Worst "Critique" You've Had? (not looking for an ego refill)

[MattyB]

today i showed a bunch of people on the internet my photos, and they cut them down to a nub, calling them 'sh*t' 'too clean and shiny' 'lacking feeling'
and i even got told 'you should never be an artist of any kind'.

now, as said in the topic - i'm not looking for an ego boost, but it got me wondering

whats the worst critique you've had about a decent photo?

ie; have many people hated a photo of yours, only for that photo to win a contest or 'woo' the crowd?
or anything like that.

storys please :D

[ericgtr]

My manager always finds the flaws in my photos no matter how many I've shown him so I just quit showing them to him lol.

[Scottes]

Myself. Hands down, nobody comes even close.

[Skintt]

Myself. Hands down, nobody comes even close.

I'd have to agree with you on this. No one is more critical of my photos than myself. I've not really had any bad comments on any photos I've shown people, but that's probably because I only show photos that I'm confident are good enough.

[Scottes]

...but that's probably because I only show photos that I'm confident are good enough.
Same here, but I'm intimately familiar with every flaw in those photos, too. I've seen the full-sized versions - nobody here has.

[EricKonieczny]

Well to me, I have posted more than a few critiques, in various sections. qith the majority being in Urban Life for concert and music photos, but I also post in Sports, Landscape, ocassionally random other places.

But I have posted 5 photos, and one photos and not recieved any response or comments.

I don't know if they were that bad, or good, or what?

What I do know, is that the subject matter makes a huge difference.
Just looking at the Sports section, you will see many and many posts about auto racing and motorosports. Many people here like the motorsports photos, and I find them, kinda boring.

But I know same goes for my photos of musicians and DJ's also. I find it exciting, but a nature or motorsports photographer, might not find them inteteresting or good.

Being able to appeal to a wide audience helps, with business and selling, but it is hard to change out own liking of certian hobbies type of stuff we shoot.

[aam1234]

There are many levels for that.

The first is what Scottes mentioned...oneself.

The second, and as an active participant in a contest is...not getting any comments. I'd rather have "your pic stinks, get outta here" than no comment at all.

The third, and it may not be directly related to the question but offended me quite a bit is...look, aam1234 took a pic of strawberries in "U" (as in urine).
Will post the photo when I find it.

Edit: This is a crop of the strawberries pic.

[Scottes]

That's not a critque, it's rudeness.

[aam1234]

I know Scottes. Was shocked when I read it, and he said it in a very casual manner, which makes it sound even worse.

Btw, I entered the non-cropped version in a competition here.

[Croasdail]

My wife is my best and worst..... she cares nothing for sports photography so for her to say "wow", it has to be something. Otherwise she points out to me how someone who was not at the event would see the image.... I have too much personal context to be a really good judge of my stuff. I fill in the blanks.

But I do rely on you all to "teach" me what I am doing wrong - and I am finding posting stuff here less usefull then in the past because for what ever reason, comments on post are far and few between. Maybe it it political correctness, maybe it is subject matter is just not that interesting, what ever.... but it would be nice to know. I appreciate the compliments, but it is the helpfull critique I appreciate more.

Rudeness and arogance is another thing all together....

[Guitartists]

Not photo-related......

I once agreed to do a potrait for a woman who was almost pleading that I do it because she wanted it in time for Christmas for her daughter, but didn't have the time to do it herself (Boy, that should have been my first clue to say "NO!".......never do artwork for another artist unless they cannot work in your medium...LMAO) Soooo, I said ok and spent the next week working on this 16x20 pencil portrait of her son and her grandson (who were the same age :p)..... I was only charging her $65.... she came to collect the work and seemed fine with it and even took it home. She called later that night and had decided that the one boy's head was an 1/8 of an inch too large and so wanted her money back. Then she said "I'll just draw it myself." :p So I got the portrait back... and she drew the damned thing herself! I was very young when this happened..... and it just about crushed me. It was many years before I ever did a portrait again. :p

And I've had plenty of bad feedback from people about certain paintings, drawings and photos of mine that they think are just all wrong. But, I do art for myself now... so I really try to chalk it up as a difference of tastes ;) I know I have technical issues when it comes to lighting and settings in photography..... but that's why it's an art, a study and a life-long experience..... I know that with time, practice and education... that I will overcome my stumbling blocks and evolve :) Or at least, I hope so ;) LOL

[soupdragon]

Here is my worst:

[ssim]

Beyone myself, one of my sisters, who was an art major in university, will tell me what she thinks. Most of the time she is wrong:)

I truly do enjoy receiving the bad with the good as long as it is constructive and there is a message in there to help me improve. I don't do this for a living, it is for pure enjoyment but I think we all want to improve whatever the reasons are.

