Glenn Euloth Photography

I hear you!!! maybe we need to go on a photo outin...

2012-02-07T20:25:44.926-04:00

I hear you!!! maybe we need to go on a photo outing again!

Thank you, Teresa.

2011-10-10T22:34:47.306-03:00

Thank you, Teresa.

excellent shot Glenn! I love the perspective

2011-10-10T19:02:13.710-03:00

excellent shot Glenn! I love the perspective

By the way I was nominated for a 'one lovely b...

2011-10-04T09:25:08.507-03:00

By the way I was nominated for a 'one lovely blog' award and part of it is to pay it forward and list my fav blogs. I put yours in. :)

Thank you very much, Grant. Likewise, I'm sur...

2011-09-16T13:30:41.464-03:00

Thank you very much, Grant. Likewise, I'm sure! :)

So nice to fine your blog. Also love meeting you ...

2011-09-16T12:09:12.763-03:00

So nice to fine your blog. Also love meeting you in the flesh after admiring your work for so long.

Thank you, Teresa.

2011-09-14T21:08:19.622-03:00

Thank you, Teresa.

wow, awesome shot!!

2011-09-14T20:41:52.331-03:00

wow, awesome shot!!

Great comments. Thanks for sharing!

2011-08-21T08:48:42.506-03:00

Great comments. Thanks for sharing!

When you start comparing your work to the highest ...

2011-08-21T01:22:57.557-03:00

When you start comparing your work to the highest standard, and then realize how far you have to go to even approach it - that's when your work starts improving. I spend hours looking at Magnum photographs and hope that one day I can create an image that's a tenth as good.

The "flickr love fest" syndrome is a dangerous one, indeed. The focus these days seems to be on gimmicks, whereas the master works are straight forward life, regardless of the type of photography they're creating.

It's also interesting to note that many great photographers didn't consider themselves "street" or "landscape" photographers, but simply Photographers. Garry Winnogrand has a famous quote about being a "zoo photographer" because he took some images at the zoo. He's being sarcastic, but it influenced a whole generation of photographers to think broadly.

For me photography is something that just happens. I have my camera with me all the time, and hope that I can see something in a way that is unique and can be translated to others via an image.

This, of course, can be anything.

For me, I found that getting away from Flickr has ...

2011-08-20T18:38:26.058-03:00

For me, I found that getting away from Flickr has tremendously improved my images. There's nothing inherently wrong with Flickr or other image sharing networks, but the reality is that one can lose the critical eye in the midst of the love fest that is flickr. Almost everyone's stream is filled with "great capture!", "What a shot!", "wonderful moment" - all good and friendly, but by this standard, everyone on flickr is a master photographer.

I started looking at it from a much higher standard (flickr being very low on the scale) and started critically examining my images and their place in a body of work. Started posting the ones I felt had merit in critique groups, and slowly started to realize that my work needed to improve significantly if I even wanted to be considered in the top 30% of photographers - most of which are not on flickr anyways.

We all have our ways of improving, but for me it was, and still is, a much more critical way of looking at my images and being mindful of a body of work.

Thank you, Teresa.

2011-08-20T07:11:19.105-03:00

Thank you, Teresa.

I have to say that I agree with this as well. But ...

2011-08-19T21:27:38.577-03:00

I have to say that I agree with this as well. But you said it much better then I could.

Glenn; It doesn't sound like their criticism...

2011-08-10T22:40:20.615-03:00

Glenn;

It doesn't sound like their criticism was so harsh...I've been in some very intense groups, such as HCSP (Hard Core Street Photography), and they don't hold back. But that's what you need, because Flickr can be very detrimental to a photographer's progress. Everyone seems to love every image on Flickr, and a false sense of success is too easy to come by.

Also, keep in mind that most critiques are comparing it to professional work - a very high standard by any means. Without doing this, we're just fooling ourselves.

In any case, if you really want a critique of that given image, here is my take;

The problem with the image is not composition, but instead it's the execution. Landscape photographers (and we have to compare to the best, or else we foster that false sense of success, which doesn't help anyone with photography) spend a lot of time getting everything right. The image looks as if it's cropped, as there's a lot of noise. Is this the case? Also, the exposure is not correct, and the beautiful lush details of the fog are not communicated. This image should be about the fog and the atmosphere. In this case, the image doesn't capture these qualities.

When someone presents an image for critique, I assume that they hold it to a high standard. Ask yourself the following; If you were a professional landscape photographer, would you include this in your body of work? Does it meet your highest standards of photography? If you saw this in a gallery, what would you think?

Cheers.

@Jason. I'll have to give it some thought but...

2011-08-10T08:51:56.060-03:00

@Jason. I'll have to give it some thought but I like your enthusiasm.

@Anonymous_just_sayin. Thanks. I'll keep it in mind.

@Leesure. I knew they weren't necessarily critique groups but, honestly, when I compared the framed to the flushed it wasn't making sense and I'm not talking about my images necessarily. Some of the ones that got framed seemed to get framed because of the photographer not the photograph.

And while I didn't expect in depth critique the purposefully rude comments weren't helpful.

Your point about the people who have moved on is a good one and worth noting. Thanks.

I take all advice and criticism with a grain of salt unless it's from particular individuals for whom I have a lot of respect. My blog post wasn't so much a whining exercise as a commentary on my experience there. Maybe I gave up too soon. Maybe I don't understand what they have to offer.

