Reactions to photographs...

I'm not looking for critique here, though it's certainly welcome. I was rather trying to provoke a dicussion why insignificant pictures produced with some gadgetry input attract more attention than some "photographs".
 
taste and time limits

I would agree with most of the above comments. Everyone has their own taste and likes. A certain group may love your image, while others may give it a passing glance. of the ones you posted above, I really like the first image on the bottom row a lot. Again personal preference is important here. If I am into fluffy kitties and bunnies, your shots may not even be looked at.

I would also add that timing can be important when posting. What I mean is that what can occur is that you post your pictures and then a bunch of other members post some pictures and make comments. Unfortunately your images might get lost in the flurry. Additionally if you post a bunch of pictures while I am asleep, I may not catch them later.

Right now being unemployed I have more time than normal to look at images and make comments. Normally however I have only a few moments to go through my favorite forms. I have four forums of various interests that I daily frequent and several others that are more infrequent. Then there are personal emails, funny videos to watch, etc. I can easily spend three to four hours a night if my wife were to let me. I normally have maybe an hour to do my personal Internet activities after work. I normally don't spend more than ten to fifteen minutes on each form, so if your image gets lost in a series of new images, I may miss it.
 
Retow, Very good questions. Thank you! For one thing, I think people's responses ebb and flow. My own responses to images vary depending on time and interest of subject matter. Plus, photography, like any art, is so subjective. What I like normally elicits little response from others. But a couple of other comments.

I think we all captures images that are not well set up but somehow capture the imagination. The "picture" will always trump technical perfection. Some of my favorite personal images are ones that were caught on a whim.

Second, it seems to me that bold, dynamic images attract the most attention, both here and elsewhere. Just do a search for something on Flickr and select the "most interesting" filter and what you get is a lot of HDR-like pictures. Now, that's being processed by an algorithm, but I strongly believe that today's eyes have been trained by the technicolor default settings on today's cameras. I hate it, in most cases. I am always stunned by pictures that I find on Flickr that have garnered hundreds of responses and yet they suck big time. There's no accounting for taste :rolleyes: Those posts also seem to be all about responses and rainbows and flying unicorn award icons. It's like an insiders club of sorts.

Retow, I really like your bridge images. They are extremely interesting pictures! But I must admit that they "complicated" pictures and not easily amenable to casual comments. To me, they are the kinds of pictures that in themselves are interesting, but that don't tell the whole story. They kind of need to soak in for a while, but over time and taken as a project along with other pictures they become very powerful. Please do not worry about responses to your images. Remain true to your own vision and keep at it, and keep posting. We want to see Retow's vision, not unicorn award winning bait.
 
Its a situation that happens again and again. Part of it I think comes because when we look at our own images, they trigger a whole lot of feelings and memories that other viewers don't have. That can include how we were thinking, how we decided on the shot, how we executed the shot. An "outside" viewer has none of that and in fact brings their own feelings and memories to any viewing.

What elicits a response in others in impossible to determine. There are countless examples of very famous photographs being undervalued and in some cases almost consigned to oblivion by the photographer. We can never know what strikes a chord with others. I like your Brooklyn Bridge shots and agree with you the Pentax Q picture is pretty unremarkable. With Lightmancers shots I loved the shoes picture and the mirror image not so much. Thats just personal taste.

I wouldn't get too hung up on what kind of response you get posting images on the internet. There is no photographic truth or certainty to be found here. Its all just personal preference and who happens to be looking at any given time.

I've always believed that as photographers we firstly have to satisfy ourselves, and to that end we should be, and often are, our own fiercest critic. Anyone who cares about their work knows whether they have "done the job" or not. It may sometimes be buried somewhat deep, but we know. In time we also get to know our own strengths and weakness, what we are good at and respond to and what leaves us cold. We may find that we get inappropriate praise for an image that we know is "a throwaway" or in our own terms a "cliche" and we may get scant recognition for something that we "wrenched from our soul". As often as not it can be dispiriting on either count. Van Gogh knew how that felt.

