Damien Demolder
Tharg the Mighty
Reged: 22/08/2001
Posts: 1055
Loc: Essex born and badly-bred
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Are you a good judge of your own work, or do you find it difficult to know what's good or bad?
I took a good picture a couple of weeks ago and it has left me in bits. You’d think I would be pleased, but I’m devastated. I got up at 4am, drove to a great location and sat in the car for an hour while it rained. Once it was safe I got into position, tripod-mounted a great camera, fitted an excellent lens, top class ND grad’ and shot away from a perfect position as the sun broke through a series of gaps in the clouds to streak across the sky and illuminate the details of the distant hills. The sky had drama, the colours were excellent and the unfolding natural subject almost perfect.
As I viewed the frames on my return, I could see they were among the greatest pictures I’ve taken, so I sorted through them and added one to my collection of ‘best pictures’. As it settled into position I became aware that the other ‘best pictures’ were no match for its splendour. In fact, now they are hardly ‘best’ at all.
In a way I wish I hadn’t got up. One minute I had quite a portfolio of pictures I thought pretty good, but now I’m left with only one.
My wife disagrees of course, saying that my older pictures are still good - but that always feels like she's patting me on the head and saying 'of course you're a clever boy'.
Are you a good judge of your own work? Go to the home page to take part in the poll.
Thanks for playing -
damien
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See my photographs at www.wordsonpictures.com
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huwevans
Old Hand
Reged: 05/08/2000
Posts: 15553
Loc: Dorset, UK
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I don't know, but I'm the only judge whose opinion I'm bothered about. :-)
Edit: I've voted 'yes', because in light of the above, my opinion must always be right! :-)
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Huw Evans.
   
Edited by huwevans (16/08/2008 17:08)
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Dave_Cox
old'n'grumpy
Reged: 12/07/2006
Posts: 3236
Loc: somewhere in Sussex
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^^what Huw said^^
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Growing old disgracefully!
http://snapper56.deviantart.com/gallery/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave2006/
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Zou
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/02/2007
Posts: 2154
Loc: Edinburgh
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^^^
What they said. My photos are for me.
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Zou's Flickr Page
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Gromit
enthusiast
Reged: 03/06/2008
Posts: 290
Loc: Sunny Swansea, UK
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Ditto. As long as I like them I'm happy, if anyone else does then it's a bonus.
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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To judge means making a comparison, but what with? Other photographs you've taken or other photographs taken by photographers you admire? I voted 'no', mainly because after years of going to exhibitions and having bought or borrowed hundreds of photobooks, whether I like it or not, I've managed to place the bar for myself fairly high and suspect I 'reject' many that other folk would be happy with. Now I know I take the odd photograph I can be pleased with but all that does, as Garry says, is simply to relegate what's gone before. In addition, the photographs of my own that I like varies with my mood and can usually be counted on the fingers of one hand!
The following is really me thinking out loud so it may not make a lot of sense!
The 'As long as I like them I'm happy' response (I'm thinking of everyone with a variation on this, not just Gromit) is not actually answering the question it suggests that there are some you don't like, so back to the original question, "Are you a good judge of your own work?" And, what criteria should you use? For me photography is about communication so a successful photo will be one that elicits a response from the viewer - which could be negative as well as positive. Then again, if a photograpgh gets no response does it make it a bad photograph? Or could it simply mean the viewer is not sufficently clued up - it took me years before I 'got' people like Lee Friedlander or Diane Arbus - or maybe it isn't that good and I'm just deluded 
I remember many years ago going into Boots to pick up some prints and the girl saying to me, "You must be a good photographer, they all came out". So, I guess its all down to the criteria you use!
End of ramble and time for a drink!
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AlanW
Edited by AlanW (16/08/2008 20:19)
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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Off course when I say "Garry", I mean "Damien" 
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AlanW
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Learning
Ethelred the Ill-Named
Reged: 26/09/2006
Posts: 2463
Loc: Nottingham
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No. But I'm not a photogtapher for public aclaim so that doesn't matter.