A short while ago I started to get some really crude and abrasive comments on my pbase site. I obviously had PO'd someone. Of course they were anonymous comments and they were things like, my equipment was inferior, you nothing nothing about composition, your work sucks, and the list went on for a few days. I finally ended up having to turn accepting comments off for awhile.

[primoz]

Worse one? Ever? My second or third solo assignment for one of the the big league agencies when I missed winner. I guess it's not necessary to repeat words from my boss :)

[jfrancho]

This is sort of the opposite situation than what the OP posed, but I once posted a very thoughtful critique of a picture I really liked. Afterward, the hate mail was flowing. The general tone was, "How dare you criticize an award winning picture," and "Just who do you think you are?" I'm just a guy that had a thought about the picture someone else posted for me to see. Imagine that.
To get back to the original question, one of my first times posting a picture here got the response, "This is completely useless." The critic actually went on, and offered some very useful info, but I was initially quite shocked.

[Titus213]

My wife, the artist. She is a professional landscape painter and makes comments as I'm reviewing the images in iMatch or DPP with comments like 'You can delete that one', 'You don't need to keep that one', etc. And she's right. She has an incredible eye and I have to bite my tongue and agree with her. I've turned it around - asking her what I should do with an image.

[wingd]

I don't mind critisizm that is constructive. It is one thing for some on to just put "This is crap" then so say what they don't like and how the photographer could mabey do it better. If you just going to post "This is crap" eleborate on why you think it is crap and give ways to change it. I actually used to belong to another board that was like that. I found that here they may tell you they didn't like it but they give suggestions not to mention not everyones screens are calibrated and photos compresed for web never look as good as the printed version. Just a random thought of mine.

[JaertX]

Well, not photo related, but my the worst critique was when my mom used to call me a stupid son-of-a-b*tch.

And in a way, it was the best.:wink:

[PhotosGuy]

Myself. Hands down, nobody comes even close. Me, too! OTOH, sometimes I'll post what I think is a crappy pic just to generate comments & encourage beginners to participate. (That's my story & I'm sticking to it!) :D
But I have posted 5 photos, and one photos and not recieved any response or comments. I've had 80 views on a nice car & no comments. That burns my a**, cause I've told the owners that the car will be posted online & where, & they've told me that they appreciated the comments, & then there aren't any for what seems to be no good reason! I don't care if it's just a "Nice car. Crappy shot." As long as it stays on page 1 for a day so that they can easily find it. OK, <End of rant!> I started a thread on the subject about a year ago that covered the subject anyway. today i showed a bunch of people on the internet my photos, and they cut them down to a nub, calling them 'sh*t' 'too clean and shiny' 'lacking feeling'
and i even got told 'you should never be an artist of any kind'. I don't listen to them, Matt. You shouldn't either! ;)

[Croasdail]

Photo... I wish your post had stuck. I have a pBase gallery for sharing photos... I have a commercial site for my stock stuff. I post here to get comments to help me get better! If there is no discussion about the photo's - what's the point. On the other hand - I like having people Gavin (gmen) and Dwight who obviously know their trade very well - and are more then willing to share knowledge when asked. If there aren't going to be any comments - good, bad or what ever - there really is no point posting here for me....

[condyk]

today i showed a bunch of people on the internet my photos, and they cut them down to a nub, calling them 'sh*t' 'too clean and shiny' 'lacking feeling'
and i even got told 'you should never be an artist of any kind'.


Maybe it's the best advice you'll ever get ;)

I'm getting more and more bored by the repetitive 'sharp' images we often see here. It's like it's become the standard by which people wish to be and are judged. I think it's easier to get a sharp shot than a good one. I've never seen your shots BTW.

