 18 and as my mother used to say....."the young have a right to be stupid"

jason ssg wrote:
Okay, I'll try this again, but seriously-

I've noticed that every comment I see left on a photo on any portfolio I see is non-constructive back patting. Often, when I look at someones port I see a photo that could be great except for _____.

Is it bad form to say- I like this, but... and give a little constructive criticism? I know many thirst for it, but some might be thrown by it...

Opinions?

I follow the old-school rule -- praise in public, criticize in private. So I'm just not comfortable offering negative feedback in a public forum, unless someone is specifically asking for it. However, I'm not shy about making diplomatic suggestions for improvement via private email.

I really do think this makes sense given the range of experience here. I really think for example, if somebody posted a bunch of work for critique from Vogue and Elle ads, that a lot of people here would say they are amateurish and lousy.

Regards,
Paul

bang bang photo wrote:
I follow the old-school rule -- praise in public, criticize in private. So I'm just not comfortable offering negative feedback in a public forum, unless someone is specifically asking for it. However, I'm not shy about making diplomatic suggestions for improvement via private email.

I agree with Paul, and I'll take it one step further.  I think it's extremely tacky to offer a critique in public to someone who hasn't requested it.  If they post in the Critique Forum, then by all means have at it.  Otherwise, why stomp all over someone's garden?  I figure if someone is interested in my opinion (which is all a critique is), they'll ask me for it.

UIPHOTOS wrote:
I would luv to have people give HONEST critiques of what I do.. When I was taking classes, we had to learn to take it and learn from it.. So if it is about making the work better, I appreciate the feedback..

the sad part is that often on here they seem to become person attacks or people commenting on things they have no understanding of.. 

whenever someone says "I just dont like it" I take anything else they may say with a grain of salt..

I Would HOPE someone would say, "Try this or that next time" Or I like the pic but her hand looks amputated, or something that would actually make the person shooting the images see it in a different light..

Often we are so stuck in our own heads that we cant critique our own work.. I know I cant.. I can ONLY see the things I could have done better, I never appreciate what I do as much as those I do it with seem to..

So constructive criticism is what I thought this site would provide when people do in and take 100 views of a pic but only leave 2 comments saying how wonderful it is.. What did the other 98 viewers think..??

But again, there is often less than adult behavior here.. But I dont mind critiques..

I always comment on pics I like and try to give my two cents where it may be valid.. they can always hit delete..

Constructive criticism is always helpful....and should be gracioulsy accepted.....but unfortunately it seems to disintegrate into "mine is better than yours".....

A port is what it is.....a display of someone's work.....if you don't like it....that's ok....if you do....even better......but this is not the only place where criticism is used as a club to try and beat others down.....

I had worked for a large corporate entity....where if your work was shallow....that was ok....they operated on the premise.....it's not how well you could do your job....but rather how bad you could make the other guy look.....

FKVPhotoGraphics wrote:
...they operated on the premise.....it's not how well you could do your job....but rather how bad you could make the other guy look.....

Yipes! I do my best to avoid that kind of thing.

Now in a way I'm back to square one... I love getting honest critiques, myself- even if it starts out "this is really bad" as long as it goes on to explain why... gee, imagine what might happen- on one hand I could disagree and on the other I could learn something- but that's not even quite what I'm talking about.

If I actually really like something that someone did, but there's something about it that is distracting me slightly, I suppose I wonder if it's bad form to spontaneously say so rather than simply "love it, babe- don't ever change!"

Each of you who has made a point has made a good one.

The standard opinions and assholes comment- I hear that a stitch in time saves nine and that a penny saved is a penny earned, too.