I refer to this thread as i continue:
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?p=3124935#post3124935
Are we only allowed to give politically correct answers, like nice, good work, room for improvement?
No. You can give honest and truthful comments/critiques, but please be constructive. For example, you can quite easily reply as follows; "to me, the photos lacks sharpness and the WB is off". That already tells TS that the photos are not very good, and at the same time suggesting how to improve them. Surely that is more constructive than comments like "photos suck/are crap" or "taken with DSLR? (in a mocking tone)" ?
If an image is like sh!t, do you say so? or do you just say, nevermind will improve next time? If a user doesnt even know clearly the state/level of his skills/works, then how does he ever improve, whn he doesnt even know that he has to..
By all means say what didn't work in the photo, why you didn't like it. It is possible to give honest feedback without sounding rude. e.g. "Photos do not work for me at all". Better still if you can be constructive and give specific suggestions how to improve the photos. Just implying that he is a lousy photographer won't help him much.
I personally find crap a relatively fine word for critique. For those stucked on on CS, perhaps they can widen their perpectives by looking at some overseas well known and real photography instead of chit chat forums, and see how even images which will get the "nice" comment on CS get slammed upside down. Which is also why i rarely post images on CS for critiques. I dont need people to tell me nice, i need to know instead, how to progress to the next level.
There is really no need to denigrate CS by implying that it is not a "real photography" site. CS caters to wide range of members of differing skill levels and interests. And the wide range of photos posted in CS attest to that. Chit Chat (aka Kopitiam) is only a minor part of CS, not its main focus. May I suggest that you reflect on how your comments to TS have helped him progress to the next level? IMHO, constructive criticism is more helpful any day. There is a difference between calling a bad shot "good" (sugarcoating) and giving serious and constructive pointers how to improve the bad shot (critique).
I strongly feel that so long comments are targetted towards the works and not the person, anything goes. At least for me, i would appreciate that someone even bothers to tell me that my images are bad.
Then why did you target your comments at TS? They come across as personal attacks IMHO. For example, mocking him by asking if the photos are taken by DSLR, and that a handphone camera can take better pics is tantamount to saying that he is a lousy photographer, which is a personal attack. Instead, you should comment on the photos instead, what worked, what didn't, and what *specifically* TS could have done to achieve better photographic results. For example, "the photos lack sharpness, you could try increasing iso next time to shoot at higher shutter speeds or shoot with a faster lens" etc. Or, "The WB is off for all the shots IMHO, I suggest you adjust the WB settings with more blue and less red for this kind of lighting condition."
So the purpose of this thread, i would like to hear views of others? and if possible tell me how am i supposed to comment? Instead of lousy, do i say
Very not Excellent ?
As mentioned above, be polite, honest and constructive without getting personal.
cheers,
z.
