How to respond to images in the gallery

I just want to ask on what the rules are here in regards to responding to images in the gallery.

Are we allowed to critique the images and suggest ways of making it better, basically a what we like/dislike about them or do we just say we like them if we like them and don't respond otherwise?

I only ask as I'm on another photo forum and it is generally understood that you are allowed to critique shots unless otherwise said and some of the people can get somewhat rough on you but in the end it's to help you get a better image and better at the craft -- all based on each commenter's opinion of course.

It's a friendly forum and we know that no one means harm when they are critiquing and are aiming to help.

It looks like this is a pretty friendly place as well with photographers at different stages of their learning as well (you are always learning). I'm still in the early stages with lots to learn I believe.

So do we critique here, will people be offended or do we wait for people to ask for it?

I don't personally know the answer to that, but I know that I always love to hear what people 'really' think about my work. I'm just still 'becoming' a photographer and I know that there is so much out there to learn. As long as it is said in a helpful and kind way, I'm open to anything. I'd rather hear it from a 'friend' before a stranger....

I'm not really interested in giving or getting verbal BJ's.

A PJ friend of mine keeps critiquing my sports shots with 2 words: crop tighter. I keep cropping tighter and he keeps giving me the same critique. I'd prefer a critique to blind praise.

That's just me though.

Okay, so far sounds good. I just didn't want to start critiquing then coming off as some sort of pompous ass. If I haven't already

I won't be offended. Rip away!
I've found that even if I didn't agree with the critique, it was helpful to learn how to explain my intentions.

There is not set rule for this. Just be specific in your comments that it is not meant to offend. I wouldn't mind either but some people do so respect their wishes. I think thats part of the learning process, at least for me.

Many photographer's view critiquing different. Personally, I don't mind if someone critiques my photographs and sometimes I take their critiques into consideration, other times I defend the choices that I made, and other times I ignore the critique entirely. However, some photographers that I have met feel that it is very rude to give a critique without being asked to. And most of these are very respectable photographers.

Personally, I'm in between. Instead of telling people what they ought to do, I usually tell people what I see in the photograph and how I make sense of it. If I like it, I usually say so. If someone goes out of their way to show me their photographs, I feel that I ought to at least tell them how I interpret them. On occasion someone will show me a photograph that I may not be responsive to. For example, a macro shot of an insect showing all the itty-bitty details or worse yet, macro shots coins and bills. Those types of photographs are completely meaningless to me. I don't usually come out and say that - sometime times I look for technical things that I can comment on but unfortunately I'm not very knowledgeable about things like macro and flash lighting. Sometimes I'll ask questions like why he/she took these photographs or what they were trying to do with these photographs, etc.

Some forums have either a critique section or a way to say that critiquing is welcomed. For example, a person may start the thread with a title like "Critique: My Dog" or something like that.

I came across one method that I really like on Rangefinderforum.com. Someone will open up a critique thread calling for other photographers to join in - it can have a theme like winter photos, for example, but that is optional. The thread is usually limited to 5 participants - usually the first 5 that say "I'm in". The 5 photographers would each submit a single photograph for critique. Each of the participants would then give three comments for each photo - what they like about it, what they don't like about it, and an area for improvement. Once everybody gives these comments, then the thread is opened up for discussion and the photographers can then elaborate on what they said.

Another idea that I like is Words/No Words (aka W/NW) threads. Its almost like the Soonet.ca Photo Contests but its not a contest. A person starts a thread like "N/NW: Planes, Trains and Automobiles" or "N/NW: Bokeh". That person would briefly describe a theme for the photos and post the first photo. Participants would then add more photos following the same theme. Photos are allowed to have a small caption but it can't be too wordy. Very brief comments praising a photograph are generally allowed as long as you follow up and post a photograph of your own but critiques are generally not allowed. Some of these threads can get pretty long and sometimes people try to come up with a clever interpretation for the theme. For example, a N/NW thread on Rangefinderforum.com called "Camera and Coffee" generated over 3500 posts. One person for example posted a photo of a camera along side a portrait of Kofi Anan, the former UN Secretary-General and Nobel Prize winner. I thought that was very clever. That particular thread got so big that a Flickr group was started for these photos.

I like the idea of saying if you would like to be critiqued or not when you post an image.

I agree. I wouldn't want my photo critiqued unless I asked for it. On the same side of the coin (pun intended Nando) when I do submit something to be critiqued, I don't submit photos that I and others really like. I'll take a photo that I know has "something" to it, but needs help to bring that out. Like Ken said, no verbal BJs.

I would suggest that the admin here create a new category on the front page for critiques.

I think we can still use the category of the gallery for both share and critique but just add in the subject field [share/critique] [share] [critique] easy as that.

On a forum (and a new one especially) you do not want to create forum bloat with a lot of different categories/sections as it will be daunting to new users, plus if you have sections with only a few posts in them it makes that area look dead. After the forum is going for a bit you can expand from there -- but with that said this isn't my forum and the admin can do whatever they feel is right.

I prefer to have things said, good or bad, but constructive.....

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