About and err.. Stuff

Critique was the single most powerful learning tool for me when I started getting serious about photography. I posted images online to get critique, but it's easy to dismiss or disagree with what other people think. When you critique someone else's photograph you have to really stop and think about what you're going to post. So GIVING critique is a powerful learning aid.

The the old philosopher dude who died in Spiderman once said, with great power comes great responsibility, what that means around here is don't be a jerk! Idiots can and will have their posting abilities suspended or removed. Post up other images to get critique and while you wait for some feedback choose a few images to write critique on. Often images with no comments are the hardest to comment on! So sort the image list to get the lowest number of comment images at the top and write the tough critiques! If you think an image is really no good then you instinctively know what the photographer can do to improve. So break it down and tell them... nicely!

Great Shot! is a totally useless comment. Why do you think it's great! What might you have done differently, what does this inspire you to do? This is a creative learning process so be creative in your comments.

Showing off how much fancy gear you have is not what this site is about. If you have $1000 50mm, good for you. There's a good chance you'll see better pictures taken with a $100 50mm. Nice glass is nice, but it doesn't take the photo for you. You can record focal length etc. when you upload a picture, but no name dropping facilities exist in the upload form. I suppose you can put it in the description if your ego really needs a massage.

Stuff about me? Ummm, people give me money to take pictures! I bought my first DSLR when a friend asked me to shoot his wedding. It went well, I carried on. I'm from the UK and moved to the US with my wife a few years back. The nice people at immigration took forever to get me a work visa so I spent a lot of time sitting around the house. TO keep my sanity I decided to get online and write critiques of photos on various forums. I found myself writing the same thing often so I used the time I had to compile the advice into a progressive tutorial. This site was the result. I learned so much for free from so many people I decided to give back for free too.

The site originally had a forum but that got hacked early and repeatedly so I was forced to take it down. I promised those few who contacted me that I'd make a critique system but got side tracked taking photos. Finally I knuckled down and made what is now the Going Manual Photography Critique site!

After all this effort I hope you use it... a lot. Oh and tell you friends too!

Send me an email anytime!

info at admirephotography dot com