I just had mine today.
it was rushed just before entry close for Point of View.
story goes,
I went for a really dark image with impact (like the image on oakley sunglasses box)
well, out of 4 people that have seen it,
I've had 2 people hide the fact they hated it,
1 say it was crap,
and 1, quote, "what is this sh.t, what do people see in this, this has got to be your worst photo, won;t be surprised if you come last with this one"
and then when walking away had another few stabs at how awful it was.
I really liked it :(
seems the votes are showing I really did create some crap, I still like it tho!
it really shouldn't hurt, because this comment has absolutely nothing to do with your submission... you may or may not come last, first, or anywhere in between, it doesn't really matter...it does say a lot about the person who left it and his/her own issues though...
Personally I don't class any comments as bad - they are the views of the person leaving them. Are you aiming to disuade people from leaving comments incase they aren't "acceptable"?
My worst (or most negative) was for my wabbit tracks.
"Terrible. Out of focus, too tall and thin horizontally, bad title of the pic, etc. This may be one the worst images I've ever seen. :)"
Would the comment have been better if it said:
This photo is too soft for my personal taste. I also don't care much for the tall/thin composition. The title also lacks creativity and I have seen a lot better photos.
I think that commenting has gotten to be way off track...I was at a workshop on giving and receiving critical feedback recently (wonderfully titled: Signal to Noise Ratio) and was reminded that we comment on what the image or words do to/for us, we comment on technique, but we don't comment on content. Content is the "intent" of the photographer, writer, or painter. If we are unsettled by content we can own our confusion in the form of a question. "Did you mean the viewer to feel...?" "Was your intent to shock?" "Did you want to make me angry?"
My Action entry garnered some of my worst comments...although I have also gotten a couple of gems on others. I have a long way to go technically but I am also amused, frustrated, and angered when I get comments that tell me how I "should" change elements because the content is "wrong" without a question as to what I might have been trying to achieve. Sometimes the jarring element is there for a reason - tell me you didn't get it, tell me it didn't work for you, give me room for my own intent.
By the way, I respond to criticism that is technical by redoing the shot - Harz-Joerg has been enormously helpful in that regard. I think that for us "learners" a suggestion rather than a value judgement is more to the point. I hear value judgement alone in the comments below.
There is also value judgement in the word disgusting--and, for the record, my intent was that joy is different for different folks and it was to be a little humorous
I don't see this as a bad comment. At least not how I read it. Seems to me he is saying he doesn't have a clue as to what to make of the image or what the image is of and not that you don't have a clue.
Do you not like the comment because of what it says or because of how it was said?
It's the how, John. The way you phrased it is fine. It's the fine line between critique and insult. I've had comments much more critical than that one, which is fine. Either way, I have thick skin and only brought that one up due to the thread topic. I had pretty much forgotten about it until this sparked my memory.
THis was made after the challenge by some dude that has made only three comments of which youe cant see one of them. Dunno who the guy is but I have an idea. Anyway, he hasn't entered yet & suspect he will not & hasn't posted any threads.
It was mean but I thought it was funny. How come all the mean comments are incomplete hard to undertand sentences?
How do you see your score/comments? thanks.. i'm new here :)
Ahhh nevermind I found it.
I actually hope i get a lot of comments, since it was my very first submission and could have been A LOT better. It was a little rushed. I want to know what others think could have been better about it.
The worst comments I have and continue to receive are those revealing a gross and sometimes (apparently) deliberate ignorance of fact. I image that these evolve (pun intended) from an exclusively personal view with a personal aim or direction. Such comments frequently address the photographer instead of the pitcher before us.
Some comments also appear to attempt an articulation of prejudice, usually unaccompanied by reason(s).
I remind myself that comments are just that - comments, no more. I don't much care for comments at all. If I wanted to socialize, at least an appreciation of the genre would be there, but I'm not submitting photos for socialization. What I'm after, ideally, is a response to the facts (emotional or physical) of the photo either in the form of a critique or by way of a simple reflection in regular prose.
I have, indeed, been fortunate to have received very supportive comments from a minority of commenters which equipped me to withstand the onslaught of a majority of voters. To these I'm especially grateful.
I think we would learn more from looking back through our Own comments and selecting the worst comment we have made.
Although I am sure I have many that were not great comments here is one of mine:
wow - very cool. I really like this = 9
Have I helped the photographer here? I don't say what about the shot I like, I don't provide anything useful to them. Although many people might like the pat on the back I would rather get some more information about what was "cool" or why a person liked the photo.
okay, this is slightly off-topic, but i once got a surprising, testy reply to a comment i'd made. maybe i was this person's worst commenter ever.
the challenge was "song titles", the photograph i'd commented on was titled 'take the a train'.
it showed a young man at the side of the train tracks, looking pensive, not necessarily cheerful, as he looked down the line. behind him, a sign on the station wall read "Rockville ->".
here's what i commented: "see take the a train is so much more of a swingin' song than this guy merits. sorry guy, no offense, he just doesn't strike me as that groovy, more pensive. besides, there's a perfectly good rem song called don't go back to rockville, suits him so much better."
a little crass, a little flippant maybe, but i didn't think it would break anybody's heart.
a day or two later i get a message back, the photographer telling me that it was her son in the picture, that she took high offense to my comment. she had a few choice words for me, had gone to my profile to do a little research, told me i was very obviously a shallow person who was trying too hard to be cool.
so these days, when folks post pictures of their kids and/or pets, i think twice before posting a comment that could in any way be taken as insulting.
i never quite figured out how she came to know that i'm shallow. it takes most people a while to figure that out...
