Part 2- Accepting Criticism
You thought the shot through as best you could. You planned multiple visits to the location to understand how light affected it at different times of day and in different seasons. You took multiple test shots to get a feel for the composition that you were thinking of going with. Finally the day arrived when conditions were perfect. You made the photo that you are convinced is top notch. The composition is perfect, the subject is inviting, the light is magical. You look at the final result and say to yourself, "Wow!".
You post it on your favorite web sites fully expecting others to say "Wow! What a great shot". Then you read the comments left and find that your castles in the sand have all washed away with the tide. It's a pretty crappy feeling. Then the anger sets in and you begin to reason that these people don't have any clue what they are looking at.
Or do they? After all, you posted the shot to solicit comments in the first place. You INVITED the critique. Shame on you, you set yourself up. Now, let the anger and disappointment settle down for a while, maybe even for a few days. Go back and re-read what the comments say. Skip the empty ones that say "this sucks", "I don't like it", or even the ones that say "This is great!". Really, if they can't tell you why, they wasted your time as well as their own. Maybe they don't even know why, they are simply trying to put down decent work so that their crap doesn't look so bad. It won't work.
For the sake of this discussion, let's assume that one kind person left a fairly detailed critique. Don't take offense at the suggestions, but look through it and find the really important stuff. This person is telling you what they have observed, how the shot strikes them. It doesn't mean they are correct, or even that know anything about photography or art. What's important to keep in mind is that they care enough to share their thoughts and that there is probably something in their comments that can help you look at your work from a different viewpoint. Some time ago I took what is probably my best photograph. I've posted it on several different forums and received a wide variety of comments and suggestions. In all honesty I blew off a good number of them. But not until I considered each one and decided if they had any merit. The first one that made sense was a small crop to remove a minor distraction on the left of the frame. For some reason I had completely missed it. The next was a little more work with curves to tone down something that was perceived as being blown out. The last change was a pretty drastic crop. The crop itself was not actually suggested by anyone, but the commentary on the shot led me to believe it was the right thing to do. I didn't agree with the first person or two that pointed out the distractions. In fact I thought it was pretty good the way it was. As more people pointed out similar concerns, I conceded and cropped out about 1/3 off the right and a 1/4 off the top. The result? Not only do I like it better, as of this writing, it's in a web contest and doing very well. Much better I'm sure than it would have had I not cropped it.
One point here should be repeated. Others are looking at your work cold, from their viewpoint. They don't have any emotional ties or time into your work. DON'T be offended by what people say. DO pick through it looking for what's applicable.
