how many of you are getting useful critiques in the comments on your sites?

i ask because i find that every single one of the comments that we've received have been positive, and most of them very generic; e.g. "great shots", "nice", "good colors", etc.

then there are the shots that don't receive any comments whatsoever. i don't know if it's because they are poor or because everyone else lost their connection to the internet.

of course, i also find that these are the kind of comments that i post on your sites. my reasoning is probably along the same lines as everyone else's: 1) i don't comment on shots i'm not really fond of for fear of hurting feelings/ ruffling feathers; and 2) my positive comments are general and generic because i don't like overanalyzing art, and i'm too lazy to go into great detail.

anyway, for future reference, should any of you ever view our humble site and feel the urge/need to leave some constructive criticism - feel free - we're both pretty thick skinned.

Frank:
"One of the greatest attributes of this blog is the advice we can all give one another, so I thank you all in advance for your assistance!!"

*I included that because I was not grandstanding, rather I wanted to draw upon those who have expertise or experience with the subject matter I have taken a dip into recently, and since photoblogs.org is a fairly diverse pool of shooters who choose to shoot all kinds of subjects I thought someone out there could point me towards a resource or lend advice from their own backgrounds(s), I placed the post in the Photo Tips category so to act as a possible reference for others seeking the same answers or advice.
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If the post appears not worthy, please, Brandon, remove it, I do not want to appear anything less than inquisitive and wanting to draw from the experience of those shooters I am reaching out to, plus making it a forum for advice and ideas on the how to’s and such of shooting macros/nature shots.

cheers,
matthias

Me, so that's one at least

But I've found that unless you ask it doesn't happen. I include a reasonably lengthy summary of my images and often request some constructive critique, normally about some aspect of that particular shot (composition, colour, whatever), and when I do that I often get that sort of feedback.

Have a look at the comments for these two images (particularly the first one) and you'll see what I mean:

http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/archives/0406240652_clean.php
http://www.chromasia.com/iblog/archives/0406250724_clean.php

Generally though, I think it's much harder to leave constructive criticism on blogs that are only image based, or include a one-liner by way of description because, as Ian notes, there's always a risk that you might offend someone. So if you do want such comments, find a way to make that explicit on your blog.

I find the most useful comments are those in which someone says they like the work. These are useful, because they are encouraging and make me want to do more.

I find the most interesting comments are those which examine the content of the work in some way, but these are exceedingly rare.

I usually avoid leaving technical comments. People never seem to leave technical comments on my site either, though I've seen plenty elsewhere. They rearly seem useful to me. I might leave such a comment if the artist specifically asks for it.

Just ask yourself: If you were at an amateur art show, would you go up and suggest to the artist that their painting would be better if the subject was a little more to the right, or if the sky was a less intense blue?

I like Ian's topic rephrasing of the topic:

"how many of you are getting useful critiques in the comments on your sites?"

Answer:

Not me, I only get the "nice photo!" comments, but I am guilty of giving the same kind of comments. Truth is that I once got ripped for giving some minor crits to a friend(he chose to end the friendship over it) and since I've been reluctant to offer any critiques in the fear I will offend someone. It's too easy for someone to take a critique negetivly if they are insecure about their work. So I understand that when it boils down to it, sometimes all you can say is "nice photo!" Also after visiting 40+ sites you start to run out of stuff to say about good photos... which is another reason why I'm taking a break from commenting ;).

I do like to get the occasionaly bit of technical information or comparison sharded through my site's comments even though I don't outright ask for them. but the "critiques" that I usually find uninteresting and in some cases annoying are those that focus on composition and colour too much.

I am happy if someone can help me take better photos by lending me some of their technical knowledge or tips that only experience can bring but for me critiques regarding my framing of subjects, choice of subjects, etc. are useless.

I don't 100% love these elements in every photo I post but I also don't think there is a gold standard for composing photos.

I also get a certain level of this type of commentary from people who clearly have no idea what they're talking about but hope to come across as if they do.

sorry... rant over