I give up!!!!

[cokesmith]

Been on pbase for nearly three months now and only 50 coments! Is this site dead or what! Not that coments are the only reason I am here - the galleries are basically a supplement to our family travelogue, but oh my goodness. All I heard about pbase being a great place to get feedback is so far mythical. Oh well.... I see so many galleries with hundreds of comments but I can only generate a few dozen with multiple anouncements....I guess my photography is not up to snuff! ;( Bummed out!

http://www.pbase.com/cokesmith

[prinothcat]

You ought to check out the shear volume of stuff that goes through here in an hour, much less in a day. Most peoples images get buried faster than they can be seen. In order to get the most feed back possible you need to post to Show and Tell, and try to break into the PAD clique. In many cases you just have to whore yourself out and comment on every thing you look at. Then when you hit upon a comment collector, they will frequently return the "favor".... Comments are commodities around here. Heck I've been here nearly three years and have barely more than you do. I'm not here to collect comments though, nor am I here to stroke the egos of others. I'm primarily here because I need a host and this is the one that does it best for what I want/need to do.

[m_hauss]

50 comments in three months? That doesn't sound so bad to me. I've been here for more than a year and have collected only 78 comments (most of which were indeed "replies" to comments I made before). I always wondered why I did not get more comments, too.

On the other hand, comments are not really the reason why I am here. Initially, I came here to host my photos for friends and family. But then I found that features like stats and comments can help me figure out which of my pictures are well received and which are not. Usually, the pictures with the most hits and comments are also pictures that I hold dear, but sometimes I am surprised to see that pictures I did not count among my stronger work receive a lot of hits (and even some comments). Of course, this helps me to become a better photographer, so I am always very thankful when someone leaves a comment (and flattered, too). Since I do not receive a lot of comments, each one is a big deal to me.

But that doesn't mean that I would ever comment pictures of other users just to receive a comment back. I comment pictures that I think are outstanding and if the respective artist finds that one of my photos is worth a comment, I appreciate it.

[amoxtli]

Try commenting on other people's images, chances are they'll visit your site.

[cokesmith]

Thanks everyone! I love the response so far! I especially like the part about my need to start whoring myself out more... great laughs! Cheers to all!

[wildhareuk]

Your galleries are, in my opinion, pretty outstanding. I am completely and utterly jealous of the places you've been! You have had an immense posting effort 9200+ -images since January 14th!!!!

I am still exploring the world through your eyes (and lens).

I have only had 179 comments since I joined in May 2002, but then again, I don't have a large number of photos that I consider to have a wow factor.

Keep up the good work.

[trinko]

I've got about 600 comments since 2005 so you're not doing bad. I don't generally comment on others photos, too dang lazy and jealous. But I've found that posting to the show and tell forum and commenting on others forum comments will increase the visits to my galleries and hence the number of comments. I've found that on all photo sites if you want lots of comments you've got to essentially build up a social network. I did that on TrekNature but then quit that site when they told me my photo of a wild goose in a park was actually a domestic animal and shouldn't be posted. After that I've gotten less concerned about comments.

Your photos are a fantastic collection of nature in places most of us will never see. I see that a lot of them are scanned in. Several could benefit from some post processing-- removing blue tint, sharpening etc-- in my opinion but they're still fantastic as a documentation of real, not zoo based nature.

In the end it only matters if you like your own photos, art is subjective not objective; although some folks idea of art can be objectionable. If you enjoy looking at your photos it doesn't matter if everyone else in the world hates them. Assuming you're not trying to sell them that is.

[fishit]

Thanks everyone! I love the response so far! I especially like the part about my need to start whoring myself out more... great laughs! Cheers to all!

Odd comment. You post pictures get feedback from others and would like more. Feedback on other people's pictures helps others see your work in the fog of photograph submissions.
If you do not want to do that then just post your pictures for your own enjoyment.

[jerseyfinn]

. . . In many cases you just have to whore yourself out and comment on every thing you look at. Then when you hit upon a comment collector, they will frequently return the "favor".... Comments are commodities around here.

