Should I be listening to people for advice who have no portfolio?

[albert_richardson1]

<p>I like to blame the victim when it comes to this kind of thing. You get what you ask for. Poorly written queries don't offer a person who might help you enough information to have a clear idea of what you mean in the first place. People tend to think that their situation is universal and their predicament needs no explanation. As if to say, "It doesn't seem to be working. - You surely see exactly what I mean. - What do I do now?"</p>

<p>Someone asks you for directions. The battery in their GPS went dead. (Who uses maps any more?) All they will tell you is that they want to get to their destination. How can you say anything that might be useful at all without asking where they are coming from and where they want to go? You might ask what they have already done for themselves to get there.</p>

<p>The OP complains that he fears that there are people here on PN who lack the credentials to offer help to others. He want visible proof that a person is worthy of attention. So what's the problem? How does a person test the advice he gets for value? (A person does test advice, doesn't he? I do. I have a pretty good BS detector built into my brain, and I have suffered the consequences of following well-intentioned ideas from nitwits often enough to realize that it is up to me to be reasonable... It's not for nothing that we say that you can't believe everything you hear!)</p>

<p>So where does this leave Paul Bratescu? Can we do better than "Up the creek without a paddle?" I think so. To all the Pauls: Asking for help is a valuable life skill. One can make things hard for himself by being overly heroic when it comes to doing things all by oneself.</p>

<p>As I see it the issue is, "How can you serve your own self-interest to make sure you get better answers to your questions?" -- Ask better questions! Some people are very good at taking a few minutes to explain what they are doing, what they have done already, and what continues to be the matter. Help other help you by telling them what you're up to.</p>

<p>And don't expect other people to do your work for you. What's harder for Paul, recognizing a bonafide helper, or recognizing a silver bullet? Is it more reasonable to expect to get the very best answer to a query, or a comment that might point to a satisfactory result you have to work out for yourself? The latter, I think.</p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>take everything, digest it, trow the one that doestn fit you or doestn help you.</p>

<p>Portfolio or not, any advice could be good. For example, my girlfriend's not a photographer nor a retouching artist..but she is a female who take care of her body and estetic appereance..so when she give me a advice about my retouching, when im doing a ad campaing for a cosmetic client..if she told me something about the result, i will listen to her since she use make up for years..and im not ; )</p>

<p>___</p>

<p>Also, i like receiving advice from someone who can post images so i can see the result of is explanation..it give the person more credit, knowing a bit of background or seing a good image could help making a point.</p>

[lovcom_photo]

<p>I can never play basketball as good as Magic Johnson, yet I can point out to you players that are amazing, mediocre, great, bad, and well horrible. I know it when I see it, even if I can't do it.</p>

<p>There is no correlation between having a portfolio and knowing composition well.</p>

<p>As to technical aspects of photography, a portfolio may add weight to one's opinion, but this is never conclusive.</p>

<p>Back to composition: Often the best critique one can receive are from those that know little to nothing about cameras, or photography in general. What makes a critique valuable is less about having knowledge in photography, and more about having knowledge in composition in general.</p>

<p>And the converse is true to: There are those that know camera workflow and the technical side like the best pros, yet have never made a really good composition.</p>

<p>In short, listen to any and all critiques, regardless of the skill and knowledge of the one giving it. Harmonize what you are told across many opinions.</p>

<p> </p>

[animalexplorer]

<p>I was not talking about critiques but technical advice instead, if it were critiques I would listen to the majority. This isn't about being able to observe the best basketball player on the team, it's about getting good technical advice from the best basketball player on the team. One's accomplishments seems more significant than words, but when you take the two and combine them it equals great advice. I'm not a great basketball player and I dont know much about the sport itself, but if I were to take advice from anybody I would choose Michael Jordan simply because he's one of the professionals that did it right. Yes, I do approach it as a "Take it or leave it situation", but I find that I learn better from people who have excellent images in their portfolio or their personal website, photographers that do it right. I appreciate everyone that contributed to this post, I'll also keep in mind not to shut anyone out. I have learned from you that it is better to get advice than no advice at all. Thank you for your time.<br>

Paul :)</p>

[Brad_]

<p>>>> There is no correlation between having a portfolio and knowing composition well.</p>

<p>Yes there is. Correlation can be both positive and negative valued; ie, from a range of +1 to -1. If a person has a portfolio online that demonstrates the principles of good composition, then the correlation is high that the person knows composition well. If the portfolio demonstrates poor composition skills, then the correlation is high (and negatively valued) that the person does not know composition well. Both conditions, high positive and high negative correlations are useful.</p>

<p>And that's the whole point. Photos speak volumes. If there's an online discussion about composition, and a contributor has a portfolio of well-composed images, then a beginner can feel confident that the advice rendered comes from a photographer who knows composition well; usually from years of experience.</p>

[lovcom_photo]

<p>Paul what do you mean by "excellent images"? In regard to technical camera workflow, or composition? So which is it? You need to understand that one can know proper lighting a camera workflow like a pro yet show mediocre compositions in their portfolio...see what I mean?</p>

<p>In other words, one can find really mediocre compositions that were light "perfectly", exposed "perfectly" and post process "perfectly". So can you learn anything from such photographers? YES, you can...they can teach you loads of info about the technical aspects, technique, etc...but will that teach you to make "excellent images"? Not really....if you want to make "excellent images" the place to start is to learn composition...technical knowhow with out compositional skills is dead. The reverse is true too, but making a great comp with mediocre technical skills is much better then making a mediocre comp with excellent technique.</p>

[nogub]

<p><br />If the advice you recieved, comes from someone who doesn't has pictures in his photo.net portfolio search fot his name in google and you'll end in his portfolio form another website. If you don't find it, why not to try with his/her advice?<br />If you have bad experiences with those, you could buy books or magazines that will help you in all the aspects. When I was returning from Houston to my house in Mexico, I saw in the airport the magazine PHOTOgraphic, this month's edition is great. It includes 13 basic interesting articles that might help you as they did to me.<br />Greetings. Noel.</p>

[joe_jackson4]

<p>Information can be useful. Opinions can be interesting. Advice can be ignored.... :)</p>

[marta_cajiao]

<p>Hi Paul,<br>

While a portfolio is a good way to judge a persons advice--you can see their results and make up your mind about what they can achieve and how good their advice might be;there are times when people,like me who are new to the site haven't put out their portfolio. Advice is just that-- Advice. Advice is like giving birth--I am taking into account that your ability in that area is limited--however,a woman can ask another what it is like to give birth but,it isn't the same as exepriencing childbirth...some experiences are better felt yourself and learned by trial and error then by asking about. Does that make sense to you? If not,well...</p>

[Brad_]

<p>>>> however,a woman can ask another what it is like to give birth but,it isn't the same as exepriencing childbirth...some experiences are better felt yourself and learned by trial and error then by asking about.</p>

<p>If you are a pregnant woman, and going to give birth in 4 months and need some advice from other women about things to consider, things to expect, and what to prepare for, would you prefer the advice and give more consideration to women who have never given birth (but have read a lot about it on the internet), or, from women who have recently given and experienced birth?<br>

<br /></p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>..im glad im a man, so i dont have to think about that question! ; )</p>