dmacmillan wrote:
Of course you may, and thanks for your thoughts on the discussion. You brought up some excellent points.
However, let's remember there is a distinction between the kind of critique you addressed in your remarks and the kind of critique that is sought in a forum like this.
Yes....I was responding to the context of critiquing HCB's photo...
In the context to which you refer, critique may be purely technical, or aesthetic...but it is not a critique as much as an opinion...at least that's how I try to give advice...
I thought that I would add my two cents and get some therapy here. I usually hang out in the Nikon forum and the wedding forum. I too, read all of the Photo history books, got a BA and an MA Candidate in Photography before I gave up on school. Mostly, for my own entertainment and curiosity because I love photography. The computer graphics classes came later at a computer school. Those classes got me going in Photoshop of which I only use 1/3 of the program, like most other people. I now use Lightroom for mass edits and tweaks. I read Ken Rockwell as an alternate approach to lenses. I am very interested in optics, efficiency and actually using the Nikon lenses, mostly primes. Not as easy as it seems to get consistently good exposures in a variety of conditions as a people/event photographer. Everyone has a camera now and my learning seems incomplete/inadequate but it is my "Way" as in the Oriental philosophy. Meaning; that is where my path leads me thru experiences and different people. I always admired Avedon and Schuvullo as people photographers in the studio and Cartier Bresson for real life people pics. Can't ignore Renoir for beauty and color in painting. Critics? Who the F needs them? I see young shooters who do not know the so-called "rules" getting exciting pics because it is about emotions, color and composition. Instant feedback/instant results/quick learners. "A wasted Life in Photography" should be my theme song. Teach us creativity and don't talk to me about the old books teaching right brain/left brain. When we die, we are famous. When we live, we are critiqued. Print it.
Kaden, your post brought something else to mind. There is an odd phenomenon that has been at work not only in art, but also in politics and organizational development...all over the place, really.
It's the notion that if everyone has an opinion, then the best idea must be the combination of all those opinions. Everyone gets his say, and an equal share in a conclusion.