True, one could elect to pursue the "comment whore" process as some PBasers do indeed play the pandering game where comments are the the quid pro quo currency which generates votes/comments. A few of them have indeed built up some impressive hit counts. Photography is an aesthetic, so people and their tastes/opinions will vary & Prino speaks honestly about folks who enjoy the "competetive" aspect and measure success not in the image itself , but rather the quantity of hits.

Try commenting on other people's images, chances are they'll visit your site.

Amoxtli's observation is good advice as PBase is not about machinie gun commenting as much as it is enjoying the work of others & leaving comments when an image really connects with you. It's quite natural to leave earnest comments and to browse the galleries of those who leave feedback for you. I've never worried too much about the quantity of comments, but I do appreciate sincere feedback. As also noted, sometimes you are surprised at which images others react to. Give it some time and you'll create relationships with others who stop by on occassion to see what's new in your galleries. It is also a good suggestion to announce your galleries here just so that others who are not on-line when you post your gallery at least know that you've UL'd some new images ( advice that I myself should follow as I rarely announce my galleries ).

Enjoy PBase as it is a more relaxed photo site. I can't emphasize enough how much I've learned by looking at the work of other PBasers as well as some of contacts I've developed with other photographers.

Barry

[fishit]

Enjoy PBase as it is a more relaxed photo site.

Barry

:thumbs up: Well Said ...

[ralyza]

you photograph because YOU want to take photos
you upload photos because YOU like those photos

its for yourself and not for others. if you feel like you really want to please alot of people then pbase might not be the place for you. Try multiply and add lots of people on your list. You can get alot more comments that way.

[viveksg]

Cokesmith, I helped you out by adding a comment in your galleries!

I like your India photos a lot. I do agree with another poster that you do have a lot of great photos from different places, and I wish I was as well travelled as you.

[nickviv]

Don't give up !

my 2 cents worth here:

If you want genuine comments on your galleries:
- get rid of all your family snaps from your important galleries, and put them in a family gallery
- In fact, be really brutal, and get rid of 90% of the photos you have posted
- make the galleries stand out by removing photos that look the same.. pick the best one even if they're both good.
- try to keep only 100 pictures in a gallery... then operate a 1 in, 1 out policy
- sort by the hit counts regularly, and remove bad performers even if you like the shot personally
- create themed galleries
- group your photos together, and arrange them nicely
- Name the photos better.. no name is better than a bad name... put the current name in the description.. Having "AMPHIBIAN - BOOPHIS BRACHYCHIR - BOOPHINAE - MANTELLIDAE - MONTAGNE D'AMBRE NATIONAL PARK MADAGASCAR (8).JPG" in the name is detracting from your galleries.
- update the galleries one photo at a time... if you do a bulk update, less people will see you

This gallery probably has too many pics in it, but I have continuously been preening it, and it has quite a few comments:
http://www.pbase.com/nickviv/magicmoments

If you want comments on your photos:
- Nominate a gallery as your PAD gallery, and update it once a day with a good photo.
- Tag your photos so that google finds them
- Choose your top 50, put them all in a single gallery, and make that the 1st one people see
- Enter competitions

.... and if all this fails, yes, whoring yourself out as suggested above is a sure fire way to generate interest


You have some very exciting shots, but don't make your viewers do the job of finding the best ones.

Nick

[trinko]

One other note. Instead of counting comments count views. While the view numbers don't appear to be perfect they do give you an idea of how many times your photos are viewed. Clearly if people are viewing your photos even if they're not leaving comments they find your photos interesting. Another sign of interest is ranking on the search engines. I took some pleasure when I discovered that some of my photos were the first, or at least on the first page, for certain google or yahoo search terms.

[sheila]

I agree with Nick. You have far too many what they call in stock shooting - "similars". IMHO you must be a lot tougher in editing which images you should upload. You have been to many great locations and you have a lot of great shots but one must plough through many similar shots to find gems. So my suggestion is edit, edit and edit. Also capital letters in text is is considered "shouting" And as Nick suggests, put your "best" in one gallery, regardless of the subject matter.

Sheila