showing your photography to friends

Im a begginer and I don't seek to make this my proffession. But I enjoy it and

have a few favorites amongst my work. However im scared to really show it to

other people, because whenever I do that person doesn't really comment much my

work. Instead they show me their work and I see a lot of similiraties between

my work and theirs. This hasn't happened just once but several times. Should

I just ignore this or maybe be more proud of my work and not let others ignore

it?

You should post more here for critique. Sometimes you get some helpful remarks and some inane ones. You will, after some time, learn that if you have an emotion contact with your images you will enjoy them regardless what others think.

 

I am not a professional. I like to think I am an amateur which means I do it for the love of it.

I agree with Robert. Go ahead and post your photo on the crtique forum. Most of the time when people leave comments they are sincerely trying to help. Others IMHO need to improve their communication skills. When you took the photos something made you click shutter button. Sometimes your image will evoke some type response(which is what you want) but it may not be the same emotion that you had when you were compelled to take the image. Take the rating with a huge grain of salt. There are some excellent images on here that have received 3/3 ratings. As long as you having fun and enjoying photography this is an excellent place to share and learn. Don't be afraid to show images- we all are proud of our images and want to share them. And hopefully evoke some type of response through the image. Regardless of ratings and comments if there are a lot of views, something made them stop and look. They reponded to the image on some level. Happy Clicking!

<i>"I like to think that I don't care what people think about my photographs. Of course,

that takes a lot of discipline to maintain that." ..."I'm doing it for myself to make myself

happy and to see how it works." </i><a href="http://www.ralphgibson.com"><u>Ralph

Gibson</u></a><p>

 

<i>"The day I stop shooting for myself is the day I hang my cameras up forever."</i>

<a href="http://digitaljournalist.org/issue9910/cuba_index.htm"><u>David Alan Harvey

</u></a><p>

 

<i>"The nature of the photographic process - it is about failure. Most everything I do

doesn't quite make it."</i> Garry Winogrand<p>

 

<i>"To frame in terms of what you want to have in the picture, not about how - making a

nice picture. That, anybody can do."</i> Garry Winogrand

I started photography before the web existed, so although as the above indicates, posting on sites is a great way to get some critique. But, if you want to do it without the web also, some ways of discretely letting friends see your stuff are what I did. I would hang the stuff in my house. Sometimes I'd frame it individually, sometimes I would make a compilation of many prints on the wall, or more saving to the wall, a cork board. Anyhow, the goal is that when freinds are over you sliiiiiiiide the fact that you took those pics....assuming they don't ask first.

 

Today, I would also get one of the slide show things that change the background on your computer, and just let it roll when friends are over........or if you use computer at work.

 

The reason I suggest those tactics, is I found that when you ask someone, especially another photographer, you get false responses. Ignoring your work is maybe sometimes a defence on their part, that they think you're better than they are.....or maybe just false ego on their part.

 

If you just present your work, put it out there without saying who took it, then when someone comments on it, you know it's genuine. Me personally, I'd rather have one genuine response in 6 months, than all the wondering whats going on that you are going thru.

 

btw - I like that David Alan Harvey quote above. Photography is a solo effort.......it's between you, your brain, your heart, and what's in your viewfinder........there's no room in there for what other people think. Shoot for yourself, please yourself, and if someone else just happens to also like it......then consider it a plus.

Post to Flickr, or other sites where people who appreciate photography go to look at

photography. Don't bother with seeking critiques here. View work you admire and compare

it to yours. You'll get better by practicing.

Post to Flickr, or other sites where people who appreciate photography go to look at

photography. Don't bother with seeking critiques here. View work you admire and compare

it to yours. You'll get better by practicing.

 

Oh BTW there is a gallery here on PNET where you can post your masterpieces for everyone to

enjoy.

First, go to your friends' houses and see what they have hanging on the wall already. THAT will be a reflection of what they like and don't like.

For me, the best alternative was to join a photo salon - a group of serious photographers usually meeting with a local professional. Sometimes these are affiliated with a local arts institution.

 

Evaluating each other's photographs over a period of months provides a good reference of direction and skills.

Kat, since you say that people show you their photos and they are similar to your own, maybe that is a critique in itself, albeit a painful one to hear. Maybe what they are actually telling you is that yours is not distinctive or individual enough to stand out. This is a problem that most of us have had at some time. Look through your collection of photos objectively and try to pinpoint the ones that really stand out from the rest. Attempt to determine how you attained these results. Look at the rest, the photos that didn't succeed. Try to pinpoint exactly what doesn't work. If you are truly objective, you can be your own best critic.

If you think that it is hard to get a decent critique from a friend, try selling your work. I have several photos hanging in two locations around town and, despite much positive feedback from patrons, have only sold one photo in a year. I might feel worse except none of the other artists' photos have been moving, either. The truth is that no one is buying art these days. Part of this is the economy. Part of it is the very wrong idea that a dime-a-dozen copy of an Ansel Adams print will look better over the sofa than a local artist's work, and would be potentially "worth something someday". Another part of the problem is that unlike a computer game or music video a photograph is a static image and tends to eventually bore the eyes of those with short attention spans. And, finally, there is the advent of affordable digital cameras and Photoshop. The ease of taking many, many photos and tinkering with them in pshop has every Tom, Dick, and Harry convinced that he is an artist. This is doubtless what has gotten into your friends' heads, despite whether or not they know the first thing about good photographic composition, exposure, etc,etc.

So, yeah, people are basically too into themselves and their own egos to critique or buy art, in most cases.