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lisadb
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 05/09/2006
Posts: 1709
Loc: Staffs
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No. I think I've got a good photo, then I get home and start pulling it to bits. Also, I think the more you look at your own pics the more used you get to them, and the freshness/newness of the image leaves you.  Lisa.
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wollemi - 'look around you, keep your eyes open and watch out' (Australian aboriginal word)
My Flickr page
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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Its not about public aclaim, IMO, its about becoming a better photographer.
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AlanW
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FujiSigmaNolta
I can pan!
Reged: 21/06/2005
Posts: 1536
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Quote:
but that always feels like she's patting me on the head and saying 'of course you're a clever boy'.
Aren't they always doint that? 
I don't think I am a good judge of my own work as I never know what to submit to anything to be honest. I do try my best though.
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Regards,
Luis
My Flickr mess
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huwevans
Old Hand
Reged: 05/08/2000
Posts: 15553
Loc: Dorset, UK
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Quote:
The 'As long as I like them I'm happy' response (I'm thinking of everyone with a variation on this, not just Gromit) is not actually answering the question
Oh yes it is - most emphatically so.
Quote:
so back to the original question, "Are you a good judge of your own work?" And, what criteria should you use?
What do you mean, should? There's no should about it - we can all use any standard we want to. Photography is an entirely voluntary activity - we are all free to set ourselves whatever goals we want to, and similarly to set whatever standards by which to judge our performance that we want to. There are no laws that dictate what our photographs have to look like, or what they have to do for us or for anyone else. We choose our own goals, and therefore our own standards.
Take communication, for instance, since you brought it up. I can relate to that, but that doesn't mean that my goal in communication is necessarily the same as yours. For you, the response from someone else is clearly critical. But personally I'm much more concerned about the action of speaking, and saying what I wish to say, than whether or not I'm heard or understood. In photographic terms, I record or present - possibly to others, possibly just to myself - via my pictures, something of my view of the world. But the pictures are like a personal diary entry - they're not in fact meant to portray anything about the world, but are actually a portrayal of myself. That's why my judgement is the only one that matters. No-one else can judge them properly, in just the same way as no-one else could write down the thoughts in my head.
And that's why, virtually by definition, I must be a good judge - it is my very action in choosing the pictures I choose that defines whether they are good or bad, right or wrong, successful or unsuccessful. No-one else's 'opinion' even enters into the matter.
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Huw Evans.
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Gromit
enthusiast
Reged: 03/06/2008
Posts: 290
Loc: Sunny Swansea, UK
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Quote:
The 'As long as I like them I'm happy' response (I'm thinking of everyone with a variation on this, not just Gromit) is not actually answering the question it suggests that there are some you don't like, so back to the original question, "Are you a good judge of your own work?"
Why doesn't that answer the question. I can be very critical of my own work but does it really matter as I'm only doing it for my own pleasure. Surely it's up to me what standards I set and art is very subjective, so I don't expect everyone to appreciate what I take, or what I like. If I was taking them for a client then it would be an entirely different matter.
Maybe I should have said 'as long as I'm happy with the ones I keep' as yes there are many which are rejected. I wouldn't be judging my own work if I thought they were all perfect.
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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Wish I could be as sure , Huw, life would be so much easier.
"I don't trust my inner feelings, inner feelings come and go" - Leonard Cohen.
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AlanW
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Terrywoodenpic
A whiff of silicon...
Reged: 21/01/2006
Posts: 418
Loc: Saddleworth UK
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I do not judge all my photographs by the same criteria.
A family snap, a progress shot, a landscape or indeed a street scene all have different aims and people they may need to appeal to.
The ones that fail totally I do not keep, those with some redeeming features may still have a purpose. However those that seem near perfect are so because, either I have yet to to better, or familiarity with them has not shown me their faults.
