Again, quoting from the article; dpchallenge.com; "Critique for Dummies - A Practical Guide" by John M. Setzler, Jr:

"How to receive a critique:

Critiques are opinions and nothing more. They are reflections of the people giving them. You should never argue or complain about a critique. You will either agree with it or you won’t. When you post a photo to a public forum for critique, you must be prepared to hear the worst-case scenarios as well as the educated critiques. If you are sensitive about your photos, posting them online is not a good idea. Don’t expect everyone to share your sentiments about any given photo. Photography is supposed to be fun. Don’t let negative critiques change your own opinion of your work. Have a good time."

Seemed relevant and important to place these words at this juncture.

... ...

... ...

Still got my eye on yous, though ...

;o)

Actually I came across that same article some time ago. It's nice to refresh my memory on the points covered in the article which were very straight forward.

Then yes, how to receive a critique is equally important as giving one.

*leaves a cookie .... or two*

Thank you Les. ;-)

(*steals Les' cookies pre-stale*)

I have always thought of a critique as a negative sandwich. You start with the good....slide in the negative...and finish with some good. I admit...I don't always follow that rule....heck I don't always critique, but when the feeling hits me, that is how I try to do it.

You are absolutely right Paul. I attended a course at work on giving feedback to staff - the main message is start with a positive, give some constructive criticism for things that could be changed, then end on a positive again. I try to apply that when writing a comment, but I am hopeless at giving structured critiques - my brain analsyes but I have a problem putting what I feel into words! ...so my critiques will always be brief but I like to think that they are honest.

ps pinches Les's last cookie! haha!

Hmm, I hope this is the right spot for this comment. This is simply a suggestion, not an invite to debate, nor a challenge to one. Nor anything else negative or hostile.

I had a thought (shh..it happens, honest) and I figured I'd share it with everyone. It's no secret that I'm no fan of the current voting system. I tried, just as a trial, to upload something recently, and it received.. let's just say it didn't receive glowing results in the VB.

So here's my thought; why not, for any of you, like me, who choose not to put images up for voting, do something else to "give back" to the community instead? I know I stink at getting off my keister and a) offering comments on others' work, and b) acknowledging the comments offfered for my images. Still, I figured, instead of just posting up images, without doing my "duty" of voting first, how about.. offering up ten (or more) comments on other images, for every one of yours?

I know I know.. some of you might already do that, but are those ten comments/critiques just offered to images belonging to people on your friends list, or the site as a whole?

The answer, my friends and fellow Caedesians, isn't one I'm asking you to type here, but rather, keep this one to yourselves.. a bit of introspection, perhaps.

Ok, I'm done.. anyone need some firewood from this soapbox?

Um.. not exactly what I said. Sorry for your frustrations though.

*edit* the post above me seems to have been edited.. no biggie though.

Oh, this is interesting ... I think?