Time and again you get photographers, musicians, painters and artists of all descriptions desperately trying to stop repeating themselves, to fulfill and express themselves the best way they can, and constantly trying to avoid endlessly continually producing the "crowdpleasers". The trick is to become comfortable with what we can do, and not be pushed "off course" by irrelevant praise or condemnation. Groucho Marx once said "I wouldn't want to be in any club that would have me as a member" and I feel much the same way about photographic approval or rejection.
 
in this thread and some others in the GXR thread.

in the "time for seasonal images" thread and got considerable "recognition" for it.

Well, I'd just guess that more people look at the latter thread and not so many at the former. ;)

The "seasonal" thread might just be en vogue, while a GXR thread is only relevant to those who own or want to own that camera. And while they may be good and interesting cameras, we all know that GXRs aren't really that widespread and popular. As for the B&W thread: probably a different audience from those folks following an X-Mas thread. The X-Mas crowd might currently just be in the mood to like quite everything, so there are more nice comments. ;)

Now, if all pics were posted in the same thread at the same time and only the "bad" one would have gotten good comments, you certainly would have a point. But the way it is, I see too many different factors here to come to any conclusion based on the quality of your submissions. The quality of your pics is just one factor of many to consider here.
 
I would also add that a bit of background and/or story of taking the image always makes me more engaged.

For example, if you added that this was a once in a life time trip and that during the shotting your tripod broke and you had to resort to your wife's shoulder to take the shot, all these types of things make an image more engaging to me.
 
meh! had a whole responese typed, then clicked on one of your photos and it was gone! gotta be more careful next time.
Anyway, short recap of what I said: recognisable problem, i submitted about 10 thought-out photos to the weekly challenge, and they got 1 vote combined, while the one casual shot I submitted (only because the shot I had in my head didn't materialize), ended up winning that week's challenge!:tongue: so that shows you how much I know...

regarding the photos you posted here, my favorite is the golden one because of the way the cables lead your eye to the tower. I'd give a shared 2nd place to the lantern photo (really starts working when viewed large! although I'd like to see more of the tower) and the shot with the statue of liberty in the background (doesn't work small, looks great large). The shot with people on the brigde and the one with the woman, don't really do much for me personally... but as I already said, I'm clearly not in tune with what people like or don't like either!
 
The way that this form is set up is great as well as bad.

It is great in that if all I want to look at is fluffy bunnies or landscape shots, I can go right to those images and not look at any other.

It is bad in that if you only look at the subjects you are interested in, you miss some great shots.

I personally like to look at the "Recent Posts" section and see what I have missed. This has its downfall if it has been a while since I was on the site and a lot of activity has gone on, I may never see your image. However I prefer this way versus just looking at a few sections.



Well, I'd just guess that more people look at the latter thread and not so many at the former. ;)

The "seasonal" thread might just be en vogue, while a GXR thread is only relevant to those who own or want to own that camera. And while they may be good and interesting cameras, we all know that GXRs aren't really popular. As for the B&W thread: probably a different audience from those following an X-Mas thread. The X-Mas crowd might just be in the mood to like quite everything, so there are more nice comments.

Now, if all pics were posted in the same thread at the same time and only the "bad" one would have gotten good comments, you certainly would have a point. But the way it is, I see too many different factors to come to any conclusion. The quality of your pics is just one factor of many to consider here.
 
Retow-

For me, it's all a matter of timing. I have been frequenting SeriousCompacts more often as of late. Unfortunately, I still don't catch every single new photo posted here. If I see something that peaks my interest, I generally at the very least click the "Thanks" and move on. This is specially true on "image" threads. Sometimes I'll add a comment here and there. However, I'm more prone to adding an actual post stating "thank you" with a couple more comments whenever someone starts a new thread and posts several images with some discussion such as Cristian's travel photos or Livnus' (sorry for I butchered the spelling) father and son fishing/camping outing.

As for what types of images get me going ... color vs. b&w vs. post processing vs. out of camera ... that doesn't do as much for me as the subject matter. I enjoy looking at environmental portraits the most. Hence my interest in street photography. I also like candid portraits.
 
