My photos arent as good as I thought

Manuel Madeira · Mar 23, 2021

Hi mt name is Manuel, im 19 and i've been doing photography for a bit more than 1 year, everyone alaways told how great my photos were, even my photography teacher. The thing is, recently ive been posting them in critique sites and asking for opinion and the opinions were quite mixed tending to lean more to the negative side. Did this haapend to you guys to, will I improve????

BradS · Mar 23, 2021

Does it really matter what some anonymous person on-line thinks of a photo post on the web? More important than what someone else thinks is, what do you think? Are you happy with your work?

bsdunek · Mar 23, 2021

BradS said:
Does it really matter what some anonymous person on-line thinks of a photo post on the web? More important than what someone else thinks is, what do you think? Are you happy with your work?

Right! Don't take the opinions of typical on-line people too seriously. Just keep trying to improve by studying those that do good work and learn. You'll do fine!

Tom Kershaw · Mar 23, 2021

Keep at it. Photography is something that you can improve with practice.

sapearl · Mar 23, 2021

The most important thing is that you enjoy doing it, and the result gives you a lot of pleasure. I'm still working on my own technique....which has been ongoing for 50+ years . There are some forums with good critique areas. You'll always find garbage comments as well as those that are helpful. Here's the thing: if somebody criticizes your work, in all fairness they have to explain why, and also offer constructive input on you can improve the picture. I do a lot of volunteer judging locally and those are some of our basic principles. We have to be fair, helpful, and make it educational for both the photographer and the audience. Of course there are good judges and not so good....but that is another story....

Sirius Glass · Mar 23, 2021

I agree with the above. The people on the internet have no credentials and no expertise. Listen first to yourself and then to your instructors.

eddie · Mar 23, 2021

If you enjoy doing it, and want to get better, you will. It takes time...

sapearl · Mar 23, 2021

Sirius Glass said:
I agree with the above. The people on the internet have no credentials and no expertise. Listen first to yourself and then to your instructors.

Well, there certainly is some truth to that Sirius but there are also quite a lot of good photographers on this forum alone who could probably give constructive guidance and helpful critique. Not everyone should be painted with the same brush

grain elevator · Mar 23, 2021

Welcome to Photrio, I hope you'll get more helpful feedback here.
Most online photo critique groups are garbage. They evaluate photos based on the resemblance to kitschy postcard or high-gloss fashion photography or whatever they think to be the standard for the genre, instead of trying to understand what you're doing (if that isn't imitating the assumed standard of the genre). That said, if you've been doing photography for just over a year, I'm sure you have lots to learn. Most of us do after many more years. So yes, you will improve if you keep at it.

jimjm · Mar 23, 2021

If you're just randomly asking for feedback and comments, then you're likely to get mostly uneducated opinions. There's plenty of average and uninspired photos on Instagram and Flickr that get heaps of praise.
Also, I see folks who just post everything that they shoot without editing down to their best images. Be self-critical of what you're showing, and understand that photography can take years to get competent from a technical standpoint, and even then there's always something new to learn.
Now, if you're looking for technical critiques (composition, exposure, cropping, etc.) about how to make your images better, forums like Photrio are great for advice and tips. There are plenty of folks here with years of experience who can give you useful feedback and advice.
Artistic advice is tougher to get. Ultimately, you want to make images that you enjoy.

sapearl · Mar 23, 2021

Old Gregg said:
@Manuel Madeira Photography is deeply personal endeavor. It is not formalized and there are no rules. If you listen to feedback long enough you'll start getting advice, even from photographers you admire, that is contradictory.

A purpose of making a photograph is to evoke emotion. Some might say that's emotion of a viewer but I believe strongly that the most important is the emotion of a maker. Pleasing others, being unique, having a "style" is not an art. It is a job, they teach these things when you take marketing in college.

This doesn't mean you should ignore what other people are saying. Instead, treat it as random information that's presented to you. Pick what you find useful, throw away what you feel is not resonating.

Hi Gregg - interesting comments you've made and I agree with most of what you've said. I absolutely believe that there are cases when you want to evoke emotion, and IMO a prime example would be marketing and advertising. But you'll also have to agree that not all photographs have an emotional connection. Some are just interesting visual compositions that engage the viewer.

I'm confused by your statement that developing a photographic style is a "job." Can you elaborate please? I've developed a particular style over the years, all part of an evolutionary process, but it never struck me as being a job.

henpe · Mar 23, 2021

Manuel Madeira said:
... and the opinions were quite mixed tending to lean more to the negative side...

Negative as in derogatory criticism or constructive criticism? In the latter case, you should be happy and try to learn from the feedback. Personally, I much prefer to have constructive criticism that I can learn from rather than a short "nice photo" as comment to something that I post.

Best regards
Henrik

wiltw · Mar 23, 2021

Few of us are photographic genius who always take perfect photos. When you start, you might only find one keeper out of a roll of 36...I remember that as a goal voiced by recognized practitioners of photography, and I remember being one of those strugging photographers try to attain at least 1 keeper out of a roll. it mighjt take a long time to achieve exceeding the 'one keeper' goal consistently.

