TRReichman
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To be honest, while I still stand by the critique I ultimately regret posting mine. Its very clear that it was not requested by the OP. To be honest I felt there was a certain amount of hubris in the comments perhaps suggesting that the lighting and the skill behind it was beyond reproach. It doesn't bother me that the OP may feel that way (hey, they may not, it is the internet after all and the OP is probably a swell guy). But it think its a bit irresponsible of us to put work out there to the less vocal or less skilled folks on the forum and say in effect, "this person is better than you, if they do something that doesn't work, its still awesome because they did it."
There is a bit of hero worship in photography and while its cool to build a reputation we should be careful to herald great work specifically and not just great people. Great photographers can sometimes turn in photography that may still be improved upon. Also, great craft is great craft regardless of style. And just being "outside the box" doesn't necessarily equal good. Having said that, they great work that they do and did create is still great. One session does not make or break a studio or tarnish a reputation. Most of us still have something to learn.
I also think that there should be some convention on the forum for posting images. If all someone wants is a series of "attaboys" for what they post, that should be clear. If the OP only wants responses from certain levels of photographers, that ought to be clear also. If the poster wants to place caveats on the circumstances of the session so that those things aren't brought into the critique, well, that ought to be in there too.
I really, desperately have no interest in getting personal on this thread. Nevertheless it sometimes difficult with the way things read. In particular I'd rather not have to list qualifications in a urinating contest when posting. If that becomes the case we need to have some way of posting in our profiles how much we make on average, where we've been published, and whether we work regionally, nationally or internationally (which is apparently very important in this case) in order to merit entrance in the discussion. But statements like those about the folks that "couldn't begin to light those images" are dismissive and once again indicative of a certain amount of hubris. Its presumptive to assume that people don't know how to light a given situation. And its true that I work without created light for most of my work, but rather dismissive to assume that I know nothing about light. Regardless of situation (how many lights, available fixtures, non-dimmable practical lights) there is ALWAYS something that can be done to control ratios, direction, quality, etc. Again, its not entirely credible to decry a personal attack after slinging a few. For the record, the OP is absolutely within their rights to have no respect for my opinion. I don't demand respect or appreciation and clearly haven't earned it in this case.
To turn this around, I am more than happy that this session is turning into work for the OP. I wish them nothing but scads of work and money. It doesn't benefit me or give me selfish glee to see anything bad happen to them and I applaud them for seeing a vision through. I'm more concerned with steering the conversation for people tuning into these threads hoping to learn something about photography, not with judging a photographer. I'm really not trying to be a critic. Its easy to cut down, and takes guts to put your work out there. Its also takes guts to weather the slings and arrows and takes humility to not run away from them but accept them for whatever value they offer.
Once again, I apologize not for having an opinion, but for any intended effects of communicating that opinion. Please feel free to judge my work, character or whatever you like - its only fair considering.
- trr (many thanks and sincere apologies)
p.s. if anyone (OP, or anyone else) was offended by any of my comments, please feel free to blast away in public or send me a private message so I can apologize directly.
Edited on Nov 11, 2009 at 06:32 PM · View previous versions
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