Like Olympic records those in the top category only represent my very best efforts , not my working standards.
In the light of experience any shot, can at a later date progress to a top slot or fall from grace.
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63 happy photo years from amateur to professional and back to amateur
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Footloose
Carpal \'Tunnel
Reged: 11/08/2005
Posts: 3188
Loc: Berkshire based.
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Whilst I think that I am able to Judge what I think is a good image, this seems to differ from what other perceive as being a good image. Maybe I find it difficult to convey 'emotion' and that (to me) unquantifiable quality, that stops viewers in their tracks. This could possibly be because I find it difficult / uncomfortable revealing my personal emotions to other people.
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Trainee reprobate with a pronounced limp (spelt L .. I .. M .. P.)
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AlanW
Reged: 08/01/2001
Posts: 3119
Loc: Edinburgh
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I agree with Terry, it all depends on the type and purpose of the photograph. A family snap or a landscape (record shot) might only require them to be sharp and have a reasonable composition while different criteria comes into play with something involving an element of 'creativity' or 'chance'.
To help explain where I'm coming from - about 99% of my shots come under the heading of 'street photography' which (for me) involves shooting masses (!) and then editing ruthlessly to pick out the odd 'gem'. One thing I've learned over the years is that people often 'read' photographs differently and sometimes people will point out things in my own photographs I hadn't noticed myself! So I'm not always the best judge of my own work!
The hard part comes when I'm asked to submit a selection of photographs for publication (about 3 or 4 times in the last couple of years). On one occasion, an art photography magazine in the Middle East asked for 15-20 photographs for a 'street' issue, 13 were printed, and I can tell you editing your own work is never easy when there's something at stake. Especially when putting together a portfolio where perfectly good shots may have to be 'rejected' simply because they don't gel with the others . . . . but maybe this is a slightly different issue:(
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AlanW
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Done&rundleCams
Senior Member
Reged: 20/12/2001
Posts: 16869
Loc: Vancouver, BC
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I prepared seven(7) pics for entry into a "news clips contest" and had them all
cropped for entry until a friend (shoots for a daily) looked at the pictures, looked
at me and said:
You're not serious.... are you? 
and made me delete them all and sent me to re-crop them ..... Tight, Tighter
and even Tighter, yet again:  which I did and now am in the waiting
for the results
Cheers,
Jack
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Life is a Photo-op
MY BLOG: www.nakedmanonawire.blogspot.com
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mjc7uk
Am I banned yet?
Reged: 08/07/2006
Posts: 2867
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Erm, yes and no would be the case on me.
I don't judge my photograph (snaps) as it my personal pleasure, but then if I am not happy with the "snap" I'd be judging wouldn't I?
As an example of my recent enquire here on Forums about my photo of Vulcan, some here say it need tweaking here and there...I just look at it and decide it's good enough for me so I had it printed as is. It look great in my hallway...with decent frame from John Lewis.
"If you like it then it's good enough!"
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The Nikonboy is back...
We can't stand about here doing nothing. People will think we're workmen. - Spike Milligan.
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El Sid
Going potty
Reged: 14/04/2003
Posts: 9541
Loc: Sussex-by-the-Sea
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I feel I have to vote no...
I find it a lot easier to look at other folks work and comment on that than to decide whether my own efforts are good enough. You may have noticed that my entries into the monthly forum comp are usually pretty much last minute and at least part of this is down to the fact that I struggle to determine which of the potential entries is likely to hit the mark. TBH sometimes the decision is down to a case 'it'll have to be this one' because there's no more time left for prevarication....
I also find it difficult to be ruthless when editing any shot's I've downloaded to the PC. I think I'm getting better at it though as I'm now not marking so many us as keepers... alternatively I'm just getting worse pictures.........
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Nigel
Completely BSRIPN
ElSid Gallery
A camera in the hand is more fun than one in the cupboard........
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