I certainly don't think it's particularly to do with this forum's members or their tastes ... I post images almost daily on Flickr, sometimes one, sometimes ten ... sometimes I get 100 views and no comments, sometimes I get one view and no comment ... recently I got a request to use an image, but if that person had asked me to select an image for them to use, it wouldn't have been the one he'd chosen ... equally one of mine got into "explore" recently, but it doesn't look "better" to me than others of mine ... and the same on SC ... when I feel vaguely annoyed that some image I'm really happy with doesnt get so much as a "thank you" here, I remind myself that no-one is obliged to like it , offer me any thanks , or to even look at it in the first place.

so you're not alone and I'm sure it ain't personal.
 
take a hint from 500px and shoot lots of eyeball-searing brightly coloured HDR. shortbread tin landscapes, "misty" waterscapes with an NDx10 filter and soft porn. I guarantee you will get lots of "likes" :rolleyes:

Funny. A perfect description of 500px popular selection. Unfortunately I'm not very good at any of these.
 
I'm glad you brought this up because I was thinking the exact same thing.

I post pics from time to time and to get feedback from peers on what I could have done, or even as simply as what works and what doesn't. However, I post, nothing. In fact, the two departed moderators were the only ones that invested time into doing so.

It also goes around, as I loved those shots (and I think I at least posted thanks, but maybe not). I noted your feedback on my last posting. I've simply seen that the style of the forum is to just post and add content, but not expect any feedback. However, take 100 pics of a cat and then you'll have endless feedback.

Sometimes it baffles me. I like the premise of the forum, but it appears not to be based in the pics as much as I thought. Post anything GRD, X100, and see the reponses. Post anything else, nothing. Not even C & C, which would help some of us know if something works.

It was nice to escape DPR's negativity, but unless you have a GRD, X100, or post cat pics, you're going to be ignored.

Is it me, or what is wrong here?
1. So I post these B&W and sepia shots taken from the Brooklyn Bridge last weekend in this thread and some others in the GXR thread. Invested a couple of hours on Saturday (ok, granted, it was a pleasant walk as well). Used a high end camera and top lenses, walked, made sure all camera settings were such that optimal file quality would result under the conditions, tried different framings, different perspectives and angles, bent to my knees and up again, waited until the hords of bl… tourists with their camera phones walked out of my frame, made sure exposure was spot on, changed lenses did some PP. And then I posted some of the better ones on this forum. All in all, there was very little feedback on this forum, neither positive nor critique. Had I shot the BBridge in a tourist type of way, I might have gotten more reactions, I guess?
2. But then, the other night as I was on my way to a dinner appointment I took some snaps with the Pentax Q, framed carelessly, not really bothering about the camera settings or exposure, aperture priority, f1.9, max iso 640, bold monochrome and snapped away happily. I uploaded one of these excessively in camera processed bold monochrome shots in the "time for seasonal images" thread and got considerable "recognition" for it.

Ok, ladies and gentlemen, the floor is yours. And don't misunderstand my rant, I'm not fishing for recognition, but rather wondering what pleases the crowd here and why.

(*This post originally was found in this thread https://www.photographerslounge.org/f23/black-white-monotone-sepia-words-no-words-184/index129.html and I've taken the liberty of splitting off retow's questions and the immediate responses to start a new thread here for more discussion.)
 
This is a very interesting thread, especially to those of us still learning the ropes. It's nice to know that almost everyone experiences this. I have a number of pictures that friends really liked, but if I post it somewhere here or in another forum, it's like nothing happened. :) I've joined other minor photo contests too, and some photos that barely registered a beep in here or in other forums actually did quite well. Conversely, some of those that had generated some comments here/in flickr/in other forums didn't make the cut in others.

On the other side of the coin, I tend to just usually "thank" the post if find some interesting images, but from time to time I do comment on some that have really made me literally go "WOW" - e.g. some of the really really delicious colors from that Foveon sensor, or some of the GRD/GXR (for the life of me I don't know which is which) black and white shots, or a lot of the travel photos. Also, I usually am more interested in people shots rather than landscapes/architecture, so it's easy for me to miss some outstanding shots from those genres.

At this point I'm starting to learn (and accept) that my images speak primarily to me, and it's just a bonus if other people "get" it too. Posting the images on a public site like this is really just sharing - so other can people learn, or see what the gear can accomplish, or even to fuel other people's GAS. :D
 
IMO, the "thanks" system should be removed because it encourages being passive. On top of that, it's not like the thanks or rep system I've seen on other boards, where one gets the rundown on their control panel. So one has to go back to the post and so on and so forth. I'd be in favor of removing the thanks system if it encourages actually connecting with one another, rather than just being passive and not being bothered enough to speak to one another. The other system even encourages more interaction between users, especially when a comment doesn't fit on the forum.

