Photoblogging: Good or Bad?
Is photoblogging good for photography?
I think that taking photographs daily does make you a better photographer. Whether or not you should post your photos every day is debatable.
Do you really get a good shot every day?
I only like to show my best shots. Any one photo should be an invitation to see more. So why show mediocre work?
Do you show your friends & family all your holiday photos? I make people choose their best 3 shots per roll to show me.
It forces them to do the editing. Not me.
Do you criticise?
Another point made was the lack of crisitism in photoblogs. It is generally an encouraging environment as opposed to a critical one.
Photoblogs seem like a nice cosy place. You don't expect people to come in and start pointing out how the couch doesn't match the curtains.
However, I think that living in such a bubble is harmful for photographers. They start to believe their own hype.
I will endeavour to post constructive critism when I feel it is necessary, and hope people will feel free to do likewise.
So you think photoblogging is bad for photography?
Personally, I will not post a photo every day. I don't think I shoot often enough to get that frequency of good photos.
If photoblogging encourages people to improve their photography daily, then I think it's a good thing. If they live in their no-criticism bubble, feeding off their own hype, posting uninteresting photos, then it's a bad thing.
Here are some of the folks who I think can pull it off:
- Antipixel - wonderful images from Japan
- Blue Ridge Blog - Marie's snowy landscapes and farms have that Christmas feeling about them
- Chocolate & Zucchini - strictly a food blog, but I always admire photographs that can make me salivate
- Sensitive Light - missing for the last month or so, but good at demonstrating that interesting photos can be found on my doorstep
- Views of the Northeast - Ana's winter wonderland (bears included)
(via Boing Boing)
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I really like the idea of making people show you only their best/favorite three photos per roll. Yes, make them do the editing. I think many casual photographers don't look at their work with a critical eye. Perhaps they don't need to, but perhaps I don't need to see three pictures of the baby in slightly different poses. Which reminds me, I am going to go edit my photo albums...
That's an interesting question. I saw this discussion a while ago, but it's interesting to revisit it several months down the road. I'm not sure about the role of criticism in a blog, photo or otherwise (I'm only thinking of personal blogs; political and industry-related ones are very different). Personal blogs are a strange mix of public and private. On the one hand, we're "publishing" in a sense --we're asking people to come and look, and there's an expectation that we have something good and that people will express an opinion about it. On the other hand, that's often mixed in with very personal posts about dogs, jobs, kids, etc. and in that sense a person's blog is their home and "guest rules" apply. I'n not sure what my own expectations are this regard. Tentatively I'd say that occasional living room-type criticism is okay with me, but I don't expect real critiques. For that I post to a critique forum. On balance I think photoblogging is good for me in the sense that it's extra encouragement to get me out in the field, but it doesn't help my photography otherwise.
How about linking to some bad photoblogs? I need examples! No linking to mine though ;-)
Your post has had me chewing on this whole photoblog-thing for the past day or so. As far as constructively critiquing my photos, I well welcome any and all input. I could even point out a couple photo failures on my site. Thanks for stretching my brain.
So another thing occured to me, which is that the intent of some photoblogs is not to produce good photos. I intend to be a really good photographer someday and that means that I have to work hard and edit and all that stuff. But other people may intend to record their days and have fun in the process. In the latter case, it may well be more important to have a picture of every stop on the vacation rather than just the best ones.
I think the odds are that people who post photos are more than likely wanting to be better photographers. It will probably be obvious if someone is just posting their daily photo with no editing. I can understand the vacation point of view, but again I would recommend that they record and remember the places, but only show us the best ones.