As I said in response to Bill Owens last week or so, when he said, something to the effect, "I like a critique that tells me what I did wrong", don't take my words as gospel. Or anything else of authority.
Especially in the situation of your photo. I was telling you what I felt looking at your photo. I'm just one person. What one feels from looking at art is subjective, and will not always be felt or perceived by others. Apparently others didn't pick up things the way I did, judging by the numbers that said they liked it.
It seems that many others thought this a perfectly charming photo, and it's likely that they're right. OTOH, I'm also right in what I felt, because feelings can't be wrong, can they? At least not the feelings one gets when one experiences art.
Don't forget that everyone who looks at your photographs with any amount of critical bent (as opposed to those who view all photos like snapshots, and in a kneejerk reaction, look and say, "yeah, that's pretty") is bringing all of their emotional baggage and all of their past experiences (both good and bad) into the viewing, perceiving, experiencing and feeling process. (I know there's lots of overlap between those words, but I use them purposely).
Some photographs I get into, some I don't. That doesn't mean that those that I don't get into aren't good, just that they didn't do much for me. Some photos I totally get into, but for some reason they don't tell me things the way I expect them to, or to be more precise, (especially if I know the photographer) don't tell me things the way I expect the photographer intends - and this, as you may have already guessed, applies to your wedding photo. And some photographs are absolutely perfect.
Now, of course, perfection doesn't exist in art or in photography. But what I mean is that I can find nothing wrong with the photograph I'm looking at. There may be technical flaws, but something about the photograph overcomes those flaws. A perfect photo ~speaks~ to me; it's truly an emotional experience. The emotion I feel may be extatic joy or profound sadness, or anything in between, but (and I only thought of this as I typed), I feel an actual emotional connection with the photographer. It's as if I ~know~ exactly what he/she was trying to say, and "I get it" ("it" being what the photographer is trying to say in the photograph).
Now, all that pompous crap aside, I know that my perceptions and feelings may be entirely wrong. I may not absolutely know what the photographer was saying, but the point is, I ~feel~ as I do.
I may be making no sense here, but hopefully someone out there can cut thought the inarticulate mush and figure out a bit of what I'm meaning here.
Now, this has turned out to be a rather long and self-indulgent post, which wasn't my intention when I started typing what I expected to be a two paragraph note <g>. But, since I was kind of taken to task several weeks ago for what was perceived to be a less than complimentary comment, and since I've been thanked twice recently for revealing a few details of photos that left me wanting, and since I try to comment on all the PAWs, I thought it might be useful for folks to know what my process is.
So, to summarize:
Just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's bad;
Just because I do like it doesn't mean it's good;
My feelings are ~my~ feelings, and may or may not be shared by anyone else.
See what you started, Boris?
<vbg>
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: Boris Liberman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]><snip>
<snip>I should admit that I am very bad in determining a fellow human emotions. I am reminded of your comments on my photos of my wife applying a carnival make up on our daughter... I did not see fear in her eyes until you and others wrote me so...
Then in your very case I've failed and quite miserably so. The person on the right foreground is a mother of the child and she and the bride are good friends.
Could be, bride hadn't held too many babies in her hands and so she is a little uncomfortable, apprehensive. But I did not see it <slap on the forehead>...
ft> Now, maybe that's what you were trying to portray, and if so, fine. But if
ft> you weren't, unfortunately, that's what I'm feeling.
Thanks for writing what you wrote, Frank. I surely need more practice here.
Thanks a lot!
Boris
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