Apologies if been asked before, but does PAD work for you?

[vid64]

Y'know, with all this talk of crap photos, I feel I just have to revive this thread from a couple of years(!) back....

http://forum.pbase.com/viewtopic.php?t=3263

And to keep on topic - notice how many contributers from then are still around today... guess PaDing works for them too!

[halesr]

I PaD when I can, but lately family commitments have gotten in the way. I do think I have been pushed by the padding experience to shoot more and process more. BUT, the thing I have most gained from the experience is a feeling of connection to a group of other photographers.

CRITIQUES: I really want honest feedback. I try to provide that in my comments by stating what about a photo works for me. I also provide suggestions of what I think might work better, but I do those as private comments to the poster.

It is impossible for me to tell which padders want critiques and which are posting more for their own satisfaction and don't care to get feedback. It would be really nice to have a Meta Gallery that is for folks who want serious critiques.

Another angle I am working on that was suggested by a photography professor at the local university is that some photos (especially since I try to do collages and montages) need more than a single attempt. Some deserve to be edited, added to, deleted from and time to grow and expand or change overtime. Since I have no problem with posting what I want to post to my PaD, I plan to include images that grow and change overtime. I have already done this once.

I started my PaD this last summer and plan to finish, but I am not really strict on getting something posted EVERY day. In fact, I think I only have one complete month so far.--Rene

[gpaai]

I feel I just have to revive this thread from a couple of years(!) back....

I miss the daily posts by people like Angela and Jill... True Artists indeed. (Not to say there aren't some true artists around today.)

[catbounds]

Someone asked waaay back on the first page of this thread how you get your galleries noticed if you don't do a PAD. I am active in several digital art forums, and that's where I get most of my comments from because most of my galleries are about digital art.

But I began a PAD this January because I am inspired by the awesome photography in other galleries; I have become a lot more familiar with my camera since I challenged myself to use it (almost) everyday. In fact, I've just bought a DSLR camera because I want to take better photos, and I'm learning which lenses to buy, so participating in PAD inspires me to grow.

[djwixx]

I have to agree with catbounds. I decided to buy a DSLR because I found my photographic interest growing by doing a PAD. It makes you focus on photography, rather than just the normal family and/or tourist shots that the weekends offer.

I accept many consider my pictures crap, but it's an educational and fun experience for me, which improves with feedback by sharing - sharing pictures and getting feedback improve the learning experience. I've being doing a PAD for almost 3 months now, and when I don't get feedback I know the picture I took that day 'missed' and hence no comment is as good as positive comment.

[gpaai]

I've being doing a PAD for almost 3 months now, and when I don't get feedback I know the picture I took that day 'missed' and hence no comment is as good as positive comment.

I think one of the things going on with PAD anymore is that there are a lot of members taking advantage of the Meta Gallery. By this I mean The PAD Meta Gallery population has increased to the point that any particular image is burried in an hour.

So unless you have other members that go out of their way seeking out your images, on some days it might not be so much that your image "missed", but rather was just "overlooked".

When I started PAD, it seemed the average image would stay 3 to 4 pages from the top a good part of the day. Now an image is 3 or 4 pages down within 30 to 45 minutes.

There are many times now I will see someone's PAD image quite by accident a week later and wonder how I overlooked it. I rely more on my favorites list now than I ever did. If a PADder is not on that list, many times I may not even see their image.

Gary

[djwixx]

I have found the number of comments (views) depends on the time you post a picture. I posted a picture late at about 10pm MST and got no comments. Just out of curiosity I deleted the image this morning at 08am MST and reposted it and got 5 comments.

Where I have time a try to look through a full day of pictures 2/3 times a week. You can see where some people obviously just post a picture from a gallery they want viewed. In one case the same model at the same shoot appeared in two of three days. As you have pointed out it seems the PAD is probably being a little abused, or at least peoples understanding of its use is different from a lot of others.

[pathfindar]

Where I have time a try to look through a full day of pictures 2/3 times a week. You can see where some people obviously just post a picture from a gallery they want viewed. In one case the same model at the same shoot appeared in two of three days. As you have pointed out it seems the PAD is probably being a little abused, or at least peoples understanding of its use is different from a lot of others.

I found the same thing. I finally e-mailed one person and asked them how many times they were going to load the same image after the third time.

I have gotten to the point where I do a mouseover on the name under the picture and if the gallery doesn't seem to be a PAD one, I don't go there. I try to visit at least 20 other PAD galleries when I post mine. The other day about a third of the pages weren't PAD galleries.