On another note, I've found Twitter to be a nice place to upload pics and get feedback from various different sources.

This is a very interesting thread, especially to those of us still learning the ropes. It's nice to know that almost everyone experiences this. I have a number of pictures that friends really liked, but if I post it somewhere here or in another forum, it's like nothing happened. :) I've joined other minor photo contests too, and some photos that barely registered a beep in here or in other forums actually did quite well. Conversely, some of those that had generated some comments here/in flickr/in other forums didn't make the cut in others.

On the other side of the coin, I tend to just usually "thank" the post if find some interesting images, but from time to time I do comment on some that have really made me literally go "WOW" - e.g. some of the really really delicious colors from that Foveon sensor, or some of the GRD/GXR (for the life of me I don't know which is which) black and white shots, or a lot of the travel photos. Also, I usually am more interested in people shots rather than landscapes/architecture, so it's easy for me to miss some outstanding shots from those genres.

At this point I'm starting to learn (and accept) that my images speak primarily to me, and it's just a bonus if other people "get" it too. Posting the images on a public site like this is really just sharing - so other can people learn, or see what the gear can accomplish, or even to fuel other people's GAS. :D
 
Probably a lot of folks feel easier about commenting on "safe" images - where safe means images they easily identify with or the more common treatments.

Myself I love to comment on any image, whether to offer simple praise or thoughts on the photograph, but I've been largely holding back until I get in the groove here and start posting on a regular basis myself, as I want to hang my own laundry out in the air too.

Ray, I love strong B+W compositions so your first grabs my eye and would even if it was presented second. I'm sure I'd have converted the colour version to a b+w image myself. My first reaction on looking at the two of them was to wish the passerby's head wasn't totally obscured in the b+w version but perhaps the flare precluded doing that without changing the impact. Or maybe a largely missing head is meaningful in context with the signs! :) Cool image.
 
IMO, the "thanks" system should be removed because it encourages being passive. On top of that, it's not like the thanks or rep system I've seen on other boards, where one gets the rundown on their control panel. So one has to go back to the post and so on and so forth. I'd be in favor of removing the thanks system if it encourages actually connecting with one another, rather than just being passive and not being bothered enough to speak to one another.

Sometimes you'd be lucky to get even one passive "Thanks". :D My thinking is, if I want C&C, I'd post in the Image Works thread. If I need the periodic picker-upper, I post it on Facebook where a lot of my family and friends are sincerely appreciative of the efforts I put into getting better. I've toned down my expectations from forums, and this (plus the other one - mu-43) have been really really helpful but only if you specifically indicate that you need help.
 
I disagree that the "thanks" should be removed. Not everyone has time to make comments. And yet, for those without time, he or she may still want to let the poster that he or she appreciates what was posted (whether a comment or photo). In fact, I feel that most users in the forum under-utilize the "thanks".

It's my opinion that if a poster wants comments, he or she should ask for comments. Most of the times, I assume that people who post photos just want to share them with others. Or some thoughts about gear. That's how I am anyway.

As for people only commenting on X100 or GRD or whatever else, it's all about what interests people. Personally, I tend to gravitate towards X100 photos because I own and like the X100. Similarly, I gravitate towards threads that have images or discussions about some gear that I own. Consequently, I don't gravitate towards the GRD threads. But when I do, like in Sparth's thread with the GRD, I find them quite enjoyable as well. In short, I don't think most people in this forum "ignore" threads. It's much more about what interests someone, and how he or she chooses to use their time.
 
Sometimes you'd be lucky to get even one passive "Thanks". :D My thinking is, if I want C&C, I'd post in the Image Works thread. If I need the periodic picker-upper, I post it on Facebook where a lot of my family and friends are sincerely appreciative of the efforts I put into getting better. I've toned down my expectations from forums, and this (plus the other one - mu-43) have been really really helpful but only if you specifically indicate that you need help.
In that case, all of my pics would end up in that thread.

I don't agree about indicating needing help. Go right back to DPR and that's one thing they actually do. You might get a flame war of 150 posts, but at least 1-2 pages will be exactly what you're looking for.
 
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