As you mature as a photographer, the technical expertise issues will diminish, and you aquire skills to embellish the scene with lighting, so that the photo is more than merely recording what is in front of you. And then it is the aesthetics of the photo that emerges as the test of 'the keeper'. The issue is that what makes a 'great photo' may not appeal to someone else, even if another viewer loves it. Rules, like "Don't bullseye the subject" might be generally advisable, but there are very captivating exceptions to that rule. So getting a critique for violating the Rule might be creatively wrong to follow!

MattKing · Mar 23, 2021

Many of the greatest photographs of all time would fail many internet evaluations.
But it still is worthwhile sharing your photographs.
The reason I say that is because it can be very useful seeing what people see when they look at your photographs, and what they react to.
You have to be willing to ignore the trite and the formulaic ("rule of thirds" type analysis) while paying attention to what gets noticed, and what gets a response.
Photography is a communicative art, so it helps to know what people are seeing and learning from your photos.
If there is any possibility of participating in an in person group with others who are interested in supporting your work, that is a much more useful experience. Particularly if there are people in the group who do interesting work that is quite different from yours.
And as for rules, I find it best to think of them as a collection of experiences. The "rule of thirds" is simply a useful observation about one effective way of organizing the elements in the scene.

logan2z · Mar 23, 2021

MattKing said:
Many of the greatest photographs of all time would fail many internet evaluations.

https://petapixel.com/2011/07/13/why-you-shouldnt-give-too-much-weight-to-anonymous-online-critics/

awty · Mar 23, 2021

logan2z said:
https://petapixel.com/2011/07/13/why-you-shouldnt-give-too-much-weight-to-anonymous-online-critics/

Ha, "he should of rounded up Mario and tried again".

Have a goal, keep everything in perspective and work hard at it. Nothing comes easy.

Pieter12 · Mar 23, 2021

Robert Frank had a difficult time finding a publisher for The Americans. The first edition was published in France, when it was finally published in the U.S. it was panned by domestic critics and the photo press.

logan2z · Mar 23, 2021

Pieter12 said:
Robert Frank had a difficult time finding a publisher for The Americans. The first edition was published in France, when it was finally published in the U.S. it was panned by domestic critics and the photo press.

I was under the impression that this was because the book was viewed as highly critical of the US, rather than because the photographs were deemed sub-par.

Pieter12 · Mar 23, 2021

From Wikipedia:
It was finally published in 1959 in the United States, without the texts, by Grove Press, where it initially received substantial criticism. Popular Photography, for one, derided his images as "meaningless blur, grain, muddy exposures, drunken horizons and general sloppiness."

logan2z · Mar 23, 2021

Pieter12 said:
From Wikipedia:
Popular Photography, for one, derided his images as "meaningless blur, grain, muddy exposures, drunken horizons and general sloppiness."

I was referring more to the opinion of art/photography critics, rather than a hardware-oriented consumer photography magazine.

Popular Photography did also call The Americans this:

“a wart-covered picture of America by a joyless man"

Again, I think the criticism was more about the negative way the book depicted the US rather than technical "issues" with the photographs themselves.

Sirius Glass · Mar 23, 2021

sapearl said:
Well, there certainly is some truth to that Sirius but there are also quite a lot of good photographers on this forum alone who could probably give constructive guidance and helpful critique. Not everyone should be painted with the same brush

This website is not a camera club. You took what I said out of context. You have to read all that is posted in the thread starting with the OP and not cherry pick.

mrosenlof · Mar 23, 2021

To the OP, don't worry too much about internet critics they (we!) may or may not have the same interests, or ideas about what is a good photo as you do. You have asked some good questions here, and in other sections of Photrio, read those answers and consider them, but don't necessarily follow them, including my answers!

I think there is value is sharing photos with others who will make comments, good or bad, just don't take those comments as absolute truth. Your photo teacher is one place to start, peers in your photography class may be another.

You can also share photos and ask questions like "I was trying to express <something> here, do you think I sucdeeded?" or "I am trying to emulate the style of Daido Moriyama here, what can I do to make this photo more like that style?" In that second question "style" can be the "snapshot" style of Moriyama's work, or "style" can mean the high contrast, "gritty" style of his developing and printing choices.

Sirius Glass · Mar 23, 2021

There is a big difference between criticizing and giving constructive criticism. The former is found on the internet in general, while there are some here at Photrio that will take the time to provide well thought out and knowledgeable advice.

Pieter12 · Mar 23, 2021

logan2z said:
I was referring more to the opinion of art/photography critics, rather than a hardware-oriented consumer photography magazine.

Popular Photography did also call The Americans this:

“a wart-covered picture of America by a joyless man"

Again, I think the criticism was more about the negative way the book depicted the US rather than technical "issues" with the photographs themselves.

Pop Photo may have been an important source of photo criticism in the mid 50s.

Pieter12 · Mar 23, 2021

Manuel Madeira said:
Hi mt name is Manuel, im 19 and i've been doing photography for a bit more than 1 year, everyone alaways told how great my photos were, even my photography teacher. The thing is, recently ive been posting them in critique sites and asking for opinion and the opinions were quite mixed tending to lean more to the negative side. Did this haapend to you guys to, will I improve????

Have you tried portfolio reviews, either in-person (difficult right now) or online?

My photos arent as good as I thought

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