Take a look at Ted Orland's latest book <a href="http://www.tedorland.com/books/view.html">"The View From The Studio Door"</a>. In there he talks about joining a community of artists where work can be shown and discussed. I participate in several, some with photographers and others with artists of other media. I have found this quite useful since they each bring new ideas and different feedback.

People are bombarded everyday with photos taken by professional photographers in magazines. We routinely see Ansel Adams posters, professional calenders, photos in cook books, every where we are inundated with top notch stuff. We've become so accustomed to great photography, we think that is the norm until we actually try it and see how hard it is. It's like thinking every guitarist should be able to play like Jimmy Page. We can't all photograph like Annie Leibovitz or Galen Rowell, but that is what people expect of us because that is what they are used to seeing.

It's so easy to to post photos online (which you should do), but at the same time, its hard

to wade through all the pictures. If you do analog photography, try joining APUG.org. I'm

sure there are similar things for digi photographers, but APUG has a couple print

exchanges that go on. I was part of a postcard exchange - my first real 'exhibit' of my

photos. I printed 45 postcards, and mailed them all over the world, and have received

(most of) 45 cards back. Not only is it great to receive many wonderful pictures, its also

neat to see how my photo compares to everyone else's. I've also gotten some new ideas to

try out and gained more confidence in my own photography. Hey, I'm not that great, but

I'm not *that* bad.

 

As soon as I get a scanner, I will be posting more online because it is a great outlet as

well.

I think showing your photos to friends is ok, but don't take it as the last word on your efforts by any means. With my friends and coworkers, I know I can take silence as a bad review. Imagine if a friend showed you a painting they painted that was really awful. What would you say to them?

 

I used to feel insecure about someone else doing better photography than I did. I could also feel either like I was slow to 'get it' or betrayed (as in copied) if a friend's pictures were similar to mine. What I didn't realize at the time is that it was nothing like that at all. What I should have been doing was sharing ideas and techniques, and learning what I could from my photo friends. If their work was similar, I should have taken that as their having similar taste or technique or vision, and making a closer friend with them. No rule says photography has to be a solo sport.

 

Whatever you do, don't take others' criticism or silence as personal rejection. Your photos are not the same thing as your worth as a person or as a friend. Just understand, if it's really awful, a friend might not want to hurt a friend's feelings by saying so. They also might not know enough to offer helpful pointers.

 

If you want to stick with photography, you MUST understand that even the best of the best professional photographers have very few 'stunners' out of all the photos they take. An example would be a pro submitting a hundred photos from a shoot to a magazine editor. There's only room for one main shot on the cover, right? So relax and realize a) you'll get better with experience, and b) we all started at the beginning, and got better from there.

 

Free advice: learn from your duds. Don't toss them or delete them until you see WHY you want to get rid of them. Even better is figuring out how to prevent that mistake in the future. The only way I know to do that is to understand it (there might be several reasons a photo might be, say, blurry, or too dark, or whatever). For me, that's the challenge and fun of learning. Anyone's photos will improve very quickly if they do that.

 

Your gallery photo shows some promise. Please post some more. I hope you stick with photography. Good luck with your friend.

Make your photographs and display them on your walls and around your home. Photography is a solitary pursuit, so pursue it for your own satisfaction. Most feedback you'll get is pretty useless, and you shouldn't expect helpful candor from friends anyway. Even if they are honest, they are likely not to know what they are talking about enough to help you.

 

Know that if you solicit feedback, it will fall into two broad and intertwining categories: technical merit, and aesthetic impact. Big problem: few non-photographers know enough about the first category to offer you anything of much use, other than "I don't like it", or "it's out of focus" or "too dark." Solution is to learn--read all you can about the technical side of photography so that poor technique doesn't impede your expression of your vision.

 

As for the second: much tougher. Not sure anyone can tell you much beyond whether it impacted the viewer or not. That's highly subjective.

 

Posting on online forums is also problematic, since much of what is posted is frankly mediocre. Look carefully at the work of those who critique you and decide for yourself about their standing to offer criticism. If they've not posted any work at all, be wary.

 

Don't mean to sound cynical. Take photographs, learn and work to master your technique, and don't measure your success from the well-meaning but oft-uninformed judgments of friends.

Have you ever visited a relative after they return home from holiday and had to sit through

hours of looking at photographs or badly taken video. We all know how boring it can be.

It dosn't matter how much you like the person concerned - this pushes relationships to

the limit.

 

Only show a few pics at a time and ask permission first. Don't bore people to death with

your snapshots. We are all busy and consumed with our own lives. Get yourself an online

facility to show your photographs and then send friends and family a link to that page. I

find this is a good way to share snaps and still stay friends with those we care about.Copy

the following into your Google browser www.myphotoalbum.com/

and have fun sharing.

I agree Jennifer,, After having been asked to present illustrated talks on my travels around South America, I have been able to cut my slide showing down to 10 minutes, as compared to an hour when I began.. My guests always like the impact and content, and I always have a few who arrange to see more at another time, ... this way leaves me and my guests refreshed and enthusiastic

Another thought is to try to gear your showings specifically to your audience. If your friends can't appreciate photos without people in them (a big problem that I have when showing pics to my own family), show them only your portraits. Or if your friends enjoy action shots of sporting events, give that a whirl and show off your results. Also, I have found that my photos get a great reception when they are of activities or parties that I attended with said friends. You might not get a straight-forward critique, but people will likely choose their favorites and ask for copies of them, and that will at least tell you something.

Don't kid yourself, no one is as interested in your photo's as you are. The key is not to be

boring. People have short attention spans and are busy these days.

 

I e-mail pics to those who want them so thay can pick up the tab for printing. Most

photographs I have noticed end up in a drawers unloved and unwanted. That's your money.