To post or not to post?

[Key]

As a follow-up to these remarks, and these as well...

Am I the only one who has a feeling about these pictures in line of: Yeah I've seen it now the forums are flooded with pics with little variety these days

No, you're not the only one. As stated elsewhere: I agree.

Stop checking this topic if you don't want to see it.

That's not the point. Taking myself as an example: I can enjoy a good skyhigh picture, but 75% of the shots in this thread do not appeal to me. Many of them have too much empty sky, are unsharp, badly exposed, or a combination of those. I know this kind of photography isn't easy, but then again: a large part of photography is about doing right what isn't easy.
I'm sure I don't have to point out the photogs whose skyhigh pics I do generally enjoy.

Here and in other threads, sometimes, everything not clearly failed seems to apply for display. This flood of pictures, regardless of quality, makes me loose interest and that makes me miss the good ones!
In conclusion, I see Colin's point and I wish (like several others do) people would be more self-critical and selective. There is - and will be - no rule to enforce that, everyone is free to show as many photos as they wish. But I personally need quality and variety to be interested.

Erik

[evhest]

I can't agree more. I wish more people took a second or two to think about the number and quality of pics they are about to post, before the hit the submit button.

Posters should ask themselves before posting; what message do I want to convey? Will this be of interest to the majority of viewers? I for one, I'm often more impressed by ONE good (as in above average) pic, than by dozens of mediocre pics. Over the last fews weeks, I've seen a lot of the latter appearing in this forum.... and it has made me loose interest. I see it happening on other forums too, by the way.

Selfcritisim has never hurt anybody....

[Thijs]

Thinking the other way around, if you see bad pictures why not say something about it? I know it is hard to give some criticism but if people don't know their picture lacks some quality and nobody doesn't tell them they never improve and they just keep posting. For example the UKAR forum (especially in the beginning) most posted pictures did lack quality and still they got positive comments, so they just continue with posting those kind of pictures.

Off course not everybody is a pro in photoshop, but with some minor tips peoples pictures can really approve; straight horizon, looking at the sharpness, white balance etc. etc.

I totally agree with both of you but it is not always only the poster who can improve his/her behaviour. In my opinion it is the interaction between poster and MB user which can really improve the quality of pictures at this MB.

Thijs

[ehusmann]

Thinking the other way around, if you see bad pictures why not say something about it?

Because this:

Stop checking this topic if you don't want to see it.

is usually the answer you get on such criticism.

And to be honoust, that is why I am loosing interest in the whole board. The number of logs is vast decreasing (especially full trip logs including interesting info) and the amount of mediocre, boring pictures is increasing. In my humble opinion the added value of Scramble has always been and should still be, the information. Not the self uploaded pictures. For pictures I take a look at Airliners.net....

Erwin

[Key]

In my opinion it is the interaction between poster and MB user which can really improve the quality of pictures at this MB.

Fully agree. I have been giving extensive tips on improvement now and then, and I welcome precise comments om my own shots. But not being able to reach a certain level of quality is something else than not being selective in what you post. It's the latter that makes me skip threads altogether.

In other words: I'd rather see three mediocre pics from someone wanting to improve, than thirty shots of sufficient quality in one post, just because they fit the topic title. This is like pointing to the bar and telling your friend "get yourself a drink, it's on me". I prefer a pal who offers to get me one, and suggests something he thinks I will enjoy.

Erik

[kiwi]

Guys I'm glad there are more who think exactly (and really really exactly) like I do.
If I go over my posting habits the past days/weeks I see I can be very criticizing sometimes. But please, everyone who reads this, don't take it the wrong way. It's in no way my intention to be negative personally or demoralize people with my criticism. It's just that I would love to see the standard on the board raised. As evhest said very well, people should be more self-critical and leave out a lot of their pictures. A topic with a selection of a few (1-5) great pics is better for me than a collection of pictures that tend to show like a report of what you have seen that day.

To summarize:
- Try to be more self-critical, select only your very best
- Do not take criticism personally, if I criticize I only mean to give constructive comment (I usually argument my comments) and hope people learn more, try more, get better
- Be creative! Unique angles and compositions are very much appreciated and make for far more interesting pictures that most of us will look at longer than just the 2 seconds we look at most pics now.

The reason why I do not post any pics myself very often: for one I have too little time to go out often (almost never the last months, but finishing high school this year should make up for that), secondly I only want to post pics I'm really proud of (my opening of the Arty-Farty topic for example)

[ebauer]

A topic with a selection of a few (1-5) great pics is better for me than a collection of pictures that tend to show like a report of what you have seen that day

FULLY AGREE!

[CDN Aviator]

I'm relatively new here so forgive me if i'm intruding.

I'm relatively new to aviation photography. As a matter of fact, i only recently bought my own DSLR and stopped using the one from work. Scramble came to my attention when i came to Leeuwarden Last June for open dagen. I dont have many posts here yet i am learning lots on how to improve my pictures. My part of the world, in my opinion at least, is rarely seen here and i thought that my pictures would be wecome even though they were less than perfect. I was hoping that in the process i would learn new tips and tricks to get that masterpiece shot and show off the beautiful places i get to shoot at.

Thats why i'm here. Having met several of you i'm sure ( wether you realize it or not) i'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say about my shots.

[Key]

Hi CDN,

Don't see any intruding, just joining.
Your shots show a lot of creativity and they are, by subject, indeed very refreshing for most of us. You post with a clear goal, i.e. improving on technics, and you have not been dumping loads of 'more of the same'. I think the above remarks do not apply to your contributions, please keep enjoying the company here!


Erik

[bigfoot]

and you have not been dumping loads of 'more of the same'. I think the above remarks do not apply to your contributions, please keep enjoying the company here!

That has been discussed before, about dumping your memory card on any MB. And I think new user of this MB haven't seen those kind of discussions here and probably don't know the majority doesn't like it.

But ain't it a good idea to make subforum within the photography forum with the title being "Critique My Work". As done at the site of Lensbaby. Just post pictures there if you want a opinion on quality or something. In that case there is room for such people to improve skill and learn how it all works. Instead of saying someone sucks at it, which could result in ending this hobby.

[Key]

Let's not mix things up, please. Rows and rows of not-so-special photos (whether technically OK or not) on the same subject, is what the requests for avoidance are about.

Expecting feedback is, IMHO, inherently connected to posting photos on a forum like this. If you don't want reactions, do not post on a forum.
If a photog is looking for specific feedback, (s)he can just say so - and this works, plenty of examples present.

I don't feel like moving to more splits in our photo forums. After all, this is a spotters' board, not a photo board.
Having said that, many of us do enjoy the photos. Putting them here is a often a much more hassle-free way to share your images than through one of the many photo sites.


Erik