[Scottes]

I think it's easier to get a sharp shot than a good one.
Ain't that the truth!

[liza]

I've posted a total of one image in the Critique group on POTN and will post there no more. The only person who responded actually accused me of faking the shot with Photoshop. That is, until I gave him the link to my gallery with the EXIF data. He even had the stones to PM me and continue to attack me, stopping only when I threatened to report him to the moderator. It ticks me off when I've been shooting seriously for nearly 20 years and some rude SOB with little to no experience has the gall to say that a photo isn't mine or that an image has been "faked."

Sorry for the rant, but this thread just brought the memory of that experience back to me. I'm sticking to the sports forum from now on. As Croasdail said, Gavin, Dwight, and the others are very generous in the sharing of their expertise in a professional and positive manner.

[Big_B]

Hey Liza, sorry to hear about your experience. Don't let one person put you off though as most of the people in crit are very nice (apart from me of course!)

[Wazza]

I think personally the worst critique is no reply at all. Happens from time to time, and because of that, I don't share many average, but fun shots. Only my preferred better ones, otherwise there will be no replies. I'm also my worst critique. I never like anything I shoot, find flaws, and wish I could have done better. I think my worst is post processing, I find it frustrating I have no idea what I'm doing, so all my images are only resized and very slightly changed. Maybe that's good, doens't take it away from the actual image.

[ScottE]

The worst critique I ever had was, "These are great photos. You must have a really good camera."

Reply, "Thanks, my skill as a photographer has nothing to do with it. Its all in the equipment."

[fromthebleachers]

MattyB I just went to your web site and looked at alot of your work I can only hope that someday my pics can look as "'sh*t' 'too clean and shiny' 'lacking feeling'
and i even got told 'you should never be an artist of any kind'." as what I saw there . Keep up the great work. Renda

[ATucker]

Here is my worst:

Slightly off the subject, IMO worse than a zero feedback is cudos for mediocre or just plain bad shots.

[fromthebleachers]

Slightly off the subject, IMO worse than a zero feedback is cudos for mediocre or just plain bad shots.

I agree 100 % Ive got a B&W film instructor that no matter what is taken to her she say Oh thats great, I am half tempted to take my worst shot OOF no contratst, bad comp. and see what kind of compliments she gives it.

[Barb42]

I and several others in a camera club formed a sub-group called the Six Club - the lowest score you could get. The old guys would give us the lowest scores possible while we managed to pull off awards elseware. ~L We even threatened to have t-shirts made!

[CyberDyneSystems]

One of the first photos I posted in the early "critique" section,. (a loong time ago in a forum far far away)

I really had no clue,. and had taken a shot I thought was really artsy fartsy..

the kind membership here showed me the eerror of my ways in short notice. More importantly that expeirince taught me how to better develop an "eye" .. I've not posted an image that bad since :)

[Sean-Mcr]

There's never a cause to be rude, some people do get upset though when they get a bad response, well it may just be a response that they never wanted rather then a bad one.

As for learning from critique, that really does depend on who's giving it. Mr smith who spends most of his time shooting his cat telling someone their band shots lacked impact would frankly teach someone nothing, and to be honest if you look around forums you mainly get replies from too many Mr smiths & not enough Mr rights , so i tend to just research books and artists. The critique i get from those books and research is from knowing how much better their photos are compared to mine which is slowly (ever so slowly) helping me to improve.

[jobber73]

I am half tempted to take my worst shot OOF no contratst, bad comp. and see what kind of compliments she gives it.

But who's to say a photo that's OOF, low contrast and has an 'odd' composition isn't a great photo that came out exactly as the shooter intended?

That's the funny thing about photography. In the end, it is art. Art is the most subjective thing in the world. Art may be the one thing where there is no right or wrong.

I never understood the need for someone to 'critique' my photos. It'd be just as useful to have them critique my taste in music or my food preferences. They'd be giving me feedback on something that can not, by nature, be right or wrong.

How exactly do you find usefulness in a critique on something that can't be judged beyond one's own preference?

One person's 'soft, low contrast shot" is another's "sharp, vivid shot"...

...and they'd both be right. :)

Opinions are nice. Feedback is nice. But in the end it is essentially useless. Take photos that appeal to you (for art's sake) or that get the job done (for financial sake) because in the end aren't we all taking photos because we either love it, get paid for it or both?