[mesullivan]

I too think there are too many non pad photos in the pad meta gallery. Also there are days I think the pad works for me and days it doesn't. It is nigh impossible for me to shoot anything of worth on the days I work so at this point I'm not even sure I should be doing a PAD. I have decided to decide by the end of this month if I will continue this or not.

[yannp]

It would be really nice to have a Meta Gallery that is for folks who want serious critiques.

Yes, yes, yes.
PADding is only about making PBase friends who will reply to your own comments and vote if you do so too. Not only the pictures are crap, but the whole concept has been crapped So now, a good idea would be to create a "Criticize me" gallery where friendship will have nothing to have with comments and votes. I will surely be part of it

[djwixx]

It would be really nice to have a Meta Gallery that is for folks who want serious critiques.

Yes, yes, yes.
PADding is only about making PBase friends who will reply to your own comments and vote if you do so too. Not only the pictures are crap, but the whole concept has been crapped So now, a good idea would be to create a "Criticize me" gallery where friendship will have nothing to have with comments and votes. I will surely be part of it

So what your saying is that you'd like a gallery where only people who consider themselves serious photographers can participate and swap ideas. Who determines who is a serious photographer and who is a crap snapper?

As I said before, we all begin somewhere, and beginning somewhere means your efforts may not be up to scratch with serious photographers, but it's a learning curve, and you may get there, you may not. The little pats on the back act as encouragement and personally I think crap snappers as well as serious photographers should take those comments as at least a recognition that a picture has caught someones eye.

I have a sneaking suspicion some serious photographers sneer at some of the comments with the thought "how would you know if it was a good picture". Ultimately if your not getting comments its probably because the picture isn't floating many peoples boat, no matter how technically superb it may be.

If you want serious critique go to http://www.fredmiranda.com, but as a serious photographer you probably know that.

[juliano]

~ realised my point wasnt totally relevant, therefore deleted it

[halesr]

Okay, so let's have a criticize me meta gallery with NO VOTING. I personally don't care about the votes. I just want thoughtful, critical comments. There can be no NICE SHOT, GOOD, or whatever. Critiquers have to say what about the shot works for them visually or emotionally. BUT, they can also say what does not work, or a different shot or a crop or a correction--places for improvement. The poster, includes their goal or intent or what they might be working on when they shot the image. If they processed the image, they describe what they did.

You can only post one image per day. I suspect folks who never comment will soon not get comments. The critiques CANNOT be personal, but should relate to the artistic interpretation and techniques used. I actually would like to improve my critiquing skills too. What makes a good or exceptional photo? I think a lot of it is in the eye of the beholder. I think most, notice I say most, sunsets are clichéd. You would have to really wow me to get me to praise your sunset. I am not particularly fond of silhouettes. You get blocked up with no detail in those black areas, same with totally white blown areas in photos.

Anyway, this is the way I have begun to think about what I would REALLY like. But, if it doesn't happen, I have reached out in other ways to get the feedback I feel I need to improve. I have helped start a local group of photographers who meet once a month to share new work and discuss it. It is based on some ideas by Paul Butzi who started such a group in the state of Washington. Here is a link <http://www.butzi.net/articles/monday.htm> to an article describing the group and how it works. Unfortunately the folks I have connected with only want to meet once a month not 2 times per month as he recommends. You don't need many people and they do not all have to have the same interests in subject matter or be at the same skill level.

I will keep reading here and see if we indeed get this meta gallery.

Rene

[mesullivan]

I'm going to keep PADing till my year is up. Sure, some days there may be some crap, that'll be ok, cause some days I shoot more than one photo worth framing. But, the idea of PAD for me is to keep photography in the back of my mind to keep me headed in the right direction.

I don't have any problem with negative critiques of my photos. I'm long enough in the tooth and thick skinned enough to know when it's just a personal preference by the poster and when it's a good idea.

I let the PAD pretty much eat up all my shooting time for awhile, but I will just let it be one of the things I do. I am slowly posting to my other galleries and gathering images to start new ones. I shoot film too and that takes some time. I'll do what I can and have fun while doing it.

[sjwphotography]

It kind of annoys me to hear people criticising or rubbishing PAD. It's kind of like criticising a 12 year old for not writing a Master's dissertation or bashing Hockney for not being Picasso. It's a kind of criticism that makes no valid contribution.

PAD is surely about individual learning curves, it's about community. If you want to see undemocratic 'Art', go and find it in a non-cyber mainstream gallery. Someone there will tell what is 'good' or not, without you being able to decide for yourself. and you certainly won't be able to hang your own work up (well, maybe Pbase's dR could , or Andy Farrington and Stefan Rohner... )

Also, you often find that the people that give PAD up, whilst tolling it's virtues at the time, and then dismissing it, are the people who end up in the ruts of their own creative development.