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Full disclosure...I'm a moderator for one of t...

2011-08-10T08:27:29.570-03:00

Full disclosure...I'm a moderator for one of those heinous DMU groups. Not the one mentioned, but rather one of the more active ones. When people bemoan the quality of the 'critique', this is my standard response...

They are NOT critique groups. Never claimed to be. It's a game. Pure and simple. If you happen to get 1 or 2 good and/or helpful comments, then it's a bonus. In the end, however, it's not the comments that teach you anything, it's the result. If a photo is deleted (or flushed) by 10 people, then you get a pretty solid feel for how the masses will feel about it. Likewise, if you get 10 saves(or frames), you can tell the same thing. Generally the comments are excuses to fill in the requirement, the simple decision of whether the photo is good enough is the really telling thing.

Oh, and they are not critique groups. That bears saying twice.

You'll note, however, that there are very few, if any, good critique groups on flickr (or elsewhere)...why is that? Because anyone whose opinion you should value has long since moved on from those types of groups. They have nothing left to gain, only much to give, and that sort of one way street gets old even for the most giving people. What you're left with is a bunch of wannabees who spew textbook shit about tilt and white color balance, crops and exposures while often missing the inherent value of the photo, the message or emotional impact.

UNLESS, they have a reason to stay...like witty conversation and a no-holds-barred commenting style...as you are afforded in the DM(u)'s.

So my advice is to take the comments with a grain of salt, unless they come from someone whose work you respect. In that latter case, take all they say to heart, even if it's "hold more detail through the fog"

In the end, the DM(u) style games have done more to improve my photography than any other single source. That's NOT to say it's the only place to look to improve, only that it's helped me more than other places.

Some discussion and debate on the topic of the value of the DMU's can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/censorshipsucks/discuss/72157627069821641/

Glenn, the photo is very nice, but what they mean...

2011-08-10T02:13:36.559-03:00

Glenn,

the photo is very nice, but what they meant, (i think) is that the white foogy bits are "burnt" as in overexposed, to the point of a loss of all information. Its always tricky in high contrast situations like this, but i'm sure that they didnt mean to see the landscape behind it.

also take the border advice with a pinch of salt. borders are HIGHLY subjective and some love them, some hate them.

just sayin.

The groups are fantastic! You are surely missing ...

2011-08-10T00:31:13.361-03:00

The groups are fantastic! You are surely missing the point. Try Icebox before quitting altogether. I think they generally try a bit harder not to be an ass.

Well, Anonymous J. I'm not shy for critique. ...

2011-08-09T23:23:55.984-03:00

Well, Anonymous J. I'm not shy for critique. I used to be but I've come to terms with having my photos critiqued. In fact, I welcome it, that's why I joined the DMU group. I want to get better and Thomas Hawk said that was one of the best ways to get better.

That group doesn't offer critique. Instead they offer the same hater mentality that I see on YouTube comments. It wasn't helpful.

I'd love to see the Joel Meyerowitz images to which you are referring, however, his Flash based site is painful to navigate and I keep getting directed to pages that don't exist anymore.

Maybe the problem is not my photography but my editing skills? I'd be happy to give a copy of the RAW image to someone so they can show me what I may have done wrong.

The next time it hits -27C in the harbour I'll make a bee line for the wharf and take as many different shots as possible but honestly, other than spending thousands of dollars on better gear, I don't know how I could have done better. That's not to say it can't be done better but it is to say that I don't know how and the DMU was not helping.

Glenn, Photo critique is hard. Really hard. It&#...

2011-08-09T21:09:31.638-03:00

Glenn,

Photo critique is hard. Really hard. It's great that you returned - even though you eventually pulled yourself out of the group.

This being said, and I have no affiliation with the group, I think they were really trying to improve the "next" photograph of this nature. If you look at the work of Joel Meyerowitz, and mostly the New York 911 images he captured on field camera, you can see the beautiful texture that can be captured from myst, fog and "atmosphere". It's often the contrast between haze and sharp object that really sells the idea.

Good shot. Next time try various focusing techniques to compare.

I'm constantly putting some of my images in front of the firing squad (not my flickr images, but prints). Keep in mind that even professionals are very critical of their own work and the work of their peers.

J

I agree Glenn. I played in one of those for a whil...

2011-06-22T21:51:58.670-03:00

I agree Glenn. I played in one of those for a while and had some interesting feedback, but most seemed to be people looking for ways that the 'rules' were broken so that it was to be trashed.
glad you were able to see the beauty in this shot despite what the trolls said!

Hehehe... yeah, I hear you. But if you wait for g...

2011-05-23T20:07:26.145-03:00

Hehehe... yeah, I hear you. But if you wait for good weather you'll never get out shooting! :)

nice shot Glenn. I agree about the rain, but when ...

2011-05-23T09:35:43.356-03:00

nice shot Glenn. I agree about the rain, but when it's rainy and cold......

Yes! Ibarionex's interviews are awesome. I lis...

2011-05-20T22:07:13.770-03:00

Yes! Ibarionex's interviews are awesome. I listen at work and he really does the research to probe the minds of all of these great photographers he is able to contact.

I haven't haven't heard that photography p...

2011-03-24T19:30:23.078-03:00

I haven't haven't heard that photography podcast by Ibarionex Perello. I'll have to check it out though because it sounds pretty good. Thanks.