Then take the picture that fits the need and screw what any other photographer thinks. :D

[Tlee05]

my worst comment was "this is the worst photo i have ever seen" it was posted here not long ago i though it was a okay image but not great, but did not mind as every one sees things differently but if i had 10 people or more saying it i would think twice. And *cry in the corner*

[ScottE]

my worst comment was "this is the worst photo i have ever seen" it was posted here not long ago i though it was a okay image but not great, but did not mind as every one sees things differently but if i had 10 people or more saying it i would think twice. And *cry in the corner*
Anybody who made a comment like that should take a good look at his own work if he wants to see really bad. Nobody shoots award winning photos all the time and we all have our share of really horrible ones.

[theflyingkiwi]

I think it is safe to say the worst is the very first post. I know when I posted a picture for comments for the first time I got some good responces and in fact I would hope that I have learned from them. But they are always hard to take because.

But so far I haven't had anyone be totaly negitve. And if you find that someone does you should just let it pass. There are always some out there that think they are better than any body else, even if they aren't.

I don't normaly post comments unless I say something that someone else hasn't said yet, or to put weight behind a point of view.

[Maureen Souza]

Well, I am highly critical of my own stuff.....I photographed my daughter's wedding last June and it was a nightmare to me. Wedding was late afternoon where the shadows were long and the sun was deep gold.... shadows and bright sunlight everywhere. The reception was at night and almost no lighting other than mood lighting so I was taking pictures in the dark! I was so upset with how the photos came out but after I PS'd them and printed them on the Epson 2200, a lot of them looked much better. Most of all she was pleased with them. I still think they suck.

[Tess320]

I find it really frustrating when I show the people at work my photo and their critique is "I don't like the background".

Now that's fair enough by itself - but these are dog show photos! I am not *the* photographer there, I can only take them from where I can squeeze in and I cannot choose the background or demand the ANKC change the venue so I can have a pretty tree behind the dog!

So what I am saying is that context matters - and other photographers seem to realise this but the general public don't seem to.

I also find that "boring" subjects like a seagull could get nice reviews on here but other non photography people will just go "oh, a seagull, great" and not really "see" the photo. A lot of people only see the subject and not the photo.

Nat

[blue_max]

It takes quite a lot of effort to critique a photograph. That is why sometimes there are no responses.

Often an out-of-focus shot with no particular focal point and really nothing to commend it, is the hardest one to deal with. You owe it to the photographer to explain where it could be improved, but it's not easy to do in a couple of sentences. It is much easier to review a first rate shot and maybe find a specific area where there may be an improvement.

Saying a shot is rubbish or excellent, is not really helpful as that is personal opinion and maybe more a reflection on the person writing the comment than the photographer.

Maybe an anonymous voting system would give more feedback. Pros should be handicapped of course!

Graham

[jfrancho]

I believe "Rate This Thread" is anonymous.

[MTalley]

I find it really frustrating when I show the people at work my photo and their critique is "I don't like the background".


I get a lot of that with my youth soccer shots. Unfortunately, the layout of the facility is such that the parents park their vehicles around two sides of the fields (and fairly close to the edges of the fields). There is a truck yard along the third side, and the main street along the fourth. There is just no good backdrop much of anywhere.

I get a lot of "great shot ... too bad those cars in the background draw my attention away", "you really captured the moment ... too bad that screaming parent stands out like a sore thumb", etc.

It has been suggested that I could clone out a lot of distractions on many of my shots. Post-processing a day's shoot already takes me several hours of work. I can't see spending weeks trying to clean up a handful of actually successful shots.

Similarly, when I post-process, I crop to a 3:2 ratio, as most of the parents that buy prints typically pick a 4" x 6" print. If I cropped more square so that the images would be more pleasing (and, granted, many of them would be), when a parent saw the image and ordered a print, there would necessarily be more image (with more distracting elements) in the final print. I believe that, for the most part, what you see on screen is what you should get on print.

[KevC]

Haha. I have a friend, all she says is "So what?"

Lol. "What's so special about this picture?"

Geez. I stopped showing her stuff lol. But aside from that, I'm my worst critic.